I sold The Habersham Hacienda, in 2019 after 14 years.
I keep the page active as a resume of sorts and to reference photos of the decade plus renovation and farming project.
No Mow acreage, homesteading, pasture raised poultry and more stories are archived at ye olde blogspot
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Bienvenidos a Lolas Dog Rescue Mexico
After much road travel trying to find a new "downsized" home, I found I was priced out of everywhere in 2020 in the US, so I drove to Mexico to have an adventure with my old dog Brady. I tried #vanlife and loved the freedom for several months from Veracruz to Oaxaca.
In August 2021 on my way back to nowhere, I was broadsided on the highway and flipped a few times into a desert ditch in Sonora.
I walked away after being pulled from the vehicle (hail the seatbelt and Toyota Sienna) the dogs ran away (and were found a day later) and any stuff that I hadn't given away before the journey was all over the highway. The van was totaled. Everything was broken. I knew no one and had never been to Sonora. The kindness of strangers, a ride, an odd temporary rental house in a fishing village, lots of paperwork and a new pair of flip flops, I was dropped off in a ghost town. I figured I'd be on my way in a week or two, gracias very much. You need to heal said the guy who drove me here. You need to come home said American friends.
I'm still here several months later...I still don't have a car or any means of transport out. It's complicated to buy a foreign car and even more complicated and expensive to get to "the other side" as they call it to purchase one. Surely there's a way to get out of here? Hello?
The Universe laughed. You're not going ANYWHERE, my child.
The town I ended up in has more stray dogs than people. Hundreds. Maybe more. Some are dead on the street. Some are poisoned. Many are pregnant. Holy shit, I said. Yes, it's a problem said one guy.
I waited for Mexican insurance to payout for my 16 year old totaled Toyota van. I sat on the porch in the desert heat and started pulling ticks out of the ears of all the doggo visitors to pass the time. Putting out food for the starved skin and bones dogs that limped by. Wrapping paws. Giving eye drops. Giving antibiotics from my tote bag. Walking until I found a tienda and a pharmacy in the "centro". I found and recycled plastic tubs for water bowls and foot soaks and soon I had a carpet of lonely,
sleepy dogs on my patio. 12? 20?
We'd all walk to the shore and back each day at dawn. No leashes, we'd see no one. The dogs were so happy, despite their plight. Swimming, splashing, finding fish heads---we're on the Sea of Cortez, rugged and gorgeous, but desolate. Hours from populated areas like San Carlos, Rocky Point or Hermosillo
This town is hard to get to, 3 hours away from the nearest city on a two lane potholed highway.
There is no vet here. There are very few, if any, services. A couple tiendas and a few taco carts.
I moved closer to the food shops and people in town so I'm not so isolated, though the cabana close to the beach had a great view. I have a fenced desert yard a secure area for the dogs, good water pressure and a kind landlord who, lucky for all of us, likes dogs. We walk 5 blocks to the shore now. Two small rooms and a tiny kitchenette and most important AC. It's a big change from my previous life of house renovation, design changes, paint, furniture restoration and huge catering facility but this is another chapter. Maybe a whole other book. Or planet. I'm still not sure I survived the crash but people assure me I'm here in the flesh.
To follow our stories you can check out my social links below.
I have started a Patreon where you can subscribe to my weekly stories or you can sponsor a dog right here for spay or neuter or medical visits from our Mobile Vet Dr. Ramon Herrera.
paypal.me/TheHabershamHacienda
cashapp/$micheleniesen
linktr.ee/lolasdogrescue
or US mail for checks to my friend in FL
Michele Niesen c/o Howard Feldman 12100 Seminole Blvd #316 Largo, FL 33778
Gracias!
.
I keep the page active as a resume of sorts and to reference photos of the decade plus renovation and farming project.
No Mow acreage, homesteading, pasture raised poultry and more stories are archived at ye olde blogspot
********************************************************************************************************
Bienvenidos a Lolas Dog Rescue Mexico
After much road travel trying to find a new "downsized" home, I found I was priced out of everywhere in 2020 in the US, so I drove to Mexico to have an adventure with my old dog Brady. I tried #vanlife and loved the freedom for several months from Veracruz to Oaxaca.
