Habitat for Humanity is one of my favority charities. 

Did you know that Habitat for Humanity International is the 12th largest home builder in the US?

And did you know that worldwide, every 26 minutes a Habitat home is being built?

Did you know that since 1992 in Hernando County alone, Habitat for Humanity has built 30 houses and provided homes for that many families?

Did you know that the goal for 2010 is to build 10 homes in Hernando County?

Did you know that to be a beneficiary of a Habitat home, an applicant has to volunteer at least 300 hours of work on their own or other peoples homes?

Volunteers are always needed and can work as much or as little as they can provide.  There are many "jobs" available and don't be afraid if you can't swing a hammer, there is something for every age, every inclination, and every skill level... you may be the perfect person to make lunch for the rest of volunteer crew!

The Hernando County Habitat for Humanity chapter does not receive funding from the international organization and therefore has to raise its own funds. 

To help with this, the Hernando County, Florida, chapter is having a

FUNDRAISING AUCTION

on March 7, 2009

at the Hernando County Fairgrounds, 6346 Broad Street, Brooksville

to include both live and silent auctions. 

Preview begins at 9:30 AM

Auction begins at 11:00 AM

Available items include antiques and collectibles, Gift Certificates, as well as new and craft items. You may also preview these items at www.habitathernando.org

If you cannot attend the auction, perhaps you could shop at their thrift store located at 19450 Cortez Blvd, Brooksville (by the old Publix).

For more information about Habitat for Humanity, please call (352) 754-1159.

------------------------------------------------- 

If you are thinking about buying a home or land for personal or investment use, or you are thinking about selling in Hernando County, Florida, including the communities and neighborhoods of Hernando Beach, Weeki Wachee, Brooksville and Spring Hill, Glen Lakes, Timber Pines, Silverthorn, Seven Hills, Sterling Hill, Pristine Place, and Southern Hills Plantation and you want to work with a local area Realtor who knows these neighborhoods please contact me.

Sunsets are a special treat of Planet Earth. 

Each and every day there is a new one somewhere to enjoy and admire and each and everyone is different. Not to mention, they are free entertainment for the entire family!  

I just returned from Bayport in Hernando County, FL, a little waterfront place where people gather in the evenings to watch the sun disappear into the Gulf of Mexico. 

Enjoy!

If you are thinking about buying a home or land for personal or investment use, or you are thinking about selling in Hernando County, Florida, including the communities and neighborhoods of Hernando Beach, Weeki Wachee, Brooksville and Spring Hill, Glen Lakes, Timber Pines, Silverthorn, Seven Hills, Sterling Hill, Pristine Place, and Southern Hills Plantation and you want to work with a local area Realtor who knows these neighborhoods please contact me.

As of this writing, there are 5317  groups on Activerain ranging from the funny and entertaining to the technical and specialized.  All of them contain interesting facts and educational materials.  I admit, I'm overwhelmed.  

Even if trying to search within the subcategories, sometimes it's difficult to find a group or even just to figure out if a group by a certain topic already exists. I like to explore new groups but don't know half the time where to start. I tried the group search functions and got lost.  

So I started a new approach to finding new groups by looking at those that others have joined.  Whenever I look or comment on someones posts or look at their profiles I also I look at the groups they belong to or have posted to. If there's something that sounds interesting to me, I investigate further.

This actually doesn't take very long, I learn a little bit more about the interests of the other person, and I have found some great new groups in this manner that I would have otherwise never found!

Just a few examples:  

thanks to a photo post by Gerry Khatchikian I found the groups Clouds at ActiveRain and Spectacular Sunsets and Sunrises

Gail MacMillan  introduced me to Great Shots!   and Photoshop Elements for Real Estate (thank you! I need this sooo!!) and through Sharon Simms  I found BuyWaterfronts.

If you are like me and don't know where to start, try this approach, you may find it'll work for you as well!

Mardi Gras came to New Orleans in 1699 when early French explorers celebrated it on the banks of the Mississippi. New Orleanians added to  the celebration by hosting parades and balls.

Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" and is celebrated on that day of the week, this year on February 24th. But the date can fall between February 3 and March 9 depending on the lunar calendar that is used to determine the date of Easter. Mardi Gras is always 47 days before Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday marks the end of Mardi Gras.

Throughout time, different Mardi Gras customs developed in different cultures. Who hasn't heard of Carnival in Venice with its beautiful masks, or Carnival in Rio with its Samba dancing in the streets.

In Germany, Mardi Gras is celebrated as Karneval, or Fasching.  Paradise indeed for the sweet-toothed!  At the traditional parades that take place in many cities and towns across Germany on Rose Monday, bystanders are showered with a bounty of candy treats (not beads) as the floats pass by. 

In some cities, like Cologne and Mainz, businesses will be closed to allow employees to revel in the annual celebrations. There are "Kings and Queens" of Mardi Gras leading the processions. And there are even special Mardi Gras greetings indicative to the particular areas, for example, in Cologne the greeting of the day is "Alaaf", in Mainz and Frankfurt it's "Helau". 

In areas of Southern Germany, Mardi Gras celebrations take on more a flair of chasing away the bad spirits of the dark season and celebrating the beginning of Spring.

The official colors for Mardi Gras were chosen in 1872 by the King of Carnival, Rex. They are: purple to represent justice, green to represent faith, and gold to represent power. 

