Month: August 2022

Last week was very busy. We had a social engagement, a trip to the Mayo Clinic, pressure-washing Becky’s deck, splitting hostas, and more. Details are below.

Our oak trees are dropping mature acorns and the “caps” or “crowns” that hold the acorns in the trees. The “caps” are abnormally abundant this year. Pam and I have been raking, trying to clean up the areas of lawn where we normally walk. The acorns and caps make walking around the yard something of a trial, as they tend to roll underfoot. Pam saved a large bag of the acorns and will try to use them as squirrel food next winter.

The first photo is a section of lawn showing the acorns and their caps. This photo is not doctored and the area had already been raked a few days prior to the photo being taken.

While on the topic of the yard, here is a shot of the sunflowers in bloom.

The week included quite a few trips away from Elma. The first was a social engagement; we journeyed to Trempealeau, Wisconsin, to attend a birthday celebration. Pam and friend Ed Allen were high school classmates and have kept in contact over the years. Ed’s wife, Annie, was celebrating a birthday and we were invited to join the party. (Trempealeau is about a 2 1/2 hour drive for us each way, so Becky came up from Greene to watch the dogs while we were gone.) Pam was familiar with the area from her high school days, but there’s been quite a bit of development/road changes since that time. Located right on the banks of the Mississippi, Trempealeau is a quiet river town with great views of the river and the bluffs on the Minnesota side.

Music was provided by the Piper Road Spring Band, many of whom are friends of Ed. I created a short (1:36) clip of the event that features the band playing one of their songs.

Another attendee was Pam’s long time friend, and former classmate, Diane Wittenberg, and her husband Jim. Pam and Diane had a lively conversation and Pam discovered Diane had accepted the invite partly to visit with Pam in person. I had the chance to meet Ed and Annie and Diane and Jim, people Pam has mentioned often over the years. We enjoyed the outing and social connections were refreshed and renewed.

The trip to Trempealeau was the first of three trips taken on three consecutive days. The second was to the Mayo Clinic for my latest 6-month check-up. The news from this visit was that my blood work looks good and I am done with getting infusions of Eligard, AKA Lupron. I will have another check in 6 months, then another 12 months later. This means I will gradually recover my energy and stamina levels as the Eligard works out of my system over the next couple months. My hot flashes, a side effect of the treatment, should also decrease as well. Good news all around.

During the Mayo Clinic trip I stopped at a Goodwill store (unusual for me). I was eating a burger and saw the store across the parking lot and decided to stop and look around before I headed home. I found the store had received a couple metal-wire rolling racks similar to the ones we’d purchased for the storage room. The Goodwill racks were heavier-duty as they had been in retail use before arriving at Goodwill. I bought one of the three racks; it’s now in the Media Room. This allowed the unpacking of family photo albums that had been in storage in a closet – albums are now out where we can access them.

The third trip was to the Regional Medical Center in Cresco. I finally scheduled the MRI on my right shoulder. Results indicate some muscle damage and a tear in the rotator cuff. The center referred me to a Mayo Clinic specialist. Turns out in addition to the MRI Mayo wants an X-ray of the shoulder for review. Once I finished at the Medical Center, and since I was then halfway to Decorah, I rolled a shopping trip into that outing.

To thank Becky for her dog-sitting Pam split several of our hosta plants to give to Becky for her “new” river cottage. I took them down to Greene yesterday (Saturday) along with my pressure washer. While Becky replanted the hostas I pressure-washed Becky’s deck and cement pad leading into the garage. Both areas cleaned up pretty well, with the deck almost a different color after the removal of accumulated tree sap, dirt, and some lichen. I did not take photos of the Greene outing, but here is a shot of the hostas Pam had bagged for Becky.

I took advantage of a rainy Wednesday to put new belts and “tire” in my cassette deck. (The “tire” controls fast-forward and rewind functions.) My deck, a Nakamichi BX-100, was produced from ’84 through ’87 and still gets excellent reviews. I had decided to update it instead of taking a chance on another used deck, and the results are good. The deck now plays, fast-forwards, and rewinds like new.

