Country Rules for City Girls. (7 thru 11)

 7. Be prepared for dust. When you live out in the middle of a piece of property, there aren't any other houses to act as buffers for dust from your fields (especially when they mow the hay), from the road (when drivers speed by at 45 instead of 25), and from your neighbor's fields (when they mow their own hay).  The dust will get all over your car, your porch, the house, outside furniture, outdoor lawn ornaments.  And just walking from your back door to your car in black patent-leather shoes will prove that point.

 8. Don't ever, ever pick up a garden hose until you've looked at it carefully from one end to the other. Spiders will build webs in it, snakes will curl up around it, lizards will be trying to get a drop or two out of the nozzle, and fire ants will build their mounds over whatever part of the hose is resting in the grass.

 9. Wear boots, wear boots. wear boots.  Even if you're going out there to water a few plants, wear boots. The one time you don't, you'll see a hawk up in the sky that will just be coasting on the breeze and you'll forget where you're walking and the next thing you know, you'll have a dozen fire ants in your shoes.

 10. Do not ever, ever pull up a weed unless you're wearing thick garden gloves.  Most of the weeds out here are pretty and even surprise you with tiny blooms..... but then there are the prickly weeds that stick into your fingers and make your eyes tear up as soon as the thorns pierce your skin.  And just forget those adorable little pink and yellow flowery gloves that they sell in the garden shops.... they're worthless unless you just want to stand there and look cute.  You need a good heavy leather garden glove that can withstand thorns and stickers and burrs.

11. Find yourself a sturdy tree branch that's about as tall as you are.... something that has fallen from one of your trees and didn't break in half when it hit the ground.  This branch becomes your spider-stick.  Whenever you walk under a rose arbor or underneath a low-hanging tree, wave that stick in front of you before walking underneath...... if there's a spider web there, the spider-stick will dislodge it before it gets stuck in your hair.  You'll look sort of strange doing all of this, and the neighbors will think Don Quixote has come to life, but at least you won't be standing there screaming and trying to get a spider out of your hair and its web out of your eyelashes.