No, not the forums, Kathy and I.

(Although I am having the forums upgraded. They are working on them on a test server so we know everything is right before switching on the upgraded version).

We are moving from Florida to Maine, leaving this Friday morning (Feb.1). I know, odd timing with the crazy weather and the snow/cold up north. The timing wasn't our choice, the move is.

Because of the move I will have very limited access to the Internet until we get settled and find a way to get it into the house (likely satellite as cable doesn't run in rural areas like this).

We have a fair amount of work to do on the house, but we're very excited about it, because when we're done we will be able to host piano forums parties!

I'll check in when I can, and hope to be back on the air permanently in a couple of weeks.

Happy Transport!

Well, Maine is nice. I used to go there quite a bit. I have not forgotten that the State Bird of Maine is the blackfly. You can get t-shirts stating this. Their biomass far exceeds that of any other species, even the moose.

On the other hand, I like Florida also. You are in for quite a change in texture... and you may be able to personally advise those people who write to ask if a piano can survive in a room with a wood stove. A lot of people seem to want to know the answer to this. I forget, if Maine dwellers think three-and-a-half cords or five cords of wood will get you through the winter.

Pianos were invented when wood fireplaces were the last word in HVAC, but I am doubtful all the same.

I might move, myself, if I weren't so averse to it. To think, I used to do it professionally. And to think, those mighty vows I made on the last occasion, to possess nothing more than a laptop and a card table for future moves... all broken.

Hi Jeff,

We plan to use the wood stove in the living room very sparingly.

There is another wood stove downstairs in the family room we might use.
But the place also has oil heat, and I intend to watch the humidity/dryness closely.

Best wishes for the easiest move possible for you and Kathy and all your stuff, especially the piano!

Not sure about the State Bird but I DO have two beautiful Maine Coons cats that are just spectacular and I am told they are the official cat of Maine! I am a brand new member to P.W. and also an "old" beginner-at least I ahve a good keyboard to work with. Best of luck on your move.

PS: I live in Ft.Lauderdale....tough time of year to make the move north!

Best of luck with the move Frank!

James
x

Good luck! My wife attended Bowdoin College in Maine. Nice place.

Welcome to Maine! I'm in Old Orchard Beach.

Dear Frank,

May you and Kathy and all your possessions arrive safely in Maine unscathed, and in perfect condition. Whenever I think of Maine, I think of Stephen King. How about this ...a middle-aged couple leave their Florida digs with their old piano and cross over the Maine border as 20 year-olds with a new Bosendorfer! Think he could do something with that!

Best Wishes
Craig Sanders

We want pictures!

I love Maine ! I wish my So. Ca., thinned out blood would agree with the winters though. I'd love to get out of this zoo and re-locate somewhere that is less densely populated.

Best of luck with your move Frank. Hope you have a good mover for your new Estonia.

Yes, pictures and wishing nothing but the best for you guys.

Have a good and safe trip and have a good move!

Thanks for the kind words everyone, we appreciate them.

We would have preferred better timing for the move, but it's how it all worked out.

The address:

352 Moulton Hill Road
Parsonsfield, ME 04047

You asked for pictures, these would be the "before"...

Here is the listing, you can see it needs work, but we already know what we want to do, and in fact have
lined up the contractors and are going for an FHA 203K loan that includes the repairs/renovations.
http://www.trulia.com/property/3003144811-352-Moulton-Hill-Rd-Parsonsfield-ME-04047

Unfortunately the current condition is the pictures with no carpeting and in need of work (the house had been rented out and the tenants moved out without saying anything. The oil ran out, pipes froze and burst).

We can't wait until the renovations are completed, and my piano comes home.
Looking forward to hosting piano forums parties, reconnecting with old friends in the Northeast, and meeting new ones.

Back to packing the U-Haul now, we leave for Maine tomorrow morning (Friday, Feb. 1).

All the Best,

Frank & Kathy

Best wishes, Frank! Looks like the house has lots of potential.

Good luck with your move Frank. Excited to have you back in New England! I love the photos of the house! You'll fit right in in the state of Maine!

Paul

WOW! The time has finally come that we get you both back here in NE! I know the area well since my family's NH summer place is oh so very close and I grew up there during my teen years.

You will love it there. So beautiful, peaceful, and a step back in time.

We'll be up there when you name the party time! Maybe even before just to visit/help out.

I am so happy for you both!

A completely off topic hint for Frank.. and maybe other house owners..

