Posted on 04/15/2005 6:38:21 AM PDT by grellis
Chiffarobes are good, or armoires I suppose is what sophisticated people call them.
I am so lucky that I get to do what I love and only do it for 12 weeks out of the year! I do envy all of the year round stay at home moms. It is so hard to pull myself out of the routine every year on January 15th...even before my daughter came along! It will be nice to have time to participate on the Friday morning thread!
That's sounds similar to the way I worked when I was a lobbyist...........the legislature is only part time in Delaware, so for about 5 months of the year I was grossly overworked and underpaid - but the rest of the year I pretty much did as I pleased. I worked on yearly contracts and so the checks continued to come in :)
Until about 18 months ago, houses in central California were reasonable--THEN the LA people started buying them up as investments, and the prices went so high that locals can hardly afford to jump in.
We're not too fond of the LA investors right now.
Lucky you! My fondest hours were spent in the B.C. "bush" where we had no neighbors within earshot, a lake and two creeks and a 45 minute drive to the local grocery store. I found my self in the quiet of the Canadian wilderness. Now I'm in a village of 1600 people and my only complaint about rural America is the chemical blast we get from the farmer's every spring. On another level, I long for warmer year-round temps like Florida but don't think I could handle the crowds.
Your time in the B.C "bush" sounds lovely.............though 45 minutes to the grocery would be a bit much for me :)
We had a taste of early spring last month and I was able to open doors and windows...........my daughter got off the school bus and promptly held her nose "EEEEEEEWWWWWWW I smell poop!" The farmers were taking advantage of the warm, dry days and manuring the fields. The smell of manured fields is a sure sign of spring, and I don't mind the odor in the least!
One of the houses I looked at when we were on the market was an old Vic similar to what we live in now, with maybe 250 additional square feet: five bedrooms, gourmet kitchen, kitchen eating space, formal dining room, living room, small study, 2nd floor additional study, original oak floors, original fluted oak woodwork on all of the doorways and windows. It only had one full bath (we have two) and the roof needed replacing. The total square footage was 2,000. The house is sitting on a half-acre in the downtown of a small, rural community about 25 minutes north of Lansing. Asking price: $111,000.
What would that get in CA?
If only the farmers around here used manure but they have an arsenal of nasty chemicals. Behind my office is a field which has recently seen a layer of ammonia and my brother has a terrible sore in his nose from inhaling it. Recent residents to our community have been sick most of this spring already (moved up from Florida) and they are not happy campers. I spend this time indoors, much to my dismay with this beautiful weather, but that's the trade-off.
The arsenal of nasty chemicals starts here in late August - when the commercial tomato crop has been harvested........they spray the plants to kill them and keep anyone from snatching the leftovers from the vines.
That particularly irks me because it is such waste. I know bloody well that the Food Bank could amass a force of volunteers to harvt the last of the crop not needed for commercial purposes and put it to good use.
I hate waste.
I wonder if you could get anyone to listen to your idea about the Food Bank?? We keep our tomatoe seeds from the best and plant them again and again. What a pity that there is so much aggression against recycling. Witness Monsanto who sell Roundup with the caveat that the buyer has to purchase new seeds every year; unlike in the past when the farmers would recycle their own seeds. And Roundup--dear Lord, it's toxic!
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