Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

Chickinpecker, I don't think the swaps will start up until April (maybe late March?). Hoppy is the go-to person for swap info.

I guess we were lucky to get a big parcel of land with no house. DH's parents bought it a long time ago, thinking they wanted to retire out here, but that never happened.
SCG, I've never seen the beehive ovens (that I know of). It makes me want to go around looking at old houses.

I kind of chuckled at Chambertin's comment about employers not speaking English. We both speak English exclusively here, but DH insists on having our answering machine message in Chinese. I've had people call back repeatedly thinking they have the wrong number, or call back with people giggling in the background. At least it is not in Arabic anymore....

I had no idea your husband spoke Arabic. I could have had fun with him. On my way home from Arizona I got seated on the plane next to this talkative college girl who thought she was hot poop - told me she was majoring in mid east studies and just went to OhSandastan and spoke Arabic. I can do most pleasantries and talk about the weather (as long as it's raining

) . And she thought I was just another Maine Hick.

Looking for reassurance: I set eggs last night. Lost power for about 3 hours after about 12 hours of incubation. At this early stage, I'm hoping that viability won't have been damaged?

Not a problem. Don't think about it again.



And we've seen the same things with our job openings (when we can recruit for them)... we had 2 positions open recently and had over 40 applicants for them. Most of them were not locals and just desperate for any employment within their field. It was both shocking and sad.

 

[klf73]

I'll put in my 2 cents, that's all it's worth. I used to live in NH, loved it there except for the snow. prices were affordable, plenty of wide open spaces yet close enough to drive to a city. the pay there is better, no income tax and no sales tax. so why do i live in maine, i have no idea. taxes are high, pay not so good, I hate snow. I've lived here so long, people say i have a maine accent, ha.

Hoppy, I couldn't agree with you more! When I met dh he had a house in N.H. and a good paying job. After serving in the military many years and locations I happened to stay with my folks during one change of station took longer than we anticipated and I was very pregnant. Long story shorter...my kids needed extra "help" and the services Maine provided exceeded any other state we had lived in.

The pay here sucks, self employment tax is outrageous, but my kids have great support...

Dh and I plan to bug outta here as soon as the youngest turns 18....just 15 years to go! Lol

 

[buckabucka]

What a crazy day! First of all, I discovered the hoop coop chickens were wading in 6 inches of water this morning! Earlier this winter when we had a thaw, we had some water seepage and realized we should have dug some drainage ditches back in the fall. DH managed to dig a small drain, but today, there was water EVERYWHERE.

Luckily, DH wasn't working, so I assigned him that task and left for work, where the power promptly went out. Try teaching a room full of 2nd graders in semi-darkness! The power came back on there, but it went off at home. I am posting from a restaurant with free WIFI. We didn't want to cook with no power.

The coop is full of pallets and leaves now, so things are looking better.

 

[Mainechick168]

The weather was really all over the place today! The chickens thought it was super- my yard was clear of snow when I finally let them out- but before this, we had the wind, rain, sun....a rainbow coming out of the chicken run....and some hail! Oh, and 55 degrees??? I guess it's back to freezing temps tonight. For a second there I thought it was really spring. Tomorrow is February first, so we are getting close, right?!

 

[Widget]

The weather was really all over the place today! The chickens thought it was super- my yard was clear of snow when I finally let them out- but before this, we had the wind, rain, sun....a rainbow coming out of the chicken run....and some hail! Oh, and 55 degrees??? I guess it's back to freezing temps tonight. For a second there I thought it was really spring. Tomorrow is February first, so we are getting close, right?!

Depends on what the groundhog has to say on Saturday.

I checked on my bees today. It was warm enough that they were active. They were busy cleaning out the hive of the dead and other debris. Amazing creatures. Hopefully they still have enough honey stores to get through until spring.

 

[Chambertin]

Well the weather sounds exactly like Michigan.

