Thanksgiving Weekend at the Country House

What a great getaway we had for Thanksgiving at our country house!

I was so excited to be there I couldn't sleep the first night and stayed up listening to all of the different sounds.  I heard peeper frogs (In late November?)!  There was a very garrulous hoot owl; something large crashing through the woods next to me that must have been a large dogs as I heard tags jingling; a squirrel bitching up a storm; a rodent chewing in the attic (must deal with that!); roosters doing a little competitive crowing at 3:30; light rain, wind through the trees; my ancient Corning coffeepot percolating; dogs barking; and coyotes wailing.  I only heard two cars all night!  What a blessing that night was.  

Thursday we had dinner at Brenda's cousin's house.  The food was just so good and the company was, too.  I love the way folks in the country fix lots of veggie dishes for every meal. I made cranberry/ginger jelly and put it in a beautiful footed dish that we inherited along with the house.  I also made apple cheddar scones but I must have measured wrong as the dough was just a sticky mess.  I did what I could to save them and they turned out more like interesting drop biscuits.  Not a total loss after all. After dinner more friends and family stopped by and we all went outside to their beautifully built firepit.  We sat in chairs in a big semicircle and made S'mores. It was a lovely time and I hope Brenda's cousin enjoys their great-aunt's footed dish.

Yesterday I sat on the front porch for a long time looking out at the fields and dreaming of my plans for that place.  I need to learn so much, especially about pasture management, fencing, livestock management, and growing food on a larger scale.  I was planning a small barn, rearranging furniture in my head, just planning in general when I noticed a small hawk flying low over the field in front of me.  I have lived the last 20 years in the suburbs but grew up in the country and I was amazed to see this hawk doing low-flying hunting.  He went back and forth over the field, almost like he was working a grid, flying just barely over the top of the grass.  I was happy when he finally pounced.  I hope he got one of the mice I had spent all weekend fighting and cleaning up after. 

We were sad to head back to the 'burbs and say goodbye to our long weekend. One of little dogs refused to get into the van for the trip back.  I actually had to pick him up and put him on my lap.  Obviously, the dogs had as good a time as we did this weekend.  When we got home we found that some wonderful person had raked our whole yard and even removed the leaves!  We have no idea who did that for us but how nice! I was immediately filled with Christmas spirit and the determination to do some random act of kindness for someone else.  I hope I can make someone else's day the way the anonymous rake wielder made mine.