Country Living

My parents bought an old house in December. They basically gutted it and started over. They moved in Memorial Day weekend and the house is still full of workers on any given day. I didn’t realize this until a couple of weeks ago when we were there celebrating my niece’s birthday.

We were standing in the kitchen and the electrician walked through the door. It was like Norm coming in Cheers. My brother offered him one of the burgers he’d just taken off the grill. The Child said, “Where have you been? I didn’t know you were here!” and followed him. I got the impression they were continuing a conversation they’d started earlier in the day.

A little later a neighbor came by with a chocolate pound cake. She knocked on the door and re-introduced herself to my mother. She couldn’t be enticed to stay or join the birthday celebration. She just wanted to say hello and bring a cake. I love that. I want to get to know her; that chocolate cake smelled out of this world.

Saturday afternoon my mom baked a strawberry pecan cake for that neighbor. You know you can’t return an empty serving dish. That’s the rule.