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^ A month away from usual ETD...not a SW FL fan and not an 85 deg in the shade fan.
And, after many winter seasons at our SW FL EscapeWinterHouse, it has lost its luster for me.
But, my CEO likes it, it's paid for, so 'we like it'.
This v cold turn this week has put damper on doing 'yard stuff' and we are in first few days of a deck(s) renovation, that should have been done weeks/months ago, but contractors here in western NC are like waiting to get a call from my senator about a lunchola date.
Add in mid 70s age and doing this shut down Mtn home and depart ain't for the weak or weary.
If this week's cold, crummy weather at our elevation doesn't revert back to a more benign Autumn, it will set me back on getting stuff, and this deck done.
^ A month away from usual ETD...not a SW FL fan and not an 85 deg in the shade fan.
And, after many winter seasons at our SW FL EscapeWinterHouse, it has lost its luster for me.
But, my CEO likes it, it's paid for, so 'we like it'.
This v cold turn this week has put damper on doing 'yard stuff' and we are in first few days of a deck(s) renovation, that should have been done weeks/months ago, but contractors here in western NC are like waiting to get a call from my senator about a lunchola date.
Add in mid 70s age and doing this shut down Mtn home and depart ain't for the weak or weary.
If this week's cold, crummy weather at our elevation doesn't revert back to a more benign Autumn, it will set me back on getting stuff, and this deck done.
I need a freakin Staff.
GL, mD
Second and Third homes, both a blessing and a curse!
I have a pancake compressor at every location for blowing out the pipes (part of my winterizing).
Ball valve on the end of a hose connected to every hot water heater. RV antifreeze for traps/toilets/dishwasher/etc.
Probably a bit of overkill, but you can never be too safe when it comes to freezing pipes.
The personal phone numbers of my Plumber and Electrician are among my most prized possessions in WNC.
No hummers seen on cameras in several days now. Of course, the flowers that once drew them in are a shadow of their former selves.
Jeesshhh,
A wayward passer by was at our feeder this barely dawn morning!
It must be lost/lucky as it spotted our still up feeder. 7:00 AM, we are still in cloud bank since Sunday, drizzle and occasional wet flurries. 34 degs F and has not been above 38 for a high since Saturday afternoon. I was out on deck putting some seed down for our dwindling birds and could barely believe it...
NEway, it perched and filled up for a minute plus; I wish him well on his long migration.
I did go down the Mtn and play golf at our club this morning; good to just get out and do some activity.
We have our retired mailman 'winterize' our house and 'watch' it a couple times a month. He reverses the process in April. Water is off/zero heat, like a tomb most of the winter, though the mice don't seem to mind.
I need a staff; my CEO reminds me we are the getting older 'staff'.
Haven't seen or heard any hummers on Cold Mountain in the past 10 days or so. Feeders came down today.
We have been doing the winter migration from Cold Mountain to central FL for the past 8-9 years. We became *really* tired of the twice-annual trek and being absent half a year from either location made some things very difficult or impossible (e.g., I am interested in playing music again - physical presence is required...bass guitar player via Zoom isn't an option). So we decided to sell our FL home in the Spring and make some improvements to our NC home to make it a better full-time option. This year will be our first full winter on Cold Mountain (fingers crossed). Fortunately our place has a great southern exposure, but I bought chains and a snow plow for the UTV just in case. lol (?)
Our NC home has a 30x60 3-bay, metal barn on it...Was mostly for toys, but now it's stuffed (to the rafters in some places) with all of the "overflow" stuff we couldn't sell before we left FL. So many duplicates...We are slowly weeding through it to toss, donate or sell (how many citrus squeezers do you really need? Air compressors? Is 2000 cubic feet of "Xmas" decorations necessary for salvation?).
We spent 8-9 years accumulating this stuff...hope it doesn't take another 8-9 years before I get my barn back.
^
I hear you...23 yrs here at our Mtn home, (departed Metro NYC area in Sept 2001), and 19 yrs in a SW FL EscapeWinterHouse, 9 winter season yrs in our current SW FL golf community house, and while we are quite experienced at doing the dual house two step, we are also 19 yrs older.
