Paradise Lost?

As you know for many years I craved being in the country, out of town. I didn't want to have neighbors. I no longer wanted to live in a crowded subdivision with people in front of us, in back of us, and on the side of us. I no longer wanted anyone watching to make sure we followed 'the rules' of cleaning up after our dogs and noticing how many we had.  For ten years this was how we lived and it was okay.  But I longed for solitude and privacy. We got that when we moved to where we are now. The house we live in was not what I dreamed of, but the property is.  For three years we've enjoyed the privacy, peace and quiet of the country. We've enjoyed walking the dogs on the 30 acres of open fields that surround our property. But in the last couple of weeks, we've noticed some changes.

It all started the morning I had the encounter with the bow-hunters. Later that morning a truck that I didn't recognize pulled into our driveway. It was Fred, who owns the land around us. I guess it was an omen because of course I wondered what his appearance after 3 years meant. Added to that last week I noticed fluorescent tapes on the trees marking property lines.  I'll keep this part of the story brief and just say that my fears were confirmed, Fred is selling the property that surrounds us.

If you stand on the road facing our house to the right of our driveway is 20 acres of Fred's land.  Directly in back of our property at the top of our driveway is a second parcel of 10 acres that he owns which is partially cleared. Our house is situated in the back of our property, very close to the 10 acre property line which is wooded.  Of course my worry is that someone will buy the 10 acres and clear all the trees. I asked our realtor (who is also a long-time friend) inquire about the property and they're asking a whopping $225,000 for the 10 acres. (Actually, it's a reasonable price for property in this area). Needless to say, we can't afford that. But yesterday I had our realtor, MaryEllen inquire if they would be willing to sell us 2-3 acres of those woods, (pictured below) creating a buffer between us and any new neighbors. It would be wonderful to have this part of the property so that for me and of course the dogs, our paradise would not be lost.