Dear Deborah m,  How very kind of you to say such a lovely thing to me.  I can't tell you how much it made me smile and how I delighted in your words.  With encouragement like yours, who would want to leave the site?  I live in Portola, CA and last night we had the first snow.  Now I know that most people do not like snow, but I love it.  Fall and Winter are my favorite times of year because I don't "do" heat well.  Of course, if I had not awakened at midnight I would have missed the snow as it is all melted now, but it is still dark and gloomy and quite chilly out.  Especially since it had been in the upper 80's until 4 days ago.  When it changes in the Sierra, it changes fast.  That, (off the subject) is what happened to the Donner party.  The weather was lovely when they left Reno and you know what happened on the mountain.  It can change in less than 3 hours.  They shoulda listened to the Indians!

 Thanks again for the encouragement,

Sharon

Dear Edey,  Thanks so very much for the compliment.  I actually like to write.  It is never a chore for me. It is lovely, isn't it, to be out of the workplace?  I think that I quit at just the right time, tho I did not see the financial situation with companies until after I waved a brief farwell to my job.  As it turns out, we are amazingly lucky to be out of the work scene.  I thought to myself, "God, what must people be suffering if they are among the remaining who have jobs?"  We know they are required to pick up the work of their dismissed fellow employees.  Complaint of any kind would be out of the question because you would daily fear for you job no matter how impossible it would be to complete the job of three people.  And the ultimate threat the company can use is "If you can't do the job, there are hundreds of people who would be glad to do so" (and the boss is thinking, "Plus they could be paid less" ) Nor would it be a walk in the park to be fired (I don't use euphemisms), have children, lose a house, lose your credit rating and wind up in a tent city with the people I used to see in Detox.  How terrifying! What a wonderful thing it is to wake up each morning without either of those horrible threats awaiting you.  Like you, my choice was either the mountains or the beach and beach in California is out of my budget.  The small places have rental prices that would be beyond me.  Since I never owned anything, I had no way to "trade out" of the city. Sounds like you two have also "done your part" for society.  And yes it is time to live peacefully and slowly.  How fabulous you could retire so early. 

Best wishes for a lovely day,

 Sharon

 Hi, Sharon. I know the area where Portola is, I lived in Oroville in the 60's, and geographically loved the area of No. Calif.  You are in a most beautiful area. 

Do yo have to worry about getting snowed in? Do you have to keep well stocked up for the winter? How do you keep your stocked up items stored?  I'd love to hear about how you are doing.  Edey

Hi Edey!  Yep this is a great area. For me it has the advantage of all the things I love so much, no high rise buildings (I like people-sized stuff), a decreasing population (many here worked in Reno--about a 45 min drive which is not much by CA standards---and then no traffic on the way) .  However, when the gas prices went nutz, the town began to decline even more than it had. About every 10th house is for sale or for rent, but the rents they want are crazy, so the houses remain vacant.  Most of the buildings on the main street are vacant.  There are only two small coffee shops and they close at 2pm.  Forget dinner.  No fast food except in summer there is a stand if you want $4.00 french fries and an $8,oo hamburger. There is one very small grocery store and the prices are around 3 times what they are in Reno, so most people, myself included, make runs to Reno to stock up. Other than two coffee shops, one pharmacy, two coffee houses (which also close at 2pm), there is one restaurant on 70 but forget the prices, two mexican restaurants, ditto and one chinese restaurant---not bad for the quantity and quality they serve. There is one tire place, one small auto parts store and a very small Ace hardware.  Also, gas prices here are much much higher than Reno.  We are at $3.45, Reno at $2.75---go figure!  The positive side is there is nothing to spend money on.  We do however, have two great thrift stores and here the prices are still 25 cents to $3 dollars for a piece of clothing.  I got a whole bunch of 1920's magazines (around 35 of them)  for around $25 dollars---these would have cost a fortune in Reno or on E-bay.  I use them in my collage work, but of course, make copies of the originals.  Also got some cabinet cards from the early 1900's for a quarter a piece---going for 5-10 dollars for one on E-bay. Since I am a major thrift store person, I am beyond delighted.

Soooooo, regarding the stocking up--I did that when I moved here a year ago.  Canned, flour, yeast, staples and a refrigerator freezer (relatively small)full of meat and fish. I only use the local store if I should run out of something very necessary like Ibuprofen, but that rarely happens. My place  is VERY small.  It is kind of a little house---the bedroom has a separate space but is open to the livingroom.  Kitchen is quite large, and a tiny bathroom.  There are three upper cabinets over the sink, quite small and three cabinets below.  Nothing else.  The closet is about 6 feet long, meaning I have to take out summer clothes and put in winter clothes, which is a drag with little storage.  However, i have managed to jigsaw puzzle in many storage units consisting of dressers and some plastic shelving, and I get along just fine if there is only me in the house. Put another person in here, and it is hard to stay out of one another's way. My "livingroom" is actually filled with my artwork table and drawers---no sofa only one chair and the small chairs for the desk and the computer. A tight fit, but just fine for kitty and me. Looking at the locks on the bathroom and back door, this was built between 1910 and 1920.  A downside is there are only two electrical outlets in the living/bedroom and they are both on the same wall.  One outlet in the kitchen so the lamp on the art desk has to be plugged in with an extension to the kitchen and of course, I have to be very careful not to have much on at one time.  It would blow the fuses.  However, looking at it when I rented it, I was aware of the fact it is not set up for the amount of electricity modern people use.  It has an oil burning heater from the 1920's which I do not use and some electrial wall heat under the livingroom window.  The plus side is that my walls are 12 inches thick. Originally there were storm windows but now I use the thermal curtains in both summer and winter.  A small space heater heats it most efficiently during cold weather. 