If you ever intend to do better for your heating system:

check if you can use an earth lance with a salt-water mixture - for the purpose to "extract" the heat from down in the earth. If the soil under your home is supporting to extract heat there (this is not in every area possible..), so this would be the ever most economic way to heat a house.

A friend of mine uses such a system on the hills above the river Mosel in Germany near the border to Luxembourg. It costs him in deeply cold winters around 30-40 euro ct per night to have the whole big stone house (nearly 2.000 sq ft) heatened.

Such a system is a little bit costy related to investitions, and it needs experience with the drilling comp.. The heating boiler costs nearly same like an oil or gas system, additional costs are for the lance and the drilling into depths of 250 to 300 ft. This invest had cost him +8.000 euro i.e. around 11k USD. This had paid off for him after three to four years (...OK maybe because german heating energy costs might be a lot higher than in the U.S. ..).

The big industry normally doesn't like alternative systems because such a system sets the users free of oil or gas charges which will most probably increase in the next years steadily. The usage of oil or gas will keep the people dependent from the resp. pricing policy..

If I have the need to replace my gas heating system - I will install a heat exchance lance system. To heat a house then only costs some cents for electricity per night to drive the pumps. The heat down in earth is free for everybody.

Hmmmn,
So we can call for help when we get the POD delivered? :-)

Hi Frank,

Since I'm an IT nerd for my day job, why don't you use a smartphone with WiFi hotspot capability until you get satellite to your new home? It's certainly slower than cable broadband and you'd have to check the provider's range and bandwidth (can be pretty spotty in rural areas) but it might do in a pinch.

Congratulations and best of luck with the move! Looks like a beautiful home and I think I can guess where your Estonia will be placed.

You can PM me or email me directly if you have more questions.

Thanks J&J, I've ordered Dish Satellite to be installed Tuesday (our first full day in the house), didn't want to chance being without.

We are now in Dunn, NC (motel), working our way up to Maine.
Watching the temperatures drop as we continue our trip from Florida to Parsonsfield :-)

Great wishes with your move Frank!! Your house looks great!! It seems like the perfect house for hosting piano parties.

We are in New Haven, CT now. Getting close!

Ran into some snow showers in Virginia, I think it was the first time Kirby (the dog) has seen any snow. He kept staring out the car window at it.

Looks like it will be a bit cooler in our new place than it was in Florida. When we left Florida it was near 80, overnight in Parsonsfield tonight is supposed to be -1.

Last time I looked, the U-Haul trailer was still behind us, so at least we will have an airbed to sleep on tonight.
The house in Maine is empty, doesn't even have a refrigerator (although that may not be a problem considering how cold it is). Stoves are propane, but there isn't any propane yet either.

We feel a little like the pioneers. If we survive the winter, we should be fine :-)

"...We plan to use the wood stove in the living room very sparingly..."

Well, as the temperature drops en route, we can reminisce in advance about the real niceness of a wood fire in February, in Maine, whose latitude is so high that it is pitch dark by 4:00 in the afternoon from Thanksgiving on. And yes, past chilly; way past. Nothing warms you up like that wood stove, whose walls glow with that orangey-red which is toastiness itself once they've been fired up for awhile.

As I remember, the trick is to have a stove that is as close to airtight as possible, and in the middle of the house... though in Maine, I remember seeing a lot of steel drums that were re-purposed as wood stoves in log cabins. My Maine buddies, most of them, lived in cabins (though very nice ones; Herman's was two-stories and had a piano, and moose came right up to the porch), log cabins way in the backcountry. It made me appreciate living in a place where water that doesn't make you sick comes right into the house in a pipe--- hot, even--- and in which there is electricity. For, many of them lived by Coleman pump-up light six months out of the year, and spent their precious battery voltage listening to their lifeline to the outer world, NPR radio.

I suppose, if your living is a website, you will have electricity; therefore you can have a ceiling fan, which, moving slowly, seriously helps even out the room temperature from top to bottom, and side to side... for with stove heat, there are two sides: roasting hot, and freezing cold, depending on which side of you is facing the stove.

They have line-items in their budgets which many of us have never contemplated, like, visits from a bulldozer to keep their road in business, or scrubbing their stovepipes with chicken-wire Brillo pads so the tar doesn't catch fire inside them, and then there goes the house.

