Just built a house, regretting the location
KateB22
10 years ago
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redcurls
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKateB22
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Regret black walnut near house?
Comments (11)Well, in all honesty, it's not the most desirable of lawn trees, but its not the worst of the dregs, either. Kind of in the middle. In the plus column, it's a tall, stately tree with generally a very straight trunk, attractive furrowed bark, large almost "tropical" looking leaves. In the negative column, you've got the mess that the nuts can make, the husks that stain surfaces such as concrete, leaves that are prone to attack by tiny parasitic wasps that make them start dropping as early as late June, leaving the tree progressively more bare as the summer passes, the spread of "Thousand Cankers" disease that threatens the species, and they're fairly slow growing, I'd guess a minimum of about 15 years to bearing age for a seedling. They say the grafted ones bear sooner. My trees were seed-grown, planted back in the mid-late 1950s, so I basically inherited them already of young bearing age. They are only now approaching what I would call maturity in terms of height, spread, and trunk size. And, of course, the granddaddy of all drawbacks, toxic juglone flowing from the roots, leaves, husks, etc. A lot of other species die from the toxins produced by black walnuts, so it makes gardening near them a challenge. Others species tolerate it, but there are some weird quirks, such as, I've found some daylily cultivars do just fine near my trees, while others just wither and die two feet away. The "sap" mentioned above is from scale insects. That can now be treated with Bayer Advanced, I would imagine. I just last friday night finished processing the 2011 crop, and I'm so relieved it's done. Grand total from my 3 trees was 124.8 lbs of nutmeats bagged. I probably ate another 10 lbs myself while cracking, picking, and cleaning them. It was rather an epic project, relieved its over. FWIW, I'm going to throw in a plug for the machine that made it possible for me to do those in a mere 3 1/2 months of cracking -- this is an awesome nut cracker (for the record, I have NO affiliation with this company except as a very satisfied customer) -- bought one of these first of November, and it's wonderful. Kind of a pricey investment, but it should give me years of service. Here is a link that might be useful: The Drill Cracker nutcracker...See MoreJust bought a rowhome house and regret it
Comments (6)also, who is fining them? The HOA? In which case, that's another avenue of attack. You're not the only person their slovenliness is bothering, surely. If you're going to live w/ an HOA, you might as well get from it what you need. Keep them on the case. Eventually the fines will get to be too much, and they'll either decide to sell, or they'll try to clean up their act. Also, you *can* ask them to clean up the yard and turn the music down. Just don't say it snottily. Be matter of fact, and SHORT. Avoid the temptation to lecture. Call and say, "your music is really too loud for us; please turn it down. thanks!" and then get off the phone as fast as you can. When you see them (or, just dgo knock on their door) say, "the yard (notice, not YOUR yard--THE yard that both of you sort of share) is looking especially bad; would you please tackle it?" If you can couple that with an offer of some small assistance, do so--"we're going to the dump, maybe we could take some stuff for you" But seriously, if the HOA has gone to the trouble of fining them twice, then keep the pressure on through that avenue....See MoreEver regret buying a house? Overly BLOGGISH
Comments (22)I am so grateful to all of you. Sometimes I struggle with being clear and from your responses you understood exactly where I was coming from. I took a risk opening up. I held my breath ever time I read your posts afraid that you would not understand, tell me that we made a mistake, criticize the type of house or my thoughts. The blog was a good starting point and your responses have helped me pave the path. Many of you mentioned the timing of an impending empty nest with selling a house that represented such a fulfilling time in our lives. I loved raising my boys. I accept that it is in all of our best interest for me to put on my game face and support my boys in living independent and self sufficient lives. But, there is a part of me that hurts and doesn't want to. I guess I am mourning a part of my life that I dearly enjoyed and loved and my house represents that to me. Some of you also picked up on the fact that the house was pretty trashed by the previous owners. I have turned around my thinking on that. I am going to "Glinda" banish my worries about anything the previous owners didn't do right and focus on giving this house the love it deserves. My husband and I did become very "glass half empty" as we saw how badly the house was mistreated. It hasn't helped having people in our rural town ask us why we want a big house or mention how windy it must be "up there" or mention that they are glad we have the house because they know we will take care of it (I know that is a compliment but it does stir up some negative feelings). Because these things are all on my mind it hits hard. I would never say anything like that to anyone. I congratulate them, ask how the move is going, and would never say what are you going to do in such a big house, etc. That said, most people are supportive. And, family . . . You were right about that