Idyll

One of our many recent life changes has been a move to rural Iowa. We’ve been anticipating this change for a few years now and so far, I am loving it! We are renting a home temporarily while our new home is being built. We can see our build site from the back patio of our rental home, and it’s been great fun to watch the progress.

I’ve taken some time to get settled in to a new routine. We visit the build site every morning and evening to see what has changed. We hike around the property looking and listening to birds and watching for deer. The bird sounds have been amazing! I use the Merlin app to identify birds by their calls and it has been a game-changer for my enjoyment of birding. We’ve heard and seen pheasants, pelicans, eagles, sand hill cranes, orioles, red-winged blackbirds, dickcissels, turkeys, meadowlarks, indigo buntings, wrens, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, and more.

The views below are from the back deck of our rental home. Behind the lawn there is a huge meadow of long grasses. It looks like velvet when the wind blows across it. I’m eagerly anticipating watching the lightening bugs from that deck.

I hope to begin gardening next year, once we have a larger place to store equipment and have chosen an appropriately sunny site. I’ve got my compost bin ready to deploy as soon as we can find a level place for it and it won’t get disturbed by construction.

This week I found a nearby strawberry patch (Annies Acres Strawberries) and got some freshly picked strawberries. Oh, my! The difference between local, fresh and those from the grocery store is incredible. We purchased just enough for fresh strawberries on ice cream, yogurt, and some chocolate-covered strawberries. I promised myself that I would make freezer jam next year.