Good evening everyone !!!



I though I would spend a little time on my second official Blog entry to build a little history of the years before and immediately after Bobby and Shirley Carter gave us their beloved farm. You see, they came to our house in Augusta, GA. December 30th of 1999. Their reason for a visit then was two fold. 1. to celebrate the new millennium with us and 2. to ask us if we would take on the "Farm' after they were gone , if not before. We were very excited and the celebration of 2000 meant alot more to us than usual.

While the Folks still lived here during 200o-2004, we made plans to take on our new upcoming life style. We bought all -terrain weather-proof boots for each of us, and pond waders for Dudley, along with the 10 triploid grass carp (fish) to keep the weeds out of the pond. We dug a new large pond, we put up miles of barbed wire to keep the cows out of our "new" pond and plantings. We planted evergreens along the busy road and various other trees throughout the barren pastures. We sprayed to kill hundreds of wild rose bushes, thistles and blackberry thickets. We bought a DR Mower, a 4-wheeler, a 4 wheeler trailer, a bush-hog, a weed-eater, and a chain saw, only to name a few of the expensive equipment needed to really be 'FARMERS". Then tragedy struck.


March 2004 both Shirley and Bobby, our beloved parents, feel ill to the Flu. Because of livelong smoking and general poor health, they did not do well, with Papa dying immediately and Nana dying 4 months later.
We were torn between the shock of the sudden illness and the comfort that they were not apart for too long. They were cremated and sprinkled together, as to their wishes, on Cemetery Hill.

Now What ? Family pulls us together in time of need and we will never forget the help that Dale and Pat were to us in getting the house and affairs in order.

Dudley and I then took advantage of the time we had to redi the house and property for our upcoming retirement in 2006. We had trees, chicken coops and barns taken down, driveways re-positioned and hired an architect to look at what we could do with the house built by Adam and Vergie Hicks 100 years before.

With an emphasis on upgrading, insulating, heating and cooling efficiently, contractors put in a wood burning stove, a trash compactor, a whole house fan, replaced cloth wire and copper pipe, insulation was added to rooms with none, walls removed for expanding families,100 year old oak floors refurbished and porches enlarged. Every effort was made to sustain the original charm of the country farmhouse but bring it up to modern convenient standards. The grandchildren approved ..so we knew that we had done it.

So , with that past in mind I offer my daily notes of how it has been since we have moved in, much has happen before I started my Blog, but i will slowly interweave the past with the present. be patient and a whole new world will open up before you. I promice. Thankyou for reading. Sandi