The Lone Eagle Cottages

Better Hurry, only 6 remaining!
Starting at $179,900

Call Gail or Jim today at 334.749.8165

3rd Annual National Village Easter Egg Hunt

We had our 3rd Annual National Village Easter Egg hunt in the new park and had 63 agents from seven different real estate companies participate. The agents take their egg hunting seriously as evidenced by the shoes left behind after the starting whistle was blown. The Marriott did an outstanding job of catering for us. The winners of the “Golden Eggs” were: Sherri Tucker/Prudential, Rozi Dover/First Realty, Liberty Powell/First Realty, Shane Dunn/Prestige Properties, Sylvia Paul/Prestige Properties, Mike Bedsole/Prudential, Joe Vickers/Keller Williams, Claire Chester/First Realty, Ashley Miller/ReMax, Will Faulkner/First Realty, Michelle Hunt/Prestige Properties, Carl Miserendino/Keller Williams, Larry Keeble/ReMax, Carolyn Hataway/Keller Williams, Pene Gentry/First Realty, and Karol Hardy Kirby/First Realty was the winner of the I-pad drawing.

18th Annual AAR-AU Real Estate Education Fair

If anyone is picking up some valuable continuing education at the Real Estate Fair this week, please drop by our table and grab a snack during your afternoon break. Can't wait to see you!

Working Hard

Our bluebird houses are doing their job. We have a new tenant and he has been busy building their nest one piece of straw at a time!

Spring is Finally Here!

Warm weather has arrived at last and National Village is beginning to bloom! We encourage everyone to come and see us in the coming days and weeks as National Village will be absolutely beautiful in just a very short time.

One of the first trees that signifies the warmer weather is the dogwood and we have plenty of them in our lanscaping as well growing wild in the natural areas of National Village.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The genus Cornus comprise a group of 30-50 species of mostly deciduous trees and shrubs in the family Cornaceae commonly known as dogwoods. Some are herbaceous perennials; a few of the woody species are evergreen. The name "dog-tree" entered English vocabulary by 1548, and had been further transformed to "dogwood" by 1614. Once the name dogwood was affixed to the tree, it soon acquired a secondary name as the Hound's Tree, while the fruits came to be known as dogberries or houndberries (the latter a name also for the berries of Black nightshade and alluding to Hecate's hounds). One theory advances that "dogwood" was derived from dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of very hard wood for making 'dags' (daggers, skewers, arrows). Another earlier name of the dogwood in English is the whipple-tree. Geoffrey Chaucer uses the word whippletree in The Canterbury Tales ("The Knight's Tale", verse 2065) to refer to the dogwood. A large item made of dogwood, the whippletree, still bears the name of the tree from which it is carved. A whippletree is an element of the traction of a horse-drawn cart, which links the drawpole of the cart to the harnesses of the horses in file. Various Cornus are ubiquitous in American gardens: Donald Wyman stated "There is a dogwood for almost every part of the U.S. except the hottest and dryest areas" (Wyman's Garden Encyclopedia, s.v. "Cornus"). In England, the lack of sharp winters and hot summers makes Cornus florida very shy of flowering. Dense and fine-grained, dogwood timber was highly prized for making loom shuttles, tool handles and other small items that required a very hard and strong wood. Though it is tough for woodworking, some artisans favor dogwood for small projects such as walking canes, longbows, mountain dulcimers and fine inlays. It was an excellent substitute for persimmonwood in golf clubheads (“woods”). Larger items were also made of dogwood such as the screw-in basket-style wine or fruit presses;. The first kinds of laminated tennis rackets were also made out of the wood cut in thin strips. Most dogwood species have opposite leaves and a few, like C. alternifolia and C. controversa, have alternate leaves. The fruit of all species is a drupe with one or two seeds, often brightly colorful and sometimes edible. Flowers have four parts. Many species in subgenus Swida are stoloniferous shrubs, growing along waterways. Several of these are used in naturalizing landscape plantings, especially the species with bright red or bright yellow stems, which color up in winter. Most of the species in subgenus Benthamidia are small trees used as ornamental plants. As flowering trees, they are of rare elegance and beauty, comparable to Carolina silverbell, Canadian serviceberry, and the Eastern Redbud for their ornamental qualities. The fruit of several species in the subgenera Cornus and Benthamidia is edible, though without much flavour. The berries of those in subgenus Swida are mildly toxic to people, though readily eaten by birds. Dogwoods are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Emperor Moth, The Engrailed, Small Angle Shades and the following case-bearers of the genus Coleophora: C. ahenella, C. salicivorella (recorded on Cornus canadensis), C. albiantennaella, C. cornella and C. cornivorella (The latter three feed exclusively on Cornus). They were used by pioneers to brush their teeth. The pioneers would peel off the bark, bite the twig and then scrub their teeth.

Move In For a Song

We are looking forward to welcoming our new arrivals with the beginning of a Bluebird trail at National Village.

