Todalove, are you OK? Still with us at times? Miss seeing your comments.
pixipixil
Nov 26, 2020
I miss Toadalove also. Have reached out on this site but no reply.
LuvsWesterns
Nov 27, 2020
Hi pixipixil -- Several names are missing as time goes by. Let's hope they all just took up playing chess, and are absorbed in it. Take care, be safe, and, if you're in the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving!
pixipixil
Nov 29, 2020
Thanks Luvswesterns. Hope you had/are having a lovely Thanksgiving.
I'm in NY near but not in Albany. Been in NY all my life but would like to move west. Not much chance as Albany is/has been the area where real estate values have gone up the least in the country so our home has actually lost value over the years compared to other places and our home is very modest to begin with so downsizing unless we get a tent won't help.
I don't know about you but moving into a senior housing complex or a condo does not appeal to me or my husband.
LuvsWesterns
Dec 3, 2020
Hi pixipixil -- been busier than a whirling dervish lately with house repairs and catching up on just filing things away so I can either finally forget about 'em or find 'em later. [sigh] My Joe passed last March, so it's just his sister and me now. We had a nice meal, as the usual dinner out with friends wasn't possible this year. We're in So. Cal., and also in a gated senior community. It has its pluses and minuses, but our HOA is well run, with good reserves for the necessary upkeep and the occasional big ticket items, plus we're small, so the dues aren't outrageous -- well within our combined Social Security. Right now the wind is really blowing, and I'm sure the fire danger is quite high. Although we don't live in a forested area, there are foothills nearby, full of dry vegetation, so that's always a worry. Nevertheless, I'm a native Californian, and wouldn't consider living anywhere else. Too old for the snowy cold, and wouldn't care for humidity at all -- not one little bit. My only hope is that I outlive the expected BIG ONE! It's several years overdue. Little rumbles now and then, but nothing damaging lately. All in all, mine is a good and happy lot. Hope you and yours are staying safe and well, and that you have a lovely Christmas!
pixipixil
Dec 4, 2020
Hi Luvswesterns. I've been to CA a few times--4x near, Thru & to San Francisco when my brother lived in Fremont, once to San Diego with my mother, once to Death Valley, Kerrville and Kings Canyon, and the first time as a young adult with my parents thru San Marino, Palm Springs, up the Big Sur, Carmel, and Yosemite.
My brother and his wife are in AZ now and so glad to be out of CA. The fires this year were very near where he once lived.
I'd like to see San Diego again and drive up to Santa Barbara, but probably wont get to do that. It isn't top of my list. I want to see Glacier Park first then maybe if my husband and I make it thru two years in good enough health it ranks about even with seeing Carlsbad caverns and a return trip to Big Bend park; or backtracking to some spots in AZ/UT we missed because I got sick. Want to see Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley and Canyonlands Park.
I'm tired of the NYS winters--too cold, too wet, too dark, too long BUT the real estate where we live hasn't appreciated the way it has around the country. (Our area is the worst according to the internet.) It would cost over $100, 000 to move and buy a home in UT or AZ and it wouldn't even be as nice as the one we have which is what realtors call a starter home. We've had 3 houses and each one got smaller than the last. So until one of us dies we will stay here. We can see a lake from our window which isn't something we can get moving out west.
