Month: December 2023

This will be a short post, covering a few small tasks, such as taking down holiday decorations and some maintenance items. That’s about it. I do have one new purchase, though.

Given the continuing mild conditions, Pam and I decided to take down our Christmas decorations a few days earlier than normal. Yesterday (Friday) temps approached 40 with little wind, so it was a good day to “un-decorate.”

Frost after rain storms had deposited moisture on the lights, wreaths, and garlands so I set up a drying station in the garage. Once these items are dry, they can be packed away for another year.

Inside Christmas decor is also being packed away for another year. The trees are still up but are largely undecorated. We’ll finish packing things this week. Although it’s sad to see decorations go, I’ve noticed the days getting a bit longer which boosts the spirit.

My new purchase is a used generator. Followers of this blog will remember that I purchased a unit last year that proved to be too small to run the “honey wagon” pump (1/3 hp) used to empty holding tanks of The Box on The Lot in Colorado. This new purchase, found on Facebook Marketplace, has a higher output, 2,200 watts compared to the smaller generator’s 1,600 watts. I hope this new generator does the trick.

The Kia Soul received a front license plate mount and new wiper blades. The lawn chipper / vac received new (used) rear tires to replace one that had self-destructed due to age.

Quaker has recalled several products that had a chance of contamination, so I had to go on-line and file a claim (including this photo of the boxes of granola we had in our pantry). As this particular cereal is hard to find in NE Iowa, we tend to buy multiples when it can be located. Figures – our stock was high when the recall hit.

I received a message saying my claim would be “looked at” but nothing since. This is a story in progress.

It was time to order a propane refill this week; 318 gallons were pumped into our tank. This amount is about 1/3 of the 900 gallons we contracted for last fall. Our hope is mild weather that will continue into spring, but undoubtedly January-February will have cold spells along the way. Right now this December is well on the way to being the warmest one on record for this part of the country, with an average temperature of just above freezing. So far we have received only a trace of snow. The local average is over 13 inches by Christmas Day. Very atypical weather, for sure!

If anyone reading this rides ATVs, I created a new gallery of my rides around Fairplay, Colorado. The Heart House gallery was updated with a few new photos as well.

And that is about it for this last post of 2023. The upcoming week promises to be very quiet, as we don’t “celebrate” the new year. Other than finishing the packing away of decorations, not much else is on tap.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

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

Pam’s Penny

Interesting week between December 25 and January 1. Not a time to start major projects, just end one year and anticipate the next. Looking ahead, 2024 will be a doozy. The local advertising for the GOP caucuses in January is getting pretty mean already; the general election is likely to be even more so. And then, there’s always the drama surrounding the do-nothing House of Representatives — will leadership get their act together, or will they shut down the government in February and cut off our Social Security checks? Drama we can do without in the new year.

Happy Trails.

While a bit early, we celebrated our Christmas on Thursday (Winter Solstice). We wanted to have Becky join us; one of her daughters, Caitlin, will be visiting Becky near Christmas so early timing works for all. Another event was the sale of the RAV4. Details and photos below!

Becky joined us for gift opening. Gifts for all were specially selected items, from the shirts and socks to the markers and seed packets — and everything in between.

Earlier I had posted a video of our outside lights but had not included any still shots. Here is Heart House outside holiday lighting.

I had listed the Toyota RAV4 on Facebook Marketplace and had a buyer within 24 hours. Facebook reported 547 “clicks” on the listing during that time. Priced in the lower part of the price range for a 2004 with 217K miles, it proved to be a good value for the buyer who came up from Des Moines to pick it up.

NE Iowa experienced a couple of very windy days this past week that blew quite a large number of leaves onto our lawn, so I took advantage of the mild weather to do yet another lawn pickup. One of the neighbor ladies, who was walking by as I was finishing, stopped to compliment me on the appearance of the house and yard. I try to keep the place clean and tidy and it is good to know the neighbors do notice.

If the mild weather holds, and new “high temps for the date” are expected this weekend, we should have good conditions to take down the holiday lights after the first of the year. It would be good if the lights, wreaths, and other decorations were dry and fingers would not get frostbitten taking them down. We shall see!

The next few weeks will end one year and start another. There are projects to work on, such as updating my Galleries. A second coat of paint in the upstairs bathroom is on the agenda, as well as moldings up there I need to complete. Pam has plans for some paint changes in the downstairs parlour, to be accomplished during winter months. It will be excellent to enjoy a bit more daylight every day, now that the Winter Solstice has been celebrated.

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

Pam’s Penny

The little catio female stray, Storm, was spayed this week. Mild weather aided in keeping the catio interior warm during the 24 hours after her operation. (I plug in heaters out there as needed, one bed heater and one space heater.) With Reese and Storm altered, two down and two to go (AJ and Snickers).

