Something happened 11 months ago that shouldn't have been devistating, but it was. I was taking a country drive through my ideal farm-spot just dreaming, when I saw a house for sale. It was closer, even, to hubby's work and the kid's school than our existing suburban house. It needed work - a lot of work, but being a foreclosure, it was within our budget even with the extensive repairs. It was 9 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with 2 kitchens, a chicken coup and pig pen, and water rights on 5 acres of healthy soil. Best of all, my city-boy husband was excited about it too.

You know how they say, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is." We called our realator to show us the house. She did but told us there would be a road going right through the middle of the property. It didn't make sense - middle of nowhere and through streets less than 1/2 a mile on either side. We thought, maybe they're just widening the road in front - which would've made sense. So I went to the county office. No. They're surrounding the area with 4,000 sq ft luxury houses on 1/10th acre lots and because of the added traffic they're building a 5 lane highway right through the middle of my dream. Investors bought the land two days later. Three months after that a dog killed all my chickens.

I'm devistated, sickened, blinded by grief of what could've been - what may now never be. So I've been licking my wounded heart for the past year. But gardening season is two months away and I really did miss having home-grown produce all of last year so I'd better get over it and learn to live with 100 sq ft of my part of the back yard.