This is a bridge over Rock Creek along the bicycle path. I took it from the car (no, I wasn't driving) speeding along Beach Drive after a last week's snow. It was a really, really gray day, and this was a color shot!
If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:
Housepat@mac.com, 202-549-5167
20 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 25 2012 11:20PMFor a week now, there have been baited Have-A-Heart traps on my second floor veranda waiting for The Raccoon (The Beast in the Attic) to go for the sardines.
The guys from Adcock's Trapping Service, the professionals I had to call in, were becoming concerned that this fellow might be what they call "trap smart". Like he'd been through the drill before.
I accused Trapper John of coddling the raccoon. I wanted him gone.
He's been quite happy, sleeping in my warm attic by day, then crashing in and out as he leaves for a night of carousing and knocking over the neighborhood garbage cans, then comes back early in the morning. By Monday, when Trapper John showed up to re bait the existing trap and add a couple of others, I was getting sick of the beast. Sunday night, Dick actually went online to see if he could find out what the penalty might be for shooting this pest - would he just have to pay a fine, or would they throw him in jail?
I'd actually had a conversation with Adcock about the possibility of using a "lethal" trap, then my liberal guilt kicked in, and I decided to give him another couple of days.
Finally, last night at about 11:30, I heard some crashing around on the veranda, the location of the baited traps. I turned on the light, and I could see that one trap had been sprung and there was somebody furry - and pretty pissed off - trying to get out.
So the saga is over. They will seal up the spot where he was letting himself in, and they'll take the animal to a better place. I'm told he'll be relocated to a beautiful 4-H camp ground far enough away that he won't be able to find his way back.
Living near Rock Creek Park is wonderful. There are hiking trails withing an easy walk from my house. The place is teeming with deer, raccoons, possums and even a few foxes and coyotes. And I guess the price I have to pay is the occasional visit from someone who is supposed to be living in the park - especially when it's cold and icy outside!
If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:
Housepat@mac.com, 202-549-5167
36 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 24 2012 12:34PM
Rock Creek runs through Washington, DC. This photo makes it pretty obvious how it got its name A couple of days after a snow, it looks like this.
I'm lucky enough to take this route to and from work every day.
If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:
Housepat@mac.com, 202-549-5167
SEARCH ALL LISTINGS IN THE DC METRO AREA
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11 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 22 2012 11:01PMMike Cooper is one of my favorite bloggers here on Active Rain. This is a post that made my heart skip a beat when I read it. So enjoy! And if you want to leave a comment, run over to Mike's post and leave it there.
Life is full of those moments where you go, "Wow!" Some things just seem to
defy comprehension, reason, logic and in some cases common sense, and yet they happen and we marvel and they open our minds to new possibilities.
For instance,
- A large metal ship on the high seas.
- The flight of a bumble bee.
- A teenage boy in the presence of his dream girl.
- Men on the moon.
- Moving a house from one side of town to the other.
- An organ transplant.
- A hummingbird in flight.
- A double triathlete.
- Real friends.
- A man with vision.
What's on your list of things that cause you to marvel? I love to be surprised and amazed. Every time something makes me go "Wow" I get inspired that there are new heights that men/women can ascend to that have not even been thought of yet. Dare to dream. One of the men who inspired me early in my adult life used to say, "If you're dreams don't scare you, you're not dreaming big enough." (Jamie Buckingham). Dream big my friends and prepare to "Wow" the world.
********************************************************************************
Give me a call for all your real estate needs, and let's make something amazing happen.
Mike Cooper @ Cornerstone Business Group, Inc., 888-722-6029
Real Estate Sales and Property Management
(Disclaimer: All grammatical mistakes, punctuation breakdowns and misspellings are purely for your amusement and entertainment. Feel free to cackle.)
0 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 20 2012 07:57PM
For the last few days, Snowball, my beautiful blue-eyed kitty, has been going nuts. There is a noisy raccoon in the attic. And Snowball wants to do what he thinks is his job and scare the guy off.
Sorry, Snowball! We called in the professionals!
Raccoon Doom (a.k.a. Adcock Trapping Service) dropped by to check the trap. Smart coon! He hasn't gone near the thing.
I suggested that they just go up into the attic and get him, and the trapper looked at my like I was nuts. Then he told me that they didn't work weekends, and just in case he got caught in the trap, they didn't want the poor thing to have to sit there until they come back on Monday. So they tied it open.
What? What? The raccoon isn't going to leave for the weekend!
I work weekends!
Right now, I am a little annoyed. They are pampering this pest! Will I hold this against them when I write their Angie's List report?
