Fifty Acres and a PoodleFor some of us , realizing that we require to move to the country , or admitting to ourselves that we ’ve always want it , is a process . For Jeanne Marie Laskas , a take over - and - raise city young lady , this is dependable . In Fifty Acres and a Poodle , she interweave a memoir out of a series of columns that first appeared in The Washington Post Magazine , that documents her move from suburban Pittsburgh to Scenery Hill , Penn . , with her boyfriend - turned - husband , Alex , and their two dogs , one of which is a Poodle — Standard , that is , not Toy .
As a child , Jeanne think a small farm that sit behind her parents ’ house where she would follow the sheep and sneak into the b to just sit and listen to her own thoughts . From those early times she believes the smell of land living was born in her and finally made it to the Earth’s surface as she was approach the geezerhood of 40 .
Through a serial of negotiations , Jeanne and Alex finally incur their 50 acres in the country and ship on a hilarious , yet heartwarming and familiar , story of life - altering experiences . From the get-go , the couple find ( particularly as they ’re moving in on the opening twenty-four hour period of buck - hunt season ) that tribe in the nation are different , and that unlike standards apply . Jeanne mark that when city people get quick to direct to the land , they put on their best Lands final stage and Eddie Bauer train , whereas tried - and - true country dwellers may not even know who Eddie Bauer is !
The issue of purdah , life and death , animal husbandry , friendship and family , and metropolis vs. nation More are all examined by the writer ’s “ think out loud ” writing style . With the patterned advance of each chapter , the author becomes more and more comfortable in her new surround and becomes more entrenched in her new world — the humankind of tractors , huntsman , Rosa multiflora nuisance , and the sheer fervor of the FedEx truck come up the private road . You get the feeling that the source has finally get to know herself — and like herself — during this transformational process .
I express joy , I yell … what can I say … two thumbs up ! I recommend this Word of God for anyone looking for a lighthearted , entertaining story of reliable hobbyhorse farming.—KKA
Snowball OrangesInstead of flowery prose about a brave escapade in a new land , in his book , Snowball Oranges , A Winter ’s Tale on a Spanish Isle , Peter Kerr humorously serves up the good , the bad and the ugly about extirpate one ’s crime syndicate and moving to a beautiful Spanish island to pursue a seemingly utopian hobby - land lifestyle . In Snowball Oranges , Kerr tell how a family leaves their abode in Scotland to grow oranges on the Mediterranean island of Majorca . But instead of a happy - ever - after cock-and-bull story , Snowball Oranges is about alien transplants who sometimes persist less than ideal experiences : a freak snowstorm ( hence the book ’s claim ) , buying dimension from a reasonably unscrupulous seller and the not - so - simple life-time in rural Spain .
The Scottish gag ( “ bloody tight - fisted , ” “ there ’s no goggle box to watch ” ) and the local tongue condition the Word of God ’s dialogue in a delicious way , even though it ’s exactly these language differences that make the family ’s passage so difficult .
But with every seriocomedy , however , come epiphany . A Majorcan backdrop localize the temper for what is one phratry ’s odyssey — migration , culture friction , and hardship — experienced together . Snowball Oranges is a playfulness read for anyone considering a move to a hobby - land lifestyle.—TM
