When we were thinking of buying La Maison, we found out that there is a stipulation (or covenant) for living here: no more than three animals in any domicile on the street. Considering we have eight pets, I assumed immediately that we couldn't buy the house. John tried to convince me that we could just keep the dogs in the house and rotate them out in intervals so that only three were in view at any one time. One of the reasons I wanted to leave our home in PA was because of the 24/7 stress of the dogs in the backyard, barking at anyone who happened to walk by (I will forever curse the neighborhood vote that put in the walking track bordering our house two years after we moved in). The last thing I wanted to do was to have to worry even more about neighbors and attempting to hide our dogs or keep them quiet. However, our realtors, trying to make a sale, convinced us to walk around to the individual neighborhood houses and ask the owners if they cared if we had animals (five dogs to be specific).
I'm convinced that our property is one of the best in the area. We looked at other homes and pieces of empty property, and there was seriously nothing like La Maison's. Our house is at the end of a cul-de-sac, and it's a long 14 acres. We have a pond bordering the one long side, and a small stream and gully bordering the other. The only people who would actually possibly see or hear our dogs would be two homes across the pond (probably a half mile away) and the our direct neighbor whose property borders the entrance to our driveway.
We attempted to visit four houses, and two of the neighbors were home. Wow, what incredibly friendly people! I knew that if the dog situation wasn't approved, I was going to feel sad losing these people as neighbors. In fact, they hardly even wanted to talk about the dogs at all, but instead wanted to talk about our house and asked us a million questions about ourselves. I think we had impromptu neighbor interviews if I'm being honest. Maybe if we hadn't passed those, they wouldn't have approved the five dogs. Who knows?
Anyway, the first neighbor (and the one whose property borders ours) was quick to dismiss the dog discussion. In fact, his response was, "We live on a ****** nature preserve. You'll see everything out here, including coyotes. Oh, and us and the neighbor next door? We don't even fence our dogs. They just run around."
I could hardly believe what he was saying. After 11 years of having neighbors who report each other to the police (especially when their dogs are loose, and who, I swear, watch us with binoculars out their windows), it was so surprising to meet people who feel the same as we do! And it was only a week or two after John moved into La Maison that he called me at Interlochen and told me I had no worries about any noise our dogs might make, because that evening, the second set of neighbors were target practicing in their backyard with rifles. These the people who have a taxidermied black bear in their front hall!
The nature preserve comment stuck with me, mostly because I was worried about the safety of my own dogs if coyotes or foxes are lurking around. However, in the five weeks I've now lived in La Maison, I've discovered that yes, there's some dog-like animal running around, but there's a whole lot more. In fact, as the days move on, I feel more and more like Radagast the Brown, and his forest menagerie :-)
Sandhill cranes. The previous owners mentioned "the herons" when we were signing on the house. They told us that they are beautiful to look at, but they can be destructive if they get close to the house. Well, as it turns out, they aren't herons, but they are cranes, and they are our frequent welcoming party when we turn onto the driveway. Not everyday, but most days, they are walking along the driveway, crossing back and forth. They are always in a pair. Even when I'm in the house, I know they're there, because if nothing else, they are LOUD! At first, I thought we had some kind of hoarse turkey running around the property, but as it turns out, it's the cranes. And when I take the dogs out for a walk, the cranes don't fly away, but walk slowly away, tossing deafening threats at the dogs. I actually thought it was just the two, but the other day, there was a FLOCK of cranes flying over our pond. And naturally, they were all warbling. It was quite a sight!
Geese. In comparison to the cranes, the even larger gaggle of geese is quieter. Who would've thought? They aren't permanent residents of the pond, but they stop in for a rest and then keep flying.
Chipmunks. So far, I've counted three chipmunks off our front porch. I probably wouldn't notice them, except they must be in some kind of competition with the cranes, because they are loud too! In fact, the other day, I laid down to rest my back, but all efforts to fall asleep were thwarted by the incessant "chirps" of the chippie. I don't know if it's just one who is the main caller, or the three rotate, but inevitably there is a chippie perched on the corner of our front porch chirping for a good 20-30 minutes at a time. The cats enjoy looking out our low hung windows all day, watching the chippie antics. And when I go for my daily walk now, I've come to appreciate how many chipmunks are hiding in the woods because I can hear ALL of them!
