Pursley's Briarwood: * Family Contentment

For those of you who have been asking for pictures of Ashley, Matthew, Margaret and Helen ... here they are. Enjoy.

HOW DID WE GET THE NAME "BRIARWOOD"?

I have been asked that several times. I suppose the answer to that question begins with a little girl's dream. Ashley, our daughter, has always loved horses. So, on her 10th birthday, she got her first horse, Locksley. Living in town, we needed a place to board Locksley. We found a place, but the barn manager did not operate to the standards we thought appropriate. About this time the movie, "Black Beauty", was released. All of us were in tears and determined to find a better place to keep Locksley.

A fellow teacher offered us the use of her barn and pasture. It was an answer to prayer. We were able to purchase some adjacent land. To call this land a briarwood is giving it considerations it probably does not deserve. It was full of thorn trees --- big, nasty thorn trees with clay instead of soil. However, it was our land and we were thrilled with it. Thus, the name BRIARWOOD.

Locksley was joined by Little Princess and Rumbling Thunder (lovingly called Squirt) as well as various goats, turkeys, chickens, rabbits.

Eventually, we cleared enough land for a pasture and barn of our own. Several years later we built our log home. Slowly, but surely, the land is developed and tamed. However, in our woods you will still find quite a few of those big, nasty thorn trees and briars ~ be careful when you walk!

Does "briarwood" still describe the land? YOU BET!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

* Family Contentment