The animal rights people have worked to pass some anti-cruelty laws. The trappers have to remove the critters live, as a "family", if necessary, and relocate them to a new home. My guy will go live at the 4-H camp facility somewhere in Montgomery County.
But somehow, when I hear this creature lumbering around my attic doing who knows what, I want to get a gun
Grrrrrrr!
15 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 20 2012 07:49PMIt started a couple of days ago.
I was having a fun conversation with blog buddy Jeff Dowler when I heard footsteps an the ceiling above my home office. Sounded way too big to be a squirrel. It sounded like something that should be living in Rock Creek Park, which surrounds Crestwood on three sides.
A monster in my attic?
Then I started to remember all of the homes I've sold in Crestwood where I had to include addenda that read:
"Raccoon dung in the attic to be removed and attic to be professionally cleaned at owners' expense prior to settlement."
Or another:
"Mummified raccoon on the fireplace shelf to be removed at sellers' expense prior to settlement."
Or:
"Hibernating raccoon in attic stairwell to be relocated to parkland with point of entry to the house sealed up."
You get the drift.
Suddenly, one of these guys seems to have moved into my own attic. He sounds HUGE! He's not hibernating. And it was time to call in a professional relocation company.
When Raccoon Doom showed up, I was out previewing houses, and Dick let him in. Trapper John bravely went up to the attic and found him. He then backed down the stairs. Our monster was huge!
He found the point of entry, near the roof of the second floor verandah, so he set a trap there, just outside the bedroom door. It's one of those "have a heart" things, so it won't hurt him, but it will totally piss him off.
Trapper John will be stopping back each day until the monster comes out and heads for the bait - I'm guessing peanut butter or Raccoon Chow. They don't want to trap him in the attic because I he's heavy and it's probably hard to get a giant, angry, squirming raccoon down narrow, steep attic stairs and out of the house. Then they take him away to some nice woods. I'm hoping it's West Virginia where he won't find his way back to my nice, warm attic.
In the meantime, he is making his presense known with footsteps all over the attic. Once, it sounded like he tried to come down the stairs, making me very glad I have a good, sturdy door that Willie and the cats cannot open.
The relocation company is not really called Raccoon Doom. It's Adcock's Trapping Service, and I'm reaching the point where I don't really care weather the big guy is relocated to the wild or becomes part of someone's new coat!
Oh, Pat! That sounds mean!
But so do the noises over my head!
If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:
Housepat@mac.com, 202-549-5167
26 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 19 2012 01:49PM
This is the dome on top of the Library of Congress, right across the street from the Capitol Building.
The Library was originally set up in the Capitol, and was destroyed when the British burned the building in 1814. To get things going again, Thomas Jefferson sold 6.487 books from his personal library to Congress.
A new building was authorized by Congress, designed by two Washington Architects, John Smithmeyer and Paul Pelz. The doors opened on November 1, 1897.
I took this with my new Nikon Coolpix P500 on a cold, crisp and clear January morning. I'm starting to take advantage of such days, when the capital provides wonderful photo ops!
If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:
Housepat@mac.com
202-549-5167
16 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 13 2012 10:13AM
The Cosmos Club is located at 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, near Dupont Circle. To be eligible for membership, one must have "done meritorious original work in science, literature, or the arts, or... recognized as distinguished in a learned profession or in public service". Until 1988, they didn't let women in. And when a gentleman friend (he distinguished himself in public service) invited me there for dinner back in the 1970's, I (well, all women) had to enter through the side door. Now they let us in as members, and if we are invited by a guest, we get to come in through the beautiful front door.
So it's not really a gentleman's club any more. And it is a beautiful place. It used to be someone's home - it was known as the Mary Scott Townsend house. Her daughter lived there until World War II, and after she died, the Cosmos Club bought it from her estate.
This is another one of those places I'd recommend seeing, whether you are visiting or live here in DC.
If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:
Housepat@mac.com
202-549-5167
SEARCH ALL LISTINGS IN THE DC METRO AREA
14 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 11 2012 10:35PMThis is a blog that every buyer should read. If you are a good buyer broker, you might even print it out to give to your clients. And I gotta say, I think that a lot of buyer borkers are representing, not their clients, but their checkbooks! So read and learn!
Is Your Buyer's Agent Throwing You Under The Bus??
We're primarily listing agents, meaning the bulk of our work is done with Warren County home sellers. Sure we'll work with home buyers, but our focus is on attracting buyers for our sellers' homes. We'll market everywhere we can reasonably expect to find buyers for our homes. Cincinnati and Dayton MLS both of course, our blog, websites, Trulia, Zillow, Craigslist, flyers and mailings, all for the purpose of that one right buyer that matches that home.