Wherever you may be to celebrate Mardi Gras - Enjoy!

 If you are thinking about buying a home or land for personal or investment use, or you are thinking about selling in Hernando County, Florida, including the communities and neighborhoods of Hernando Beach, Weeki Wachee, Brooksville and Spring Hill, Glen Lakes, Timber Pines, Silverthorn, Seven Hills, Sterling Hill, Pristine Place, and Southern Hills Plantation and you want to work with a local area Realtor who knows these neighborhoods please contact Silvia Dukes, P.A., Tropic Shores Realty.

Let me help you find Your Place in the Sun!

If you are thinking about buying a home or land for personal or investment use, or you are thinking about selling in Hernando County, Florida, including the communities and neighborhoods of Hernando Beach, Weeki Wachee, Brooksville and Spring Hill, Glen Lakes, Timber Pines, Silverthorn, Seven Hills, Sterling Hill, Pristine Place, and Southern Hills Plantation and you want to work with a local area Realtor who knows these neighborhoods please contact Silvia Dukes, P.A., Tropic Shores Realty.

Let me help you find Your Place in the Sun!

Just as many visitors, when I first came to Florida and noticed this strange gray stuff hanging off trees and power lines, I wondered what it was and why it was there. 

Unfamiliar with it, I found it rather unappealing.  It eerily reminded me of cob webs --- something I could tolerate maybe for Halloween but otherwise could not understand why it wasn't cleaned up.

Having lived in the South for many years now, I find that I have gotten used to the gray stuff that is called Spanish Moss. 

In fact, I even discovered that I can find some strange beauty in it.  It has a certain way to gently sway in the breeze and it changes appearance with the way the light filters through it at different times of the day.  I guess after all these years, Spanish Moss is  starting "to grow on me!"

So what is Spanish Moss, sometimes also called Florida moss, or gray beard (how fitting is that?).  It actually is not a moss at all but an epiphyte plant which grows on another plant but does not rely on it for food. 

Spanish Moss is not an air plant neither as it does not have a root system.  The plant catches moisture and nutrients from the air through its silvery-gray scales, during droughts the plant just goes dormant until moisture returns.

Birds, bats, and squirrels make use of the plant for nesting material.  Florida's Indians used the plant for bedding, making cords, or in the making of clay pots. Even in the early parts of this century, Spanish moss was used industrially for stuffing upholstery and mattresses.  Today you may see it in flower arrangements, as mulch, or just hanging from trees!

If you are thinking about buying a home or land for personal or investment use, or you are thinking about selling in Hernando County, Florida, including the communities and neighborhoods of Hernando Beach, Weeki Wachee, Brooksville and Spring Hill, Glen Lakes, Timber Pines, Silverthorn, Seven Hills, Sterling Hill, Pristine Place, and Southern Hills Plantation and you want to work with a local area Realtor who knows these neighborhoods please contact Silvia Dukes, P.A., Tropic Shores Realty.

Let me help you find Your Place in the Sun!

Here are some interesting facts and figures assembled by Ryan Moehring of Denver, CO, about the stimulus package.

Timber Pines is a 55+ gated golf course community in the heart of Spring Hill, FL

The community consists of approximately 3500 privately owned homes and villas ranging from 1 bedroom/1 bath villas to 4 bedroom homes.  Built between 1975 and 1998 by US Homes, units are resident owned.  Timber Pines offers its residents a variety of amenities including two swimming pools, tennis courts, club house, activities and clubs, performing arts center, and not to forget several golf courses that include a 18-hole Championship course, all in all 63 holes to put a golf ball in!

Just like anywhere else in Hernando County, closed transactions in Timber Pines for January 2009 were rather few.  However, taking into consideration the time required from contract to close, this rather reflects on a slow sales period in November and December of last year.  This might further be supported by a considerable increase in homes that are under contract and expected to close in February and March 2009.

Sold January 2009: 4

Price Range:  $125,000 - $190,000

Average: $157,250

Median: $157,000

Average Days on Market: 92

Currently Active Listings: 179

Under Contract: 14

Pending: 8, Price Range: $110,000 - $255,750

Contingency Contracts: 6, Price Range: $149,900 - $239,900

 Data derived from Hernando County MLS as of 2/1/09 and believed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

If you are thinking about buying a home or land for personal or investment use, or you are thinking about selling in Hernando County, Florida, including the communities and neighborhoods of Hernando Beach, Weeki Wachee, Brooksville and Spring Hill, Glen Lakes, Timber Pines, Silverthorn, Seven Hills, Sterling Hill, Pristine Place, and Southern Hills Plantation and you want to work with a local area Realtor who knows these neighborhoods please contact me.

Now here is an idea that just makes sense.  Infrastructures are already in place in so many instances, and "filling in" vacant lots in established neighborhoods would help to prevent urban sprawl. 

Another factor with "filling in" versus developing new is that Police, Sheriff, and Fire Departsments are already responding to these areas and could serve more densely populated areas without incurring a disproportionate amount of additional cost. 

I remember from living in England, that there the communities would set a certain percentage of population density and build up of an area before new developments could be established.  If you have ever visited there, you will know that the borders of cities, towns, and communities are well defined as a result.

So here is a reblog from Penny Hull of Stanton Homes: