Tag Archives: home

100 Coffee Filters

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Tracking house-sitting time with cups of coffee.

As I blogged a while back, I had every intention of spending the winter in my RV on my property in Malaga. The winterization worked well and I had no trouble with water, electric, or sewer hookups. I had enough heat to keep me warm night and day. And I had all the conveniences of home — the same home I’d been living in full-time since May and every summer since 2010.

The big drawback was the cramped space. Let’s face it, the mobile mansion might be big for a 5th wheel RV, but it’s not big for a full-time living space. And with winter weather outside — often at freezing temperatures — there was no outdoor living space to complement it.

Still, I’m not home very much — I have a pretty active work and social life — and I was prepared to deal with it. After all, the winter wasn’t that long.

I went to Seattle on a Sunday in mid-December. I had some chores to take care of — new battery for my phone, shopping for cross-country skis, hiking with a meetup group — and I’d already decided that I’d make at least one trip into Seattle every month, just to insert a dose of city amenities. When I got home that evening, there was a note on my door. It was from a man I’d never met — we’ll call him Joe to preserve his privacy — who happened to be friends with one of my neighbors. “Don says you’re going to freeze,” the note said, referring to my neighbor. It then ended with an invitation to spend the winter in his house since he was going away to (ironically) Arizona. He’d be gone until February month-end.

I thought about if for three days before calling him. Then I said that I appreciated the offer but thought I’d be okay. Still, maybe we could meet in case I needed a Plan B?

Before meeting, I talked to two people I thought might know him. They both had nice things to say about him. He’d lost his wife in March and was working his way though that. They both told me that he lived in a nice house.

In the meantime, the weather forecast changed. It had been in the 40s every day and I’d been able to get work done outside on the path I was building and in my shed. For some reason, I thought it would stay like that. But no — it was going to get colder and those midday jaunts outside would soon end — at least until the snow came and I could take the skis or snowshoes out with friends.

I met Joe and told him I’d reconsidered. If the offer was still open then yes, I’d love to take advantage of it. He showed me around his wonderful three-bedroom home just two and a half miles from my place. Situated on a shelf — just like my lot two levels up the mountain — it had a wrap-around porch and nearly the same view I had of the Wenatchee Valley. Furnished with antiques, it had a few modern conveniences I missed: a dishwasher, washer, dryer, and satellite television. There was plenty of room and plenty of privacy. There was even a garage and space in a covered carport to park my Jeep and truck.

It was more than I could possibly ask for. And all he wanted in return for letting me use the place was for me to pay the utility bills while I was there, keep the place clean, and keep an eye on things.

Joe, in the meantime, was heading south with his trailer and a friend. They planned to leave on December 2. I was welcome to move in any time, but I honestly felt a little weird moving in before he left. That would make me (and Penny) a house guest instead of a house sitter. So I held off, prepping for the move back in the mobile mansion.

At November month-end, the forecast warned about bad weather on December 1 and 2. Joe’s friend, who was coming down from Canada, came early. They packed up and pulled out on November 30.

I was supposed to do shuttle flights between two wineries — Martin Scott in East Wenatchee and Malaga Springs in Malaga — on November 30, which was a Saturday. But low visibility and some freezing fog made that a dumb idea. With my afternoon suddenly open, I decided to start my move that day.

I made a few trips in my truck, bringing along the bare necessities like clothes and food from my fridge and cabinets. I wasn’t sure what I’d need and, at first, I also brought along linens and towels and my electric blanket. I wound up bringing all these things back to my RV. I wanted to keep things simple so it would be easy to move out at the end of my stay.

I went out that evening with some friends and returned to my new (temporary) home around nine. I’d already picked one of the guest rooms. I put Penny’s bed on my bed, atop the comforter I’d brought along, and and climbed between the covers. I turned off the light and lay on my side, facing out one of the room’s two big windows, looking out at the lights of Malaga, Wenatchee, and East Wenatchee. My new home would have windows just as big. I felt as if I were getting a preview of what was to come.

Coffee
Coffee, coffee brewer, filters. What else do I need?

The next morning, I made coffee, just as I did every morning wherever I lived. I’d brought along my little one cup coffee brewer and a brand new pack of #2 cone coffee filters. I opened the pack of filters and brewed some coffee. I let Penny out and she did her business somewhere out in the yard, which she’d already explored the previous day. When she came back in, I fed her — I’d also brought along her placemat, dishes, and food. It was life as usual for the two of us — just in a different place.