Anyway, the air-tightness. That means you can damp the fire way down, so it evens out the raving combustion that will make you break out in a sweat, then suddenly be gone, which makes you break out in salty icicles. You can even keep it going overnight, and fire up the morning coffee with some fresh wood over yesterday's coals. Herman could even, believe it or not, make excellent quiche on his wood kitchen stove (I understand it is not that hard).

If you can manage to have something like a Franklin stove with glass doors and iron shutters, it is both very fancy and very controllable. We blame Benjamin Franklin for the curse of so-called Daylight Savings Time (saving candles was his excuse), but he was a genius and he knew a thing or two about wood stoves.

Most Maine folks keep a pot of water going on their wood stoves, to help the indoor humidity... though I'm sure they won't have as close an eye on it as you will.

>> the trick is to have a stove that is as close to airtight as possible <<

Not so much anymore. Modern woodstoves, built to maximize heating efficiency and minimize particulate emissions, don't close down that far. We have a Vermont Castings Encore non-catalytic model, a midsize stove, and use it for most of our heat once the temperatures get low enough to allow its use. Here in southern Ohio it's enough to keep our furnace use down to half an hour or so on nights when the low reaches 5 F. The house is a little under 2000 square feet, well insulated and -- finally -- with all-new windows since last summer.

It took my wife, the carpenter in the family, a few years to get all four sides of the house done. We suffered through two winters of moderate smoking from the stove before I finally called the shop where we got it. When I told the lady there that we'd put on extra insulation and new siding, she said "unless you wrapped the house, too, that shouldn't make much difference." Of course we did wrap the house with Tyvek, and I can now testify that it really does cut down air infiltration dramatically! This winter we've been leaving a window cracked while we wait for the contractor to bore a new hole in our poured-concrete basement wall and install the fresh-air vent for the stove. (-: That's another nice thing about Vermont Castings stove (and probably others): it has a fitting for a fresh-air intake.

When the temps drop low enough, I load the stove up with locust or similar top-quality firewood before bed, and we still have significant coals left in the morning.

Andy

Kings books start out happy, but never end that way...the Bose would turn into Christine...

Good luck with the move. Just moved this year myself, but the opposite way, from cold upstate NY to warmer Raleigh, NC, area. We have a Maine coon cat, too, like another poster. Wonderful pet. She likes the warm weather, but also takes showers in the sink if you let her. Rain is not a problem with this breed, either. Keep warm. Hope you can keep the wood fire from hurting the piano. That can be a problem.

Best of luck on the move Frank. It's never fun. Missed hanging out with you and Kathy at NAMM.

what a gorgeous house and property! looking at the pictures, i wanted to move in! bravo on getting a steal.

did you manage to sell your place in florida? 80F, huh? mr. pique and i could head down and watch the place for you until things warm up around here.

congratulations on your move. there's no better place than maine, unless it is montana. and you are about to have such excellent neighbors, too.

one caution,however, if the only place you have to put the estonia is against one of those walls with the baseboard heater unit, it would be best if you disconnected that particular unit. and the wood stove could be a disaster for the piano, depending on the quality of the stove and how it is used.

i normally don't like damppchasers, but in your circumstances, if you don't already have one, it looks like it would be a good idea...

Thanks everyone.

There are up sides and down sides to everything.

We arrived here last night, the temperature went down to -1 and the oil burner wasn't working correctly (turns out the boiler has a crack, and something wasn't set right).
Because we don't own it yet (we are renting until the closing), the expectation is the seller will get it fixed.

There is no refrigerator, and we haven't had a chance to shop for one yet. Cell phone reception is spotty at best (so I couldn't use the phone to order a land line).

On the up-side, the area is beautiful, the night sky was so full of stars I nearly fell over staring up at them.
The people are friendly and helpful, and the Dish Internet got set up today.

We have a lot of work to do, but we knew that coming in. It will be worth it in the end.

More soon.

-1 F and no heat? i hope you are staying in a motel!

Looks like you're about an hour west of Portland. Portland is my favorite small city (and with a Whole Foods to boot) and a place we almost moved to after I retired from government. I'm sure you and Kathy will love it up there. Your house looks big enough that you may also need a bigger piano. Good luck with everything.

Rich

Frank, the house looks wonderful. I'm not so sure about -1 with no heat, though. That doesn't sound so wonderful. I feel cold whenever it gets below 70.

