That's funny. She just cut-and-pasted from a "How to create a newsletter" article in the national realtor magazine, I'm sure. My friend, OTOH, put together a real newsletter with the sold prices of local homes, and real helpful tips. She also puts on a community garage sale twice a year (her local area is 625 homes), and puts out small American flags on all homes for the 4th of July.

Your friend must be new in the business.

Sounds like a person scouting out homes with no body home. For a breakin.

Marcopolo, this is what the agents do in this area, and I'm sure Sushipup's surmise is correct. She had the kind of folio they give them, though I didn't get her card.

Sushi, there are brokers here who do the good stuff, like you're talking about, though I really resent them poking their flags into my garden which leads to the wall getting damaged. Baby agents are just given territories and told to walk up to every house and try to get to know the homeowners.

It's not an easy business to break into, not if you do it right.

Everyone is a beginner at one time or another.

You, too.

Jean, there's a difference between beginner and clueless. As I said, I didn't intend to be mean. I actually hope it helped her, because she isn't going to get any business by littering people's porches with absurd suggestions.

ETA, we get them in flocks. Agents leaving litter. A couple more pages this afternoon. It's wearying, but the Supreme Court ruled that their free speech rights trump my desire not to have waste paper left on my porch.

To winterize my house, I switched the thermostat in December from cooling to heating, although I had to switch back to cooling several times when it got into the 80s. At the end of DST, I switched the timer for the outdoor lights to stay on for two hours longer (they automatically come on at dusk), and I switch them back when DST starts. We have LED lights in the back yard, and so they do not use my power. We also have lights in the pergola that I turn on with a remote switch, plus flood lights that I turn on with switches. One switch is just inside the sliding glass doors, one is inside the garage, and the other is on the wall opposite the center fountain. The lights in the fountains also only come on after dusk, but they get turned off when I turn the fountains off with a switch next to the flood light switch.

I do bring my cattleya orchids inside temporarily when it gets below 50°, but that is fairly rare. They're inside right now, but they were outside all last week, and all the rest of the orchids stay outside. The cymbidiums have multiple spikes now, and they are too large to bring inside.

I have a new porch light that is motion activated only when it is dark outside, and that is an improvement over my old one, which I had to turn on manually when it got dark so that it would not come on during the daytime. In the summer it was not an issue, but in the winter, I like that the new one will come on only after dark. It came with a security camera, which I did not need, but I am using it now, as it is more user friendly than the ones we already had.

What I do appreciate about the real estate agents in my neighborhood is that they drop off little notepads, and I use them for grocery lists. Last week, my neighbor across the street became a real estate agent, but we are not in the market. We won't be interested in selling until Kevin retires, probably 2031. If I'm still able, we'll move to Palm Springs at that time.

'Tis true. Winter elsewhere means nothing grows. Here, it means your orchids will bloom if they got enough sun and stress over the Summer. :)

We usually have more Wintry weather than we've had this year, but I don't think bringing in the blooming orchids was on the Winterizing list. :)

I still think it's really really funny!

Well, I did cut back some of my CA natives, plant some new ones to take advantage of the the possibility of rain, and and lay down new much. Does that count as "winterizing?"

It doesn't take a lot to say "no thanks" smile and shut the door.

I don't winterized the house at all.

I do, however, pull out my wool socks, and locate the dogs' sweaters.

Smiles,

Sooz

I have cameras at my front door, as well as an intercom, and if someone I do not recognize or am not expecting comes to the door, I either ignore them completely or talk to them through the intercom. My old front door had windows in the top of it, but my new front door only has frosted glass, which I cannot see through, although it does allow light in. I get downloadable videos of everyone who comes to my front door. I haven't heard from the Jehovah's Witnesses since we put up the cameras. We got the cameras because we lost the clear windows in the old door, but when we got a new porch light, it came with another camera, and I use that one most of the time. It lets me talk to people at the front door through my phone - the other cameras have a screen with a button to push as an intercom.

