Enjoying the view

A week or so ago, a visitor to our house commented on the beautiful view that we have from our yard; flowers, fields, grazing cows, Amish buggies, etc. Typical Lancaster County scenery. She then continued to say…”Oh, but I guess you really don’t have much time to sit and enjoy it, do you?”

How right she was!

Keeping that in mind...yesterday, I did a horrible thing.  :)  I forced my kids to sit on the porch with me. It was a gorgeous day; low humidity, sunshine, a gentle breeze, a puppy playing at our feet! But alas, I ruined it! Shelling lima beans was on the agenda. My kids despise the job. They LOVE to eat them, but shelling is sheer torture!

I know the feeling. I disliked it as a child too! My three older sisters and I were subject to hours of slave labor ( just kidding!), sitting under a tree at the picnic table, singing silly songs at the top of our lungs, shelling lima beans until our fingers were numb. All the while, our Mother was bent over like a hairpin in the hot sun, picking lima beans until she could barely straighten up! Finally, she would come and sit under the tree with us, and help finish the horrid job.  (and you know what?  It really wasn't all that bad after all!)


Now the tables have turned…I am the horrid mother who forces her children to shell lima beans. But I know how good they will taste in the winter, served with milk and butter…and I can hardly wait to finish picking, so I can finally have an excuse to sit on the porch and enjoy the view!