But we’re used to that. For the past 18 months, we’ve been sort of gypsies. We lived in at least 20 different places, including various homes and hotel rooms. Even the RV had been parked in six different places in three different states. Penny and I adapted as necessary, settling into each of our temporary homes with ease. I loved the variety our gypsy lifestyle offered us and Penny didn’t seem to mind one bit. I think she’s come to expect it.

I spent much of Sunday morning prepping the RV for winter vacancy. That meant blowing out the water lines, putting antifreeze down the drains, and disconnecting the power for the heat tape on the water line. And packing up and moving a few more things. The weather was still iffy, with low clouds and mist. I had a gig flying Santa into Pybus Public Market later in the day and, for a while, wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it. But by 12:30, I decided to give it a try and headed out to take care of it, leaving Penny behind for the first time, alone in Joe’s house.

After the flight, I met up with some friends at a wine tasting room and we wound up going to dinner. I didn’t get home until after 9. Penny was excited to see me. I checked the house out thoroughly to make sure she hadn’t had any “accidents” while I was gone. All was okay.

By Monday morning, life had already settled into a routine. I let Penny out, made coffee, let Penny in, and fed her. I caught up with email and Facebook while having breakfast at the kitchen table, watching the valley light up as the sun rose. (The view really is magnificent.) I showered and dressed. I already felt at home.

I ran out to do some errands that included dropping off my Jeep for service. It had been leaking from the transfer case for about a year and I needed to get it fixed. After all, it would eventually run out of whatever was leaking. But what really prompted me to get it taken care of was that I wanted to park it in Joe’s garage and I didn’t want it leaking in there.

I’d arranged for a neighbor to pick me up on her way home from errands in town and I had time to kill. After dropping off the Jeep, I had another breakfast in town — Sassy’s Dinner makes the best breakfast! — and then walked to Caffé Mela for a latte and to update the software on my iPad. On the way, I noticed that there was fresh snow on the hills north of town. Then I wandered to a used furniture store to browse for a dining table and chairs — the only thing I needed to furnish my new home when it will be built next year. My neighbor and her son picked me up and we drove up to where the mobile mansion and my truck were parked. I was surprised to see fresh snow on the ground — it had snowed during the three hours I was gone.

I decided that I didn’t trust my RV winterization. So I set up a heater in the basement and inside the RV. Power was cheap enough that the two heaters would be cost-effective insurance. I also had the added benefit of having the place kept warmer than freezing if I had to come back and fetch anything I’d left behind. I still had one more trip to make — to get my computer, printer, and camera gear — and then I’d close up the slides. That would make a smaller place for the inside heater to keep warm and minimize the amount of roof space exposed to the snow.

I should mention here that my hangar is large enough for me to park the RV in it, too. But it’s a pain in the ass to move and I did an excellent job parking it right where it is. I’ll admit it — I’m too lazy to move it and then move it back in February. (There’s also the very real possibility that snow on the ground would make it impossible to move in February.) And because of that, the mobile mansion will spend its very first winter outdoors.

Joe Miller Road
Joe’s place is truly wonderful.

When I got back to Joe’s place, I stopped at the end of the driveway to snap a photo with the dusting of snow all around and the valley off in the distance. It really is a beautiful place and I know I’m very fortunate to be here.

More errands yesterday afternoon, including a quick visit to where my helicopter is parked inside Pybus Market. Then home to Penny and dinner. I set up my Christmas tree for the first time in three years. We even watched a DVD.

This morning, I got right into my routine.

As I pulled a coffee filter out of the package, I consulted the label to see how many were in there. 100 coffee filters. I thought about my stay at Joe’s house. Three months. Pretty darn close to 100 days. I realized that I could see at a glance how much time was left of my stay just by looking at that package of coffee filters.

It’s still very full.

My Little Storage Solution

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I obtain a shed.

As some folks know, I’m renting a hangar at Wenatchee Airport for winter storage of my helicopter, cargo trailer, car, and the furniture and other possessions I took away from my old life in Arizona. The hangar is huge — I’m only using half of its floorspace and even the half I’m using has plenty of room for other things. In fact, my original plan was to store my RV in there for the winter while I migrated to a warmer climate for a few months. I could get everything I own under that one roof and still have room to spare.

