Month: March 2019

Spring is here. We have our first flower blooming:

It isn’t much but enough to give our spirits a lift! With rising temperatures the lawn is starting to green up as well. I may have to mow soon to level out some of the tufts that seem to appear every spring.

There is little new news this week. These transition periods between seasons are pretty quiet. Once outside chores start to pick up and the gardening season begins I will have a bit more to talk about. It will soon be time to open Sanderling too.

I will be traveling to a cycle rally the next few weeks, so there will not be another post until near the end of April.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny:

I love Spring.

Happy Trails.

After doing maintenance on the Kawasaki Concours, I went for my first motorcycle ride of 2019.

The maintenance had consisted of getting a new front tire, battery, and brake pads. In addition, oil and filter were changed to get the bike ready for the riding season. After checking tire pressure, and bringing the rear tire up to standard, I started the bike, put on my leather jacket, helmet, and gloves, and headed north out of De Beque for a short 25 mile cruise.

The day was a perfect spring day. Blue skies, very few clouds, temperature in the low 50 degree range. I kept the speeds low, 45 – 50 mph, to let the bike warm up and make sure all systems were working OK after the winter of non-use.

It felt good to be back on the road again. The only thing to watch out for is gravel on the road, particularly on corners, left over from winter sanding or spring washes. Thankfully the road had very little debris on it.

After I returned home I started on another project, re-painting the bed of the utility trailer. I had to scrape off the old paint and put down a new layer.   I also plan to repaint one wheel which has developed a few rust spots.

The trailer had not seen a lot of maintenance for the last two years, other than new tail lights. The wear and tear of hauling firewood, and the fact that the plywood bed is old, had left the trailer looking a little sad. Now is a good time to freshen it up a bit.

Today’s chores include changing the oil and filter on the Honda. It promises to be another good day and maybe I’ll take the ATV out for a spin later on.

That’s it for now. Thanks for  looking in!

Pam’s Penny:

I’ve been checking on the National Weather Service’s map that monitors water levels – above is the Midwest area. Nebraska – Iowa – Wisconsin all experiencing flooding from minor to major. We’re due for a return trip in April, guess we’ll see what potential retirement properties are in flood zones.

Happy (and dry) Trails.

It’s essentially early spring here in western Colorado. Tulips are starting to poke greenery above ground, some grass is starting to grow, and tree buds are beginning to expand. Daytime temperatures, still below normal due to recent storms, are reaching upwards of 50 degrees and nights are beginning to stay above freezing. Not every day, of course, but more and more of them are fitting this pattern.

We had quite a bit of rain last week. This has erased all the local snow, except for a few small and stubborn spots of ice that lay in deep north-facing shadows. Even they’ve shrunk significantly. The dogs are going outside a bit more, especially Jo.  Jo doesn’t mind a bit of mist in the air, unlike the divas Blondie and Bru.

The High Country, generally above 8,000 foot elevation, received snow while we saw rain. Several avalanches, mostly unplanned, closed I-70 through the mountains several times. A couple of slides made national news when they buried the interstate under more than 15 feet of snow.

CBS News Clip

The only direct effect this has on us is delays for mail and goods heading east or coming from the east. When the interstate shuts down, there are no good alternative routes for heavy traffic to use. Semi-trucks just park until the road is open again. This includes food and fuel trucks as well as delivery services such as UPS and FedEx. Luckily road crews are used to this and generally manage to get the road open in a few hours, although one larger slide closed the road for more than 7 hours.

I’m gearing up the Kawasaki motorcycle for another year of riding. This year the bike needs a new front tire, battery, and rear-wheel brake pads. These items have been ordered and should arrive next week. I hope to attend a motorcycle rally being held in Kingsland, Georgia, near the Florida state line line, in early April. Plans are to trailer the bike to Atlanta, stay with a friend there, and ride the rest of the way to Kingsland. This will be my “big trip” for the year.

The new dishwasher is working well. We just need to get used to new loading patterns and figure out where the larger pots and pans fit without blocking water flow to the upper rack. Amusing how quickly we get set in our ways, even with dishwasher loading.

Our daily routine is work, internet house hunt, some packing. I did get out to rake the lawn yesterday and Pam is removing layers of mulch in the flower beds. Dogs are outside looking for sunny patches grass. Heavy winter jackets have been replaced by lighter gear. I open the garage door from time to time to get some fresh air circulating through. Vernal Equinox is this month!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I’ve recently been enjoying from afar the house hunting activities of my high school friend Julie “Nick” Nickles as she retires from the State Department and settles in Sarasota, Florida. Florida is a different housing market compared to the Midwest, but the process is the same. For the first time in decades, Nick will have all her “stuff” in one place. She traveled the world with State representing the USA, working numerous hardship postings – India, countries in Africa, Romania, Bangladesh. I’ll miss all those exotic postcards from across the globe. Welcome home, Nick.

Happy Trails.

Although we have never had it tested, we have hard water. The residue builds up, particularly on dishes and cookware.

Over the last few months it seemed to be getting worse. Dishes were not getting as clean as in the past. Looking over the dishwasher it became apparent that the washer was limed up. Time for a new one.

This project spiraled into a major PITA. I had originally purchased a scratch-and-dent unit that, when I got it home and began to unpack it, had internal damage not visible on first inspection. Back to the store. (70 mile round trip each time,)

The shop gave me a discount on a new Bosch unit but did not have the color (black) that Pam wanted in stock. Ordered one in.

Back to the store to pick up the Bosch a few days later, after calling to confirm it had arrived. Store personnel had trouble finding it but eventually did locate it. Handed me a receipt. Got home, wrong receipt. Called next day. “We will e-mail you a copy of the receipt.” Two days later, still no receipt. Called again, received a receipt in a matter of minutes.

OK. Saturday morning, begin the install. Remove the old unit after turning off the power and disconnecting the water inlet and drain hoses. Hmm…water inlet does not look to be long enough to connect to the new machine, which has the water inlet further to the front of the machine. Broke the old plastic shut-off valve trying to remove the old water line.

Off to Grand Junction, which has the nearest hardware store. Bought some new fittings and hose. Returned home, fought to get the remains of the old valve removed. During this time water to the entire house is shut off. Dug out the Dremel tool with cut-off wheel and finally removed the valve.

The rest of the job proceeded OK. Installed the new (all metal) valve, water line, drain hose, and reconnected the electric. Pam is reading the operating manual. Machine does not take liquid soap, only “detergent tabs.” I had not bought any. Machine came with a couple samples which will get us through the next couple days.

It turned out I used the tool I purchased when I was working on the “shower from hell” last year, a SharkBytes crimping tool and crimping rings. Although the new water line uses threaded connections, the new valve had to be attached to the existing plumbing using the SharkBytes compression fittings.

So, now more than a week after I started this project, we have an operating dishwasher again.

Here are a few photos taken during the replacement process:

Pretty much the “excitement” for the past week.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny:

Note to self — when ordering replacement appliances at the “new” retirement house (whenever/where ever that might be), pay for delivery, install and testing.

Happy Trails.