It's where people feel free to call the sheriff when they see something suspicious going on at a property nearby, without feeling like they are interfering. It's where you'll stop your car at the side of the road and put somebody else's calf (dog, goat, chickens) behind the fence when they wander out. It's where people down the road will include their kids' pictures in their Christmas cards because they KNOW you have watched their children growing up and would appreciate it. It's where produce is left on your doorstep at harvestime when somebody else's garden has been bountiful. It's when you know all the local political candidates on a first name basis. It's where jobs are found mostly by word of mouth. It's where one can have a great lunch in the little diner overlooking the livestock area of the sale barn. It's where people laugh when they hear expressions like bling and have to ask what it means. It's where you can go to the bank in bibs, wellies and have manure hanging on your heels and nobody seems to notice. It's also where you consistantly vote for tax increases for your fire department, because you know those who man the engines and ambulences are volunteering their time without pay and you appreciate what they do.

I have a cement bench in front of a large Heliconia "Criswick" that fronts the pond. When I first planted the greenhouse I was in a rush. We moved to this house about 3 years ago this week. I commissioned to have the greenhouse built by a company in Central FL. But I had to go through all sorts of BS with the local government about permitting....basically them saying I needed permitting when I really didn't. They set me back about a month. By the time the greenhouse construction was complete, it was October. October is still hot here, but we can have high 30's in November. I had all these plants in 20-30 gal containers...heliconias, etlingeras, unusual calatheas...as well as 400 orchids and a bromeliad collection of about 150 plants and other assorted stuff...I needed to get it in fast. So I laid out a schematic and planted all the big plants. Within 8 months of going into the ground, the plants almost all doubled in size. Things that reference materials said would only get 8 ft were 14-15 ft, it was CRAZY. Stuff was getting shaded out. I started on a long range plan to eliminate some stuff that I felt I could do without. I decided to keep only the "cream of the crop". I pared a heliconia collection of over 40 different cultivars down to about 15. Since then I have pared it down even further. Anything that could survive zone 8B as a perennial went out into the yard. Lots of stuff got dug up and put back in pots. That's where I am now. I am about to re-landscape the greenhouse with all the stuff I decided I couldn't live without. I put in the pond and then the stream, and am ready to go to town. We live on 5 acres and got this land and a large house for a lot less than you would think at the time when interest rates were ROCK BOTTOM. We sold our old house for 1 1/2 times what we paid for it, which was a surprise to us. Everything just kind of worked together to allow me to get this built. Its nothing fancy on the outside, just a steel frame, foundationless building glazed with single thickness corrugated clear Lexan. The problem here in FL is not heating in winter..the real challenge is cooling in summer.

And I might add fairly indestructible. My two small plants were on the edge of a backflow from a small lake. This year we have had so much rain that they were under more than two feet of water right about the time they should have been popping up. They survived and are now showing the tops, over the still high water level.It will be interesting to see what all comes back on the edge of the lake after being under water for so long. Gives me something to look for!

Teacher always said, 'Show your work.' Here's those two houses. Kind of interesting for me: the Peoria house is on what used to be called 'High Wines Road,' where the Peoria whiskey distillers all lived, which is why the district is crowded with beautiful old homes like this. I look forward to seeing your pictures. The house in Peoria, via Google maps. The house in Muskegon, via Google Maps.