Here is where I am right now ... my mountain house.

[DemoTex]

I just realized Relator.com still has a picture posted, 10 weeks after I bought the place! Anyway, it is in the ultmost wilds! I'm here painting the interior. Lots of high-ladder work in the gables.

Remember, I saw a 400# black bear near here two months ago and a black panther (4-legged, for the jokesters) last week.

We call the place Canis Manor (Dog House).

[sfecap]

1. Life is good!

Did you get that link?

[DemoTex]

5. Yep.

Awesome. I saw the long version where they watched several heavies land in a TSTM, with a continuous dialog from the Brit (Cathay) guy. Thanks!

[DemoTex]

12. BTW

Only 3 killed in that awesome crash? I'm I right on that? Of course all survived the Memphis group's auger at EWR.

[sfecap]

25. Yep, only three...

Unbelievable, after you see that video...

BTW, here's the new office...

[DemoTex]

35. Great panel!

But same-o funky M-D control wheels!

[binaryline]

2. It's beautiful!

Enjoy it ;-)

[brook]

3. Looks wonderful.

but *rural*. :)

[DemoTex]

14. Rural?

Man, I am 2 miles from my "rural" mailbox. This is the wilds. Period. Bears, panthers, deer, and total quiet (relative to Dallas!).

[brook]

19. I lived n Dallas...

that was *rural* enough for this room-service loving ex-stew!

I live in a somewhat rural area now - but I don't do critters well if they're up close and personal.

Sounds like you're having a great time though...enjoy!

Could you grow olives there?

[DemoTex]

21. I have apple and peach trees

And a great vegy garden, but I cannot see olives in this climate. Where in Dallas are you? I am on the bottom edge of Highland Park, but in Dallas.

[DemoTex]

22. Oh, just noticed the "ex-stew" comment.

Ex of which airline? I'm a retired (early-medical) airline pilot.

[brook]

29. 'Murikan.

Just about the only thing I miss is the Dobbs House Black bottom pie!:)

No longer in Dallas. Live on the lost coast of California now.
Thought I recognized you from another BB...ergo the olive tree question.

[hussar]

4. WOW

[izzie]

6. Looks like a log cabin ad.

n/t

[DemoTex]

15. It was used in a log cabin ad for a long time.

Appalacian Log Homes built it as a custom job based on a plan-book design of theirs in 1993.

[NNN0LHI]

7. Where are the antennas? n/t

[DemoTex]

11. Well, they are there now!

I bought one of those sling-shot/Zebco reels gizmos and immediatly put up a 20-meter dipole cut for 14.28 (my Airline Ham Net). It punches through to the west coast with 100 watts, easily. I don't have my 1kW amp here yet. I've got to move it from Dallas and get 220 run to my shack in the loft.

I've got a couple of multi-band whips (Outbackers) set up for all the other bands. Actually, I have excellent 2-m repeater coverage. I can talk to Asheville, Greenville (SC), and (at times) Atlanta through the mountain-to-mountain repeater system. It's so good, my wife is going to take the Technician test. Beats cell phones by a mile. Good security on mountain roads in the wilds! Or hiking the trails.

Ultimately, I will have a crank-up tower on the back corner of the house (out of sight). It will probably be a 55' tower that will handle about 20 sq ft of metal in the air. The base of that tower will work very well where I need to shore-up some retaining walls. Need to get an engineer in on the project, though.

[NNN0LHI]

24. Ah, the beauty of antennas. I like looking at them. Don't know why?

The new homwstead looks really great Mac. Little upkeep, but worth it. Real happy for you guys.

Don

[DemoTex]

34. My mom thinks I am an antenna freak.

Guess I am. Guess I strung one too many dipole antennae in the backyard as a kid. My wife agrees with my mom on this issue.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. WOW! Beautiful place!

It looks like you have plenty of room for guests!:evilgrin:

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Damn fine house!

And HUGE!

Lucky you. To be out in the country, enjoying nature as God intended.

Which state is this in? And is that snow in the foreground?

[DemoTex]

17. North Carolina, near Rosman

When I hike down the "Senior Citizens Trail," as it is called locally (but a tough hike), I am in South Carolina in about a mile or so. This is waterfall and gorges country. Unbelievably beautiful.

[nomaco-10]

10. Ooh, is this where we're holding the next

no holes barred du drunkathon get together? If you are on the level, and I suspect you are, I am green with envy. This is not your "I saved twenty years for a house in a cul de sac" kind of place.
Your not painting the livingroom fuschia, are you?

