In January of 1999 we were in Florida for the dog show circuit. The Havanese had just been approved to compete for Championships at AKC dog
shows, and we decided to travel to Florida to show, since the dog shows in the Northeast are few and far between in winter. While enjoying the
sunny 80 degree weather, we watched the national weather report and saw that the Northeast was being blanketed with freezing rain and snow.
Suddenly we wondered why we were ever going back! The reality is we had a home and jobs there, so we returned to Connecticut, but
already the plans were in motion.
One day in August, our friend Lynn Nieto called from Florida to tell us that she had driven by "the perfect place" for us that day, and the owner was
there putting up a For Sale sign when she went by. She had stopped to talk to him, and he allowed her to take pictures of the property. Lynn
emailed us the photos that she had taken, and gave us the owner's phone number. We called him that night, and were on a plane headed for
Florida later that week. We left with a contract for purchasing the property in hand. Selling our home in Connecticut was another issue entirely, and
we were finally able to move to Florida in late 2001.
Our Florida Home
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The concrete block building on the left was
demolished and our house was built on the same site.
demolished and our house was built on the same site.
Part of the uncleared area of the back yard.
Edge of the road. A cow pasture is directly
across the road - see next photo!
across the road - see next photo!
Facing the side of the yard. Beyond our trees is a
168 acre farm.
168 acre farm.
The house nearing completion in August of 2002.
A screen porch was built over the dog runs to
protect them from insects, snakes, weather and
predators!
protect them from insects, snakes, weather and
predators!
Part of our flock of Guinea Fowl...the best
all-natural bug control on earth!!!
all-natural bug control on earth!!!
Our young niece, Susan Fagnand, passed away in June 2007. Two of her favorite things were butterflies and the color pink. The
garden bed below is being planted in her memory. It is still a work in process, but the butterflies come to the garden every day.
garden bed below is being planted in her memory. It is still a work in process, but the butterflies come to the garden every day.
These are some of the "neighbors" across the
road. There are dozens of them that live there.
road. There are dozens of them that live there.
The following photos were taken on December 24, 2008. This is one of the best parts of living in Florida - something is blooming year-round!
| Many harmless rat snakes live in our yard. |
A friendly Gopher Tortoise lives in the yard.
| One of the ever-present tree frogs!!! |
There are wild peacocks all over the state of Florida. This
male came to us as an adult and lived in our yard for several
years. We gave him one of the dog runs to live in at night to
protect him from predators. The branch visible in the upper
left corner was his sleeping perch.
male came to us as an adult and lived in our yard for several
years. We gave him one of the dog runs to live in at night to
protect him from predators. The branch visible in the upper
left corner was his sleeping perch.
Due to the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, we lost a number of large old trees in the uncleared area of the back yard. Over the next several years, we hired crews to come in
to remove the fallen trees, one area at a time. Finally, in 2010 we had the cleared area bushhogged, and then had a 6' wide path cleared all around the back fence line so
we could walk all the way around the back yard. We also had another path cleared from the house to the back fence, so we could walk into the middle of the property. We
had not previously been able to get into the back part of our property due to the jungle-like wild growth back there. We are now doing the remaining clearing on our own,
removing sapling trees, vines and weeds. It is a very long-term undertaking, but in the end, it will be well worth it.
While we found a large number of additional fallen trees in the back area that we could not previously get to, what else we discovered made it all worthwhile. To date, we
have found 16 orange trees, 2 grapefruit trees, a huge tangerine tree, uncounted numbers of loquat trees, and passion fruit vines, and we are almost certain there will be
more found as we continue to clear the area. A local man working on the clearing told us that our property was formerly a grove, and had been abandoned after a series
of extremely cold winters killed many of the trees. For the next 25+ years, it all just grew wild, and the oaks and magnolias took over, along with vines and palmettos, and
every type of big, bushy weed you can imagine.
to remove the fallen trees, one area at a time. Finally, in 2010 we had the cleared area bushhogged, and then had a 6' wide path cleared all around the back fence line so
we could walk all the way around the back yard. We also had another path cleared from the house to the back fence, so we could walk into the middle of the property. We
had not previously been able to get into the back part of our property due to the jungle-like wild growth back there. We are now doing the remaining clearing on our own,
removing sapling trees, vines and weeds. It is a very long-term undertaking, but in the end, it will be well worth it.
While we found a large number of additional fallen trees in the back area that we could not previously get to, what else we discovered made it all worthwhile. To date, we
have found 16 orange trees, 2 grapefruit trees, a huge tangerine tree, uncounted numbers of loquat trees, and passion fruit vines, and we are almost certain there will be
more found as we continue to clear the area. A local man working on the clearing told us that our property was formerly a grove, and had been abandoned after a series
of extremely cold winters killed many of the trees. For the next 25+ years, it all just grew wild, and the oaks and magnolias took over, along with vines and palmettos, and
every type of big, bushy weed you can imagine.
The new path along the back fence line.
Winding path leading to the house
from the back of the property. This
area needs to be cleared yet.
from the back of the property. This
area needs to be cleared yet.
This is the first orange tree we
discovered, marked with pink ribbon.
discovered, marked with pink ribbon.
This is the larger of the two grapefruit
trees, and is covered in fruit, still green
in this photo.
trees, and is covered in fruit, still green
in this photo.
The oranges above were still green when we
found the tree at left, but there is a lot of fruit
on it.
found the tree at left, but there is a lot of fruit
on it.
One of many passion fruit vines we discovered.
The tangerine tree out in the woods is
covered with fruit - and vines. The vine
removal project is going to be an ongoing
work project here for years to come. We
never knew this big tree was there until
several large oaks fell so we could see the
bright orange tangerines through the woods.
covered with fruit - and vines. The vine
removal project is going to be an ongoing
work project here for years to come. We
never knew this big tree was there until
several large oaks fell so we could see the
bright orange tangerines through the woods.