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The
first time I saw WINSOME WALKING
HORSE RANCH in Palmetto Florida
was more than fifteen years ago. It
was an old Florida style ranch house
with a beautiful big barn and a pond
in the front pasture. It was surrounded
by a three rail wooden fence and had
some really beautiful horses grazing
contentedly. I longed my whole life
to own horses and live on such a place.
In 2001, my dream became a reality.
I was able to purchase the property,
and move off of TERRA CEIA
ISLAND to WINSOME,
as it became known. The former owners
had named it that, and I felt it deserved
to keep that name.
The more than twenty live oaks at
the back of the house and around the
barn provided much needed shade from
the scorching summer Florida sun.
My plant nursery replaced the horses,
and the dogs enjoyed the acreage and
pastures. When we had a summer filled
with hurricanes in 2004, I decided
it was time to move to higher ground.
I began looking for mountain property.
In 2005, I purchased the new WINSOME
RANCH in FLOYD VIRGINIA. I moved there
in 2006, after selling my nursery
and property. It was the best decision
in my life! I love the mountains and
my new lifestyle. While I do still
grow plants, I am able to finally
pursue my artistic interests full
time, while enjoying the cool mountain
air and my dogs frolicking in the
pastures.
~Linda Osborne
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Winsome
Word History:
Winsome people easily win friends,
so it is not surprising that winsome
and win have a common root. Their
shared element win- comes from the
Indo-European root *wen-, meaning
"to desire, strive for,"
and has a number of descendants
in the Germanic languages. One was
the prehistoric Germanic noun *wini-
meaning "friend" (literally,
"one who desires or loves"
someone else), which became wine
in Old English and is preserved
in such names as Winfred, "friend
of peace," and Edwin, "friend
of (family) possessions." A
different form of the root with
a different suffix became Old English
wynn, "pleasure, joy,"
preserved in winsome. Finally, the
verb win itself is from this root;
its meaning is an extension of the
sense "to strive for,"
namely, "to strive for with
success, be victorious." Outside
of the Germanic branch of Indo-European,
we see the root, for example, in
Latin venus or Venus "love,
the goddess of love," and the
verb venera¯re, "to worship,"
the source of English venerate.
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This
is my Winsome Ranch set among the beautiful
mountains of Floyd, Virginia.
Click
the photo for a photographic tour of Winsome
ranch in Virginia. |
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This
was the original Winsome Ranch in Palmetto,
Florida.
Click
the photo for a photographic tour. |
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