The extended weather forecast for the upcoming week is a good one to get back to painting. We will be hauling out the ladders, paint, and brushes and have at the red exterior painting again. All work at this point is from ladders so will be slower than painting from the ground. Neither of us is looking forward to this as we always feel the stress in our legs and backs from going up and down the ladder. At some point we’ll have to rent a lift again, but first the ladder work has to be done.

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

Pam’s Penny

The “little” project – AKA painting hearts on the LP tank – stretches into another week, with second coats going on the existing hearts. Himself suggested red hearts should be added to the blue heart mix – but – definitely not this year.

I’m a big fan of hostas as a landscape plant (not a flowering plant); hostas need to be divided frequently, however. Their root systems are akin to cement blocks when one cuts into them. Hardy little buggers, right up there with dandelions and day lilly plants.

Speaking of hardy little buggers, another bat showed up in the stairwell. Himself speculates the bats may be using the unfinished plumbing in the second floor bathroom as a conduit into the house. Great. Just great.

Happy Trails.

This week I am writing about ATV rides I recently took during my Colorado visit. In addition, I have a few details of the trip there and back. Rounding out this post will be our recent purchase of three tons of gravel!

I alternated work on The Lot with a few ATV rides on local trails. All of the places I visited were new to me. Helping guide me along was a new app I had downloaded to my iPhone, Avenza Maps. In addition to the app, I had downloaded the South Park Ranger District maps from the Avenza site.

I used the basic, and free, version of Avenza. The pay-for version adds a lot of features, but I was just interested in trying out the basic functions of the program. I must say it worked out very well! In use, a blue dot marks your location using the phone’s built-in GPS information. Since the maps are downloaded to the phone, no internet connection is required. This is a good thing as the areas I was riding had no cell phone coverage. Here is a screen shot of part of the map as it appears on my phone.

The black-and-white lines indicate trails suitable for motorized traffic. The dots represent single-track trails used by horse riders, bicyclists, and dirt bikes. Single-track trails have a “restrictor” at both ends of the trail.

My first few rides were in the Lost Park area, about 15 miles from The Lot. These were pleasant rides but not very scenic. Mostly old logging roads, these trails now serve as fire-fighting routes if needed. I did get a couple interesting photos in this area, though.

The later rides, located in an area west of Fairplay, were more interesting as the area supported a timber industry as well as some mining. Ruins of both activities were found along the area trails. Here is a selection of photos taken during these rides.

There were many, many flowers blooming. Here are a few of them.

As mentioned above, mining and logging were present in this area. I saw several remains of cabins that had been used by loggers and an old mine building.

I enjoyed these outings and the time I spent on the trails. Back at The Lot, I had plenty of time to take a few photos of changing weather conditions and views across South Park.

The trip from Iowa to Colorado and back was uneventful, with little road construction or other stoppages. I did find a wide variation in fuel prices, even given the price drop in the two weeks I was gone. The most expensive fuel was in Fairplay at $4.73 per gallon and the least expensive was on the way back in Ankeny, Iowa, at $3.15 per gallon.

Since our anniversary was on August 10th, I brought Pam back a gift: Henry Weinhart’s Gourmet Root Beer. We used to buy this in Colorado but can’t find it in Iowa. I came home with two 6-packs.

Back home, it was a busy week. We bought an estimated 3 tons of gravel to spread along the west end of the garage and a few other places.

We added gravel into the catio screen porch as well. There is still a pile of gravel left and we will find other uses for it as we go along. The gravel improves the looks of the garage, but mostly improves drainage and keeps mud from splashing up on the walls during rain storms. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

Also around the house…

I had a major load of grass clippings mixed with flower bed clean-up debris to take to the compost area this week. Pam has been getting a few blackberries from her bushes. We trimmed back a few oak branches from around the garage and patio.