too. I wish everyone in my family were doing well. That is all I will say. You are right about the guilt. Okleyok, exactly! I wish we would have had this opportunity years ago! And, the timing would have been a lot better without this empty nest weighing down so heavily on me. Tinan: I have the same reaction that you do when I move or even trade a vehicle. I don't think I am materialistic but just attached. I would be in a straight jacked if I moved 25 times! Many of you told stories that I found so interesting! Hearing that you also had too adjust helps. I hope it doesn't take 6 months! But, I am going to take your advice and start decorating and make memories. Mjlb, I will take a look at that book, thank you. Hokey pokey, wow! Both homes are beautiful! You clearly have a very nice touch. And, that picture of your daughter puts it all in perspective, doesn't it. Do you ever drive by the other house? How does it make you feel? Our other house is in the same neighborhood. The hardest thing is taking my dog for a walk and having her try to drag me up the driveway. It has been so hard on her. Poor baby just rips my heart out. But, the last two days she has kept walking. She stopped and looked but didn't try to go there. My other house was strongly Victorian. I have been transistioning from that for a few years. I grew very tired of it. The gold and ornate . . . Just is too fussy for me now. I do have a couple of special pieces. My husband and boys gave me a framed picture of a little blonde angel. They thought it looked like me when I was a little girl. It means a lot to me. Plus, I kept anything that was a gift. So, I have a few decorative things and some furniture (those twin beds are in the spare room, couches, recliners, and dining set are here too). We try to buy heirloom-quality pieces so that moved with us whether it matches the current house, or not. But, a lot of the "stuff" is gone. By the way, I have said a few times that I am glad that I still sleep in my own bed. It doesn't fit the house (it is fussy) but I don't care about that right now. Lascat, I didn't think about it until you mentioned it. My parents downsized to a two bedroom house. The spare bedroom became my nieces room. So, there wasn't an extra bed. I have only stayed there a few times with my boys and made the best of it. But, it was so uncomfortable that I preferred driving home instead of staying. That was another lightbulb moment. Bronwnsmom, that is really deep. You have given me a lot to work on. I am going to really try to apply your Glinda example. And, for those of you asking to see pictures, I have posted them. I have another user name. You have been very helpful with my questions. I didn't want to attach negativity to myself, my house, or the help you have given me. That energy didn't feel right to me. If you really want to know I will tell you. I just don't like the ways that feels when I am asking for help--I want to keep it upbeat....See MorePrep Sink, anyone regret having one, or just never use theirs?
Comments (27)I agree w/Ccoombs, Holligator, Gellchom, Sweeby, and others. A prep sink is not a "big kitchen" item or a "must have". It depends on location and how you use your kitchen...and not necessarily how many people are cooking at once. You say you're the only cook...will that remain so forever? Do you have children that will eventually learn to cook & work in the kitchen with you at the same time? Does cleanup go on at the same time as meal prep? If... You are the only cook & always will be, Cleaning up (by someone else) is never done while prepping and cooking is going on, No one ever needs to use the kitchen for anything else while you're prepping/cooking or cleaning up, ...and... You have sufficient space b/w the sink & range/cooktop to prep (at least 36" is recommended by the NKBA) then most likely one sink will be enough for you. Our kitchen is medium sized (main/work area is approx 14.5' x 10.5'). Both my DH & I work outside the home, so work in the kitchen only happens in the evening and making dinner often coincides with cleanup of breakfast dishes & after school snacks, as well as, sometimes, the previous night's dishes. My DH cleans up while I prep/cook. In our old L-shaped kitchen, we had a double-bowl sink w/24" b/w the sink & range. We were constantly competing for the sink...just b/c you have a double-bowl (which we did) does not guarantee two can work at the sink at the same time. You have to share the faucet as well as the floor space in front of the sink. (The 24" b/w them was also definitely an issue b/c there was not enough room for me to work as well as have ingredients and/or small appliances out at the same time...I was constantly shuffling things around.) When we redesigned our kitchen as a modified galley (short peninsula legs off one side of galley), we placed the Prep & Cooking Zones on one wall & the Cleanup Zone on the other wall. To make it work ideally, this required the addition of a prep sink on the Prep/Cooking wall. This separation of Cleanup from Prep/Cooking and the addition of the prep sink is the best thing we did in our kitchen to improve its functionality...and to improve our kitchen working relationship! Now that my children are also helping, I went from a one-cook kitchen to a two- or three-cook kitchen...still w/the addition of someone cleaning up at the same time. Sometimes all four of us are working in the kitchen at once! So, how is your kitchen used, not just for cooking, but for everything else? What about the future?...See Morefunction_first
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