Just Getting Started....

Please bear with me. I'm setting up a blog that might enable you to find just what you are hoping for!
Thanks for your patience.

Deb

In the beginning..

Greetings Dear Reader,

I was hoping to find you in the process of planning ahead for your move with the Fort Knox KY Human Resources Center for Excellance BRAC 2010 - 2011. You see, we, too, are planning ahead. We are looking for just the right buyer for our property here in Rineyville, Ky, about 16 miles or 20 minutes to Fort Knox. We both work there as civilians. Elizabethtown KY is only 6 miles the opposite direction with all the usual conveniences of small city living.

Here is the scoop:

April 2005 we sold our farm and moved to the "city". Ha! Most would laugh at the reference of Rineyville as a "city", but when you are accustomed to having 100 acres to yourself, even a subdivision does seem urban!

We searched for months and finally found our home. Of course it wasn't quite a home yet - a new construction with the obligatory builder landscaping - 10 shrubs and a tiny 12 x 12 deck. Very cookie cutterish. But it had the bones that we were looking for and was very convenient to post without being in an area that was too crowded...definite potential. There were a few mature trees on the hilltop, 1.4 acre lot. It is located at the back of a cul-de-sac with 3 other neatly maintained houses and is bordered on the back side by a lovely established home on a farm. The house had an attached 2 car garage and a tiny 4 foot deep front porch. But that was soon remedied. We now have a lovely rocking chair front porch with composite decking for low maintenance. And the pitiful little deck on the rear has been replaced by a comfortable, true southern porch complete with a ceiling fan. There is plenty of room for entertaining and relaxing on a spring, summer or fall day/night. It is quite fun to decorate at Christmas time,too!

Our German Shepherd was accustomed to having plenty of room to roam on the farm but living in a neighborhood would require a change. $5000 later and we had a lovely white vinyl picket fence - sort of a "Mayberry" look, for those of you who may remember Opie and Aunt Bea. Fenced in is a large "L" shaped area that serves a dual purpose. The dogs have plenty of space for exercise and I had a nice area for building a flower garden.

That flower garden has evolved into an oasis for us. Through the years I have learned to lean more heavily on perennials and biennials and much less on annuals. Springtime is now much less backwork - just freshening the mulch and pulling a few weeds. It is a pleasure to watch the plants begin to awaken from a winter's slumber. In this area, the Red Bud trees are the first to bloom, overlapped the 3rd week of April by lovely dogwood trees. There are at least 5 of each on the property. A darling bleeding heart plant follows close behind. In the garden I also have a pussy willow, several buddleia, Rose of Sharon, wiegela, burning bushes and 2 mock orange shrubs. My peonies (10, I believe) are a sight to behold when they bloom around Memorial Day. Other plants include baptisia, both oriental and day lilies, blue victoria salvia that doesn't realize it is supposed to be an annual, but returns each summer. There are several gorgeous iris - white, lavender and soft yellow, hollyhocks, foxglove, Dame's Rocket and lots of different hostas and ferns. I have a few herbs, too.

I really hope I can find a place in North Carolina that someone else has been lovingly preparing for me. It will be sad to leave this behind. But I have a new granddaughter, my first, and my huband has agreed that we should relocate. She is my new flower to nuture. OK, enough of that.

Also setting inside the fenced area is a 2 story 3 car garage size building that serves as my husbands wood working shop and my art studio. It is white, matching the color of the house with the same long-life dimensional-shingle roof. We had that built at the same time that the 2 porches were added when we first moved in. We were planning to retire here and wanted everything in place to serve our needs. It has it's own HVAC system. The space could accomodate other uses quite easily - a teen or Mother-in-Law retreat, a day care, a hobbyist, a motorhead, etc. It is really a fun place for us to pursue our woodworking, painting and sewing interests while being only a few steps from the back porch.

Outside the white vinyl picket fence, while in the back yard gardening or just relaxing, we enjoy exceptional privacy. One of the first things we did was to prepare the vegetable garden area- composted horse manure, oak leaves, straw and 4 summers later it is absolutely wonderful soil! My husband constructed a garden shed for me in that area. It's a lovely, roomy stick built structure, 12 x 16. He even included a space in the "loft" for my gourds to dry. It's not quite the barn at the farm, but I call it my city barn.

Other noteworthy features on the property are 9 pine trees, 3 ash, a young tulip poplar (the state tree of Kentucky according to most references) 2 hickory trees, 3 curly willow, a sweet gum, a red maple and my lovely old-fashioned beautifully fragrant lilacs that I brought from the farm -10 in all! Oh, I also have a small ginko tree - male I hope! I suppose this is incredibly boring if you are not a plant lover, but you could easily be persuaded, I bet!

The driveway is quite long, by subdivision averages. It is concrete and opens out in the back to provide lots of parking for guests. It would also be a nice place for a basket ball goal.

This is installment #1 of several to follow. My fingers are getting tired. I didn't intend to write such a lengthy post, but I do want to give as complete and accurate description of our property as is possible. Thank you for reading - Perhaps you are the one we have been preparing for! ;-)