Month: April 2019

A Normal Weekend

This past weekend was the first of the year that was a “normal” at-home spring weekend. Chores included weed-wacking, lawn mowing, flower bed maintenance, and enjoying the blooming flowers. The city turned on our irrigation water and Pam dragged the hose out to water part of the lawn.

The purple lilacs bloomed; you can smell their fragrance on the air. The cherry tree blossoms are almost done, but the white lilac is just beginning to flower. Late tulips are blooming but the early variety, which we enjoyed upon our return from the Midwest, are done for the year in the Mary Lynn Garden.

All pretty routine — so nice to be outdoors without a jacket and enjoy the 70 degree weather and partly sunny skies. Just to note, though, that areas higher and to the east of us, including Aspen and Denver, are going to get snow early this week. Winter still rules the high country.

Repairs

In my last post I noted the John Deere lawn tractor had died. I ordered repair parts which fixed the problem; the LX176 is now functioning. However, truth-in-advertising appears to have taken a shot as the part I ordered was not a direct replacement for the part that failed, a component of the electronic ignition system.

The original unit, left, has a wider terminal on it than the replacement, right. I had to build an adapter wire to go between the replacement unit and the tractor’s wiring harness. This worked and the tractor is running. I sent the vendor a note about this modification but suspect I won’t hear back from them or if I do it will be something like “Well, it is a universal fit and some modifications are to be expected.”

I can’t complain much; the replacement was about $19.00 with shipping where the John Deere part is around $70.00. At least the tractor is running again!

Medical update

My left arm is improving after the fall in Georgia – around 80 percent good. Still can’t pick up a tea mug with my left hand and lift it to my mouth to drink, but am getting back a bit more range of motion each day.

Pam continues to have problems with her right wrist and arm after a fall a few months back. Both of us are occasionally frustrated by not being able to do simple things that we should be quite capable of doing, such as unscrewing a bottle cap with our affected arm. Things are improving, though a bit slower than we would like.

Conclusion

It was my first week back at work after a three-week vacation; I had a lot of work to catch up on. I was looking forward to the weekend and was pleased when the John Deere came back to life. The yard looks good and I’m enjoying the lilac blossoms and decent weather. The animals also enjoy the outdoor time. A good weekend!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth

It’s great to let the dogs outside without any concern about the temperature (not to mention no winter doggie coats to put on and take off). The indoor/outdoor cats are enjoying better temps too, while strictly indoor cats are finding pools of sunlight for their ever-lengthening naps.

My cat population is now into the “double digit ages” and at times I feel I’m running the Aging Cats Rest Home. A vet visit this past week involved two of my elder cats, one on maintenance for gingivitis plus a swelling sweat gland that needs to be lanced frequently, the other just diagnosed with diabetes and cataracts. A third cat (not visiting the vet this week) was diagnosed in December with a heart condition.

While at the vet I was delighted to cross paths with another vet patron who was bringing in purebred coal black Lab puppies for their first shots. Eight pups, six weeks of age, and my request to hold one was granted. Enjoyed the puppy smell and looking into those bright Lab eyes. An excellent antidote to aging cats.

Happy Trails.

Spring Sitings

It is full spring here in western Colorado. Grass has been cut, tulips are blooming, the cherry tree is in blossom, and trees are budding plus turning green.

In the last post Pam mentioned the Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden was looking good. Here are a couple photos of it:

Pam counted over 80 open blossoms with another 40 or so still to bloom. The original planting was 100 bulbs so in one year the flowers are multiplying well.

Money laundering

During our recent trip Pam and Becky celebrated Becky’s birthday. Pam had wanted to give Becky a $1.00 bill for every birthday year (60!) but we could not find crisp, new $1.00 bills to use. Instead, Pam took the money, washed each bill, then ironed each individually. A clear case of money laundering!

Cherry tree blooming

Our cherry tree is just about fully bloomed out. Last year was the first time there was any real crop of cherries; perhaps this year will give a similar yield.

Murphy’s Law

The potential retirement house we looked at last week in New Albin, Iowa already has a pending offer. The kitchen sink drain developed a leak, and my John Deere riding lawnmower (which I had just converted back to summer use) died and will not start. This was my “vacation week” at home. Life goes on…

Pam’s Penny

There was a vintage home listed in Davenport, Iowa recently that intrigued me. I was almost tempted to make an offer on it, sight unseen. Time for me to slowly back away from the retirement house hunt and take a breather.

Happy Trails.

This will be a long post, covering several topics including the house hunt, trip to the midwest, my Georgia motorcycle rally, weather, and a few health issues. I chose to post by topic rather than by chronological order as some topics covered different days and Pam was house-hunting while I was in Georgia, making timelines difficult to keep straight.

House Hunt

The main goal of the trip was to check out houses Pam had been monitoring online over the winter. Once we had arrived at Becky’s place (Pam’s sister’s house) Pam used Becky’s car to drive down to Northeastern Iowa to start checking out houses. Suffice to say most were a disappointment, but one was worth a second look.

The best features of this house are that it sits very close to the Mississippi River (overlooking the Mississippi River Wildlife Refuge), is bordered by farmland on one side and by a riverside park only a few yards away on the other side of the access road. The house itself is on the small side, on a small lot, but does have a first floor bed and bath along with a laundry room, all features we have been looking for. In addition, many of the systems have been upgraded, including central air.