Cards: I’m catching up with folks via the annual holiday card news exchange. Must be our age group — more than usual [negative] health updates. Interesting I settled on a snowman theme for our card when NE Iowa is experiencing a “brown” Christmas. Actually, the romance of snow is long past for me…

Happy Trails.

We finished decorating the two Christmas trees in the house. One, the live tree we cut, is in the Media Room and the other, an artificial tree, is in the guest bedroom. Additionally, Pam put up a few decorations where the cats could not get at them. Take a look at the photos!

This is the artificial tree in the guest bedroom. Pam still plans to add some decorations to the tree, now that she is done with the cards. A tree in this window adds some festive lighting to the west side of the house, as seen from the front sidewalk.

The “main” tree (fresh cut) is in the media room. Many of its decorations are hand made, including the gingerbread men (with cloves inside – smell great after decades of storage) and the British felt figures. For some reason I ended up with a potpourri of colored lights available after decorating Heart House’s exterior.

Elsewhere in the house, Pam tried something new this year: adding “12 Days of Christmas” heart decorations above doorways.

With that, holiday decorations are about completed. While NE Iowa has no snow, the long-range forecast is to have flurries on Christmas Day. (Currently it is above freezing and light rain is falling.) I must be honest, though — I don’t really mind the mild conditions we have enjoyed up to this point!

The past week was relatively quiet. Greeting cards were finished and mailed. I was able to perform one last leaf pickup and trip to the compost site. We continue to watch the birds at the bird and suet feeders, and the squirrels have been busy at the corn cob and acorn feeders. The local park has the town’s holiday lights lit up every night. I have yet to convert the John Deere rider from mowing operations to snow plowing, a task I will take on this coming week.

One of the kittens, Reese, went to the vet for his neuter operation this week. He recovered quickly and is back to [pretty much] his old self. Reese picked up some “sniffles” along the way, but no “cone of shame” was required.

We’ve taken the Kia Soul on a few trips and are getting used to more of its modern electronics, such as the blind spot monitoring system and backup camera. While I still don’t fully know how everything works, the car is getting more familiar. I even received an incoming phone call via the media center!

One of the reasons for deciding on a Soul is the distinctive rear hatch, easy to pick out in parking lots.

I’ve begun preparing the RAV-4 for sale, including cleaning our stuff out of the door pockets, glove compartment, and storage cubbies, and I reinstalled the rear seats. The car looks a bit odd to us with the rear seats installed, as we had pulled them early on to have more cargo space.

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

Pam’s Penny

Kitten spay/neuter will continue in the weeks ahead. The little female stray, Storm, who showed up in our catio in October, is scheduled for a spay next week. Reese’s sisters, AJ and Snickers, will be scheduled for their spay operations in January (weather permitting).

Having worked in animal rescue for a long time, I have experienced many vet surgery days. I wish familiarity with vet procedures and processes would grant me ease of mind on kitten surgery days. But not so much. Altering animals — necessary, must-do, but not comfortable (for them or me).

Happy Trails.

Last week I had to use the Illinois Tollway on my trip to St. Charles to pick up our Kia Soul. I had not driven in Illinois for decades and the “new” tollway system was a surprise to me.

I was used to the old toll booths where you tossed money into a bin and received a green light to continue. I had assumed that I would have to go through a “manual” booth as I was pulling my twin-axle trailer. Boy, was I behind the times!

There are no more toll booths. Instead, license plate readers take a photo of your car as you go through each toll plaza. At the end of your trip you log into the Illinois Tollway website (illinoistollway.com) and pay your tolls on-line.

I used the “Pay by Plate” function, but you can also create an account where the fee will be billed automatically to a credit card.

To pay, I had to: 1. Create an account. 2: log in. 3: Add a vehicle, including year, make, model, and license plate. 4: Search for an invoice.

A message popped up stating I had an unpaid invoice and advised that I review and pay the same. The invoice contained a record of every plaza I had passed through and a charge for each segment between the plazas. Since I had used the tollway two days, having stayed overnight at my sister’s place in Elmhurst, the charges were also broken out by date.

You have 14 days from the time of your trip to pay the invoice, or my sister says the authority will send you a very nasty note demanding payment, along with a penalty amount.

I must say I do not like having all the information required to be entered into an on-line database. On the plus side, this system makes the tollway more convenient as there are no stops in traffic at toll plazas. That is the trade-off.

My two day toll was $27.80. Considering I traveled a few hundred miles, pulling a large trailer, this did not seem to be too bad a fee. Here is my e-mail confirmation of payment from the tollway system:

Payment for Violation Confirmation
Thank You For Your Payment

Payment Confirmation Number: 02025A
Payment Submitted on: 12/01/2023

Below is a summary of your payment.

