Green Acres is the place to be…farm living is the life for me….

If you are old enough, you might remember that old sitcom about the rich, New Your City folks who moved to the rural country. Oliver Wendell Douglas, was the big-wig lawyer in NYC, and his glamorous Hungarian wife, Lisa Douglas, unwillingly left her upscale New York apartment, to live on this rickety farm. The show was hysterical.

Well, Steve and I up and moved from the burbs and got us a slice of land on the edge of a small mountain, out in the country.  I am no Lisa Douglas, and Steve is no Oliver, but I am sure we will have our own laughs as we adjust lifestyles. We moved after 17 years of living in the burbs, and three days after dropping our Grace at college.

Yesterday, while mowing my new lawn, a snake slithered out from beneath the mower and just about gave me a heart attack. My scream could be heard all the way back to town. The lawn is about 10 times the size of my old one. I used a push mower. The exercise was good, the snake …well he survived, and so did I. But surely I will be thinking about the snakes every time I mow now.

There are birds  everywhere! If you suffer from Ornithophobia, you probably should avoid our house. All day, I watch the birds fly in, and about three times a day, they hit a window somewhere. I call these the Kamikaze birds.  The man who lived in the house before us spent a fare bit of money feeding these feathered friends and other critters. Now the birds have expectations that the food will keep flowing. So, I guess my new hobby is birds, which makes me laugh. My dog doesn’t quite know what to do with all the birds. There are too many to chase. And then there are the squirrels. This week, I watched a blue jay and squirrel go at it. My dog about went nuts!Speaking of dogs, above us, up the small mountain, is a forest. All sorts of critters live in those woods. The kind that can eat small animals, so my white little fluffy dog is going to have to change his ways of city dog, to survive in the country. I literally carry cheese around in my pocket now to keep the dog close because he loves cheese. When he starts to wander, I just say “cheese” and he comes leaping back.

People have asked, “Did you down size?”

As we approach life as empty-nesters, I wouldn’t say we downsized. I would say, we changed shapes. We put on our overalls, we got our shovels out, and we decided it was time for a different lifestyle. One that will involve a lot of work, but the kind that keeps you healthy. We wanted a touch of nature, and some land. It’s my first time to live in such an environment, but luckily Steve has experience from growing up.

Steve and I learned in week number one, proper shoe wear is crucial in the country.  I slipped down a muddy path and twisted my knee. I was wearing flat, non-traction sandals after it had rained. Bad idea.

Then, Steve broke a toe. He was hauling away garbage, again wearing sandals, and stubbed his toe. We both hobbled around the house after that, looking like quite the pair.

My prayer life has been impacted this week after we moved in. We discovered termites at one point, then carpenter ants, and our water stopped working due to a bad switch for the well. This was day one in the house. Welcome to the country. Luckily all these issues were easily resolved and it all ended up being no big deal after further investigation, but yeah…it was quite the welcome to our new home.

All the boxes (except for the garage) are unpacked. The pictures are on the wall, and now it’s time to make this house a home. What will next 17 years carry? What will happen in this house?

These are things that I have pondered.

I did mention to Steve that we should plant a garden next year. He then gave me that look. The kind of look he gives when I have said something ridiculous. He told me I need to learn to live in the house and experience all the work, before I add a garden into the mix. Ok ok. Let’s just learn about the house. After all, feeding the birds is going to keep me pretty busy for a while.

We’ve gone through a lot of changes this summer. From turning 50, to sending my girl to Nashville, to moving. I am ready to settle down now and find our new pace in the country.

I am so grateful to God for such a gift to have a lovely country home, on the side of Green Mountain, and to try something new on for size. We are excited, and we will call this new place of ours, The Inn at Green Mountain. (Steve would not let me call it the Bird House, or Critterville or some other creative names I came up with).

The Jones’ have moved to the country. Let the adventure begin.