This weekend we didn't go anywhere. No errands to do, nothing. On Saturday we spent a good chunk of the afternoon outdoors clearing a whole lot of junk out of our backyard. In actuality we just rearranged the junk, but it's much neater now. We did burn a lot of old, rotten wood that was piled up around my husband's workshop, stuff left from the previous home owner. We also finally moved the old shower stall and two toilets that were out there, also left from the previous owner. I'm so glad. The glaring white of the cast-off bathroom fixtures contrasted disturbingly with the woodland setting. So did the old tires. We moved those, too. It was a veritable junk yard back there. It was driving my husband crazy, but we had to wait until it got cold to do anything about it because here in Georgia a big pile of old wood, tires and toppled-over toilets are havens for snakes, spiders and scorpions. Not to mentions ticks that fall out of trees onto unsuspecting people. But all of those poisonous, blood-sucking, stinging things should be hibernating for the most part now so we were finally able to tackle the task of whittling down the junk pile that is our back yard.
It was while traipsing around rolling tires behind the shed and helping my husband move toilets that I made a thrilling discovery--a treasure trove of acorns! I didn't raid some squirrel's winter stash, but I did find scattered on the ground around the pile of old tires, lots and lots of big, fat, brown acorns, some with their little caps and others smoothly bald. I picked some of the best ones I could find and loaded both of my pockets. Why? For my woodland crafts projects, of course! Another idea I had was dusting them off and putting them in a little bowl on my coffee table so I could periodically scoop up a handful and admire their lovely, brown woodsyness. I also like the dry, clattering sound they make as I dump them back into the bowl. I enjoy pecans in much the same way.
I also discovered a lovely, pink mushroom which we tossed in the fire to see what would happen. I did tell my kids to move away from the fire and not inhale the smoke. I didn't want them to get high off of mushroom smoke or worse, poisoned.
Maybe next I'll find some beautiful pinecones. And twigs--nice, dry, snappy twigs.
3 comments:
I'll take a half-peck o them acorns if there are any left. I have a nice glass container they would look good in.
Sorry about the dangling preposition there.
Your favorite Poppsalatte
I love acorns. We didn't have any had woods in North Central BC, so the first time I saw an acorn in Georgia was a little like meeting a fairy - something about which I had always read, but never expected to encounter personally.
That's it exactly, Coralie. I think I associate acorns with fairies. You know the little acorn caps are just the right size for fairy bowls or fairy hats.
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