For various reasons, however, I decided to stick around in Wenatchee. I got a lot of encouragement from my friends to spend the winter here and join them in outdoor sports such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. I also have some personal business in state that requires me to be available for meetings. And I’ve even managed to keep flying, with two regular clients keeping me busy once or twice a week. Winters here are about the same as winters back in the New York metro area where I grew up. It had been a long time since I’d experienced a real winter.

Of course, to stick around meant to winterize my RV — a topic I hope to cover in another blog post. Part of winterizing my RV meant clearing items out of the “basement” storage space so I could put a heater in there. I’d also accumulated quite a few tools for property maintenance — weed whacker, rake, shovel, tarps, etc. All of these things had to be stored — most likely in that cavernous hangar 30-40 minutes away by car.

While a storage shed would be nice — and I’d actually been looking at my options on and off for the past few months — the idea of building one this time of year did not appeal to me. And the cost of buying a small one was simply not justifiable considering I’d have a big storage building of my own onsite within 6 months. So I’d pretty much resigned myself to storing in the hangar and simply not having the stored things around.

The Little Shed

That was the idea until I saw a fully-built 6 x 8 foot shed with metal door and window sitting on a trailer on the side of the road with a For Sale sign on it.

I drove by but immediately stopped and made a U-turn. I parked beside it and read the sign. $600.

That couldn’t be right. It looked brand new.

I called the phone number. The man who answered confirmed that it was still available and priced at $600.

“Would you deliver it?” I asked. I went on quickly: “I live on Cathedral Rock Road. It’s about 15 minutes from where the shed is parked now.”

“I’d have to charge extra for delivery.”

“How much?”

“A couple of hundred dollars, I guess. I’ll need a crew to help me.”

I could see this little shed slipping away. I had to acquire the shed at a price that made it not just a good deal but a great deal. “I can’t see paying a couple of hundred dollars to deliver a $600 shed,” I told him, slipping into New Yorker make-a-deal mode. “I’ll give you $700 total, including tax and delivery. Cash.”

“Let me think about it,” he said.

I was back home when he called an hour later. “I’ll take that offer,” he said. “Can I bring it by on Monday?”

Later, I looked up similar sheds on the website for the local company that had likely built it. They didn’t list sheds that small; the smallest listed on the site was 8 x 8. That was priced at $2,970.

Taking Delivery

We made arrangements for him to come sometime on Monday. On Monday he called with a two hour window in the middle of the day. He showed up right near the end of that window. Didn’t matter to me; I was working around the yard all day anyway, finishing up work on my new water line.

Shed Arrival
My new shed arrived on a flatbed trailer.

He arrived with the shed on a trailer and drove it right down my driveway. His companion and I guided him while he backed up into my preferred off-loading area. This was right beside my temporary power pole, not far from my water line. I didn’t want the darn thing blocking my view.

While we waited for the rest of his crew to come with a forklift, I asked him about the shed. What was the story? It looked like I was getting a good deal.

“You’re getting a great deal,” he told me. Apparently, the shed had been bought by a local school for some sort of project. It sat on the school grounds for a while. Then the school called him and asked him to take it away. His business, after all, was delivery. Although he didn’t say, I suspected that the school had given him the shed for free in exchange for the removal service. The only cost he likely had in it was the labor of moving it. That would explain why it was so cheap.

Then he told me that he owned a vacation house at Lake Chelan and was going to put the shed there if he didn’t sell it. I told him that it was just what I needed for the winter and that it fell within my very limited budget for a shed. I told him that although I don’t usually believe that things happen for a reason, finding this shed at this price was changing my beliefs.

Forklift with Shed
They used a forklift to move the shed off the trailer. They estimated that it weighs about 3,000 pounds.

As we talked, a long flatbed came down the road, pulled by a tractor truck. They rolled past my place and turned around farther down the road where it gets wider. A while later, the 3-wheeled forklift that had been on the trailer came chugging down my driveway with one man behind the wheel and another standing on a fork. Soon they were using the tie-downs they’d brought along to fasten the shed to the forklift and lift it off the trailer. Then it was on the ground.

They positioned it on an angle I didn’t like. I asked the forklift driver if he could straighten it somehow. The team put a wooden chock beside the skid on the front and the forklift operator used one of the forks to shift the front end over a foot and a half. It was lined up perfectly.

I put a level on the little porch. It was even relatively level.

