This has nothing in particular to do with LGBT (except for the two gayguys who live here)

[HillWilliam]

Just come hang out with us for a few and enjoy seeing what I see every day. This is our little refuge from the world. We'd love to see you all here in real life some time.

When Rob was well, we used to host an "orphan dinner" every year: our LGBT friends whose families were far away would come over for Thanksgiving to break bread with us. We miss doing that, so if Rob's better soon, we'd like to have everyone over for a gathering later this year when summer's heat breaks. Think about it.

[Marrah_G]

1. What a gorgeous yard!

[HillWilliam]

2. Thanks, Marrah!

When Rob first showed me this property, he talked up the price and size of the place on the way up from town. When we got out of the car I started crying because I already kinda had my heart set on the place from his description. The yard was 3 or 4 feet high with weeds. No grass, just tall weeds. Our second-eldest dog was little more than a puppy at the time, and I lost her in the weeds. As I was looking around I caught the flail of her little feet in the air -- she had found a puddle of buck-pee and had thoroughly "perfumed" herself with it.

Guess who rode in the BACK of the van all the way back and got an immediate scrubbing. Ew!! Collies!!!

Since then I've created spaces where folks can hang out and talk or just sit and watch nature go by. We had a gathering about 3 years ago and we'd love to do it again. We cooked for a week and with 40 people coming to hang out with us, there still wasn't a scrap left. That's what we want to do again soon.

[Marrah_G]

4. what you have done is amazing

I have dreams of my own little retirement minifarm in VT. I don't know if I will ever get there, but if I do, I hope I have someone to share it with as you do. You sound truly, truly happy. My birth mother and sister live in NC and we've been talking about my taking a trip there if I can manage some time off.

[HillWilliam]

10. Let us know when you do!

Rob and I love VT, too. Everyone we met was so nice. VT is gorgeous. It would be on our list of places we could easily live if it weren't for the winters

[yellerpup]

3. Lovely refuge you have there!

Your home is beautiful and your lifestyle is rich in texture. Best of everything to the gayguys and the critters who live with them.

[Jamastiene]

5. Gorgeous!!!

I love it! I especially love the mimosa tree. That is a mimosa tree, isn't it? It looks like one to me. I love those.

[HillWilliam]

8. Yes indeed, that's a mimosa

There are two good-sized ones and a bunch of new sprouts coming up down the drive. On those late spring, early summer mornings when the air is still, they perfume up the whole hill.

[Rowdyboy]

6. Gardens are very special places....yours is spectacular....I would truly love to experience it

and to have you see ours. No, its not on exactly the same level but it represents us just as yours represents you and you would likr it.

[Jamastiene]

11. Seeing all this love for nature and gardens in this thread just warms my heart.

It is nice to be able to share and talk about love for nature like this. It makes me wish we could all have a virtual place online to play and become virtual neighbors. I would be willing to bet we would make the most awesome online virtual 3D community. I have always wanted to do that. I love being here in the LGBT Group with such compassionate, thoughtful, nature loving people.

[Rowdyboy]

12. Thats a really neat idea. This place is very special to me, going back to the very early days of DU

I remember when we got the original glbt room on the original DU (at least I think I do-my memories are increasing clouded by years of bad behavior). Living in rural Mississippi I have friends but no real LGBT community. The LGBT group on DU is the one place where I'm accepted, and I've been educated here through contact with you guys who do have meaningful gay communities. 10 years ago I thought gay marriage was a theoretical dream-today, thanks in large part to this group, I see that its as a historical impertive.

When I come to DU I check in here first-its always been home-base.

And gardening, along with cooking, are my passions. My partner and I've been working on our back yard for 23 years now and its a knock-out, both in vegetables and flowers.

[HillWilliam]

13. I'm convinced this group has much more in common

than we've explored. Love of growing things and green spaces is just one.

What I don't know about carpentry is a lot. This house is likely to remain "in repair" for a long while yet as I try to catch up. I'm sure I could learn, but it hasn't yet availed itself to me. I've picked on what I can pick on for now

My granny was a real mountain wise-woman; she knew every creature and plant around her. She knew "yarbs" (herbs) and could read the ground like most of us read a thriller novel. She made her own soap and the best wild strawberry jam the earth ever gave. I tried to absorb as much as I could while I could. While I've managed to forget a load of what she imparted (I was so young), I never lost the appreciation for Creation. It makes me happy to share a little of it with y'all.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Very nice!

I don't have that size of a yard, but ours is MUCH larger than the one we had in New Orleans, as a matter of fact, you could fit our entire NOLA property into our current backyard.

I would like to do something with it, but money is an issue and, well, I am not the greatest gardener, partly because I am allergic to just about anything that blooms or grows! I break out in hives if I sit in grass. But, we have great rose bushes, and irises, and a spattering of other plants.

[HillWilliam]

9. I lived in Baton Rouge for a while

and was in NOLA often. The company I worked for supplied the donor tracking software for WYES. I do love to visit NOLA, but haven't been in years and years.

We got extremely lucky to find this place. It has taken a lot of rehabbing on a shoestring budget, one tiny little project at a time. The yard is my plaything: I love watching things grow; nurturing is part of my being, whether its puppies, or plants, or friends.

[Rowdyboy]

14. It serves two purposes....showcasing your love or showcasing your artistic ability....

In my case, its mostly how I show my artistic side. Our garden is a constant compromise between my partner and me -a blend of our best ideas combined.

[HillWilliam]

15. Our grounds are still definitely a work in progress

I have the materials for another 100' of kiwi trellis, but need another body to run the two-man auger. The blackberries will take a few years to make a goodly patch. Trash trees (tupelos) to take out, an orchard to finish filling out.

Enough to keep me off the streets and out from underfoot. When DH is ailing and crabby I can take the girls out for a game of collieball. I can sit in my lawn chair by the lilypond and contemplate the gifts I've been blessed with. Rob can't get out much lately to enjoy it, but when he can, it pleases me to see him pleased.

I've got twenty Heinz VF tomatoes and a dozen German Johnsons this year, a patch of half-runners, and a patch of black beans. The squashes and cantaloupes didn't do so well this year. On the up-side, there's a brazillion little green blackberries, promising some awesome jelly come August.

[Amimnoch]

16. our valuable, and oh so little time back in the US is

dedicated to our families. That is a wonderful piece of wonderland you 2 have their though.

If you find yourself wanting some out of the US adventure in Rio De Janeiro sometime, by all means drop a line and I'd love to show you the city from our little penthouse on the beach in the Ipanema district.

[William769]

17. Two Gay guys that still make it worth going to N.C.

[beyurslf]

18. That's a very nice yard.

when I lived in NYC, we had a gathering of friends who wouldn't or couldn't go home.

[HillWilliam]

19. That's the way it was for us in Florida

We miss that, actually. Mind, we do enjoy the peace we have. We went from the madding crowd of the city back to our childhood country roots.

Stay tuned. As Rob continues to improve bit-by-bit, we're hoping to have a gathering toward the end of summer. While we have love and laughter, it's nice to fill the house up once in a while.

[beyurslf]

20. That sounds like a fine way to bring a summer to a close.:)