We remain NC rez as I never did the FL rez switch, for a number of reasons, and we live here 7+ months a year and I tolerate SW FL for 5 months or less. The 'winter season' there is becoming more hot for longer, earlier and unrelenting, and the close in 'burbs situ, along with the HOA/POA nannys and rules make me bristle more and more every year.
We did four years at our Mtn home full time, when winters were serious azz then, and I could do winter again here at elevation if I had to. Not ready to 'had to' yet, though the migration process and paper chase of two houses' bills, needs, repairs, et al are a part time job. Yes, comfortable ol'Boomer lament.
My CEO likes our SW FL situ, so 'we like it'. I gently push on going down later every year and coming home earlier every year. When I go off to Valhalla she may do more in FL, but that will be her choice.
Our adult kidz roll their eyes, but they surely like both house situs.
Good luck on your Cold Mtn winter. For me, the lack of being outside, doing 'light' stuff and not completely bundled up, has some drawback, esp here in my post mid 70s. And, I get antsy/bored being 'in' for hours each day...As a younger man, winter never fazed me.
^
I hear you...23 yrs here at our Mtn home, (departed Metro NYC area in Sept 2001), and 19 yrs in a SW FL EscapeWinterHouse, 9 winter season yrs in our current SW FL golf community house, and while we are quite experienced at doing the dual house two step, we are also 19 yrs older.
We remain NC rez as I never did the FL rez switch, for a number of reasons, and we live here 7+ months a year and I tolerate SW FL for 5 months or less. The 'winter season' there is becoming more hot for longer, earlier and unrelenting, and the close in 'burbs situ, along with the HOA/POA nannys and rules make me bristle more and more every year.
We did four years at our Mtn home full time, when winters were serious azz then, and I could do winter again here at elevation if I had to. Not ready to 'had to' yet, though the migration process and paper chase of two houses' bills, needs, repairs, et al are a part time job. Yes, comfortable ol'Boomer lament.
My CEO likes our SW FL situ, so 'we like it'. I gently push on going down later every year and coming home earlier every year. When I go off to Valhalla she may do more in FL, but that will be her choice.
Our adult kidz roll their eyes, but they surely like both house situs.
Good luck on your Cold Mtn winter. For me, the lack of being outside, doing 'light' stuff and not completely bundled up, has some drawback, esp here in my post mid 70s. And, I get antsy/bored being 'in' for hours each day...As a younger man, winter never fazed me.
GL, mD
We have friends who recently sold their FL home and moved here full-time. Have another friend who will likely do the same this year. MD, have you considered selling your current WNC home and moving to a lower elevation? From what I gather, our winters at 2650 ft. are a good bit milder than yours. Summers are mild as well. The highest we got this summer was 88 and that was only for a couple of days. Hummingbirds are almost gone until next year..
^ We have, as we know/have been in nearly every house 'lower down our Mtn' around our golf community.
Lots of fine homes, though most have doubled/tripled in price like many housing areas have, and they sell like cold beer in August, at the game...
As neither of us are 80-88+ deg fans, (in the shade = triple digits in the Sun), the process of selling our Mtn home, moving 1000 to 2000 feet lower, and turning on the A/C often for 8-9 months a year has little appeal.
And, as my CEO likes our SW FL winter situ, walled/gated, very secure/she has many friends there, tossing that house probably isn't in the near term possibilities, even with that house being sell able tomorrow for double what we paid for it 9 yrs ago.
Our situ is not about budget/affording it, etc. We have considerable 'comfort', but most of us at our age don't have 'time' and none of us knows how much time that is.
Appreciate the idea, but we know how we live/might like to live, and have talked about our housing situ for years. Never say never, but for now I put up with two houses in very different climes and living situations.
And, tossing our SW FL winter home for considerable paper gain and renting someone's joint for ~ $4 to $5Gs a month for a few months is not our interest.
Our high this Spring/Summer season was 79 in the shade for ~ 20 mins.
Took my H feeder down today; that anomaly hummer yesterday was just that.
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First World Problems...
