Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Country Living

Life continues, out in the country:

Our old strawberry patch is coming along, even though we haven't done a thing for it this year. We're not planting a garden since we're hoping to move. The riding mower is frequently in use (although I had to jump start it with my car when I first got it out this year - I didn't even know that could be done). Between mows, the dandelions are blooming like mad, much to the delight of the girls (by the way, there's nothing cuter than a 2-year-old Abby in a ponytail running barefoot through the yard). I could make the huge list of birds that are around, but I'll spare you (the hummingbirds showed up, too (sorry about all the parenthetical comments (here's another!))).

Our super-gardening neighbors have added livestock to their life, too, with three goats and a baby cow. The goats are named Pam, Nicole and Rebecca, while the cow's name is Ground Round (guess what he's for!). However, with the livestock also comes a fully armed and operational electrified fence. Fortunately there's a buffer consisting of their garden and the road between our property and the fence, so the girls won't accidentally run into it - apparently it's a very unpleasant experience. Meanwhile, the dirty starlings built a nest under the cap of our propane tank, which I eventually had to clean out. They had laid eggs, and I broke one getting them out, but then the girls and neighbor Leo made off with them. Annika eventually dropped two of them and Abby simply squeezed hers too hard, but Leo still had his 30 minutes later. A different day we found and chased a two-foot snake along the edge of the house, and later Abby and I found one on the road while taking a walk with Jake.

Phew! We'll miss all this if and when we move, but we won't miss being so far away from everything.

In non-country related news, we've been watching a lot more TV lately, since we're always trying to pass the time dealing with Jake before bed. It makes me pine for better cable, in order to get more sports, since you can watch that even with blaring static on, if that's what's necessary to calm Jake down. Besides that, I've seen more American Idol and Dancing with the Stars than ever before. Personally, I think DwtS is more entertaining, and Annika loves it. That said, here's a preview of coming attractions...
Annika's dance recital is June 2.

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