Where has Backyard Getaway gone?

[Backyard Getaway (Lisa)]

Backyard Getaway is alive & well. We are officially moved in at "Fort Getaway". In case you hadn’t heard we were offered a wonderful opportunity to move our home & business to a property in Myakka City. I know it seems like we had disappeared over the last couple of months but, Dave, the guys & I have been spending all our free time making the new place beautiful again all the while working on pond installations, regular maintenance jobs, our pond tour & of course moving. We had no intentions to move from the home we have lived in for the last 23 years or to move our business once again, but, sometimes an opportunity is too good to pass up.

Almost two years of sitting empty had turned the property into a jungle or as our vet said last week..."The place looks like Jurassic Park". We are not yet ready for visitors but we are working on it. The new property is 5.5 acres & has two natural spring fed ponds, a cement turtle pond in an aviary, a building for our store front/warehouse, horse barns & other out buildings along with our house which has skylights in every room & an amazing screened in porch that wraps around all four sides of the house. The property has an 8’ high stockade fence around it giving it the feel of a fort, hence the name Fort Getaway.

It's been an interesting adventure so far. We have uncovered cement slabs & pole barns that we didn't know were there, we adopted a horse & pony who decided to take a walk & meet the neighbors two days after arriving at their new home, we survived two weeks with no house phone, no cell service, no internet and best of all, I've been introduced to some of the largest & strangest bugs I have ever seen in my life. Did I mention we are also getting goats? Ah, farm living! Seriously, there are spiders & grass hoppers as big as your hand! Yes, I know I work outside with plants; I should be used to bugs. Anyone who knows me knows how much I "love" bugs, so much so that the guy at the Do-it-yourself pest shop in Bradenton is now my new best friend. At least the bugs are worked out of the phones.

Waste Pro, on the other hand, isn't too happy with us. During the first round of clean up there was so much yard waste, construction debris & odd trash items set out by the road that it took four truck loads to remove it all. Guess what, there is still more. Round two has started but this time it's only yard waste. Here is an interesting fact you may not know... in Manatee county you get one free "extraordinary" pick up a year. No matter how much stuff or how big the pile they will take it all. Of course you have to separate the yard waste from the household waste.

Along with the trees trimmed, the property mowed & the house cleaned & painted we have managed to clean out the fossilized manure from the main barn & fix up the aviary. The turtle pond in the aviary is now home to six red eared sliders, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, Rafael, Splinter & Shredder, all named by our grandson after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of course. The main stable barn will be used for the horses who are adjusting nicely to their new home. Both of the natural ponds are spring fed which is great for keeping our Water Lilies & Koi. The larger pond at the back of the property will house our Lilies & allow us to keep more available for our customers. Dave is in the process of renovating the smaller front pond which can be seen from the front windows of our house. He added a fountain to the pond and made it wider & deeper. He plans to add a waterfall, bridge & dock to the pond in the near future. Meanwhile, our Koi love their new home filled with spring water instead of tap water, even if the water is a bit muddy. We will still offer Koi for sale. One of the pole barns will house the holding tanks from our old location. There is also a plan for a veggie/herb garden. For now, I am happy to be able to look out my office window & see the Oak tree filled with song birds & just beyond that the water from the fountain splashing on the pond instead of the field of dog fennel that was there just two weeks ago.

[Backyard Getaway (Lisa)]

Thanks Amy, we are tired but loving every minute of it. We are planning an open house for early fall, you should stop by to check it out.

[Amy Warren, LMHC / WQ Mag Columnist]

This is the perfect project for the two of you. If anyone can turn a neglected jungle into a tropical paradise, it's the two of you. I know your rewards will be many.