Loudoun County Halloween, Fall Events

It's that time of year again – Halloween! If you're wondering which Loudoun County communities are having Hlloween events, here's a list (click on the community link for more information):

• Ashburn Farm (event sold out)
• Ashburn Village (log in required to view calendar of events)
• Brambleton
• Broadlands
• Cardinal Glen
• Cascades
• Clyde's at Willow Creek Farm (Ashburn)
• Lansdowne
• Ninja Night (Broadlands)
• River Creek
• Round Hill Country Club (log in required)
• Round Hill Farm pumpkin patch
• South Riding
• Sterling (Algonkian Regional Park)
• Ticonderoga Farms
• The Fright Night (Ashburn)

If you know of an event in a community not listed here, please share information about it and/or the link to more information by commenting below. Thanks.

P.S. There are other communities in Loudoun County (e.g. Shenstone Farm) that are having Halloween events, but information is not available on-line. If you'd like information about other communities, feel free to contact me. 

**UPDATE 10-28: It seems that another local Realtor has decided to copy and paste the bulk of this post on to their blog and call it their own. Should anyone else notice any more of my content being used without permission, please let me know immediately. Thank you to those who noticed.

****UPDATE 10-29: The person has taken the post down.

New One Dollar Bill Being Considered

There's a new one dollar bill being considered by the Treasury though it's being met with resistance by many in the government and the financial sector.

Kirkpatrick’s Pub in Ashburn and Haymarket Closing Today

According to staff I spoke with last night, both Kirkpatrick's Pub locations - Ashburn Village in Ashburn and Dominion Valley Estates in Haymarket – are closing their doors for good tonight. After years of being a popular spot to eat, drink and socialize in Ashburn Village including poker nights and sports events, Kirkpatrick's is done.

The staff said that only a few days notice was given and the reason for shutting down is that the owner wasn't making enough money to stay afloat. It's unfortunate that the employees will have to scramble to find a new job on such short notice, but that's the restaurant business. (Years ago, I worked for a restaurant that just put chains on the front doors without giving their staff any notice whatsoever so a few days notice isn't that bad relatively speaking)

Sad to see Kirkpatrick's or any local business fail after so many years.

***UPDATE: Kirkpatrick's filed bankruptcy and is auctioning/selling off their assets for around $300K. If anyone is interested in buying up a restaurant at a deep discount, here's your chance.Btw, heard that rent there is around $10K per month for the space.

Avoid Burst Pipes and Headaches, Prepare Your Home For Winter

Though we had some awesome 70 and even 80 degree weather in Loudoun County over the last week, the colder fall weather has officially arrived. That means that it's time to prepare your home for winter. Even though we may not get as much snow as you see in the picture above, temperatures are sure to drop below freezing. If you don't prepare your home for those cold temps, you may be dealing with burst pipes, lots of money in repairs and a headache you don't need during the holiday season.

Here are some tips on what to do in order to prepare your home for winter:

• It's a good idea to locate and clearly mark your main water-line valve and check it for proper operation (make sure it opens and closes easily and all the way). This valve controls water flowing into your home from the public water supply outside. Marking the valve will allow you to quickly turn off the water if a pipe should burst or you have other water problems.
• Water lines exposed to freezing air, such as lines in a crawl space or other unheated space, should be insulated and wrapped in heat tape.
• Never try to thaw frozen pipes with an open flame or torch.
• If you cannot maintain heat inside your home, take further precautions to prevent damage, such as turning off the main water supply and draining the plumbing.
• If you'll be away from home for an extended period of time, keep the thermostat at a reasonable temperature to make sure all areas with water pipes are kept above freezing.

And most importantly…follow these steps in order to ensure the pipes to your outside spigots don't burst)

1. Turn off the valves to your outside spigots inside your home.
2. Go outside and completely open the valves on the outside of the home and let the water totally bleed out of them.
3. Once the water has completely bled out, close the valves up again.
4. Go back inside the home and open up the little bleeder valve located on or directly next to each outside spigot valve.

If you follow these simple steps, you'll reduce your chances of a burst pipe and hopefully not have to spend any more money this holiday season than you already have to.

Hat tip to Larry Hays, Home Inspector with Phase Systems and a member of ASHI.

