You've moved and now you are happy (Bangor, Gorham: new home, landscaping)

[kellym_40]

Can I hear some stories please? There are a lot of us who would love to hear your story of your move and/or relocation and how you now feel about your new home state.

[kevin5098]

We moved here in July from Missouri. My wife and I both have roots here in NE/ME. So far we have no regrets. My wife is writing our story on her blog: http://sothenwenoughtthefarm.blogspot.com (broken link)

[starwalker]

Come February, we will have been here three very eventful years. To try to give you the condensed version:

We arrived in Maine in the middle of one VERY snowy winter (2008... the snowbanks were well over the mailboxes in Milo where we landed temporarily in "the second most ghetto trailer park." They had no quibble over our large dog and 8 housecats, so we were content to stay there with most of our stuff in storage while we searched for land and a house and work for me.

House hunt took 6 months, during which our major obstacles were needing a place with reliable and affordable broadband Internet and an owner-finance situation. We were looking for more rural and more land rather than a more urban setting and I had determined that "central Maine" was to be my stomping ground.

We ended up with a bit less land than we would have liked (only 4 acres with NO trees) and more urban (a "subdivision" of 4 acre lots) and about double my "dream" price but within the budget. It is about half an hour from Bangor, where I worked for a bit.

I now work part time in a country store 3 miles down the road and "push electrons" from home as a graphic designer (print and Internet) with the business that I started in NC. I still maintain some of my original clients plus others that I have added since then. I also vend my own art mostly through my web site, but also at three farm/artisan markets that I attended through the season just ended.

The rest of the equation is my growing (pun intended) venture as a market gardener, with just over an acre currently under cultivation and more to come. We also have a small laying flock (chickens and ducks) mostly for our own use but like the veggies the surplus goes to market.

My companion is disabled and helps as he can (tractor driver, office worker, bookkeeper) with our many ventures.

My days and weeks and months are largely driven by the seasons and the workflow. There is not much time for lollygagging and frivolity, but a glass of wine, looking out on the seasonal landscaping (or the dark of a starry night, in its time) is enough for me.

I am very busy, very happy and would not change a bit of anything now that we are settled. Had we been able to find a bit more land, a bit farther out that had our needed infrastructure I would have been in heaven. Instead, I am merely content and that is sufficient.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by kevin5098

We moved here in July from Missouri. My wife and I both have roots here in NE/ME. So far we have no regrets. My wife is writing our story on her blog: http://sothenwenoughtthefarm.blogspot.com (broken link)

I clicked your link and got " Sorry, the blog you were looking for does not exist. However, the name sothenwenoughtthefarm is available to register! "

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by starwalker

I clicked your link and got " Sorry, the blog you were looking for does not exist. However, the name sothenwenoughtthefarm is available to register! "

She probably typed, "n," when she meant to type, "b," to make "bought" instead of "nought"

[kellym_40]

Yes, here's the link:

So then we bought the farm

I am going to read it later this evening.

Starwalker, I liked your post very much. We, too, have laying hens here in NJ and enjoy fresh eggs each day. We only have 3.75 acres, mostly wooded and two paddocks that used to have horses.

There is not much time for lollygagging and frivolity, but a glass of wine, looking out on the seasonal landscaping (or the dark of a starry night, in its time) is enough for me.

Amen. I would love to see a "REAL" starry night. We have the stars, but when we go up there once a year the night sky seems crisper or darker or something so that the stars seem to be more brilliant. Perhaps it's the pollution down here, perhaps it being so close to major cities that tend to dim the night sky. I hope to see that vision someday....with my glass of chardonnay - didn't mean to rhyme.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by kellym_40

Amen. I would love to see a "REAL" starry night. We have the stars, but when we go up there once a year the night sky seems crisper or darker or something so that the stars seem to be more brilliant. Perhaps it's the pollution down here, perhaps it being so close to major cities that tend to dim the night sky. I hope to see that vision someday....with my glass of chardonnay - didn't mean to rhyme.

I majored in astronomy in my first go-round of college and having lived in and much nearer to urban areas many times it is likely both. It is amazing how far light pollution spreads. From here, on a moonless night, it is obvious which way to Bangor. And I think the pollution just cuts the amount of star and moon light that gets through. With the yard lights (although we wouldn't have one and not all the neighbors do) the "read by moonlight" effect is not quite as striking here as when I lived in an off-grid community in a canyon down from the wheat fields of eastern Washington state. There, even on a moonless night, you could easily walk the paths from farm to farm except in the densest part of the woods, without additional light. And you really could read the newspaper by the moon light!

We have been overcast of late, but some of the most spectacular night skies I have seen are when I take the dogs our for their "last call" before bed in the depth of winter.

[brava4]

Originally Posted by starwalker

Come February, we will have been here three very eventful years. To try to give you the condensed version:

We arrived in Maine in the middle of one VERY snowy winter (2008... the snowbanks were well over the mailboxes in Milo where we landed temporarily in "the second most ghetto trailer park." They had no quibble over our large dog and 8 housecats, so we were content to stay there with most of our stuff in storage while we searched for land and a house and work for me.

House hunt took 6 months, during which our major obstacles were needing a place with reliable and affordable broadband Internet and an owner-finance situation. We were looking for more rural and more land rather than a more urban setting and I had determined that "central Maine" was to be my stomping ground.

We ended up with a bit less land than we would have liked (only 4 acres with NO trees) and more urban (a "subdivision" of 4 acre lots) and about double my "dream" price but within the budget. It is about half an hour from Bangor, where I worked for a bit.

I now work part time in a country store 3 miles down the road and "push electrons" from home as a graphic designer (print and Internet) with the business that I started in NC. I still maintain some of my original clients plus others that I have added since then. I also vend my own art mostly through my web site, but also at three farm/artisan markets that I attended through the season just ended.

The rest of the equation is my growing (pun intended) venture as a market gardener, with just over an acre currently under cultivation and more to come. We also have a small laying flock (chickens and ducks) mostly for our own use but like the veggies the surplus goes to market.

My companion is disabled and helps as he can (tractor driver, office worker, bookkeeper) with our many ventures.

My days and weeks and months are largely driven by the seasons and the workflow. There is not much time for lollygagging and frivolity, but a glass of wine, looking out on the seasonal landscaping (or the dark of a starry night, in its time) is enough for me.

I am very busy, very happy and would not change a bit of anything now that we are settled. Had we been able to find a bit more land, a bit farther out that had our needed infrastructure I would have been in heaven. Instead, I am merely content and that is sufficient.

Thanks, that was really nice to read.

[elston]

My partner and I are retired....we met in S. California...where we each thought we would spend our retirement. We found one another....and after 2 or 3 years, of feeling we had it all together....we realized that neither of us had really succeeded in transplanting to CA.....so we decided to move back east. He had lived in Manhattan but had no ties there; I had family traditions and kids in Maine...so the was the logical place to look and 3 years ago we moved from San Diego to Gorham Me. (southern maine).

We have no regrets....we love it here. We are planning a winter vacation to Fla....in February to break up the winter...and will probably make that an annual event....'when you get old .... you get cold"....but we love Maine and have no regrets.

[Bydand]

Wow! Elston and Starwalker it has been 3 years already. I remember reading and responding to both of you two's earlier posts when you were trying to decide to move back/to Maine. It sounds like it has been a very good 3 years for both of you, and your SO's.