A lot has been done since we acquired this place.  We've brought in power, we got an old well going again with a new pump, new line, tank..., we've removed the old half collapsed house, and we've made a trail going by the creek and going back to the front. Now, we're ready for our first guest.  All the way from Texas, Leah came to visit.  It was very nice and sweet having our daughter Leah over.  We walked the trail, had a picnic, and just relaxed and enjoyed nature.  We believe Leah enjoyed the land also.  That made us happy. We trust more friends and family will be coming.

  Just beautiful! Animal prints are usual sightings.   Every corner of the creek seems unique.   Every walk along the creek brings a little surprise. We've seen rabbits (some big ones!), snakes, deer, turtles, lizards, lots of birds, all kinds of insects, and a great variety of flora.    Can you tell we enjoy this piece of land? It's a labor of love, transforming this place.  While taming the wild for us to be able to trek it and better appreciate it, we're also carving a nice usable spot for ourselves to sit down, camp, listen to nature, enjoy a camp fire.

 Demolishing and removing the partially collapsed house on the property has been our first big challenge. This has been an eyesore on the property and probably the reason other people did not want to buy this land.  We secured a demolition permit from the county and went to work. We ended up burning some of the debris, mainly wood, from the house because the dumpster company turned out to be most difficult to deal with.  Instead of picking up the dumpster and bringing another one, they would charge a trip fee without picking up the dumpster.  They claim the load is too heavy.  A fully loaded dumpster with bricks and cement pieces can be picked up and a lightly filled dumpster with mainly wood will be left for us to deal with.  They were full of games and made the process unnecessary unpleasant.    Johnny, our neighbor has helped us a lot with his tractor. We also rented another bigger tractor for part of the job.  Johnny's tractor was not des...

 A well is on top of our list of priorities.  We got one going.  Nice!  Now, we need a shed around it.  Debbie and I assembled a shed we bought at Home Depot.  Getting a shed on the very unlevel ground was a bit of a challenge.  Now we have a well and a shed for some storage.  We have also been clearing the land making paths like a crazy especially along the creek.    The inside of our new "well shed".  We love it! 

  This is what you would call a "diamond in the rough", but this is what we were looking for.  And we finally found it after a long search. A place in the country within an hour drive from Macon, with a creek or a pond, between 5 and 30 acres, with matures trees, and a feel of being in or close to nature.   This property has a half collapsed house that was a real eyesore.  People have dumped tires and other debris on the land. It has no utilities, no ingress or egress.  A little jungle so to speak.  We saw the challenge and decided to turn this place into a little gem, a sanctuary.  We were sold on the creek.  The briars did not bother us, the tires did not bother us, the invasive trees did not bother us (Chinese privets, tallow trees,  Smilax,...).  Here we come! The creek is called Auchumpkee Creek.  Debbie suggested we call the place "Auchumpkee Sanctuary".  I agreed. We started off with machetes and quickly upgraded fr...