I have had quite the hiatus from my blogging ... TWO YEARS actually, but I am back and ready to post again!  

I have never posted as to how MapleWalk came to have our third property, so I will continue with MapleWalk's development and addition of the third property:

One day I received a call from our neighbor at 4255 Kingswood Road.   Frank and Katherine Joffrion had been our neighbors since we had moved into the Kingswood neighborhood.  Frank wanted to let us know that they had just put their name in at Matthews Glen (formally Plantation Estates) retirement community.  They didn't know how long it would take for there to be an opening, but they wanted us to know that at some point they would be moving.  Frank and Kay had been wonderful neighbors, and had raised their three daughters in that house.

I was thinking of my dad when I asked Frank if we could pay for first refusal when they received the call from Matthews Glen and were ready to put their home on the market.  My mom had been dead for a number of years, and my dad lived alone and was 89 years old.  It all worked out beautifully for my dad to purchase the property and move into the house with Tom and me just a hop, skip and a jump away.  Sadly, Dad didn't live there very long as he died at 90 years old.

Dad left the house to us and we rented it for about five years to a nice family with young children.  When they moved out, the big question came ... Do we want to rent again, or do we want to tear down the house and extend our garden?  The house was in need of some major repairs (ie. new furnace, new roof, etc.) so the decision to extend our garden wasn't too difficult!  

The house was bulldozed, and dreams of a new garden area danced in our heads!  Property #3 has more sun than the other properties, so this was an opportunity for Tom to explore planting conifers and for me to plant peonies.  

The Joffrions' three daughters have visited MapleWalk on several occasions and seem pleased with the transformation of their old homeplace property.