Where to live - suggestions please

[Harv]

<font color=blue>is the plan to build a second home there someday?or to build a home and give up the other? How far is that land from your regular hangouts?</font color=blue>

My "property" was actually my parents' retirement paradise, but Pop passed away in '89 and Mom just a couple of months ago. I've been maintaining the place for years now, and bought my Kubota a little over a year ago (wish I'd thought of it much sooner

).

There's a main house, wood shop, garden house, and (catch this irony) a tractor barn which I had converted into a 2-bedroom house for Mom's caretaker. Funny how things work out sometimes.

It's a 2-1/2 hour trip from where I'm living now, and except during the rainy season, we manage to spend a couple of weekends a month up there. My "plan" is to make it a weekend/vacation home. I really love getting away from suburbia and workin' the dirt, walkin' the woods, fishin' the pond and doing all them country chores. My wife is starting to get excited about growin' stuff there, so we'll have projects aplenty in the coming years.

Our two "rug-rats", as GlueGuy put it (they're way past that now, and even graduated from "curtain climbers") are 9 and 4. We researched the schools and other kid activities in the area of the property, and we were sadly disappointed, and that is the main reason we will not be making a permanent move anytime soon.

<font color=blue>please blow me off if I'm getting too personal here.</font color=blue>

In fact, GlueGuy, this is stuff I would only discuss with family, but isn't that what TBN is?

 

[ejb]

Harv: I'm not sure I had any idea that there was already structures on the property, but thats a nice bonus...at 2 1/2 hours away if there was no place to stay it would be far less convienent to visit. For some reason I had always pictured your land as being undeveloped and the Kubota sitting by itself inthe woods when you weren't there. Now I have a better picture...

Schools is a tough one, they sure do vary from one place to the next...we made a decision to home school our 3 kids and a big part of my motivation was precisley not to have to worry about the schools when we decided where to live. (I also spend a few months a year out of the country and like to take the familiy with me). I also telecommute so that gives me even more mobility. In fact on Friday we head out for two months...I'll stop by occasionally when I can get internet access./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

-EJB

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>I had always pictured your land as being undeveloped and the Kubota sitting by itself in the woods</font color=blue>

No Way! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif If there was only a single building up there, my tractor would be in it! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

<font color=blue>we made a decision to home school our 3 kids</font color=blue>

We've had many discussions about that very possibilty, both up at the property and here at home. The property is sufficiently isolated as it is, so we would then be concerned about the kids' social life/activities. Raising kids is a never-ending sequence of decisions, ain't it?

Hope you have a good trip, EJB. We'll be watching for your long distance input.

 

[glennmac]

Harv, my presence here has been episodic so I didn't realize you mother had passed away. My condolences. We all saw nice pictures of her when you were engaging in the ultimate and impossible familial sacrifice: trying to smooth the cruel Sierra dirt with a hinged boxblade. blurrybill, your sentiments about PLACE are right on. Our moving had very detrimental psychological effects on everyone, which were not necessarily apparent at the time. Ahh, the good old "I'll miss the change of seasons" self-rationalization of the Northeastern naif. That feeling disappears at exactly 30 months of California living. Even if you like season changes, all you have to do in No Cal is drive two hours up into the mountains--or fly back east in the winter to visit your relatives.Patrick, would you please re-energize the scientist in you and, in the interests of full disclosure, tell us how many miles of Oklahoma shoreline were there prior to the New Deal and the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

[GlueGuy]

<font color=blue>isn't that what TBN is</font color=blue>

I guess you got me on that one. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[GlueGuy]

<font color=blue>self-rationalization of the Northeastern naif</font color=blue>

Oh, you hit that one on the head. I remember when I moved here from Minnesota, after what had been one of the coldest Minnesota winters on record (-55, NOT including the wind chill /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif).

California (SF area) in the winter was warmer than Brainerd MN in spring. I spent the entire first winter here, without upgrading from short-sleave to long-sleave, let alone worrying about a jacket. Of course, now that I've been here a while, 32 feels "cold"...

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>My condolences.</font color=blue>

Thanks, Glenn.

 

[Thomas]

Up here in this part of the northeast this morning,the temp 43 degrees and the eves are dripping also green grass showing /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif must be our January thaw,but like the old New England saying.."if you don't like the weather wait a minute and it will change" /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[TerryinMD]

Thomas -

<font color=blue>if you don't like the weather wait a minute and it will change</font color=blue>.

I thought that was a New Mexico saying.... maybe it has something to do with living in the mountains. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Terry

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>if you don't like the weather wait a minute and it will change</font color=blue>

Always heard the same thing about Texas. We've been having below freezing temperatures at night but then up into the 60s and even 70s in the daytime. However, yesterday morning it was 60 before daylight, with high humidity. I went out in the shop to take the tiller off the tractor and put the FEL and box blade on, and my rear tires were dripping water in the floor. Looked like the water/antifreeze in the rear tires caused condensation to accumulate on the lower 75% of each tire, literally dripping puddles on the floor, even though the metal parts of the tractor were dry.

The contractor for the electric company has been out here pruning trees back away from the power lines, so he dumped me two truckloads of wood chips. I was intending to move those piles about 150 yards to the garden this morning, but we had 42 degrees and a frog stranglin' gulley washer just after 6 a.m. and now it's just a light steady rain with a light freeze forecast for tonight./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif