An Introduction

I am starting this blog with excitement and some trepidation. I have been reading my sister’s blog, Ash Lane Farm, for a few years and from there I have found others that I have really enjoyed. So I finally decided to join in the blog community.

I spent some time wondering, what will I write about? Will it be interesting enough for someone else to read, will I have enough to say? Then I decided to just write for myself. And hopefully you will enjoy reading about my life here at Anniversary Grove.

This is the photo of our house built in 1910. The photo was taken around 1920. You can see bushes and a fence with a shed to the north. But notice there are no trees. The second photo was taken yesterday.

Original photo of our house built in 1910.

Our house today. A major work in progress.

Not only can you see all the work that it will take to fix up the house, but you can see trees. And more trees, some of which are very big. There is a large grove to the west and to the north of the house. It was not taken care of for years, so it is overgrown with buckthorn trees. And the mulberry trees are trying to take over the buckthorn. The original elms are dying of Dutch elm disease, so falling branches and dead trees are everywhere. But here are some very nice trees that we are trying to save; a huge scotch pine, a very large maple and some huge old black willow trees. Every year we get a little more dead wood burned and more of the nasty buckthorn and mulberry saplings cleared out. Hubby has made cleaning up the grove his new hobby.

Since the name of the blog is “The View out My Window”, I would like to describe to you the views that I see. Out my west window is the grove, with some areas cleared for my flower garden and a pond garden. Not all the trees are in full leaf yet, but the predominate color is green. The wildflowers are starting to bloom and the birds are everywhere. I’ll give you the varieties of birds on another day.

Wild Violets in the grove.

Out the north window you can see our north yard, our outbuildings, the old windmill frame, some more of the grove and then a field. The last 2 years the field was planted with corn, so I imagine that this year it will be soybeans.

Out the east window is a windbreak, then cornfields and CRP land. At least I hope it will be corn this year. Corn is much nicer to look at then soybeans, and it also serves as more of a windbreak. The photo at the top of the blog was taken looking east during a beautiful foggy sunrise.

Out the south window is our front yard, full of maple, ash, elm, and large mulberry trees. And beyond that is another field, which again, I hope will be corn. We have planted a hedgerow of lilacs, a hedgerow of red twig dogwood and a hedgerow of honeysuckle across the front. We are trying to slow down the horrible south winds that we get here. That predominate south wind blows most of the year now.

So that is what I see out my windows. Right now it’s green and beautiful. But in the winter, it is still wonderful. The closest neighbor is ½ a mile away. And normally, we only see 2-3 vehicles a day on the county road, which is a ¼ mile from the house. So it is calm, peaceful, and quiet. And I never want to leave. This is my forever home.

I hope that gives you an idea of my little slice of heaven. Please come by again. We’ll have a cup of tea and you can share the view out my window.