I paid the boss with money from my rainy day cash fund and he handed over the keys to the locks. Then they all left.

Enough Space…and a Bonus

My Little Shed
Inside the shed was a silly little bench.

Inside, I found an odd homemade bench that was likely painted in the school colors. I dragged it out. Although it needs a little work to be usable, I think it would be perfect for what I’ve begun calling “lookout point” — a part of my land that sits in the northwest corner, with completely unobstructed views of the Wenatchee Valley and Columbia River before my land drops off steeply to the valley below. I’ll move it over there the next time a friend drops in and paint it the next time the weather forecast includes several consecutive clear days. Or, more likely, I’ll just leave it where it is with a tarp over it and wait until spring to fix it up and put it in place, probably with a nice cushion. (I’m pretty sure I took the cushions that were on the teak recliners back in Wickenburg. Side-by-side, they’d be perfect.)

I spent the rest of the afternoon stowing my yard tools and basement items neatly inside the shed. It’s a shame the door was mounted opening in; that really cuts down on usable space. But I have some shelves from Ikea (also taken from my Wickenburg home) that I can assemble in there to increase the amount of storage space. And a few hooks on the walls would likely make it even more usable. The man I bought it from suggested a loft — the ceiling is 10 feet at the peak — but I don’t think it’s worth the effort. We’ll see.

Overall, it was exactly what I needed for convenient, cost-effective storage of pesky basement and yard items. It’s great to get all of that stuff out of the elements without having to take them to my hangar.

Buying Native Plants

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My order is in for spring!

I get a lot of mail here — a lot more mail than I got in Arizona. I’m still trying to figure that out.

Among the mail I got this week was a four-page newsletter from the Cascadia Conservation District. I’m not a member — at least I don’t think so. I think it just went out to everyone.

Quaking Aspen
I shot this photo of quaking aspen trees at my neighbor’s home last month. I ordered 20 bare root stock aspen trees and hope to have my own grove growing next year.

This particular issue had an order form for the 2014 Native Plant Sale. I was thrilled to find bare root stock of native trees at very affordable prices. For example, a bundle of ten 12-inch Quaking Aspen trees was only $15. The same price applied to other trees that interested me: Blue Elderberry (which has edible berries), Red Osier Dogwood (which has red bark in winter), and Woods Rose. And if I wanted Ponderosa Pines — which I do, but not right away — I could get a bundle of 25 trees for $20 or 200 for $120.

There were more options on the order form, but I just chose the ones listed above (except the pines). I chose them primarily because they’re fast growers and they flower at various times of the spring or summer. (My bees will like that.) As for the aspens — well, I just love aspen trees. I mean, who doesn’t? You can download an illustrated brochure of all the plants here.

What’s best about all this, though, is that these are native trees — not something from out of the area brought in to Home Depot or nurseries just because people like them. I think it’s important to landscape with native plants. Not only are they more likely to do better locally, but in this area, they’re likely to need less irrigation or soil supplementation.

The order form requires me to submit my order with at least 50% payment by February 14, 2014. But because I know I’ll forget if I put it aside, I filled it out today and will mail it in when I drive down to town later. Plant pickup will be on April 5, 2014. In the meantime, they’re also offering a “Native Planting 101” Workshop in February, which I’ve already signed up for.

So yes, in April I’ll be digging a lot of little holes. But I’m excited about moving forward with landscaping on my property. This looks like a great way to start.

November Full-Day Time-Lapse

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A recent time-lapse from my home in Malaga.

I love time-lapse photography. Although there’s nothing terribly special about this 2-minute compilation, it’s my first effort at a full-day time-lapse movie shot from my new home in Malaga, WA. The view looks northwest, toward East Wenatchee (center) and Wenatchee (left).

The formula: one shot every 10 seconds compiled at 30 frames per second. This was shot on November 3, 2013.

It’s interesting to note that because there are tall cliffs south of my property, in the wintertime, I don’t get direct sunlight on my home until late morning. I suspect that’ll get even later as the days get shorter. In the summer, however, I get nearly a full day of direct sunlight — perfect for gardening!

I Am a View Person

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It’s not about how big or fancy or well-furnished my home is — it’s about what’s out the windows.

I’ll admit it: I’m selfish. I’m not interested in living in a showplace bought and decorated to impress my family and friends. I don’t care about how big my home is, how many rooms it has, or what designer furniture and fixtures it contains. I don’t care about Pier 1 nicknacks obtained only to fill empty spaces on tables and walls. I don’t care about aromatherapy candles to make my home smell like cinnamon and spice or vanilla or whatever the current season is.