Blue jays. I've always loved jays despite the majority of the birding world seeing them as bullies. My grandfather used to chase them away from his bird feeders because they would scare away the smaller songbirds. However, I associate their sound with summers in my grandparents' back yard in Tallahassee, so I love them. We would occasionally have one in the forested area near our house in PA, but it was hit-or-miss with him. Here, we have so many, and I hardly even hear them. In fact, if I had an animal that would sing me the song of my people, it would be a blue jay :-)
Woody the Woodpecker. Okay, I haven't gotten a close enough look yet. It could be Nestor the Nuthatch, but for now let's stick with Woody. John asked me a couple of weeks in if I heard a constant tapping in the morning. He said that he thought it was a woodpecker. I hadn't heard anything (maybe I'm sleeping more soundly because I'm not getting my afternoon naps thanks to Chip?), and I honestly didn't believe John. However, the other morning I heard the LOUDEST sound in our house. When I walked into John's closet, it felt like somebody was forcefully hitting nails into the drywall just inches from my ear. I walked around and outside to the deck (aka our Catio) and sure enough, some hard-beaked bird was going at it into our wooden siding!
Squirrels. Thankfully, the squirrels don't make much noise, at least not that I can hear, but they play a dangerous game of chicken. I can't tell you the number of times I've almost hit one as I come down the driveway. It feels as if they sit behind a tree just waiting for one of our many cars to come barreling towards home. I have no doubt that I will kill one or two of them within a year.
John has seen some dog-like animal running into the woods. We don't know if it's a fox or a coyote, but the cats only go out under my supervision.
Deer. We have deer, but they hang out on the far edge of our property, away from the house. I don't like deer, and the farther away they are, the better.
We have another set of animals around, but we know them a little bit better. And obviously, one of them isn't bothered at all by Chip's afternoon calls.
The best part of living here though is that we never see another human being around, near, or in the vicinity of our home. And thankfully our dogs don't either. For the first time in eleven years, I'm not stressed out about them barking, or breaking through a fence, or eating a small child. In fact, we have no fence, and consequently we have no problems.
There are so many things we love about living here, but the one that comes to mind today, is the fact that we live in a ****** nature preserve :-)
I'm convinced that our property is one of the best in the area. We looked at other homes and pieces of empty property, and there was seriously nothing like La Maison's. Our house is at the end of a cul-de-sac, and it's a long 14 acres. We have a pond bordering the one long side, and a small stream and gully bordering the other. The only people who would actually possibly see or hear our dogs would be two homes across the pond (probably a half mile away) and the our direct neighbor whose property borders the entrance to our driveway.
We attempted to visit four houses, and two of the neighbors were home. Wow, what incredibly friendly people! I knew that if the dog situation wasn't approved, I was going to feel sad losing these people as neighbors. In fact, they hardly even wanted to talk about the dogs at all, but instead wanted to talk about our house and asked us a million questions about ourselves. I think we had impromptu neighbor interviews if I'm being honest. Maybe if we hadn't passed those, they wouldn't have approved the five dogs. Who knows?
Anyway, the first neighbor (and the one whose property borders ours) was quick to dismiss the dog discussion. In fact, his response was, "We live on a ****** nature preserve. You'll see everything out here, including coyotes. Oh, and us and the neighbor next door? We don't even fence our dogs. They just run around."
I could hardly believe what he was saying. After 11 years of having neighbors who report each other to the police (especially when their dogs are loose, and who, I swear, watch us with binoculars out their windows), it was so surprising to meet people who feel the same as we do! And it was only a week or two after John moved into La Maison that he called me at Interlochen and told me I had no worries about any noise our dogs might make, because that evening, the second set of neighbors were target practicing in their backyard with rifles. These the people who have a taxidermied black bear in their front hall!