Welcome to the cold weather! Believe it or not, it's been pretty mild, until now. I am about three hours away. I also have some family in Maine! Believe it or not, your house makes me want to move out of my urban area! It's been snowing here, south of you, for most of the day but there is minimal accumulation. I hear that will change come Friday! I enjoy this site immensely and should earn credits for the knowledge I have gained. To that, let me know if I can help...

Best of luck. Your new home is absolutely a dream! I am really looking forward to updates on its progress!

I am fairly sure that I have been to an address on that road.
I live in Mass, but I transport horses and get to a lot of "off the beaten track" places.

One client moving to Maine did have the driveway "rearranged" for me to get in.
Some bumps and humps needed to be taken down and a turn widened out for my near 40 ft trailer (without much ground clearance).
That was Perry ME, which is WAY UP, a couple of hours beyond Bangor.
Right on the St Croix river, they can waive to Canada.
Getting a dozer to come in is no big deal up there, easier than getting a back-hoe or bobcat to do minor work in Mass.

3 horses (1 blind) 3 goats & 8 chickens - they took the dogs and cats.

I have a friend in Portland, also a fairly regular client in Falmouth.

Frank, welcome to Maine (and our impending blizzard). I'm in Yarmouth, about half an hour north of Portland. You'll likely get more snow than I will -- your area seems to get hit hard. Maybe you're staying in NC for a few days?

Anyway, best of luck with your move and if I can help you with anything, please PM me and I'll give you phone #, address, etc.

Joining in a bit late here.... Enjoy your new home Frank, it looks like it has fantastic spaces to work with - love that primary kitchen, and you may not know it, but having a second kitchen downstairs is very Italian!

May you and Kathy have great fun getting it to be just the way you want it, and enjoy many many happy years there!

Thanks for the welcome.

It was -1 our first night, got stuck in the snow on a one lane dirt road with the U-Haul on the back (learned not to rely on GPS)on our second day. Got saved by a couple of locals. Happens they also sell wood.

Went to town today and picked up supplies, including a propane lantern.
Had wood delivered and put a couple of stacks in the downstairs near the wood stove.

Hoping we don't lose power, but if we do we'll have heat, light, food, and water. They are expecting quite the blizzard up here, but so is Boston.

Been doing a lot of running around as you might imagine.
Can't really get cell phone service up here, hoping to have a land line working tomorrow.

All in All, an interesting adventure so far.

I am wondering how much snow we will really get! I am south of Boston. I have the generator ready and hope the damage is minimal. Welcome to New England!

just saw the weather forecast for your area. yikes!! stay safe and warm, you two.

Thanks Pique'

We have plenty of wood (I stacked it next to the woods stove last night), and water. We're ok with food.
Turns out the propane lantern I bought was a kerosene model, making the canister of propane I bought useless.
But we have a couple of coleman style battery operated lanterns.

Our only remaining concern is getting plowed out when it's over.

Just read this in our Boston newspaper...

"Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency and banned cars from the roads beginning at 4 p.m. The travel ban applies to all roads in the state, but there are various exceptions, such as for public safety, media, and vehicles supplying esssential businesses like convenience stores and hardware stores. Violating the travel ban, he said, could incur a penalty of a year in jail and a $500 fine."

you sure picked a heckuva time to move to maine! maybe your landlord can tell you who among your neighbors has a plow? usually neighbors help each other out in rural areas...

be careful about using kerosene or propane anything indoors. they give off toxic fumes, and are obviously highly flammable. they can go off like rockets if the connectors fail or aren't on right--i have seen it.

car batteries with transformers are very good for off the grid power, btw. they are commonly used to power computers out our way.

Frank,

You ad Kathy are the guests of honor on Mar 23 here in Lowell ... will you be dug out by then ?? I hear that entire houses are covered by snow up there in Maine.

Nemo was certainly a wicked good storm :-)

We got buried in snow, and all we have is one snow shovel (and neither of us are supposed to shovel snow).

Nate (one of the current owners of the house we are buying) kindly came by with his tractor and plowed us out.

SNOW PICTURES in Parsonsfield, ME here

Nate's a keeper!

Good thing you knew what you were getting into. I am imagining your lovely property without the snow. Sounds as if you have good neighbors.

Most of the Cape is without power but we got lucky with only 5 hours outage this morning. We're still snowed in though and no one has come to plow yet.

Stay warm and Jerry and I send our best to Kathy and you.

South shore, just got plowed but no heat or utilities! Ughhhh

Hello Frank,

Regarding your move to Maine I have only one thing to say: Blueberries!

