-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/