The Land Itself

Hi! Me again! You've probably already read my introduction, so, let's talk about the land itself. These are the things I'll talk about:

1. Teeny-tiny creatures
2. "Kid Island"
3. Underpond to Wonderpond
4. Snake alert!
5. Nice Neighbors
6. Yum. . . Blackberries
7. Big House

First up. . . The teeny-tiny creatures! Carrie, Albert, and I were visiting our cousins out-of-town. Ma went to the land (Pa calls it "the charis homestead," but I like "the land." It has a less business-y ring to it) and was walking along the perimeter of the pond. She looked down at her feet to see teeny little creatures jumping at her every step. Ma thought that they must be bugs, besides, what could be that tiny? Ma kept walking, knowing she would never be bitten, because she had sprayed herself with bug spray. But, when she looked again , she noticed that those teeny-tiny creatures were anything but bugs! THEY WERE FROGS!!!!! When my siblings and I came home from our cousins' house after ten long, fun days (and an eight-hour trip home), we were tired. Ma told us all about the frogs, and, in return, we told her all about our trip. We decided to rest at home a couple of days, and then go to the land. Well, we rested well, and then went to the land to see the "microscopic frogs," and we did! Albert caught one about one-half a centimeter long, one-half a centimeter wide, and one-half a centimeter high! Then, in the process of releasing the frog he called "Minion," Albert squashed it. Poor, poor frog.

"Kid Island," is up next. You see, "Kid Island," is this little island fenced off to the North by a fence, and fenced off to the south-east and west by a little creek.. Pa said it can be used as a little "Kid Nation," or, as I like to call it, "Kid Island." It will be a while before we can use it, because of topic #4, but, all the same, we can't wait until we can build on it and decorate it. The means of getting to the other side ought to be easy. Pa could build a bridge, or do what Jess & Leslie did in the book/movie "Bridge to Terabithia," build a little rope swing. I can't wait!!

We are also transforming Underpond to Wonderpond! When we first got to the land, the pond was completely surrounded by small trees, ant piles, poison ivy, torn down tree branches and trees being killed by dead vines! That was quite an easy project, 'cause all Pa had to do was pull a bunch of weeds by hand, fetch his loppers and chop some vines at the base of the large trees, and take the chainsaw to some of the smaller trees and brush to clear out some good fishing spots. All we have to do now is pile up some scrap wood to burn. Pa is still prettying-up the pond, but it really does look beautiful!

Snake alert! Snake alert! Yes, it's true. There are snakes on the land, venomous ones and non-venomous ones. As mentioned in my intro, if we find a venomous snake, we'll kill it, but non-venomous snakes go free. In fact, we already found a non-venomous snake! Here's how it happened. Carrie, Pa, Granddaddy (Pa's pa's real-life grandparent name), Albert, and I were at the land working. Carrie was walking along the path to the house, when she spotted something long and black go across the sidewalk. She didn't scream, she just ran to Pa and Granddaddy and told them about what she saw. They confirmed that it was a snake, and Carrie show Pa where the snake had been. Pa found it, caught it, and showed us the unhappy non-venomous black racer snake. After that, we put him back into the lake. But that certainly won't be the end of us finding snakes.

Nice Neighbors are next to the land. Yes, they will also receive pseudonyms. Their pseudonyms are Willie, Mr. Mill, and Mrs. Mill. They own over 4 acres of land, and they are very nice. They live east of us, and Willie plays with us when he can. They have a dog named King, who kept food away from their other dog, killing it. We also have other neighbors. Their pseudonyms are Mr. Jake and Mrs. Jake. They are a sweet couple who sells fruit at a roadside market. In fact, one day, they both came by the land while we were there, and gave us a huge watermelon and three big, fat tomatoes! We ended up using them later that day for BLT's and dessert!

Yum. . . blackberries. When we got to the land, we found blackberry bushes!!!! When there were some blackberries ready, we picked some and ate them. Luckily, there was some honeysuckle for the chances of getting a blackberry that was completely BLECH! Only, there are thorns, and trees that could hold snakes. Pa will cut them down, though, when he gets around to it.

Finally, BIG HOUSE. It is great! There are 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, closets, a dining room that will probably get some sitting room stuff, an attic, and a living room! That's bigger than our present house! I LOVE IT!!!