Being originally from Chicago, I'm so grateful that winterizing in coastal NorCA consists of:

- Not having to water the garden

- Remembering to prune back the roses so I don't end up trying to cut a 9' tall bloom for the vase by the time June rolls around and the bushes are on their second flush

- Swapping out the window fans for a pair of stand-alone portable heaters - having the rooftop solar means it's cheaper to run those than turn up the thermostat

- And pulling up - by hand - that d*%&^#d weed oxalis pes-caprae, aka Bermuda Buttercup, which tries to take over my 20 separate garden beds, every spring!

Pillog, like you I feel sorry for that young agent. Tough to break into a new career.

Pillog, we moved here from the Midwest when the kids were toddler and infant. It was interesting watching them over the years growing up with no sense of seasons from living in southern California. When one lives with weather, seasons and change of seasons are quite obvious.

We do have seasons--subtle ones--which is why I wondered if there were something appropriate on the list. Though it looks like Winter took a look around this year and quit. :)

I lived In SoCal (Long Beach) for 30-some years. The region does have seasons, just more subtle than in certain other regions, including southern Wisconsin where I grew up. (If you want a "no-season climate," move to one of the countries at the equator.)

In SoCal, some trees are deciduous (lose their leaves for the winter) whereas some native plants lose their leaves during the summer as a means to survive the dry summers.

And because of the climate, I had amazing citrus trees -- Eureka lemons (the kind sold in stores) produce year-round. Even had banana "trees." Homegrown bananas are a far cry from what one finds in the supermarket. Sort of like the contrast between homegrown tomatoes and store-bought.

Winter certainly hasn't left here, but it can't figure out if it wants to stay or go, LOL. I'm in Michigan, of course, named the second worst winters behind Minnesota by Thrillist, but I think they were actually thinking of the Upper Peninsula. (grin) We recently had a string of days where the temps dropped between -13F and -18F, then got into the 40s, then got back into cold. Right now it's 26F but it's supposed to be 46F tomorrow, then back into the teens next week. There is certainly no consistency.

We do winterize, of course, and we just installed a pellet stove. We have geothermal heat but in the case of a power outage it would take all the "oomph" our generator has just to run the big geothermal system. It could run the blower on the pellet stove, though, with power to spare for water and lights.

There is constant snow removal, from driveways, walkways, mailboxes, roofs. Pipes are wrapped with insulation, cars get snow tires and tune-ups, storm windows are installed.

Do people in California even HAVE storm windows? And here I've never even heard of real estate agents knocking on doors, if you want one, you call them. They'll get back to you in a day or so. Probably.

I do know a couple of people who have seen houses they liked, knocked on the door to ask if they were interested in selling and actually bought the house. We bought our house here when the owner died. I knew the children, asked if they'd like to sell the house and bought it, with no lawyers or real estate agents involved at all. It's probably simpler here, plus I did my own legal work, both for this house and when I bought the original farm from my stepmother.

Anyway, as for winterizing in California, do citrus fruit need to be protected, or mulched, or anything like that? I can't think of anything else that could be compromised, other than plants.

Annie

The only winterizing I do is garden related. My storms are on all year and simply slide up of yo want to open a window, which I almost never do because of allergies. I have all season tires and use all season motor oil.
We bought the house I live in from the owner. My husband saw the owner on the street and said I hears you sold the store, you want to sell your house too? My husband said yeah, how much....and it was pretty much a done deal.

Annie, California is a big state. None of those things are done in Coastal Southern California where I live, but we also have the tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous states and have hosted the Winter Olympics. That's the mountains, though.

Citrus trees don't like extreme cold. When the temperature gets too low, the growers use "blankets" or smudge pots to keep them cozy, and, at least in the old days, would stay overnight in the fields tending the fires. Some of the newer tech may make it easier. It's never been cold enough right where I live to bother my lemon tree, and my friend who has a citrus collection also doesn't have to resort to smudge pots.