[DemoTex]

18. No "cul-de-sac"

On the level? Ask the old DU-ers. I bored them to tears with almost two years of house hunting up here in the NC mountains! Fuscia? No! But it was a color so close to fuschia that it is taking three coats of the primer Super-Kilz to cover it. What a pain in the ass!

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. Gorgeous. But do you have "Defensible Space"?

I dont want to be a bummer or a naysayer, but I hope you are in an area that isnt drought prone. Even if you arent, clear a "Defensible Space" around the perimeter and do your best to keep the woods surrounding your place clear of low brush. Hate to see something that beautiful get damaged in a wildfire, but that is what seems to be happening more and more every summer in this country as more homes are built in rural areas.

BTW, i live in Palmdale, North of LA and i drove by 3 of the fires several times during the worst week of them last month. I through Simi Valley today. Miles and miles of blackened hillsides and mountains.

[DemoTex]

20. Very big topic on our agenda.

My wife doesn't want to cut down any trees, but I (and California) have convinced her that, in the wilds, you need to be in that defensible space. Yes, we are having that evaluated.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

26. Got to have that KZ... without that, you are screwed

Also, need enough space there at BaseCamp Canis to airdrop supplies, land the occasional helo, and well, what? maybe enough to land a Piper or a Cesna every now and again?

[DemoTex]

30. Well, WJMS, I do have a 9kW generator.

Got a big pile of split and seasoned firewood. Speaking of fire, my fields of fire are open, should I need that. However, I don't think the urban rabble - intent on mahem - will ever find my place! Hell, I often have to drive five miles to a point to lead people in.

I do have an open approach and LZ for a medivac helicopter. The county EMS has checked it out and approved it. They have the lat/lon and can find me with GPS. Unfortunately, a strong SW wind will shut down the LZ (tail-wind component restrictions).

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

31. Lat/Long for all the approach roads posted for the

redlegs?

Let's see... fuel tanks underground?
Command bunker?
Hooches for the troops?

sounds like the good old days.

Lol

[DemoTex]

36. Bivouac here my friend, anytime!

We have open bivouac season all year long.

[supernova]

16. Lovely house DemoTex!!

That is just as gorgeous as you talked about it being! Hope you enjoy many, many years there with Mrs. DemoTex. :D

[CanuckAmok]

23. Damn, that's nice

Everything IS bigger in Texas, obviously.

Well, you sure earned it...

[DemoTex]

32. But it's in NC, not Texas.

And, believe it or not, it is only 2200 sq ft heated. The unfinished basement is about 2000 sq ft.

I didn't earn it. We bought it. Once we sell the Dallas house, we will see our real estate tax bill go from $14,000 per year for a 2220 sq ft cottage to $900/year for the 2400 sq ft mountain house.

[DS1]

27. sniff, you gotta stop rubbing it in man

I mean, it's a great house, but yer killin me every time you show it.

[DS1]

28. sniff, you gotta stop rubbing it in man

I mean, it's a great house, but yer killin me every time you show it.

[DemoTex]

33. Sorry, DS1

Hate like hell to kill you with my house story. But is a continuing saga. Picture worth a thousand words, etc., etc. I might even post interior pics, after I finish the paint job. Beware. Maybe you should put me on "ignore."

[Rhiannon12866]

37. I'd love to see more photos of your house

Some like paintings, some sculpture, but I love architecture. This is a great house. My grandmother spent her retirement years in NC, Black Mountain, near Asheville. It is beautiful country and I have great memories of all the time I spent there.:-)

[specimenfred1984]

38. Absolutely Gorgeous!

The American dream, congrats! I've got a contemporary in VA about 1/3 the size on Bull Run Mountain, a mere 35 miles from D.C.. We do get bears around here though.

Here's a duh-well-known statement - bears like anything sweet! I put some bird seed in a feeder that had cherries in it and the next day a bear bent the feeder pole to the ground and ripped the feeder apart. That bear came back looking a few more times too!

One night he/she was right under my bedroom window and I could hear it breathing and smell it. That was some scary breathing, it sounded really big like a zoo animal. I didn't want to stick my head up in the window to look for fear I might lose it!

Bears and panthers are a small price to pay for that sweet deal you've got there. It's great when the only thing you see moving is the trees and the clouds.

Man that's livin'!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

39. Wonderful looking home! We all expect the Great American Novel

out of you before you return to the rat race :-) .