Also lobster, clam chowder, and a hundred regional recipes. And you will have such close access to so many local farmers and their produce - Maine is a good place to go for close-to-the-earth good eating.

Congratulations on your move.

JB

Right now we are living sparsely.

Most of our belongings are in a POD in Biddeford, Maine (we think).

We watch TV sitting on kitchen chairs, eat at a card table, and up until this morning, slept on an air mattress (it sprung a leak this morning).

The house needs quite a bit of work, but that's part of the reason we are buying it, because we can make it our own.

Considering what we were able to do with the mobile home I had in Largo (http://www.pianoworld.com/House/Frank_House.html) I'm sure the house in Maine will be comfortable when we're done.

Watching TV


Kitchen Table


Our Bed (air mattress, now flat because of leak)

Frank, Congrats on your move to Maine! What convinced you to make such a change of abode? How hard was it to sell your house in FL? Does your new house have city water or well water? If you are on a well, I suggest you get an automatic start standby generator running off of LP. Heck, even if you are on city water, I think that you should get the generator!

Robert

Hi Robert,
We were originally from New England and decided to move home.

Kathy sold her house in St Petersburg within three weeks of listing it.
My mobile home took about two months to sell, but that's because sales in the park
are very seasonal.

We are trying to get a generator included in the FHA 203K financing of the house we are buying.
(Yes, it's well water, and very tasty cold pure water).

Best,
Frank B.

Congratulations on your move.

I wished I had spoken to you before. If you check with your phone company. DSL is reaching out pretty darn far into rural areas now. It works good. Am sure it's much cheaper than satellite internet. I had satellite when it first came out. I won't bore you with complaining. I understand it has gotten much better.

I see your dog is camoflaged for snow. Cute thing. They're the greatest.

The picture of your front door open. That reminded me of my first winter in So. Dak. First snow. My dog wanted to go out. I opened the back door. All I saw was white. A wall of it. I looked down. My solid brown dog was solid white. I imagine I was too. She looked at me as if to say: "Toto...we sure ain't in southern california anymore."

Also.... I just discovered the best winter coat I've ever owned. A new Carhart. It's shell is made of cordura nylon. Has a good thin insulation underneath. The shell is impervious to snow. Is a gauntlet to the wind. It's just about waterproof. But ain't no rain coat, for sure. They also make this in bib overalls. Gotta be the best winter coat I've ever owned.

Good luck!

And there was some more snow... tiresome really.

FYI...

There will be a Piano Forums Piano Party in Lowell MA on March 23, at Larry Buck's place. Hope to see you there.

The following is from an email Larry sent out to a group of musicians he knows:

"Hello Everyone,


I hope you have had a relaxing winter, especially with this new snow last weekend.

THERE IS A PIANO WORLD GATHERING HERE ON SAT MARCH 23RD AT NOON.
We are celebrating the Owner, Frank Baxter and his return to New
England from Florida. Frank and his better half, Kathy will be our
Guests of Honor for this relaxing afternoon of Music and friends.


Many of you may not know about Piano World. It is an online
community of piano enthusiasts of all interests and "Piano Gatherings"
are a "Staple" of this enthusiastic community. I guarantee you will
be pleasantly surprised at the folks you will meet.
Bring your music as everyone will likely take their turn playing in
this very informal setting. It is not necessary to play though and
many come to just listen and socialize. Pot Luck if you would like
and we will also be providing food and drink.


There is also a special "Guest of Honor" you will meet there.


You can see Franks bio at;
http://www.pianoworld.com/aboutus.htm


RSVP if you can and if you are bringing a Pot Luck, give us an idea
of what that is.


As always, please feel free to invite you friends, that IS the spirit
of these events.


Best,
Larry Buck
--
E. J. Buck & Sons
Custom Piano Service
171 Lincoln St.
Lowell MA 01852
(978) 458-8688
http://www.ejbuckpiano.com"

Hi Frank, your Largo home became an incredible beauty! and no doubt so will your Parsonsfield home. I'm envious, actually, because my husband and I twice in a row bought fixer-uppers here in Maine and worked on them while living in them (still in the second one now, many years later). The process looks grueling to some, and certainly has its lousy moments, but overall it is extremely exciting and inspiring to make a place your own, as you know. Based on your attitude and visionary ability, it is clear you will enjoy this adventure. Despite Nemo and other Maine-type problems! That you moved FROM Florida TO Maine is not the usual direction and is music to my ears.

Very best wishes to you for great music-making and life in the pine tree + chickadee state.