In short, it was another busy week at Heart House.

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

Pam’s Penny

Heart House has already been visited by a couple of bats – a bit early this year. Bat #1 was stunned and on the floor downstairs during the middle of the night a few weeks ago. Bat #2 was cornered in the kitchen a few days ago. In both instances, Elmo was instrumental in identifying the bat’s presence and jumping at it as it moved. (Little brown bats are a protected species, I get that, but they are ugly little chittering intruders.)

Once a bat has been located, Elmo keeps watch on that spot — even after the offending creature has been relocated outside. Bat patrol is a tiring job, but a cat’s gotta do what a cat’s gotta do. After staying on duty all night, Elmo is pretty much wiped all day. At least Elmo does something to earn his keep.

Happy Trails.

I spent the last two weeks at our lot in central Colorado. During that time I celebrated my 70th birthday, took some ATV rides, and worked to clear brush and dead trees. Many photos were taken and a few obstacles overcome. Due to the events that transpired and number of photos taken I will break the trip into two reports, the first this week and the second next week. I will start with my 70th birthday.

Pam set up a memorable birthday consisting of several moving parts. First she identified people in our contacts and her Facebook pages, encouraging friends and extended family to send me birthday greetings. It worked. I received more text and e-mail greetings than ever before. (Note: Cell phone and internet coverage is very poor at The Lot and text messages work best.) Thank you to all who took the time to send me greetings!

Second, Pam had contacted a friend at my old workplace, Jim Brassfield. Jim spread the word around the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and a card was circulated for people to sign. A few people sent me text messages as well. Jim went above and beyond when he and Tim Rhodes, who had been my first assistant, took time off from work and drove up to The Lot, bringing a birthday cake and cards with them. This was a substantial commitment of time for my past coworkers, as it is a three hour trip [each way] from their Glenwood Springs base to the Park County property and back

I was flabbergasted when Jim and Tim arrived. Pam had told me to expect a “delivery” but I assumed she had arranged for flowers or a cake to be delivered. I had no idea Jim and Tim were on their way.

It was really good to see the guys again. We spent about 3 hours talking non-stop, catching up with personal and professional news. There have been many changes at my old place of work with some retirements, promotions, and even a couple weddings. Many of the people I worked with are still there and my birthday card was signed with familiar names.

Here is how Jim described the event to Pam:

From: “James Brassfield”
To: “Pamela”
Sent: Friday, August 5, 2022 7:43:10 PM
Subject: Re: 70th Birthday – Jerry Fields

Jerry was very surprised!!! We enjoyed the visit!  Tim and I were busy talking all the way and forgot to take a video of his expression……which was too bad because it was priceless!!  Thank you for letting us know about this special day and hope Jerry enjoyed it as much as we did! 

I did indeed enjoy the day. The visit and Pam’s efforts made this a birthday I will always remember. Thank you to all involved, and particularly to Pam.

I had some worries before I arrived at The Lot as to how much work I could really get done given the medical treatments I am on and the fact that any high-altitude acclimatization I once had has long since disappeared. I found that I could indeed get some work done, with with plenty of breaks and rests thrown in. The weather helped in this regard as it rained several days, mostly in late afternoons and evenings, thus putting a halt on that day’s activities.

Most of what I did was a ‘summer cleanup’ of trees that had reached the end of their life cycle over the last few years. Aspen are not long-lived trees and some die off every year. Most are brush-sized but a few are large enough to be salvaged for firewood. In the photo above I am picking up salvageable trunks (cut with the chain saw) and hauling them to my firewood pile.

That pile was reduced noticeable this year. Pam suggested I stop at the local fire department station and offer the logs as firewood to any members of the fire crew who might be interested. This I did, and one of the firefighters came by with his truck and 14 foot trailer and hauled off about 3/4 of the pile. I will let him know when I will be back at The Lot this fall to winterize the trailer, and he will pick up the rest.

Other brush was consolidated into larger piles and was chipped.