Washington, DC Metro Area Economy Expanding, Not Facing Recession

According to The New York Times, the Washington, DC metro area is not facing a recession. In fact, their figures show that the local economy is expanding. This is good news for us in the DC metro area especially since most areas in the U.S. are either in or facing a recession.

Here are two maps showing metro areas throughout the U.S. that are in or facing a recession along with those metro areas who's economy is expanding (click on maps to enlarge):

  

Source: The Big Picture

Linked Up In Loudoun No Longer Active, Living In LoCo Takes Helm

The Washington Post announced that Linked Up in Loudoun is no longer active and that they will be focusing all their energy on the Living In LoCo blog, authored by Erica Garman.

Though it's sad to see Linked Up in Loudoun shut down, Erica Garman and her Living In LoCo blog are more than capable to taking the helm and are a respected and credible source of insider information regarding Loudoun County.

If you haven't checked out Living In LoCo before, definitely take a few minutes to do so and subscribe to the RSS/news feed or add it to your Google Reader. And if you're on Twitter, check out Erica Garman's Twitter profile.

I'm sorry to see Linked Up in Loudoun go, but excited to see Living In LoCo sticking around and helping keep all of us in the loop with what's going on in Loudoun County.

Loudoun May Hit More Financial Turbulence Soon

In case you haven't heard, Loudoun County is facing a huge budget shortfall and is currently cutting fat from every agency. The latest news is that if Loudoun can't issue more municipal bonds by the end of November, the ride is going to get even more bumpy.

Roger Zurn, Loudoun County Treasurer, summed it up well in a WUSA9 article about Loudoun's financial situation:

Loudoun Treasurer Roger Zurn says he's nervous. He's worried about getting the money to pay for everything they've built, like their jail that's still under construction.

"The markets have shutdown in terms of municipal bonds, that's been a major source of financing for us because we've been growing so fast," says Roger Zurn.

Loudoun officials are reassuring residents and the media that bonds will be issued and that things will be ok. We'll see what happens as the year goes on. I'll keep you posted.

Brambleton Fall Fest Coming Up On October 25 (MOVED TO 10/26)

UPDATE: The Brambleton Community Association just notified me that they're moving the Fall Festival to Sunday, October 26 due to a call for rain all day Saturday and Saturday night.

The Brambleton Community Association is having a fall festival at the Brambleton Town Center and Legacy Park on Saturday, October 25 from 2 to 7 pm. Festivities include live music,contests, numerous activites for the kids, food, drinks and more.

Live music at the Brambleton Fall Fest includes The Paul Green School of Rock at 2pm, the Rocknoceros at 4pm and The Groove at 5pm.

Contests include a "Slice of the Sweet Life in Brambleton" pie baking contest as well as a pumpkin carving contest.

There will be plenty of food and drinks from vendors such as Asian Spice Cafe, Edibles Incredibles Dessert, Wings & Things and the Brambleton Snack Shack. And yes…there will be beer!

There are plenty of activities just for the kids. Here's a sample list:

• Face painting
• Clown balloonist
• Big Top kiddie area
• Rock wall
• Spider Zone and slide
• Bumper cars
• Hay bale maze
• Mini pirate ship
• Free Pony Rides
• World sports challenge
• Halloween Train Ride (either “Spooky” or “Not-So-Spooky”)

There will also be a "Home and Garden Marketplace." And INOVA Loudoun Medical Health Unit will be giving out flu shots.

Admission to the Brambleton Fall Fest is free for adults and children 2 and under; $7 for children ages 3 to 18.

If you'd like more information about the Brambleton Fall Fest, click here.

Text Me Directly From This Blog!

You no longer have to pick up your phone or open up a new IM or compose an email to contact me. Though contacting me those ways works well, you now have the option to text me directly from this blog!

If you look to the right of each page, you'll see the heading "Text me right now". Underneath the heading, you'll see this widget:

Just type in your cell phone number and text message and click the red button that says "Send TXT Message". I'll get the text right away and will respond as soon as possible (typically within 15 minutes).

Note: Though this widget has been tested extensively by the company that makes it, it's still new. If you experience any problems with the widget or don't hear back from me after sending me a text, please call, email or IM me to let me know. 

Thanks to Lani from AG for the heads up on the widget

New “For Sale” Signs Popping Up

 

 

Hat tip to The Real Estate Bloggers and Agent Genius

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