I (daughter Lovina) decided to write Mom’s column for her today. It’s been a while since I wrote, and a lot has changed. Daniel and I are married now. We’ve moved into our small place on a secluded dirt road. The house is very cozy. There’s quite a bit of wildlife around here. Deer roam around everywhere; rabbits, too. The birds are always chirping, and I love being out here in the countryside, where there’s hardly any traffic.

Speaking of wildlife, we even have some in our walls. There’s a squirrel that lives in our wall. He’s lived here ever since my sisters Susan and Verena lived here. Susan then got married to Ervin and moved about a quarter mile from here. Verena lived here for a while longer, and now she has moved home. Now here we are—we get the honors of living here, too.

We just can’t quite figure out where the squirrel is coming in. I named him Bruno. The only issue I have with Bruno is that he runs laps in our bedroom ceiling when I’m trying to sleep. His nails must be pretty long, because they make a lot of noises. I wish I could request a pedicure. Bruno gets us up in the morning with his loud scratchy feet. Who needs a rooster when you’ve got a squirrel.

Every once in a while, when I’m laying in bed, I’ll hear him creeping across the ceiling over me. Then I’ll smack the wall really hard and scare him. You can hear him take off, but he can’t get a grip right away and his feet will be spinning under him for a bit. Bruno has lived here way longer than us, and he’s done everything but pay rent.

We have our horse Buddy over here, too. Daniel fenced in some pasture, which also leads up to the barn where he has shelter and water.

The other day I helped Daniel do some more fencing so Buddy has more grass to eat. Then we saddled Buddy up and rode him for a while.

We have two dogs, Ace and Shadow. Ace is an Australian Shepherd/Jack Russell male and Shadow is a poodle/Jack Russell female. We have two pigs, but they are at Daniel’s parents’ right now. We still have to move them over here. Moving pigs is always a hassle; they squeal really loud and run away. We got baby chicks a couple weeks ago and right now we have them in a big box under a heat lamp. They are so cute when they’re small.

Yesterday Daniel mowed while I weed-eated. It made the place look way more cleaned up. This year we put our first garden out on our own. The rows aren’t straight and the weeds get the better of us but, hey, stuff is growing and it tastes alright.

It is very different being married. We’ve both lived with our parents all our life, and now we are living on our own. We try to visit often, and of course we miss them more and it is something to get use to. We are excited to start a life of our own together and sad to move out of our old life—although we are very happy, and it’s fun playing house.

Daniel and I like to grill a lot of our meals. Tonight, we grilled ribs and had a vegetable soup to go with it. Last week was Daniel’s first day back to work since the wedding. I packed him some lunch with some lemonade and sodas. While he went to work, I went to Mom and Dad’s for the day.

Today Daniel and I cleaned out an area in the barn for the pigs so we can go pick them up sometime. We also did some laundry and weeded the garden. A lot of the time we choose to help each other with the outside work and then go do the inside work together instead of working separately.

I think it would go faster if we would work separately, but we like being able to talk to each other. Around 5:30 we quit for the night and decided to relax instead. I imagine it will take a while until we are fully settled in, but so far it’s going great and life is treating us good.

We are very thankful for all the wedding gifts. It gave us a great head start and we are so lucky to have people helping us the way they do!

I hope you all enjoyed this column. I enjoy writing it.

God bless!

Zucchini Brownies
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups zucchini, finely shredded
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350° F. Melt chocolate chips and oil together until smooth. Stir in honey and let cool slightly. In a large bowl, add eggs and vanilla, whisking to combine. Then stir in grated zucchini. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. Pour into a greased 9 x 13-inch brownie pan. Bake for 22–25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool before slicing.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, The Cherished Table, The Essential Amish Cookbook, and Amish Family Recipes, are available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email  LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.