It Is My Pleasure To Explain Why I Began Creating The Carter Settlement (aka Carter Village) Seemingly In Reverse And Rather Indiscrete

As many of you know, I have aired on the side of incautious in the past. However, I feel my heart prompts me to write this and begin regardless of where my stems take me.

What would ostensibly be first things first would be the actual process of purchasing one's land and home before beginning renovations and dream erecting one's vision filled lustre, am I correct? As nothing remains, I shall be the first to admit, you know, the quote, "Man plans and God laughs." To explain what will be an entire platitude of my blog's content (The Carter Settlement erecting), I must begin at the start. I beg of you if you allow me the time I shall take to get there, cover all the spots, spinning and weaving, I shall bring you up to speed with compliance, Rumplestiltskin.

Let us begin. A few tears may pile up and the like, but it should provide some entertainment and fodder. When Sawyer was murdered (or should I say popped his clogs, as the word murder still jolts me back), Jeffrey and I decided the best thing would be to stay at my folk's home momentarily.

 My folks own what was once my grandparent's home. My dad purchased it from my grandmother nearly twenty years ago and allowed my grandmother a living estate until she passed. At one time (almost 100 years ago), my grandparents owned ten plus acres, and the surrounding land was left undeveloped for many years. However, as time passed, the ground was piece milled and sold off, and my grandmother's eight children all received a piece of land as their inheritance. Nearly all eight of the children eventually sold off their portions, which to me has been an utter crime, and that is putting it mildly. If you know me, which I'm sure you do, I dread anytime land gets bought. It means soon afoot, the land is cleared, modern atrocity appears, and new construction building begins. 

As the weeks have passed recently, the ten acres behind the creek has been getting a clearing, and each day I hear the chain saws, I want to literally cry tears. I'm so much like my mentor Beatrix Potter; I feel as though I can listen to her speaking to me through the trees. "This little corner of the country should be kept unchanged for the people who appreciate its beauty."-Beatrix Potter, 1928

"I'm sure I'm doing good in trying to save anything I can of our lake country from being vulgarised. As true education advances, the beauty of unspoilt nature will be appreciated; and it would be a pity if the appreciation came too late." -Beatrix Potter.

Perhaps a billionaire land developer to come in and buy up my block and hand it over to me to manage. You chuckle, but I believe in miracles. I've got rose coloured glasses permanently placed on my gigglemug, and I always get what I want. (Smile) However, I digress for this post's sake and your own.

As I previously stated, my grandparents acquired the ten acres (with 30 small little cottages, stables, gardens, farming, etc., which is how Carter Village originally was coined). However, Mismanagement, unusual property lines, zoning issues, and family disputes created conflict, and the land was eventually sold off. However, despite these matters, I'm a landlocked mermaid willing to wield the spirited water gods. I fully intend to manifest this entire block and place it back into the guardianship of yours truly. I'm quite the plotter when I want to be. It's a skill all women must learn. I think my grandmother Louise would approve. I have massive odds against me; however, I only see the positive. It is not that I am not aware there are many circumstances in my way; however, I refuse to see them as I am a supreme optimist, and I create my reality. We all must conclude that nothing stands in the way of progress or our desires unless we manage to let them. 

Now allow me to pivot into how my living here came to be nearly two years. Jeffrey and I clearly received a chunk load of money from selling his home in Tampa, which he owned for almost 20 years. However, it was not enough to buy the amount of land we wanted (40 + acres at a minimum), nor did we want to buy so quickly when settling back into living in the home town of our dreams. Having lived in over two dozen places in 24 years with my ex-mate, M, I knew what I didn't want in a home. Therefore, I was unwilling to settle on just anything to quench my thirst for homeownership.

Furthermore, too often, when a person attempts at driving in something for the feeling of completeness and control, it rarely sustains itself. Before you know it, they are off on craving something else, never satisfied. I've been down that route too often, and I was not enacting it again. So Jeffrey and I decided it would be best to cop a squat at my folks until we gathered our bearings. Furthermore, I was in dire pain from just a mere few months before losing Sawyer and felt I was in no way capable or of want in making any big life decisions; I was not in the place to do so. I had some healing to attend to, and honestly, my heart couldn't take another action. I was desperate for reprieve.

This is how the backwards idea of creating The Carter Settlement came to be. As I stayed sat at my parents, I was struggling with needing something to divert me from the mire of my thoughts and grief, so in an attempt to keep active, I asked my dad one day if I could turn his old storage room into a bit of a cottage. It had been restructured with new walls and interior, but everything else had been demolished down to the concrete. He was kind enough to say yes, and that's when I began to come alive again. I started to dream, and a little bit of joy began to fill my heart. I forlorned for a reason to live and bring back purpose into my life, and maybe this was it, I thought. However, life isn't always so cut and dry, is it? I still didn't realise the creations of my own mind. Most folks never recognise their sowing even when it's right before them, do they? I was still off on my way hither and thither of house hunting. I spent so much time looking outside when it was right before my eyes unwittingly. All of the things I desired were splattered in front of me. There were a few non-negotiables when having a home. I wanted my home to be small and cosy and possess a bit of heritage/legacy from my Carter family, a long winding driveway, and when I looked out of my kitchen window, I wanted to see my back potager garden while I washed my antique English bone china dishes. As time progressed, I would receive glimpses of those desires but dismiss them as pervasive thoughts crowded in and pushed them outwards.

The pear tree right in front of my window (of Scarlette Rose Cottage) has Sawyer's ashes beneath the trunk. 

This is our winding driveway as I look out of the front door of the cottage. 

I want to own the entire block; why go tiny? If one is to go considerably, one must go boldly and big. Not many folks go big because they can't see the forest for the trees. I've always been a girl who dreams vast. Look at those beautiful dreamers, such as Walt Disney, who was rejected dozens of times when he attempted to buy his land. He eventually owned massive quantities of Florida land, but remember, all of that was only a mere dream at one time. He had to dream it and keep dreaming it into being. All plans start with a thought just like mine.

So, all in all, the moral of this post is that often times when we think we have it all staked out and planned down to the t, It may be we simply must come at our vision from a new perspective. Life is scarcely how we plan it, and I believe I am learning it's perfectly alright not to know what the painting will look like until the end. I am trusting the process and 'Taking Joy' along the way. It's usually always a looking back and then realising what we've reaped so beautifully.

This is Carter's Cottage presently. Just you wait until it's all stoned,
with a thatched roof and new french casement windows. Can you imagine it!

Most affably yours til my next swim, Raquelxxx