The nature preserve comment stuck with me, mostly because I was worried about the safety of my own dogs if coyotes or foxes are lurking around. However, in the five weeks I've now lived in La Maison, I've discovered that yes, there's some dog-like animal running around, but there's a whole lot more. In fact, as the days move on, I feel more and more like Radagast the Brown, and his forest menagerie :-)
Sandhill cranes. The previous owners mentioned "the herons" when we were signing on the house. They told us that they are beautiful to look at, but they can be destructive if they get close to the house. Well, as it turns out, they aren't herons, but they are cranes, and they are our frequent welcoming party when we turn onto the driveway. Not everyday, but most days, they are walking along the driveway, crossing back and forth. They are always in a pair. Even when I'm in the house, I know they're there, because if nothing else, they are LOUD! At first, I thought we had some kind of hoarse turkey running around the property, but as it turns out, it's the cranes. And when I take the dogs out for a walk, the cranes don't fly away, but walk slowly away, tossing deafening threats at the dogs. I actually thought it was just the two, but the other day, there was a FLOCK of cranes flying over our pond. And naturally, they were all warbling. It was quite a sight!Geese. In comparison to the cranes, the even larger gaggle of geese is quieter. Who would've thought? They aren't permanent residents of the pond, but they stop in for a rest and then keep flying.
Chipmunks. So far, I've counted three chipmunks off our front porch. I probably wouldn't notice them, except they must be in some kind of competition with the cranes, because they are loud too! In fact, the other day, I laid down to rest my back, but all efforts to fall asleep were thwarted by the incessant "chirps" of the chippie. I don't know if it's just one who is the main caller, or the three rotate, but inevitably there is a chippie perched on the corner of our front porch chirping for a good 20-30 minutes at a time. The cats enjoy looking out our low hung windows all day, watching the chippie antics. And when I go for my daily walk now, I've come to appreciate how many chipmunks are hiding in the woods because I can hear ALL of them!Blue jays. I've always loved jays despite the majority of the birding world seeing them as bullies. My grandfather used to chase them away from his bird feeders because they would scare away the smaller songbirds. However, I associate their sound with summers in my grandparents' back yard in Tallahassee, so I love them. We would occasionally have one in the forested area near our house in PA, but it was hit-or-miss with him. Here, we have so many, and I hardly even hear them. In fact, if I had an animal that would sing me the song of my people, it would be a blue jay :-)
Woody the Woodpecker. Okay, I haven't gotten a close enough look yet. It could be Nestor the Nuthatch, but for now let's stick with Woody. John asked me a couple of weeks in if I heard a constant tapping in the morning. He said that he thought it was a woodpecker. I hadn't heard anything (maybe I'm sleeping more soundly because I'm not getting my afternoon naps thanks to Chip?), and I honestly didn't believe John. However, the other morning I heard the LOUDEST sound in our house. When I walked into John's closet, it felt like somebody was forcefully hitting nails into the drywall just inches from my ear. I walked around and outside to the deck (aka our Catio) and sure enough, some hard-beaked bird was going at it into our wooden siding!
Squirrels. Thankfully, the squirrels don't make much noise, at least not that I can hear, but they play a dangerous game of chicken. I can't tell you the number of times I've almost hit one as I come down the driveway. It feels as if they sit behind a tree just waiting for one of our many cars to come barreling towards home. I have no doubt that I will kill one or two of them within a year.
John has seen some dog-like animal running into the woods. We don't know if it's a fox or a coyote, but the cats only go out under my supervision.
Deer. We have deer, but they hang out on the far edge of our property, away from the house. I don't like deer, and the farther away they are, the better.
The best part of living here though is that we never see another human being around, near, or in the vicinity of our home. And thankfully our dogs don't either. For the first time in eleven years, I'm not stressed out about them barking, or breaking through a fence, or eating a small child. In fact, we have no fence, and consequently we have no problems.
There are so many things we love about living here, but the one that comes to mind today, is the fact that we live in a ****** nature preserve :-)
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