December 14, 2008
Sunday
Mid December. Well, almost. I, as always, can't wait for it to start warming back up.
The house we moved into here on Old Lead Mine Rd. is great in many ways and not so great in a couple ways.
One, is that it's made out of cinder blocks. Even the inside walls are all cinder block. It's awesome in the summer because it sits under some GIGANTIC trees: Willow Oaks that are probably 80 years old and it stays so cool inside and we barely had to run any air conditioning last summer. Not bad.
But in the winter time, the bricks pick up the chill and distributes it throughout the house. And it is fucking COLD.
We have three options to heat: an small wood burning fireplace located in the main living room portion of the house (it's a duplex and the kitchen and laundry room divide it into two.
On the other side, it's not heated at all. That side is where Mikey used to live. It's got a beautiful terrazzo floor and another huge open fireplace. It houses Kevin's television and surround sound stereo equipment, all the exercise equipment and a couch. The bedroom on that side also contains Kevin's stuff: his dressers, his clothes, etc. It's the "Man Cave" for the most part.
Anyway, the other two heating options are very old and barely functional baseboard heaters run by electricity and there is a propane tank outside that we can use as well.
With the price of gas and electricity, we've been primarily using the wood burning stove in the main living area. But that means we spend a lot of time foraging around on the 12 acres of land, mostly wooded land, for toppled trees to cut up and drag up to the house for the stove. Meaning, it takes a lot of damn effort and time just to get enough wood to burn and last one week.
It's like little house on the fucking prairie in North Raleigh. Weird. But we've been doing very well on saving money because between the two electric bills (one for one side of the house and the other for our side), it totals less than $160 for a month of usage.
Oh and we didn't really start using the stove in the kitchen until the last few weeks or so. We have a propane grill outside that Kevin does a fair amount of cooking on.
The only downside is that it's difficult to push the heat from the fireplace to the outlaying rooms such as the bathroom and my bedroom and Erica's bedroom.
I grew up like that though in my Grandparent's house. It was heated ONLY by one large stove downstairs in the dining room. Which meant, ice cold toilet seats in the winter. And that's sort of what it's like now.
But, it builds character right? Right.
Erica and I share a little portable heater that I use during the day under my desk because my feet get so damn cold and she uses it in the morning when she gets ready for school in the bathroom.
She told me that she wants Santa to bring an electric blanket for her and one for me.
The cold doesn't bother Kevin at all. Lucky bastard. He can go outside and sleep in 35-40 degree weather and be very comfortable. So, we keep it much warmer just for me and Erica, we are delicate flowers you know.
We really, really love the location though. We are close enough, in this HIGH DOLLAR neighborhood, seriously, you should see some of these houses, to Erica's school that she rides her bike back and forth to the school. She loves it. No bus rides. No day care, straight to school, straight back home.
We are located on a road that connects to of the main roads that go through Raleigh but the crime in this location is about zero. We see and hear plenty of Fire trucks and Ambulances going through but never, ever have we seen a cop car racing to get somewhere.
On side of the perimeter, it's a bunch of businesses in a large complex, separated from us by the aforementioned woods. Beyond that is a nice area of restaurants, a Home Depot, a Bed Bath and Beyond, a Food Lion, a Big Kmart and several fast food restaurants. Oh yes, a movie theater too. It's like, 2/10's of a mile away.
On the other side, it's all huge homes that (as advertised) start in the $400 hundreds. $400,000 dollars that is. And a little further down is another shopping complex with another Food Lion, a gas station and several little restaurants and the North Raleigh theater.
We are approximately 15-25 minutes away from all the huge shopping malls and complexes but far enough out to be close to the main roads, bypasses, and highways.
All sitting on beautiful prime acreage. The landlord had told us that he was thinking about selling the land (that we live on) to a developer but we had about a year before that happened. Fortunately, for now, the deal fell through.
Our goal is to try and stay right here until Erica is finished with Elementary school. She loves that school and the teachers and staff are first rate and it's a smaller school. So, finish third grade and then 4th and 5th. Then, we'll find the best middle school and move to that area.
I really, really love living up in this Raleigh area. Except for dropping off and picking up Erica. That's an hour round trip for both Stuart and me. Sunday's aren't too bad but Friday dropoffs SUCK! Everyone is leaving work and leaving Raleigh and the traffic is bonker insano.
I know, those of you that live in like DC or Los Angeles or Miami or Houston are laughing at me but I am still getting used to driving in major heavy traffic that has more than 2 lanes. It's an adjustment. And oh my God. ALL THE FREAKING TRAFFIC LIGHTS. If you don't time that just right, you'll hit about 10 of them between the 440 beltline and my house. UGH. If you time it just right however, you'll only have to stop at one and on good days, I've blown right on up SF with greens all the way and it takes only about 10 minutes.
And the people. Don't get me started on them. 90% couldn't drive their own ass let alone a big SUV or other contraption. I have seen some pretty damn stupid driving on the beltline and y'all, these people DO NOT BELIEVE in using their signals. It's just weaving in and out of traffic both merging and oncoming and sometimes you almost end up sharing the same space in the same lane because some dumbass refuses to look around and/or use his/her signals.
I think that's really the only downside. Well, rent is much, much higher up here but that's not something I can change. You pay for the convenience of living so close to so much and living in a very safe neighborhood.
Some shots from this past summer:
Looking out front door on our side of the house.
Looking out our back door, towards the back yard of the property.
Behind the house, facing toward the side yard, north.
Kevin's work station in living room.
Taken right before we moved in, the view from the side wall of my bedroom.
Recent Play List
Nothing today.
copyright : photos by renee. content by same. don't steal.