LuvsWesterns
Dec 7, 2020
Your desired trip sounds like a good one, and I hope you're able to do it one of these days. AZ is a very nice state, but the southern part is HOT. A nice oasis in Sedona, but the rest is pretty arid. I hear the northern part of the state is lovely. I've never had a yen to travel -- "my home is my castle" kind of person, so haven't gone many places. I like vacations spots, but packing and traveling, then packing and cleaning after getting home has always been tasks I've dreaded. I know the feeling about a home depreciating in price instead of appreciating. We had that problem when we lived in Victorville and the crash of 2008 took a hunk of our investments and devalued our home. We had to pay to get out of the loan, and it nearly wiped out our savings to get into another home in a community closer to our favorite medical group. But it was worth it to bite the bullet at that time, before my hubby retired, than continue paying huge house payments for a house in a neighborhood that was fast turning into rental homes, and delaying his retirement for several years. We had really fierce winds last night and the fence between my backyard neighbors and my house blew down, but we know a good handyman who doesn't charge an arm and a leg for fence repair. Some of the licensed companies have to charge about twice of what he does because of employee payroll, workers comp, higher vehicle insurance, and general liability insurance. He's semi-retired and knows all the trades. We all use him for electric, plumbing, drywall repair, new appliance installation, etc. His bid on the fence was very reasonable to replace six posts, pour new concrete for the new posts, and reset all the slats and header and footer. Plus he'll stain my side (replacing posts only) to match. You take care, pixipixil, and don't let the turkeys get you down!
pixipixil
Dec 8, 2020
Say Luvswesterns. Good luck with that fence. That must have been a ferocious wind storm. We have several very tall whit pines along out back fence and whenever we have a wind warning I pray very hard the trees don't come crashing down.
It overlooks Lake Bled in Slovenia (former Yugoslavia.)
It is a small lake ---- wonderful walk around it. You pass the former summer home of Marshall Titio.
We stayed in a hotel overlooking the lake ---- one of our best vacations. We had a week in Lake Bled, a week in Split on the Adriatic, and a week in Dubrovnik. Loved it.
JamieT
May 7, 2017
That sounds like a wonderful vacation - depending on when you went, the prices could have been very good. The photos I've seen of the Adriatic coast are usually pretty stunning.
Tito was an interesting man who grew to fame as a major and effective anti-Nazi fighter who became a Communist dictator, although I'm not sure if he was as vicious as some of the other Eastern European Communist dictators following WWII.
pixipixil
Nov 26, 2020
Don't spoil this gorgeous view with politics. It only leads to arguments.
I'd love to see this part of Europe.
That looks like the kind of Fall day that makes me feel young and alive with prospects and possibilities. nless the castle serves lunch with an outside view I think I'll just meander around the lake.
Enjoyed this one team and how unusual to find a castle so high up in the mountains, well at least they would be able to see people whom came to visit them and would be able to see if they were friends or a enemy.
I'm in NY near but not in Albany. Been in NY all my life but would like to move west. Not much chance as Albany is/has been the area where real estate values have gone up the least in the country so our home has actually lost value over the years compared to other places and our home is very modest to begin with so downsizing unless we get a tent won't help.
I don't know about you but moving into a senior housing complex or a condo does not appeal to me or my husband.
My brother and his wife are in AZ now and so glad to be out of CA. The fires this year were very near where he once lived.
I'd like to see San Diego again and drive up to Santa Barbara, but probably wont get to do that. It isn't top of my list. I want to see Glacier Park first then maybe if my husband and I make it thru two years in good enough health it ranks about even with seeing Carlsbad caverns and a return trip to Big Bend park; or backtracking to some spots in AZ/UT we missed because I got sick. Want to see Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley and Canyonlands Park.
I'm tired of the NYS winters--too cold, too wet, too dark, too long BUT the real estate where we live hasn't appreciated the way it has around the country. (Our area is the worst according to the internet.) It would cost over $100, 000 to move and buy a home in UT or AZ and it wouldn't even be as nice as the one we have which is what realtors call a starter home. We've had 3 houses and each one got smaller than the last. So until one of us dies we will stay here. We can see a lake from our window which isn't something we can get moving out west.
It is a small lake ---- wonderful walk around it. You pass the former summer home of Marshall Titio.
We stayed in a hotel overlooking the lake ---- one of our best vacations. We had a week in Lake Bled, a week in Split on the Adriatic, and a week in Dubrovnik. Loved it.
Tito was an interesting man who grew to fame as a major and effective anti-Nazi fighter who became a Communist dictator, although I'm not sure if he was as vicious as some of the other Eastern European Communist dictators following WWII.
I'd love to see this part of Europe.