Cardholder’s Name
Gerald G Fields

Total Charge to Credit Card
$27.8

My take-away: If you have to use the Illinois Tollway, create an account before your trip and pay immediately when you return home.

In holiday news, we drove to Wapsi Pines Tree Farm and cut our live tree for this year. Here it is, shaken and wrapped, in the back of the RAV-4. Probably the last utility trip for the RAV. It has been a mighty handy vehicle for things like annual tree transport.

Once home I set up the tree. Next come lights. Then ornaments. That will pretty much finish my holiday decorating; Pam affixed a number of wreaths on the porches and gates this week. There are a few items Pam hangs inside the house too. (Out of reach of cats.)

Friday we drove to New Hampton (in the Kia!) for routine dental cleanings. On the way home we tried a new restaurant, styling itself as a pub. The food was fine but not exceptional. As we don’t eat out much these days, a restaurant stop is a highlight for us. However, having been to pubs in the UK, this one wasn’t quite that caliber.

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

Pam’s Penny

There were 8 neighborhood cats at the outside feeder this morning. Roaming cats are going through cat food like crazy. Cold weather has apparently cut down on the number of rodents available to satisfy their hunger. Plus, I always try to maintain fresh drinking water for the cats, squirrels, and the occasional bird.

Card notes are being completed; some cards are already in the custody of the USPS. Will be interesting to see if their sorting machines totally mutilate this year’s greeting.

Happy Trails.

We found and bought a 2020 Kia Soul with the EX trim package. The car was purchased from a dealer in St. Charles, Illinois. Here is the story and a few dealer photos of the car.

I found the car on AutoTrader.com and it had the option package I was looking for. After a few calls and e-mails, the salesman and I arrived at an acceptable price and I prepared a wire transfer to pay for it.

The price included [an unwanted] $374.26 charge from the State of Illinois, as the dealers do not issue titles; only the state does. All paperwork is sent in and the state will issue a title in my name. Right now the car has an Illinois temp tag on the back. I can’t license through Iowa without the Illinois documentation.

This was the listing photo from the dealer, St. Charles Motorcars:

The color is Platinum Gold under a Clear White top. This combo was only available in 2020; it was gone in the 2021 and later models.

These are a few more dealer photos from the listing:

I drove the F-150 and trailer over to St. Charles on Wednesday and took the car for a short test drive. This Soul is a major upgrade from out 2004 RAV-4! Once I had the car loaded on the trailer I drove about another 30 miles to my sister’s apartment in Elmhurst. Kitt (and Matt) and I had a very pleasant evening with an excellent meal (prepared by Matt) and lots of conversation.

Thursday morning I headed west to Iowa. The round trip was about 700 miles, but worth it for the savings on the vehicle. Here are a couple on-the-road photos:

Everything went well and the weather was good. The truck and trailer handled the load with no problems. Gas prices were about $3.00 in Iowa and $3.30 – $3.50 in Illinois.

Once home I unloaded the car, contacted the insurance agent to get coverage, and began reading the Owner’s Manuals. (The Infotainment system has a dedicated manual of its own.) It will take some time to get used to the features we will use most, and knowledge of other features, such as the navigation system, will come over time.

I hope this is a good purchase for us. Now I need to sell the RAV-4, as we really don’t need a 3rd vehicle here in Iowa. Craigslist and FaceBook Marketplace will soon see a listing for it. If anyone reading this needs a 5-speed all wheel drive vehicle in fairly good shape for around $1,200.00 let me know!

Moving on to holiday news…

Elma staged its annual Parade of Holiday Lights last Sunday. The parade lasted all of 3:52 minutes and you can see the entire parade below. (Short parade in bitter cold temps.)

Parade of Lights 2023

The Heart House outside lights were very “showy” by parade time, having been installed during the mild weather. I decided to take some video; the resulting clip has a run time of 4:21.

Heart House Lights 2023 The upcoming week should see us returning to our [mostly calm] schedule. A trip to the tree farm to cut our live tree is on the agenda; it’s not a major drive. Weather should turn a bit milder for the tree farm trip next week, although NE Iowa is expecting some snow tonight. I would like to get one more leaf cleanup finished before winter sets in for good, but we shall see.

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

Pam’s Penny

While Himself was on his auto purchase adventure, I enjoyed a quiet evening with my steak and kidney pie – plus tea, of course.

Heart House holiday decorations will soon be unpacked and selectively distributed in various rooms, subject to the destructive antics of the resident kittens. The season is upon us.

Happy Trails.

Update:

Fray Bentos’ Steak and Kidney Pie is a dish Pam encountered in Great Britain in the early ’70s. During the ’80s and ’90s, mad cow disease led to bans on importing this dish into the US for many years. (Some bans, worldwide, lasted until 2019.) I had ordered a couple of Fray Bentos as a gift for for Pam’s November birthday.

Now you know!