According to Wikipedia, bluebirds are territorial, prefer open grassland with scattered trees and are cavity nesters (similar to many species of woodpecker). Bluebirds can typically produce between two and four broods during the spring and summer (March through August in the Northeastern United States). Males identify potential nest sites and try to attract prospective female mates to those nesting sites with special behaviors that include singing and flapping wings, and then placing some material in a nesting box or cavity. If the female accepts the male and the nesting site, she alone builds the nest and incubates the eggs.
Predators of young bluebirds in the nests can include snakes, cats and raccoons. Non-native and native bird species competing with bluebirds for nesting locations include the Common Starling, American Crow, and House Sparrow, which take over the nesting sites of bluebirds, killing young and smashing eggs and probably killing adult bluebirds.
Bluebirds are attracted to platform bird feeders, filled with grubs of the darkling beetle, sold by many online bird product wholesalers as mealworms. Bluebirds will also eat raisins soaked in water. In addition, in winter bluebirds use backyard heated birdbaths.
By the 1970s, bluebird numbers had declined by estimates ranging to 70% due to unsuccessful competition with house sparrows and starlings, both introduced species, for nesting cavities, coupled with a decline in habitat. However, in late 2005 Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology reported bluebird sightings across the southern U.S. as part of its yearly Backyard Bird Count, a strong indication of the bluebird's return to the region. This upsurge can largely be attributed to a movement of volunteers establishing and maintaining bluebird trails.

Easy Living

Don’t spend all your time in the garden! Live at National Village where all the landscaping is done for you, including irrigation.

Just think, no more mowing, blowing, pruning, removing debris, replacing dead plants, or paying the water bill to irrigate your yard. While you're enjoying a round of golf, relaxing by the pool, or catching trophy bass, someone else is tending to all the mundane details that come with landscape maintenance.

Container Gardening Starts in the Spring

One of the most overlooked basics to getting your container gardens off to a good start each spring is a good cleaning of any previously used planters. A good scrub of all new planters is a good idea just to make sure no foreign or toxic substances, like herbicide, have landed in the pot. There's nothing worse that planting an exciting new collection of plants, only to watch them mysteriously wither away in front of your eyes. Of course, it's not hard to understand why you would want to clean used planters—you want to make sure no nasty pests, molds or mildew have taken up residence either in last year's soil.
Also, it is recommended to always re-pot perennials in planters each year. Again, you want to ensure your pot isn't harboring any problems and you should be checking the health and size status of the plant's root system each year too. Going back into fresh, nutrient-rich soil will keep your perennials healthy for much longer.Give your plants a good start with a nice clean pot, and soil, and you'll be rewarded with healthier plants.

Spring Fling 2011

Come on out and see us at National Village during our "Spring Fling"! To jump start the Spring selling season, we have reduced prices on the remaining homes at Stone Lake and at the Lone Eagle Cottages. In addition to that, purchasers of Lone Eagle Cottages will receive a 42" flat screen tv, refrigerator, and washer and dryer. As a matter of fact, we sold two of the Lone Eagle Cottages this past weekend! So hurry out to see us, we don't know how long these specials will last!

Great Weather!

Sunny and in the 70's so come on out to National Village and walk or run our trails.

Water Fun

The weather is still hot and the water is perfect at the Marriott in National Village. Even when it cools down you will still be able to swim here because not only do we have the outdoor pool all the grandchildren love, but there is an indoor pool as well. Everyone who lives here has been taking full advantage of the water all summer long and many plan to do so right into the fall.

Lee County WCR Tour of Homes

The Lee County Women's Council of Realtors Tour of Homes is this weekend, June 5-6, and next weekend June 12-13, 2010. The kickoff party and awards ceremony was Friday night at the Lee County Association office and a good time was had by all who attended. Once again, National Village took the Blue Ribbon in four categories, Best Interior Design, Exterior Design, Kitchen Design, and Bath Design for both of our models. We are very proud to be recognized for the caliber of homes we have to offer at National Village. In addition to the tour this week and next,we are offering an ipad in two drawings. One to the public who tour National Village and one to an agent who comes out during the tour. If you were not able to make it this weekend, be sure to come out next weekend and register!

Welcome new homeowners

National Village would like to welcome our new homeowners: Catherine and Christophe Strauven, Jon and Catherine Thompson and Mike and Martie Preg. They are arriving just in time to enjoy walking on our numerous trails and fishing in one of our lakes that have stocked with brim and bass. Of course, golf on the RTJ Trail is available year around.

New Residents

We recently had a two new couples move in to Stone Lake here in National Village. A beautiful pair of Canada Geese were seen on the lake in Stone Lake and a pair of Mourning Doves have built a nest on top of a stone column at the sales office. The doves are a little camera shy so we aren't able to show them to you.

In order to attract people to National Village, the Retirement Systems of Alabama built the most beautiful homes in the area for them to occupy. We are placing bird houses around National Village for the birds to occupy. Since our feathered friends get their housing at a substantially lower cost than their human neighbors, they are not quite as elaborate.