I dont expect much as far as easy opportunities anywhere in the world now. Even teaching English a job where all you needed was a pulse and a passport is getting really tight.
This is great for me as people who know what they are doing can command a price, but I tell you money isnt everything. Never in my LIFE thought I would say that.

I'll be happy to find a good part time job that can cover cost of living and have leftovers for home improvements while I get the property ready for family. Hopefully by then a good job will be avialable or the hobby will become an income.
Again thanks to everyone for all the support and great advice as I effectivly dream out loud.
Thanks to everyone I'm motovated to do this and have a really good idea where to start. Rent a place after I get a half decent job, find the property and then go all gangbusters on my dreams.

If I really get lucky I'll put my teaching experiecne to use and finish off all those kids books and teaching guides I've been putting together and see if they sell.
That would be a dream.

Hope to meet many of you over the next few months and years.

 

[hoppy]

little secret about land in NH, if you have 10+ acres, you can get dirt cheap taxes. I owned 12 acres on a lake (and a nice lake) I paid less then $50/year. now if I added a house, the first 2 acres would be taxed much higher but if you have ajoining acreage, you put it in current use, and that's where you get cheap taxes. that's why you pay up front a higher cost. my sister has a house very similar to mine, her land is taxed at $50 on the extra acreage, but her house was taxed at $7000. that small acreage is expensive.

my sister lived in southern NH, her house was on rented land. the owner would not sell the land, but did a long term lease- sounds crazy, but if you didn't pay, he could have your house, crazy as a fox.
because he didn't own the house only the land, his taxes were cheap, the home owner paid tax on their house, but not the land.

Hoppy,
My only guess would be the land prices. I know online isnt the same as on the ground in housing, but its darn close. NH land seems to be much more expensive per acre. I'm willing to bet property taxes are considerably different too. No idea though, just a guess.

 

[hoppy]

usually swap start back up in march or april depending on the weather.
last yr, augusta started back the last saturday in march and waterville is the 2nd saturday.
that first swap was darn cold.

Anybody have word on poultry swaps this year?? Tractor supply's maybe? If anyone gets info let me know...I can't wait for spring time!!!

 

[hoppy]

don't worry about them at all, it's too early to be affected as long as your incubator didn't spike over temp when it was warming back up.

I'm starting the swap list, I've got bangor, augusta and waterville on it so far.
any others, let me know and I will start posting them as we get closer.

Looking for reassurance: I set eggs last night. Lost power for about 3 hours after about 12 hours of incubation. At this early stage, I'm hoping that viability won't have been damaged?

 

[Mainechick168]

Well the weather sounds exactly like Michigan.

I dont expect much as far as easy opportunities anywhere in the world now. Even teaching English a job where all you needed was a pulse and a passport is getting really tight.
This is great for me as people who know what they are doing can command a price, but I tell you money isnt everything. Never in my LIFE thought I would say that.

I'll be happy to find a good part time job that can cover cost of living and have leftovers for home improvements while I get the property ready for family. Hopefully by then a good job will be avialable or the hobby will become an income.
Again thanks to everyone for all the support and great advice as I effectivly dream out loud.
Thanks to everyone I'm motovated to do this and have a really good idea where to start. Rent a place after I get a half decent job, find the property and then go all gangbusters on my dreams.

If I really get lucky I'll put my teaching experiecne to use and finish off all those kids books and teaching guides I've been putting together and see if they sell.
That would be a dream.

Hope to meet many of you over the next few months and years.

If you have experience teaching english you might be able to get into some school systems. Despite the lack of cultural diversity in Maine, we have an increasing need for ELL ( english language learners) teachers. Portland and Lewiston would be the best areas for this. Also though, Foxcroft Academy ( in Dover Foxcroft) has a huge population of Chinese students right now. That area is amazing ( just south of moosehead lake) and there is really a lot of land for some super prices. My husband grew up in that area and we have friends that still live there, and there is a small artist community in the area.