Now if you're an area buyer, hopefully you've realized the importance of having your own, dedicated solely to you REALTOR®! An agent whose sole allegiance is to you and your best interests.
A great buyer's agent will work with you to find a mortgage expert to get you approved, help you search for candidate homes, and then take you through those homes until you find THE ONE that you write a contract on! They'll advise you on market trends, the negotiating process, the inspection process, and what it takes to get those keys in your hand.
Wait a sec you say? Your buyer's agent is telling you it's okay to go to the listing agents direct to ask to see all the homes you want to see, and then give them a call when YOU find the right home for THEM to write that offer on? Maybe they're even offering to rebate you some of their commission since they're not showing you homes? Or they're too busy to make it today but they say it's "okay" for the listing agent to show you the home?
Hear that loud BEEP BEEP BEEP sound?? That's the big ol' bus that is about to back up and flatten you! Because when you call to ask us to show you our listings, we're going to ask if you're working with an agent. Now if you aren't truthful and say "No", then of course we're going to show you our listing....and the fact of the matter is if YOUR AGENT calls us to make direct arrangements with us, most likely we'll honor your agent and show you our listing because our primary job is TO SELL THE LISTING!
Now ask yourself "Who do WE (Liz and Bill) work for?". What's the answer? "The SELLERS!". Period. That initial contact forward, our responsibility is to get YOU to pay the most possible, and for our sellers to make the least possible concessions to keep the deal together.
Don't mistake our friendliness for thinking we're working for you. We are not.
If we're friendly, [because we are] you're going to relax a bit. Hopefully, it puts you in a more receptive mindset for that seller's home. And oh yeah, it might also mean you let your guard down. We'll ask a few subtle questions that help us gauge whether you're a legitimate buyer, how much interest you have, maybe find out where you live, how many kids you have, why you're moving, etc. All seem innocent enough on the surface? Maybe, but those elements together may give us all the clues we need to know how hard our sellers can negotiate with you and your buyer's agent (you know that agent you said you DIDN'T have?). It's called LEVERAGE. A "buyer's" agent who advises or approves of THEIR buyer previewing homes with the LISTING agents is giving your leverage away!
For example, we find out you've only got four weeks left to get out of your home and you don't want to do temporary housing? THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! Woo hoo, jackpot for our sellers! They don't have to move too much off price....just enough to get you to sign the papers. Now it's a week later and you ask for inspection items. Take it or leave it....or maybewe'll advise our sellers to stand more firmly and only agree to fix minimal, simple, less expensive things just enough to keep you under contract just because we can!
So let's take the example out a bit further. Assume the list price of the home was $200,000 and your agent offered to give you 1/3 of their commission for not having them show you homes. So your agent is going to rebate you a couple of grand give or take a bit. Now with that information you provided us, how much extra do you think you paid for our listing? We're betting more than a couple of grand more than you "saved". Now add what you lost during the inspection phase. The hole just got deeper didn't it?
And the bad thing? You don't even realize that you and your buyer's agent cost YOU money. You may cuss us and our sellers out for negotiating so hard, but you know what? We're okay with that. WE WORK FOR THE SELLERS. Our seller's opinion is the one that counts to us.
This is another case of being cheap, being expensive. Hire a good buyer's agent. Have your agent take you to ALL homes if you want to make sure your confidential information stays confidential and your interests are the ones being served and PRESERVED.
The FIRST time you meet us as listing agents should be at the closing table!
Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLizThe Liz Spear Team
Elizabeth & William Spear
RE/MAX Elite: Ask for us by name if you visit the office!
Two locations: Lebanon & Mason, OH
Office direct: 513-248-3660 Liz direct: 513-265-3004
Bill direct: 513-520-5305 Fax: 866-302-8418MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Our Website: Warren County Ohio Homes
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17 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 09 2012 11:02PM
This is the Canterbury Pulpit at Washington, DC's National Cathedral. There have been many amazing sermons and eulogies delivered from this spot. Rev. Martin Luther King delivered his last sermon from the Canterbury Pulpit, just days prior o his assassination.
Whether you live in the Washington area or are visiting the Capital, this cathedral is an inspiring place to visit - on Sunday or any other day of the week.
If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:
Housepat@mac.com
202-549-5167
9 comments • Patricia Kennedy • January 08 2012 06:07PMContent © 2009 'Frequent Contributors'. Design © 2009 ActiveRain Corp.
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