Hearts and Cocktails

We had our first resident get together at National Village last week. We had a really good turn out and everyone really enjoyed meeting one another, if they had not had the opportunity previously. In fact, everyone enjoyed themselves so much it has been suggested by many that we should do something more frequently. Following is an portion of a thank you we received.

"Dear Gail and Jim,

Since I did not know your new address, I will write this way, which etiquette says is a no-no. We just had to express what a wonderful time we had at the party; you both did such a marvelous job of planning the best party. I do hope this neighborhood continues to do something like this, but I am sure we are more than willing to do our part so that it doesn't all fall on your shoulders.We really had just planned on staying an hour as we had a long trip back--but we were just having too much fun. I loved everyone there; it was such a nice treat to get to know them a little better. It sure beat talking over the "fences" or bushes."

It's nice to know everyone had as good a time as we did. We have a really strong nucleus of homeowners who enjoy life as much as they do their neighbors and friends. There's no better time than the present to become part of such a unique community made up not only of incredible houses but friends as well.

On the Wings of Eagles

Recently a couple of residents of National Village have told us of Bald Eagle sitings. These sitings made a great impression on these residents. One told us that he was walking down Lone Eagle Lane late one afternoon, he looked up and saw the most beautiful site, a Bald Eagle soaring overhead. Everything was too perfect and he took this as a sign to buy a home in National Village.

The other siting was a new resident who was moving a few items into her new home and she saw an eagle fly right over her house and land on the other side of the lake. She said it was a tremendous and magnificant site, and she too took this to be a good sign about her recent purchase.

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.
The Bald Eagles diet consists mainly of fish, but it is an opportunistic feeder. It hunts fish by swooping down and snatching the fish out of the water with its talons. It is sexually mature at four years or five years of age. In the wild, Bald Eagles can live up to thirty years, and often survive longer in captivity. The Bald Eagle builds the largest nest of any North American bird, up to 13 ft deep, 8 ft wide, and one ton in weight.
The species was on the brink of extinction in the continental United States (while flourishing in much of Alaska and Canada) late in the 20th century, but now has a stable population and has been officially removed from the U.S. federal government's list of endangered species. The Bald Eagle was officially reclassified from "Endangered" to "Threatened" on July 12, 1995 by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. On July 6, 1999, a proposal was initiated "To Remove the Bald Eagle in the Lower 48 States From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife." It was de-listed on June 28, 2007.

TAX CREDIT HAS BEEN EXTENDED!!!

It is finally official. The homebuyers' tax credit has been extended to April 30, 2010.
President Barack Obama approved the extension as part of a $24 billion economic stimulus bill signed Friday. The bill also includes an extension of unemployment benefits to the longtime jobless and tax credits for some businesses.
The housing tax credit portion of the bill extends the $8,000 tax credit for home buyers who are purchasing their first home from the current November 30 deadline and expands the program to offer a credit of $6,500 to other homeowners who have lived in their current home for at least five years and are seeking to relocate.
Another modification to the original legislation raises the income limits for program participation from $75,000 for a single purchaser to $125,000 and from $125,000 to $225,000 for a couple. There are also credits available on a diminishing basis above those income limits.
The bill was passed by the Senate on Wednesday evening and by the House on Thursday. Both bodies acted in a bipartisan manner which has seldom been seen this year. The Senate passage was unanimous; the House voted 403 to 12 for the bill.

No Shame In His Game!

Prior to home football games at Auburn University, National Village treats Marriott guests to a complimentary Bloody Mary or Mimosa. Recently a local legend has begun working at the hotel. Mr. Penny greets everyone with a bright smile and enthusiastic “War Eagle”! If you have attended an Auburn football game, undoubtedly you have seen Mr. Penny. Other than the game itself everyone has seen three things while inside Jordan-Hare stadium, 1) the eagles pre-game flight, 2) Aubie, and 3) Mr. Penny doing 50 push-ups for each Auburn score. That’s 50 for a touchdown, 50 for the extra point, 50 for a field goal, and 50 for a safety. If my calculations are correct, at last week’s Ball State game, Mr. Penny did 800 push-ups! I don’t think I could do that many in a week. The reason he does his push-ups for each score is to try and inspire the players to play their best. With the way Auburn has played so far this year it appears he’s being successful. And as Mr. Penny likes to say "There's no shame in my game!"

NEW PRICES!

From Auburn fans to golf lovers to retirees, National Village has several luxury options for you directly on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Come see spectacular new golf cottages model home designed by Kay Green, one of the nation's top interior designers, and tour the available homes at National Village in Opelika. Owning one of these two-bedroom to three-bedroom golf cottage homes gives you access to world-class golf, miles of walking trails, access to fitness room, pool and dining at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel. Come see why Golf World readers named Grand National the number one public golf location in the country. Auburn/Opelika was also named "One of the Top 10 Retirement Locations for Golf" in the country. Now you can call it home at National Village with prices starting in the 170's!