I spread the chips up along Birdhouse Ridge. The south facing slope struggles to support much growth, although there is some. I am hoping the addition of more organic material might encourage more growth.

I usually move the chipper around to a limited number of places with the Ford 8N tractor. This year I ran into a few problems. First, one tractor tire had gone flat and the others were low. While I had brought along my little 12-volt air compressor, it was not up to the task. Luckily my neighbor was in residence for the weekend and I was able to borrow a small compressor that worked to inflate the tires.

Then the fun really began. I pulled back the tarps that cover the tractor when not in use, then opened the battery compartment door. I had to jump back in a hurry as wasps had built a nest in the battery compartment and they were NOT happy to be disturbed.

Using a long stick I was able to dislodge the nest, but I had to wait until going to town the next day to get some wasp spray and finally clear the wasps from around the tractor. Eventually I was able to install the battery and get the tractor started.

Then the chipper would not start. I tracked the problem down to a split in the fuel line where it connected to the fuel tank. The fix was simple, cut off the split end and reinstall the line. Once that was done the chipper started right up. Over the course of a few days I was able to chip several piles of brush. Most were situated where I could get close to them with the tractor and chipper, but one larger pile had to be dragged to the chipper. I used the ATV as the puller for this job by wrapping a chain around the brush and hooking the other end to the ATV. This particular pile took 3 drags and one trip with the 2-wheel cart to move everything to the chipper.

Keep in mind that all this work was accompanied with FREQUENT rest breaks. While I did not get any “new” ground cleared I was able to go through areas we had worked in the past and remove the dead trees and brush from them. I did get 4 piles (a couple consolidated from smaller piles) chipped which was my goal for this trip. I was quite satisfied with the work I was able to accomplish.

Because I spent quite a bit of my time sitting in my chair, with my feet up on the footrest and looking out the 5-foot door, I observed more critters than normal. Here are a couple of them.

I had two deer come by the trailer but did not have my camera at hand to photograph them. And, as our acreage is part of open range, I did get visits from local high range cattle.

That will about cover the first part of my trip report. Next time I will cover my ATV rides, some weather-related topics, and a few details of being on the road.

While I was gone Pam accomplished several tasks, including repainting porch floor and risers, the installation of a new bathroom floor and adding more hearts to the end of the LP tank.

These activities took much work to get done. The floor, in particular, was a challenge as there are no truly square corners anywhere in the room. Many tiles had to be custom cut and fitted to the others and/or the irregular floor moldings. The end result is a much brighter room; the flooring compliments the art deco designs Pam had previously painted on the walls.

Around the yard, the morning glories and hydrangea are in bloom.

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

Pam’s Penny

That bathroom floor was a real bear. Limited space to move, limited ability to move in the limited space, uneven floor and uneven walls. It took me three days to put down 28 peel-and-stick tiles to my satisfaction. It all sounds so easy on the installation instructions, but I’d “installed” one of these types of floors before and I knew what I was getting into. This type of tile is not meant to last years and years; it’s a “quickie” lightener and brightener for a dark little dated bathroom. D-O-N-E.

High humidity was definitely a factor in my inability to work on outdoor paint projects the past two weeks. Which is why various indoor tasks received attention. There were a few storms; one night at 2:30 a.m. the dogs woke me during a mighty thunder and lightning event. I learned a few days later lighting had struck the ground one house west of Heart House and the impact popped internet connections to two residences. The noise of that strike was apparently what had agitated the dogs to the point of waking me.

The Grandpa Ott morning-glories climbing the trellis on the south porch feature a new pink variant in the mix this year. I’ve been picking blackberries (a few, but more each year) from the vines, and gathering tender rhubarb stalks. The white phlox finally bloomed. Except for the Indian corn (just now tasseling), seed plants are doing well; moisture has been frequent and humidity has been greenhouse-level (humidity you can cut, cube, and stack). High summer in NE Iowa.

Happy Trails.