About Us

We moved to the foothills of NC because it felt right. Larry retired from Shell in 2005 and for the first time we had the luxury of deciding where we wanted to move, rather than where the Corporation wanted us to live. We finally had the time and space to try all of the things in life that we had put on hold for many years. I wanted a barn and green pastures, and Larry wanted to garden, landscape, and grow things. I have always been passionately involved with horses, and especially loved the large boned, solid, athletic and sensible breeds. The Irish Draught horse has all of those qualities and more. When our son and his family decided to move near by, we thought the Connemara ponies would be a perfect fit for the grandchildren. I am fulfilling a long ago dream of having the pony I always wanted as a child and enjoying the pleasure of watching my grandchildren ride.

Retirement has kept us busy. After doing enjoyable research at the local vineyards, we decided to plant 100 grapevines that were imported from Southern Italy. Larry is in charge of growing the grapes, and I will be the one to master winemaking. We plan on adding new pages to this website as we expand our activities and website skills so please check back from time to time.

The photos on this page are courtesy of Linsey Merrill.