Drawbacks include a very tight stairs (with a 90 degree bend) to access the upstairs bedrooms, no 2nd floor bath, and part of the attic had recently been cleared of a bat infestation. Most of the rooms were very small and lacking storage space. There is a full dry basement that could be used for storage and work areas, though, and the basement also has a rudimentary bath and shower.

The place includes a single car garage and a couple of buildings that could be used for storage or work shops, with the addition of larger doors to allow for getting equipment in and out.

One other house deserves mention; it was a Queen Ann/Victorian place in Elkader, Iowa. Nice house, but very small yard, no garage, very close neighbors, and covenants galore. Pam liked the house for its interior woodwork and charm, but the negatives of the lot and location pretty much removed the place from serious consideration.

So, while the New Albin place is under consideration, Pam will keep searching the on-line listings and we may be back for another house-hunt visit this fall. Watch this space.

Georgia motorcycle rally

While Pam was house-hunting in Iowa, I took the truck, trailer, and bike to Georgia to attend a motorcycle rally being held in Kingsland. I met up with a friend in Atlanta, where I parked the truck and trailer and joined with a couple other Atlanta area riders and we proceeded to ride our bikes to Kingsland, a distance of about 372 miles.

Unfortunately, in Atlanta I had tripped and hurt my left elbow and forearm, making riding somewhat painful. More on this later on the medical news topic.

Riding in southern Georgia was pleasant. I saw white egrets, cotton fields, pecan orchards, cypress trees, huge logging operations, old towns, and learned something of the geology of the area. Almost all homes had wide porches and many had no chimneys. Quite a few had ponds, as the water level is quite close to the surface. Palm trees further south mixed with a type of yucca plant; I knew I was in the south!

A couple of stops worth noting were Jekyll Island and the Okefenokee National Wildlife area.

Jekyll Island has a long history including some big money spent on vacation houses. I enjoyed getting out on the Atlantic ocean beach and viewing some of the historic homes.

The other stop was at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Area, part of the larger Okefenokee Swamp. The highlight of this stop was seeing a couple of gators.

All told I put just over 1,000 miles on the bike this trip. Then it was time to head back to Wisconsin and reconnect with Pam to hear her house-hunting news.

Weather and Medical

Both of us had some medical issues this trip. As I mentioned earlier, I had fallen and injured my left elbow and forearm, making riding somewhat painful. While better at this writing, I still have some pain and lack a normal range of motion – but – the arm is improving.

Pam had what appears to be a gall stone episode where a stone may have blocked the outlet port causing her intense abdominal pain. She had trouble sleeping and eating for a couple of days. Luckily this happened when she was at Becky’s place and could lie low for a few days.

I arrived back from Georgia just as winter storm Wesley was really gathering steam, dropping 5 – 7 inches of heavy, wet snow in central Wisconsin. So it was that we hunkered down and recuperated at Becky’s place for a few days until it was time to begin our trip home. By then both of us were feeling better (although neither one of us was at 100 %.)

The Trip

In general, we are really really tired of driving across Nebraska, although we did see a large flock of Sandhill Cranes on the return leg, something new for us. The truck logged over 5,000 miles and another 1,017 was put on the bike. Pam added a few hundred miles to Becky’s car, so both of us were on the move most of the time. The weather for the outbound and return legs was pretty good but that winter storm in the middle of the trip was nasty. Gasoline prices ranged for about $2.48 per gallon to a high of $2.95 (in Wisconsin) per gallon. I added 1 quart of oil to the truck for the trip.

The dogs – we had all 3 – took the trip in stride and settled into Becky’s place very well. Two of the dogs, Blondie and Bru, stayed with Becky while Pam was out and about with JoJo. One advantage of older dogs is they have a lower activity level and they slept a lot of the time. Of course, having their own mattress to sleep on made for pretty deluxe accommodations!

Home again

Once home we had a range of chores to be done, including picking up the accumulated mail, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, and the cats had to get used to having people in the house again. A grocery run was in order as we had “eaten down” much before we left so we needed milk, fruit, cat supplies, and a whole bunch of other food stuffs. Knowing this would be the situation at the end of the trip, I had taken extra days off to recuperate.

Conclusion

Some good and some bad came from this trip. We made contacts with another realtor and viewed a home with potential. I saw and rode in part of the country I had never visited. We had an excellent visit with Becky and I visited my mother. We saw the sandhill cranes for the first time. On the down side, there was endless Nebraska (It’s Not For Everyone). We both had some medical problems that reduced the comfort of the trip. All in all, it’s good to be home to enjoy the spring plants and weather.

Pam’s Two Cents Worth

The retirement house hunt will be re-evaluated. The houses I visited in our current price point are full of other people’s deferred maintenance. Questions I had about properties listed through the winter were answered, generally in the negative.

Ill health is never pleasant, during a trip less so. One of the inconveniences of aging, I suspect, and something that will need to be factored into the future travel dynamic.

My sister really put on a show of hospitality for both of us and the dogs. If only the Midwest weather had followed suit! In addition to spending time with my sister, I also was able to schedule lunch with a previous teacher from my high school days, and a classmate I’ve been monitoring for over a year on Facebook.

Back in the high desert of Colorado, spring has arrived and I was delighted to see the Mary Lynn Memorial tulip bed is producing extremely well. I sure could have used Mary on the house hunting expedition, though. Still miss her.

Happy Trails