Scout in Old Orchard Beach

Hi Scout,

Thanks for the kind words.

A little snow and cold won't deter us, we grew up in New England.
And we're loving the area (woods, mountains, clean air, fresh water, etc.).
I still have to learn about the wild life, and got to be careful with Kirby (our 20lb Havanese dog).

We are enjoying ourselves already, although I must admit Kathy does 85-90% of the work when it comes to remodeling.
She's just better at it then I am, and stays focused better. I'm good with electrical wiring and fixing stuff, and I follow directions fairly well.

The house is looking better already.
We will get really excited once we have the final approval and closing date.

As you know, you aren't that far from us. We hope you and your husband will consider
visiting and/or coming to a piano party some time.

Best,

Frank & Kathy

The Maine state bird is the Chickadee. Welcome from the Western Mtn. region of Maine.

Free advice for new Maine residents. - http://www.mainecottagegarden.com/humor/suggestion.html

Thanks David,

We are already loving being here.

The wet snow we got up here last night was absolutely gorgeous to wake up to this morning.
The air is pure and the water (well) is better than any "spring" water we ever purchased in Florida.

Every drive through this mountain area is an invitation to take pictures, and as an ex-lobsterman/commercial firsherman, I love the coast.

I know some people think we are nuts for moving from Florida to Maine in the winter, but we are enjoying every minute (we took turns with the new snow blower tonight, even though we knew the professional we contracted for snow plowing would be coming any time).

Best,

Frank, Kathy, & Kirby

Read your suggestions, I feel much more prepared now.

Being as we're from the Boston area, I though it only fair to share with you some insight about what to look for and how to respond in that area, should you find yourself having wandered too far south of Portland...

So, in the spirit of being a good neighbor:
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/916668/

The air is absolutely pure! I would love to settle up North at some point! Your pictures really speak to the secluded beauty of your new home! Keep up us updated on your progress. As a fellow New Englander, I enjoy the winter... it's a great time to change the pace

Congratulations on your new opportunity! I'm a bit disappointed that I did not see this thread until yesterday. I missed you when you came through NC. Dunn, NC is about 30 minutes from my home! Perhaps another time. Dinner's on me.

Hi Frank,
I am located on the North Fork of Long Island. Some what like New England, many tourists during the Spring, Summer, and Fall, and quiet the rest of the year. I' m glad you are closer, so we can think about attending future Piano Parties. Not in winter! Thanks for all your work on the Forum, it does connect many piano lovers, and professional musicians. I was able to connect with my old piano teacher from 50 years ago. Robert Estrin's father Morton Estrin was my teacher at Hofstra College, it is now Hofstra University, and he still teaches.

Thanks again for the Piano Forum
Dot

Frank, I would love to be invited to one of your piano parties. Would you let me know? I don't play any classical and am pretty much a play by ear hack but I can bring food!

Hi Sandy,

Happy to let you know.
Be sure to keep an eye on the forums, and make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter.

Trust me, whatever level you might think your playing is at, we will all still love to
have you play. I'm mostly a self taught old rock player (emphasis on old), but I don't mind
playing in front of anyone, including our members who are professionals. We all have fun and nobody judges anyone.

Besides, you said the magic words "I can bring food!". :-)

Hi Sandy,

There is a forum gathering here in Lowell with Frank and Kathy as the guests of honor .. You are welcome to join us.

Follow this link for more information.
March 23rd 2013 Gathering in Lowell MA

I envy you. I wish I could move back to Maine. Call me crazy but I really miss the winter months....maybe not 5 months of it but miss it nevertheless. I have built a business in the desert since 1994 and there is no way I could relocate and start over again. It was 78 degrees in Las Vegas today and it's only the beginning of March. It only got down in the 20's for a few days this winter. Enjoy your new home and post some more pictures when the seasons permit it. MAINE EXILE.

We missed the winter months too.
I know most people would consider that nuts, but we enjoy the snow, and cuddling under the blankets when it's cold.

You're welcome to visit any time.

Good thing! We are getting some more I think!!!

Looks like we might be.

We went into town today (I feel like I'm living in the old Wild West) and picked up some "supplies" :-)

Thankfully most of my business is conducted over the Internet, and I don't mind staying in to play the piano, read, or spend time with Kathy.

It's been snowing steadily on the south shore in MA... It's tiresome! You're right, being snowed in can be relaxing, only if there's heat! Lol.