I was just realizing today that it is 8 years since I bought the Castle Bedelia. I signed the P&S and put a deposit on it on a beautiful fall day just like today. That was September 10, 2001. The next day our world fell apart as two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon, and one more in a field in Pennsylvania. I remember feeling that if I could, I would take back that deposit and not leave my safe house.....the home I had shared with my husband, my beloved dog Mai-Ling, and my family. But my life had changed by then and there was no turning back. The death of my husband two years before, as well as my cousin and my dog, had caused a shattering in my personal world as cataclysmic as the events of 9/11 caused throughout the planet.

So I went through with the deal and haven't looked back since. One of the things that sold me on this place was the beautiful red maple in the back. Every year at this time I can't help but admire the display that Mother Nature puts on right outside my windows. Here is the Red Maple in all her glory......

The tennis court is deserted now and the pool has been covered for the winter. Soon the snow will cover it all.

Jose and his burro are enjoying the last days of warmth on the patio and there are still a few birds left to take a drink in the birdbath.....

And The Countess is enjoying my Red Maple on a beautiful fall day.