UPDATE'S, Where are you in life, and your move to Maine (Portland: live, shop)

[FLtoMaine]

Originally Posted by elston

Whoo Woo!!!!!! Kalee Kalay oh joyous day! We have a signed sales agreement on the home of our dreams! By 3/31 we will be residents of Gorham Maine and we couldnt be more excited and thankful. Now to pack up this house as fast as possible and to get on the road. California-----------------> MAINE

I was going to say, that I can't begin to tell you how happy we are......but I think that most of you do understand!

How exciting for you! For the past three years I have been watching a webcam situated on a bald eagle nest in Gorham. The eagles seems to love it there (they come back every year)...I'm sure you will too. We have actually found a wonderful house (at least it appears that way on line - and i am trying to get my DH to fly up and check it out. If we don't get this house...at least i have a really good description now now of what we are looking for. I don't have much patience when they try to show me what they want to sell...not what we want to buy.

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by FLtoMaine

How exciting for you! For the past three years I have been watching a webcam situated on a bald eagle nest in Gorham. The eagles seems to love it there (they come back every year)...I'm sure you will too. We have actually found a wonderful house (at least it appears that way on line - and i am trying to get my DH to fly up and check it out. If we don't get this house...at least i have a really good description now now of what we are looking for. I don't have much patience when they try to show me what they want to sell...not what we want to buy.

Hi FtoM,

As a resident of Gorham, I'd love to see that - can you post the link or DM it to me?

Thanks.

[FLtoMaine]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

Hi FtoM,

As a resident of Gorham, I'd love to see that - can you post the link or DM it to me?

Thanks.

I sent a DM..but here is the link incase others want it:

Bald Eagle Web Camera - National Wildlife Federation

[Abbymoulton]

Hi everyone. We finally are living in Maine. However, it is NOT Limestone. It has been a rough two weeks. The trip from Florida was a good one even though we lost part of the truck load we were carrying. Pillows and some clothes never to be seen again. That was good for a lot of laughing on the way. The truck heater died on our last day into York and the steam it created pouring from our truck was funny to see. The last hour before York, it looked like we were the Beverly hillbillies with the truck on fire. We laughed alot through the chattering of our teeth.
After a short visit with the boys and our grandchildren we headed for Limestone. (Thank you for having it plowed out for us Scott.) After that 8 hour drive we stopped at the realtor and picked up the key to the little house we rented. (The realtor told me,"it is a wonderful place with lots of upgrades")
We excitedly headed to Limestone, pulled into the driveway and saw the cute little place we would be living. As we walked in the door we were in for a shocking disapointment. I do not believe the inside has seen an "upgrade" in 30+ years..But we love to do the fix it up thing, so that was fine. THEN we turned the thermostat up only to find we had no heat..The pipes had frozen and burst, so we had NO water either. AND if you looked under the kitchen sink you could see the dirt floor of the cellar. All that is just a tiny part of what we found.
Needless to say, You can not live in a house with NO heat or water. So, crying, I made a call to a life long friend in the York area that has apartments and she rented us a very nice one in the center of York Village with no downpayments etc. It Was, at first, very disappointing for us, but our 2 sons and 3 grandchildren were so happy that we will be in the same town instead of 8 hours away. So, as heartbreaking as it was, after all the plans we made made...I guess the good Lord knows what is best and where we should be and HERE WE ARE. I have so much more I could tell you all, but this is getting way too long.
So....WE ARE HOME and I am glad to finally be able to talk to you all again. Now for some catching up on what has been going on around CD and in all of your lives. "Boy this is a GREAT PLACE TO BE !!!!!!!!!!!"

[Elcarim]

Oh, Abby! You had me laughing and gasping in shock all in the same breath! I'm SO glad you made it and the trip was 'memorable'!

All things happen exactly as they should, so I'd say you're right where you're supposed to be! Isn't it good to be home?

[starwalker]

Abby, there must have been a lot of that "Beverly Hillbilly" vibe going around! LOL sounds like we had similar adventures, though at least our vehicles kept us warm. BRRR... I've done the "no heater in the winter" thing, so I know how you felt. Sorry for the loss of your stuff... Our outside broom and a push broom handle jumped ship on #16 heading into Milo. K finally got in front of me and flagged me down so he could re-secure the tarp over the pickup on the trailer I was towing behind the Penske. We saw the handle when we next headed down the road, but it was not in a good place to stop to pick it back up. the broom has not been seen again.

the trailer we were to have rented was not done being refurbed either...there was a wood shop and ice-encrusted pressure-treated lumber in the living room when Forest Beekeeper showed up (just before we got here) but the guys who were working eventually cleared it out (hours later) and got some oil in the tank and the heater did work, though we did not have water until the next day and then it went out again as they did not get the heat tape installed. We have water and heat now, though they have not yet got the steps rebuilt (THAT was a challenge moving stuff in) though the parts are here for them to assemble and I presume once that is done we will get the fridge we have been promised. We are providing evening entertainment for the local convenience store clerks with our runs for ice "for our drinks"... LOL We'll have the reps of being the village drunks before I have finished my first box of wine, for sure.