In August 2021 on my way back to nowhere, I was broadsided on the highway and flipped a few times into a desert ditch in Sonora.
I walked away after being pulled from the vehicle (hail the seatbelt and Toyota Sienna) the dogs ran away (and were found a day later) and any stuff that I hadn't given away before the journey was all over the highway. The van was totaled. Everything was broken. I knew no one and had never been to Sonora. The kindness of strangers, a ride, an odd temporary rental house in a fishing village, lots of paperwork and a new pair of flip flops, I was dropped off in a ghost town. I figured I'd be on my way in a week or two, gracias very much. You need to heal said the guy who drove me here. You need to come home said American friends.
I'm still here several months later...I still don't have a car or any means of transport out. It's complicated to buy a foreign car and even more complicated and expensive to get to "the other side" as they call it to purchase one. Surely there's a way to get out of here? Hello?
The Universe laughed. You're not going ANYWHERE, my child.
The town I ended up in has more stray dogs than people. Hundreds. Maybe more. Some are dead on the street. Some are poisoned. Many are pregnant. Holy shit, I said. Yes, it's a problem said one guy.
I waited for Mexican insurance to payout for my 16 year old totaled Toyota van. I sat on the porch in the desert heat and started pulling ticks out of the ears of all the doggo visitors to pass the time. Putting out food for the starved skin and bones dogs that limped by. Wrapping paws. Giving eye drops. Giving antibiotics from my tote bag. Walking until I found a tienda and a pharmacy in the "centro". I found and recycled plastic tubs for water bowls and foot soaks and soon I had a carpet of lonely,
sleepy dogs on my patio. 12? 20?
We'd all walk to the shore and back each day at dawn. No leashes, we'd see no one. The dogs were so happy, despite their plight. Swimming, splashing, finding fish heads---we're on the Sea of Cortez, rugged and gorgeous, but desolate. Hours from populated areas like San Carlos, Rocky Point or Hermosillo
This town is hard to get to, 3 hours away from the nearest city on a two lane potholed highway.
There is no vet here. There are very few, if any, services. A couple tiendas and a few taco carts.
I moved closer to the food shops and people in town so I'm not so isolated, though the cabana close to the beach had a great view. I have a fenced desert yard a secure area for the dogs, good water pressure and a kind landlord who, lucky for all of us, likes dogs. We walk 5 blocks to the shore now. Two small rooms and a tiny kitchenette and most important AC. It's a big change from my previous life of house renovation, design changes, paint, furniture restoration and huge catering facility but this is another chapter. Maybe a whole other book. Or planet. I'm still not sure I survived the crash but people assure me I'm here in the flesh.
To follow our stories you can check out my social links below.
I have started a Patreon where you can subscribe to my weekly stories or you can sponsor a dog right here for spay or neuter or medical visits from our Mobile Vet Dr. Ramon Herrera.
paypal.me/TheHabershamHacienda
cashapp/$micheleniesen
linktr.ee/lolasdogrescue
or US mail for checks to my friend in FL
Michele Niesen c/o Howard Feldman 12100 Seminole Blvd #316 Largo, FL 33778
Gracias!
.
Casa Verde Street Dog Rehab
River, the dog who got rescued twice. Riding here with Jorge who saved us all after our van flipped and we were alone in the desert.
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The fishing village with more dogs than people. Breakfast for 10.
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A brief but luxurious stay in Boca del Rio at the Hotel Rivoli. Pet friendly with top service and Gulf views it was a fabulous stay. Brady REALLY likes our luxe hotel stops.
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River the Rescue Dog, Day 2
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River's first trip to the beach. Weee! Playa Alvarado, Veracruz, MX
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Brady taking the beach view in pretending to be a Mexican roof dog in the coastal Santa Cruz in Nayarit
Goodbye to the Grand Dame,
2005-2019 the longest relationship I've ever had was with a house. Mt. Airy, Georgia
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my wild front yard. I cut paths into the native growth over the years to add depth to the postage stamp of the previous flat lawns.
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the carpet of December. Each year the Japanese Maples dropped the firecracker leaves. Magnificent trees on this property, a specimen tree nursery in the 1950s
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