The garden and green house are now full of lettuce, green onions, broad beans, beets, spinach, radishes, and potatoes. The biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my life crawled out of the worm compost in the green house and I handled it like an adult. Jan says he doesn’t understand why spiders get such a bad wrap. I told him that I believe it is an unfortunate learned behaviour that we fear and dislike them.
Our Sunday night dinner moved itself to Monday and because the soup was so popular Jan asked me to make it again. This time Daniel and I made it with broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, onions, parsley, chives, kale, carrots, and spices. We again made garlic bread to go with it and had more ice cream for dessert. Since we had been sent a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup we brought that to pour over the ice cream. Jan was like a small child. He knew what it was when he first saw it on our bed after we had opened the box. He exclaimed that he hadn’t had it for thirty five years and that he honestly believes it’s the best thing to have ever come out of America. [I’m sure he means other than me and Daniel]. He ate his dessert very slowly and very quietly. He only looked up once to say, “I’m having a religious experience.” When we were all finished he asked shyly if he could have a little more. I handed him the bottle and he squeezed a spoonful onto his spoon, smiled broadly and put it in his mouth making a small moaning sound. Then he handed the bottle back to me and requested, “Please take this away and do not let me see it again.” We all agreed that the main ingredient, High Fructose Corn Syrup, is one of the worst things you can consume. So we indulge only on rare occasions. Pat called it a perfect compliment to vanilla ice cream.
Yesterday afternoon I took a walk. I brought my ipod to listen to some French exercises and set off on a course I have not yet explored. I love the program, “Gmaps Pedometer” because it is very helpful for runners. So I knew how far I was going and I felt like a four mile walk was decent enough. I walked past a dead bird; it was huge and looked like it had been split in half. There were feathers everywhere and I quickly turned my head so as not to have that picture imbedded in my brain. Also I walked by about forty cows and finally heard my first Devon Moo. The cows here at Grange Place are very quiet and do not moo. For about half a mile I strolled through very nasty stink smell. I desperately wanted to turn around or go another way back, however that would mean I would have only walked either three miles or it could have turned into eight mile[s] if I’d gone another course. So on my way back I just stuffed my nose into the sleeve of my shirt and sped up my pace. In the driveway I heard Daniel coming from behind me on his bike. We had a small snack together before heading back upstairs to work.
The chickens are being bad girls. They continue to find new ways of getting over the fence. Yes, they have wings, however I do not like that they can fly. I recorded Daniel chasing and catching two escapees yesterday. We will put that video up on this blog soon. Over and over we watched one feathered beast jump / fly up onto the fence and make her way through the brambles. Daniel kept grabbing her and putting her back on the ground. It happened three times in a row when Daniel finally walked away. I did my best to distract her but she was incredibly focused and eventually she overcame my determination of trying to get her to reason with me. Apparently they know how to come back because when Jan put the chickens away last night he didn’t say anything to us and this morning when we let them out of their coop they were all present. Occasionally some of the hens let Daniel pet them. It’s so odd to watch. They squat down, spread their wings out, and stamp their feet while he strokes their backs.
Somehow - could be the four hundred and fifty years this house has - we lost water to the upstairs last night. So we have a bucket by the toilet and have to go downstairs and out to our kitchen to fill up water bottles and wash our hands. At least we’re getting more exercise? Jan said something about an air pocket and that hopefully the water will be restored in two days. Not knowing for sure makes me nervous about having to wait another nine days before I can bathe. Will I ever get used to not being able to wash my hair? I have thought, more than a few times, about shaving it all off again. Daniel says he likes the length right now. Oh for crying out loud.
In any case, the sun is out and we haven’t had to have our heater on as much. I plan to go on another walk to get my vitamin D and I’m thinking about mapping out a six mile journey for today.
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