But, like you, I can say "WE ARE HERE and it IS TRULY a great place to be!" I love looking out the bedroom window at the trees, watching the big ones out the living room window blow in this wind... driving down the road looking at the mailboxes peeking out from the middle of a snowbank (though those are shrinking some from the rain...) and watching Big Doggie frolicking on top of the snow in the yard.

[Abbymoulton]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

Oh, Abby! You had me laughing and gasping in shock all in the same breath! I'm SO glad you made it and the trip was 'memorable'!

All things happen exactly as they should, so I'd say you're right where you're supposed to be! Isn't it good to be home?

I always figure that you might as well laugh at things...crying sure doesn't make it better. Did have one very hard to do thing from having to be here instead of Limestone. My little buddy.... a tiny miniature dashchound had to find a new home. But, my oldest son fell in love with her and she now lives with him. I had cried for days, but now see that she is very happy being able to go out without a leash and chase the chickens. So, that has worked out beeter for her..still very sad for me.

[Abbymoulton]

Sounds like you have much "excitement" on your trip as well. It will be memories for years to come.
The ice on the tree and shrub branches is so beautiful. And I thing my memory has improved being in the cool crisp air. "strange"
Maine is worth all the troubles and it is so very wonderful to be home.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by Abbymoulton

Sounds like you have much "excitement" on your trip as well. It will be memories for years to come.
The ice on the tree and shrub branches is so beautiful. And I thing my memory has improved being in the cool crisp air. "strange"
Maine is worth all the troubles and it is so very wonderful to be home.

Amen, Sister! I truly feel like I am living the words of one old, favorite John Denver song ..."coming home to a place I've never been before."

I am sure the "excitement" will continue for some time, with a new job and search for OUR place yet to come. While K is off (back to Bangor, yet again...) looking for parts, I have continued to put away stuff, figuring out the tiny kitchen. I have had to set up dish washing "backwards" for me (usually wash on the left, rinse on the right and drainer on the right countertop) to keep the counter nearest the stove free for food prep. And I found that even though the "frozen food cooler" was no longer frozen, the meat is still good and cold, as ice remained in the bottom. Once K gets the oven working (pilot is on, but the oven "burner" does not want to light) I will cook the half turkey.

I pulled out the thawed and soggy, but still good enough for soup veggies and filled the crock pot, adding some bits of ground beef that remained. So there will be soup of some "vegetable beef" variety, and the thawed strawberries and half bag of cranberries have been cooked down a bit with sugar to make a syrup or topping of some sort. I still have some blueberries... hoping for the oven for muffins, but if not I can always try to find the waffle iron, or if all else fails, there are pancakes (blueberry pancakes with cran-strawberry syrup? LOL)

Walked the Big Doggie and in the process met up with a local officer, who decided to patrol our street just as Wonder Mutt squatted in the middle of the street... and me without a pickup bag (they are still in the car from the trip up here I think....). LOL I told him I would go back and rustle up a bag (which I did) and was told I needed to get to town hall this week to register her. GLAD that training is 6 hour days... But he didn't live in Milo, he said so could not tell me HOW MUCH they want to register dogs.

But it's all good... especially when I see Brandi frolicking in the deep snow... Sorry you had to adopt out your low-slung pup, Abby... but I am glad she was able to go to family and is having fun. I will be glad when Brandi has a yard and doesn't have to be on leash all the time too... and I am sure she will as well.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by Abbymoulton

I always figure that you might as well laugh at things...crying sure doesn't make it better. Did have one very hard to do thing from having to be here instead of Limestone. My little buddy.... a tiny miniature dashchound had to find a new home. But, my oldest son fell in love with her and she now lives with him. I had cried for days, but now see that she is very happy being able to go out without a leash and chase the chickens. So, that has worked out beeter for her..still very sad for me.

The GF and I had a similar experience when we first arrived in Portland; the apartment that we agreed to rent turned out to be, uh, not exactly habitable. We were so distraught, pissed, sad-that we almost turned around and went back to Minneapolis right then and there (I don't even think that we were in Portland for an hour yet). But, with some venting, the landlord agreed to rent us another place that turned out to be a really awesome apartment (although the neighborhood leaves much to be desired ).

Every once in awhile we run into set backs in life. You can either get pissed off and be angry at something that you have no-control over; or you can (at least try to laugh) roll with it and make the most out of the situation. I don't really believe that everything happens for a reason, but so far life has shown me that things work themselves out in the end. In the mean time, enjoy your stay in York and maybe think of it as a breaking in period to get used to all things Maine. Eventually you'll get to Limestone when the time is right. Gah, I sound like my mom