After last year, this is shocking! Every day 60 degrees and big beautiful blue skies like this?  Well, it certainly makes listing this 165 acre farm a treat.... I walked the whole thing on Friday doing my Visual Tour... I had to take off my fleece jacket.  We rarely get listings for this much land in our area - and this is unique because about 95 acres of it is cleared, fenced pasture!  I love my job.

On Monday, New Years Day, my clients wanted to walk the acreage of this 68 acre farm just over the border in VA.  It had been a while since i had walked it - but the owner said he had marked the boundary with red paint on some trees, so i shouldn't have a problem.  I started along the side border, and quickly felt like it was not quite right.  So turned back and headed a little south and sure enough - there were my red tree marks.  From then it was easy, down a side of a huge hill to a creek, then back up a steep incline and ridge, then back down to the creek that flows beside the 1828 farmhouse, then back up almost to the main county road.  We cut thru the woods to head back to the farmhouse and were crossing the creek when my client saw this turtle... it was a pretty warm day here - in the upper 50's... and he (or she) was chilling in the creek like it was the hottest day of the year.  The next day of course the temperature zoomed down to a low of 22, high winds, etc.   So i hope mr./mrs. turtle got all tucked into the leaves for a winter nap.

I meant, Are you a FB FAN of the Stokes County Animal Shelter???  Friend them and spread the word!!

thanks,

I told the seller of this 17 acre tract that i needed to wait to take pics - when a property is completely wooded - a picture of all green is not attractive!  But today was perfect - some leaves have fallen after that rain last week, so you can actually "see" the woods. The colors aren't as bright as in years past - but still pretty awesome...Fall and Winter are actually the BEST times to look at land - you can see the terrain and views!

On my way out, i saw some of my former clients out at their barn so i pulled in to see the new baby "Raleigh"! Adorable! He's a miniature donkey. We both bemoaned some of our hay that got wet before it could be baled,  and the fact that their road is getting paved FINALLY after 6 years on the list and whined about the lack of cell coverage in our area. How do you call 911 when the power is out and your phone has no signal?  Do they accept Text Msgs???

Then I stopped by the recycling center on Sizemore Road to drop off my stuff and dropped by the Stokes County Animal Shelter to talk to my friend Sarah... someone brought in this little guy while i was there --- what a cutie! The animal shelter is having a month long exhibit at the Arts Council in Danbury next year and we talked about getting invitations, getting frames for some of the photos.... adding a video that plays on a loop.... and what about getting some props for Sarah so when she takes pics of these babies, she can tug on more heart strings??? Like little bows, bow ties or like this guy - a big plush bunny!  We are going to make them so cute - folks can't resist!!!  Are you a FB FAN of the Stokes County Animal Shelter ??? Well, you should be... we repost all her posts so we reach a large audience.

Ok, then back to the office... gotta upload those pics!

October 1 was BIG SWEEP day in Stokes County and i think across the State.... Carolina Farms & Homes volunteered to help clean up several miles of the Dan River.... a day on the river in a canoe - what's not to like?

Well, first of all it was CHILLY!  I'm not a river rat so i had no neoprene... just waders. We got started at 9:45 am, loaded canoes and rode to the put in at Moratock Park in Danbury. There was a good group in canoes and kayaks helping. We found lots of beer bottles, plastic lawn furniture, fertilizer bags, a plastic port a potty (yes that led to a lot of jokes) and many, many tires.... one tractor tire we put on the canoe i was in - but then i couldn't see over it - so my canoe mate, Dale Swanson had to stand up and call out directions - we did ground on a rock bed twice - but Dale got out and pulled us over. We finally got out at 4:30 pm.

That evening, i couldn't keep my eyes open - totally konked out...

I listed a 30 acre property last week and there was no established trail down to the creek... the folks are older and it had grown up. So i took off with my GPS unit and got some great pics of the creek, then headed back through the woods to the house. I saw a deer run off just on the next ridge, but i thought it was just me startling her from a nap. I slid down a ridge and looked left and the first thought (not a rational one mind you) was why someone would bring a baby deer statue and put it up in the woods.... Well it wasn't a statue, but it was perfectly still - i got behind a tree and fumbled with my phone to get a pic.  Then i noticed the baby brother or sister lying just on the other side. The babies didn't move the whole time... I didn't get a perfect shot - i thought the mother might come back so i wanted to get out of there.  But what an experience - to be that close!

NC won a landmark agreement this week to force the Tennessee Valley Authority to stop pumping pollution across state lines. TVA will reduce emissions from all it's coal-fired plants and will also pay $11.2 million to NC over the next 5 years to be used for energy efficiency and electricity demand reduction programs.

NC attorney general, Roy Cooper, argued that the pollution degrades water and soil, damages farmers' crops, and hurts the state's forest and waterways. They also cause haze and reduce visibility, especially in the NC mountains, a draw for the states $12 billion-a-year tourism industry.

Great snapshot / or in-depth look at the local markets:

http://ellenperic.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/

Three NC state parks saw increases in the number of visitors in 2010.  They averaged an 81 percent increase!

This is our Park - located in Stokes County, NC... it's beautiful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fcOOJNyiF0

NC's economy added 4500 jobs in Jan, according to the NC Employment Security Commission. And while that may seem weak, consider this: NC posted a total gain of just 6400 jobs in all of 2010!

NC Foreclosures filed in Feb dropped 14% compared to a month earlier and 27% compared to a year ago.