Residential real estate is a big thing here. The population of SoCal is more than double that of Sweden, and most live in the coastal areas. Real estate probably isn't as big a thing in the desert. The demand is high, and houses are small and expensive. An agent who sells one little house per quarter is making a decent middle class living. Lots of people try to get into it. So they wander the neighborhoods trolling for clients. The brokers sit back and get fat off their pieces of each little pie. :) Okay, that's mean. The good brokers work harder than anybody, but they still get a cut of what all those baby agents sell too. :)

It does not get cold enough in my neighborhood to affect citrus- only certain orchids need some protection - not that they would die, but they grow better when kept warmer.

I didn't know what a storm window was until I visited Kevin while he was in Albany getting his MFA. I tried to open a window in the guest bedroom and was shocked to find another window on the outside! We do have double-pane glass in the windows, but that is mainly for noise, as I am fairly close to LAX.

LindaC, I also take in the lawn swing and outdoor furniture, and I used to have to clean and cover the pool and fill the lines with antifreeze. I know Peppi has to cover her koi pond and keep the "bubbler" going to keep the fish from freezing solid. Elery makes sure the snowblower and generator are gassed up, tuned up and ready to go and that furnace filters are cleaned. Now that we have installed a pellet stove as back-up, we'll also have to stack up a ton or so of pellets in the garage. Chicken coop and pole barn windows get covered with plastic for warmth, as they are unheated. The electric fence around the garden gets rolled up onto a spool and stored for next year's deer defense. I tried the "all season" tires, but they just aren't good enough here. Sometimes even with winter tires and all wheel drive the Enclave just isn't going anywhere. We do have 4 wheel drive in the truck, which is a 1994 Silverado, so we look like bums and smell like a barn, but we can get out if we really have to. That's when I miss the Jeep.

Annie

>>as for winterizing in California, do citrus fruit need to be protected, or mulched, or anything like that? I can't think of anything else that could be compromised, other than plants.>>

I'm 25 miles from the coast (although close to the Bay) so we have between 7-10 "frost days" in winter. As I live halfway up in the East Bay hills, microclimates abound around my lot. I actually lost a thriving Japanese maple one year after an unusual four week-long frost; even my gardener was shocked.

I have three Meyers - all are located within 30' of where the maple died - but those spots have either a bit of protection or see a little more sun - so never any frost damage to them.

I have had plants that die during unusually long cold spells, though - usually because I'm trying to push the microclimate in a particular spot and the poor little things just can't hang on, between summer drought and winter cold. Pelargoniums and many other otherwise evergreen plants will "shrink back" in the coldest spells, then revive as soon as it gets back to a reasonable 60 degrees again.

Thanks, jakkom. Of course I cannot grow Meyer lemons or other citrus fruits here, but some things like figs can sometimes be protected with mulch. I know citrus is not cold tolerant but my idea of cold and California's idea of cold could be much different. Here I tried to overwinter a rosemary, but have been unsuccessful.

A 4 week frost kind of surprises me, I think of California as being so temperate. I thought I knew what a Japanese Maple was, but I had to look it up to be sure. I have a couple of Norway Maples at the farm, but I knew that wasn't the same.

Annie

I'm in No CA and have just a year ago moved from out in the country (lowlands) into town. What a difference 5 miles makes!

We haven't had a "freeze" at our new place, but do go down into the mid/upper 30s.

Our "new" home is a 1914 craftsman bungalow with single paned windows and many gaps due to settling!

We definately need to get some insulation, caulking, weatherstripping and more!

We have bought a new fireplace insert that heats the few rooms we need to be heated, while leaving the rooms unused unheated.

We turn on the heater to take the edge off each morning for about an hour, then let the fireplace do it's thing.