What I care about is what’s outside the windows. I want a view.

And the better the view, the more windows I want to enjoy it, day or night, from the comfort of my home.

It all started back in my college days with my dorm room on the 14th (top) floor of one of Hofstra’s six “towers.” It faced east, with windows that covered one wall. It was only 8 x 12 in size but with a high ceiling that allowed a friend to build me a loft for sleeping. I spent a lot of time looking out those windows, at the other towers nearby and the flat expanse of Nassau County in Long Island. If I’d been on the opposite side of the building, I would have had an unobstructed view of the Manhattan skyline less than 30 miles away.

Later, I lived on the third floor of a row house in Bayside, NY. The big windows and patio overlooked that overlooked Littleneck Bay. It wasn’t the best view, but it was something. Even the constant swoosh swoosh swoosh of cars on the Cross Island Parkway 100 feet below couldn’t detract from it.

Still later, when I moved from the east coast to Wickenburg, Arizona, I was sold on my home primarily because of the view. It looked out to the northeast where I could see the Weaver Mountains beyond a nearby ridge. It also looked out to the southwest, where I could see the top of Vulture Peak. The views were not perfect but they were nice. I especially liked to watch the Weaver Mountains turn almost copper-colored as the sun set.

Looking for an escape from Wickenburg’s oppressive summer heat, I looked at land at Howard Mesa Ranch, a development of 10- and 40-acre lots between Williams and the Grand Canyon. The lot that hooked me was on the very top of the mesa, with amazing 360° views. Although I could see the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks to the east, it was the expansive view to the west that captured my heart. I wanted so badly to build a small home up there with big windows to take in those views, but it was not to be.

Jack the Dog at Howard Mesa
My dog, Jack, looking out over my favorite view at Howard Mesa. The view to the west was expansive — I could often see mountains on the Arizona Strip more than 80 miles away.

In 2012, at the start of my fifth consecutive summer in the Wenatchee area of Washington, I started thinking of a summer homesite in the area. I often visited Malaga Springs Winery on Cathedral Rock Road; it had excellent views out toward the Columbia River. A friend owned land out there and, on a whim, I called to ask who his Realtor was and whether he knew of any lots that were available nearby. Coincidentally, he and his wife had just decided to sell their lot. They’d decided that they were a bit too old to start building their dream home.

Of course, I was immediately sold on the lot. The views were amazing — far better than Wickenburg or even Howard Mesa. Spread out before me were orchards and sagebrush-covered hills, basalt cliffs, and the Columbia River snaking through the broad Wenatchee Valley. I blogged about buying it here.

My New Home
Here’s a shot of the west end of my 10-acre lot, taken from the hillside on the south border of my land. My mobile mansion looks tiny here, no?

But it wasn’t until I moved here — in my RV until my home can be built in the spring — that I realized just how amazing the views were. Every moment of the day, every change of the light or clouds, every day of the year — the view changes. Don’t believe me? Here are three shots from this week, all shot from the front door of my RV.

Cloud View
The sky isn’t always this dramatic, but it was yesterday afternoon. One of my Facebook friends said it looked like the mothership was about to descend.

View at Night
Believe it or not, it wasn’t until I moved here that I was here at night. The nighttime view absolutely floored me. Best of all, I’m still far enough from Wenatchee to have dark skies overhead.

First Light
I shot this photo this morning, not long after sunrise. Yes, that’s snow on the mountains in the distance. Although some of that snow is relatively fresh, there’s snow up there year-round.

My Bad View
My “bad” view isn’t too shabby, either.

Wondering what the view looks like in other directions? Well, the photo here shows my “bad” view — the basalt cliffs on the south side of my property. My first home will be built on this patch of land, leaving the area where my RV is currently parked available for a larger home if I need (or want) one. (Local zoning allows two residences on lots of this size, as long as one of them is 1200 square feet or smaller.)

And you can bet my home will have lots of big windows looking out over the big views I’m showing off here.

In any case, I love the views and I love to share them with my friends and family. So don’t think I’m bragging when I keep posting photos on Facebook and Twitter and this blog. I’m constantly amazed by what I’m seeing and I want you to be amazed, too.

I’m a view person. Are you?