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 Our home since 1987,
Windhover Farm is a 3½-acre montage of grassy fields, weedy lawns, stone-piles and
developing woods. Atop this remote refuge rests the fieldstone farmhouse with which we
fell in love at first sight, and which has since both benefited from and fallen victim to
the rehabilitation and renovation efforts of this amateur handyman and his ever-patient
wife. Within its walls, by the way, we’ve found the hand-hewn beams that formed its
framework decades ago, as well as the too-low doorway that was its entrance when it was a
parsonage; unfortunately, we’ve also found the residue of a few others among its
historical inhabitants—we’ll skip the details.
(Pictured at left is the Living Room.) Two-storied, with large oak-floored living-areas, an open staircase and a double-fireplace, this ol’ house has bedrooms for visitors (and Westies, of course!) and, fortunately, getaway-spaces for each of us…to help our marriage survive Northeast Michigan’s long winter months. Since we so enjoy our home, we’re more stay-at-home folks than gadabouts…yet we’ve long ago been made to feel welcome by good neighbors who’ve become good friends…and for whom we’re most grateful!
You might first wonder whether a 3½-acre plot warrants being named at all…and being termed a "farm" besides! Admittedly, it’s an affectation…but this is the first home we’ve owned that was big enough to have a sign bearing more than just the house numbers! So, early on, we elected to risk our new neighbors’ ridicule by indulging our egos…and "Windhover Farm" was the name that emerged to describe it perfectly (’tho’ everyone here’bouts will forever call it "the Timm House"!).
The winter winds that blow unobstructed across the neighboring farms to beat against our stone walls are partially responsible for the name we chose for our home. They also inspired our ten-year effort to plant some 500 conifer trees, in the hope that those cold northwest winds would become a bit less cruel as the evergreens grow to form a protective windbreak...redirecting the wind to hover above our home briefly before moving on to blast the fields and forests beyond.
The wildlife of Northeast Michigan have added an element, as we’ve lifted our eyes—from the abundant whitetail deer browsing in our orchard for a crisp apple or a succulent pear, and the wild turkeys combing the nearby cornfields for the last of the left-behind kernels—to gaze skyward at hawks, falcons and, more recently, eagles…climbing, circling, hovering and diving in search of the critical elements of their life…and, obviously also, seeking the thrill of flying ever higher, and the grace of riding the updrafts to glide among the clouds. Jonathan Livingston Seagull could take lessons here!…and we have to wonder if poet Gerard Manley Hopkins might have been a secret visitor to this area a century ago, and perhaps inspired then to write "The Windhover".
CLICK HERE for "The Windhover" Poem But enough about our home—it’s time to move on to introducing ourselves and our family of human kids and fur kids…and giving you the promised opportunity to introduce yourselves as well. We’ll welcome your e-mail, especially if you want to [a] share information about your own home, family and similar interests, [b] teach us something we should know about subjects of our common concern, [c] request more information about something we might know (particularly from Peg about Westies)…or, of course, [d] compliment us on anything (see?…we’re not proud!)
Here is a map showing where we are
located.
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(Pictured at the right
is our Sun Room. The Westies love this room!) 
(Pictured at
the left is the Master Bedroom.)