Annie, much of the population of California lives in temperate areas, and they mostly show lovely weather on TV, even though even the temperate areas have their share of unlovely, so it's no surprise that that's your image of California. The state is about 2/3 again the size of Michigan, however, and has everything from both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous 48 states (less than 100 miles apart!), to a score of volcanoes with five of them active, to 43 million acres under agriculture, to a goodly portion of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, to 840 miles of seacoast, much of it guarded by bluffs, palisades and coastal mountains, plus three major deserts including the driest spot in North America, as well as temperate rain forest, and just about every climate you could ask for is here, from subarctic to subtropical.

Where I live in coastal southern California, if it happens to rain, it is winter. But then we have had years' long droughts, so the kids just don't get a sense of seasons changing. They do when I haul out the Christmas tree, a more reliable sign of winter. School is starting after a long summer? It must be fall. No homework and no school? It is summer. Spring break means spring, but not much else to clue us in.

I moved to Ca in '59 to SF Bay Area from MN. My lasting memory is the weather forecast on the radio: "The next 5 days will be the same as the last 5 days."

Couple days ago a real estate agent phoned. Was I going to sell? No. Did I know anyone who was? Yes but if I tell you do I get a piece of your commission? He said I would but only if I had a real estate license. I said, "Ah so, no tikkee no laundry. "

I have videos of Annie's visit to Laguna Beach. It was in February, and the weather was definitely in the 70s.

It was in the 80s again today, and so I had to turn on the A/C.

Today was a warm one here in LA, that's for sure! Annie, I too have fond memories of your visit. Come again--- soon!

Annie, for climate, Laguna is one of the nicest spots around. :)

The ocean is usually in the 60's, at least down where your toes are. The Pacific is to big and deep to be much affected by the air temperature.

We do have areas where the weather changes daily or more often, more like in England, and we have areas where the weather stays steady for weeks at a time (though usually more like 4-5 days). We have snow skiing and beach about an hour apart (no traffic), and wildly different weather if you're within 2 miles of the ocean, or four, whether you're in the hills or the flats, etc. But a lot of the Southern coastal region isn't so different from Laguna. That's why so many people live here. :) It's not that we don't have seasonal changes. But in between the cold and wet of Winter, even in cold wet years, we have neutral days of partial clouds and highs in the 70's. :) And why "winterizing" one's structure is so laughable where I live.

Another coastal SoCal person here. I am in Dana Point - next door to Laguna Beach (to the south). My tangerine tree just finished ripening its fruit and is starting to bloom for the next round. My lemons (Meyer improved and Eureka) have some awesome fruit on them right now.

No winterizing here! My chives did their annual die back on their own but that is about it.

plllog, we have a similar "micro-climate" here in Michigan. All along the lakeshore is zone 6, but less than 25 miles inland it's a whole 'nother zone, zone 5. Not as dramatic a change as skiiing and beaches, but it's always 10 degrees cooler at The Lake in the summer and 10 degrees warmer in the winter.

sarah, we visited Dana Point while we were there too, I was looking for a date shake. Never did find one...

Lars, hopefully I'll be seeing you this summer!

Ellen, I'm sure we'll come again, but Jeremy comes here because he grew up here, his mother and brothers are here, and all the cousins. So, other family members visit occasionally but to see everyone, they have to come here. He likes July, LOL.

Anyway, back to winterization! I saw the weather report, it's supposed to be down to 2F this weekend. I'm hoping my asparagus and garlic are mulched well enough as all the snow melted and that acts as insulation when it gets very cold. No snow, no insulating effect, hopefully those things are hardy enough to survive. Especially the asparagus, it's easier to grow more garlic.

Annie

How sad for the vegetables to be shivering in the ground! I hope they cozy up and survive!

You'll find the date shakes in the Palm Springs area. As I look out on out little dusting of snow from today, I'm sure missing Monterey.

There was a famous place in Orange County for the best date shakes, too, though plenty can be had in the desert. A restaurant chain bought the old Crystal Cove Shake Shack, which wasn't far from Laguna. I don't know what they have now.