So regarding storage, there is not much I store, but in answer to your first question, no, it is unlikely we will be snowed in.  It did happen one year that they did have 8 feet of snow but that was abnormal.  We usually have about 4 feet and that is manageable.  Of course, when there is a snow storm, it is impossible to leave the area in any direction since the roads close.  However, they usually have them opened within 48 hours and if we had to go to the hospital in Reno we would be care-flighted.  There is a small hospital a block from me and they handle non-critical cases; they have about 35 beds. With the computer, you can see pretty well what your situation will be and so we usually make a run to Reno prior to a storm.  I was delighted to have my first White Christmas this last year.  I have been wanting that all my life and I love snow.  I love Fall, Winter, wind, hail, rain and snow.  I love to shovel snow---well, face it, some people are just plain weird! (Grin)  This would certainly not be the place for many people.  They told me when I moved here which was in Sept., that they hoped I was prepared for winter.  Folks told me that people come in Spring and Summer, think "ooooo, how great" and then go into shock when they realize this is not a costal CA climate.  They looked at me funny when I said I came here for winter.  There is just no understanding some people---lol. The only bummer is there is no off street parking so my car has to be moved to the thrift store parking lot when it snows cause they will tow your car if you don't get it off the street.  I do have to walk a block and a half to dig the car out, but then---I love winter!

Long dissertation for a couple of simple questions.  For me, this life is absolutely perfect.  I wake up every morning amazed that I actually live here and think to myself "How wonderful that no one can make me do anything today if I don't feel like it" My multiple art activities keep me happily busy and I never feel lonely.  Good thing cause I have no friends here---they are all in Reno.  But I never was much of a social butterfly, I worked nights and had all the DRAMA I could stand working with addicts on 12 hour night shifts for years.  Believe me, the detox crises always happen at 2am.  I am completely free, which is a luxury I have always dreamed of and I still don't find it completely real. It is still like living in a dream.  Lucky me!

What is your situation?  How do you stock things?

Sharon

 Your home sounds wonderfully cozy and you must have some of the best views anyone could want. 

Lack of electrical outlets is the scourge of old housing, considering all the electrical appliances and machines that most of us have now. Just hooking up a computer can be a nightmare when you have limited outlets. I live in an old house too, with only 2 outlets in the bedrooms, and even using surge strips there isn't enough places to plug in everything. 

My house is small but not as small as yours. Being as I am in So. Calif. there usually isn't a problem getting to a grocery store, unless it is due to the excessive heat or brushfire smoke like we have had recently. I do keep a stocked pantry, because I hate going to the store often. It  is the closet in the spare bedroom. I have black steel/wire mesh shelves in there, use the cardboard flats that water bottles are packaged in to contain everything on the shelves. I also store unused appliances and kitchen items there. My flour, salt, beans and rice are stored in big buckets, but not in this room, as it isn't air conditioned. They are stored behind furniture in the den, which is air conditioned. Hopefully the cooler temps there will keep it all fresher. Lately I've been following a low-carb meal plan to try and control diabetes, so I'm not using as much of the flours and starchy type foods as before. I've had to go more to fresh food prep instead of using canned or packaged foods. My pantry isn't as stuffed as before, but my fridge is overstuffed. 

Your thrift stores sound exciting! I love to look for old sewing machines in thrift stores, or anything needlework related. The pickings for such are slim to none here. We have thrift stores but they seldom have anything really and truly old; mostly they have clothing, and old plastic things. Craigslist has been a help in finding things more than local thrift stores, and e-bay has been too. I'm not as good at thrift store shopping as my sisters - they can spot a good item half way across the store and buried underneath something! When we get a chance to get out of town for a few days I like to check out the thrift stores. Rural area stores seem to be so much more interesting for old things. 

What type of art do you do?  Are you self taught or did you have training of some sort?  Do you sell it? 

Mostly I like needlework; knitting socks, applique, crochet, hand sewing and machine sewing small simple items. I like cleaning up old sewing machines, and finding the accessories and attachments that went with them. I'm fond of treadles and converting the smaller machines to hand cranks. Old electric wiring on them can be scary. The only art that I did was Decorative painting, but I used oils and alkyds instead of acrylics.  Never did care for acrylics, but it does have it's uses for some things. 

Edey