Always Something

There is quite a bit to cover this time, including our house hunt, Fall arriving, and miscellaneous happenings.

We went to view a house (more in a bit) and had problems with our Honda; when we arrived at the house to view, the car battery appeared to be dead. A friend of a friend who lives in the area, and his wife, came by to give us a jump start. On the way home the car died again and a passing motorist gave us another jump start. But wouldn’t you know…once at home the car started just fine! I have an appointment for the Honda  – at the shop that does all our automotive work- to have the electrical system checked out. I suspect the alternator, now with 396,000 plus miles on it, has worn-out brushes in it and is not charging the battery correctly. We will have the results by the next post.

The house hunt continues, this time in Cedaredge, about an hour from our home in De Beque. On paper the house at 16794 Primrose Lane has much of what we want; ranch style with two bedrooms on the main floor, a garage, 2.4 acre lot with a variety of mature trees, and an extra storage shed for my “stuff.” We decided to schedule a tour with our agent. (It was at this house that the Honda died.)

While we were waiting for our realtor to arrive, the lady of the house vacated the premises for the appointment but stopped to tell us her 4 dogs were in the house but were “very friendly” and would not be a problem. Not true, as it turned out. One of the pooches was very aggressive, ears flat and growling, and we never were able to get into the house despite Pam’s coaxing of the dogs to try and get them to relax.

There are no photos of the inside as the current renters are packing and the place is in disarray. We had really wanted to see the interior as the house includes a fireplace and a full and a half-bath on the main level. Another bed and full bath is in the basement. As a result of the dog’s attitude we walked around the outside of the house and looked into windows; built in the 80’s it is in need of a refresh. Still, what we were able to see led us to put this place on the “potential” list. We hope to get to see the inside once the renters (and their dogs + horses) have moved along.

Primrose House

Back yard

Equipment shed

A few plusses of the place are location in a very nice subdivision, no more than 10 minutes from the local grocery store, level lot, some views, quite a bit of fencing in place, and the original landscaping which included an underground sprinkler system (which probably needs repair.) It is listed over our price point but with winter coming on and the house empty the sellers might entertain a more reasonable offer.

It is obvious that any place we can afford is going to need work. The dilemma is not unique; do we spend more up-front for a place that need less work, or go to a lower price point and plan to spend more on projects? Given our age and a retirement income we are tending to go with the ‘less work’ approach, but the better quality houses are just that more expensive to where the mortgage payment is bigger than we would like. We are still waiting for the “You will know it when you see it” moment to happen, even after all the properties we have viewed.

On to other topics. This past weekend I removed the leaf mulcher from storage and began mulching Fall leaves. Windy conditions had blown quite a few leaves off the trees, enough to begin the Fall ritual of raking and mulching. As part of this Fall’s maintenance, Pam had me remove some dead limbs from our cottonwood tree; this cleaned it up a bit and it looks better. Some upper branches cannot be reached from a ladder and I may need, at some point, to rent a lift of some sort to finish the job. We do what we can with the tools at hand.

I did get my snowmobile running and listed it on Craig’s list. So far no hits but the ad has not been up very long. My search for a chipper continues, at this point, without any candidates in view.

2001 Yamaha Mountain Max 700

Last Sunday I took an ATV ride, perhaps the last of the season, on the top of Grand Mesa. We had driven past the trailheads many times but I had only ridden winter snowmobile trails up there, never any summer trails. Looking for a place closer to home to ride, I decided to give on of these trails a go.

It turns out there is quite a network of summer trails open to ATV riders. Most are old logging roads which don’t pass historic places such as old town sites or have any old structures along them, but they do go past quite a variety of alpine lakes and ponds, many man-made. I would classify the trails as pleasant. Some are snowmobile trails I had ridden in past winters; it was interesting to see them in their summer state.

There was one unusual wrinkle to these trails; many are open only to vehicles 50 inches wide or less. This rules out Jeeps and other full-size 4-wheel drive vehicles. I am used to riding through old mining areas where no restrictions apply. When I looked into this later it turns out the size restriction is, in fact, a weight restriction; the theory is that lighter vehicles cause less wear and tear on the trails, resulting in lower maintenance costs and less damage to the environment. It was nice not having to share the trails with big 4×4 rigs!

50″ restrictor gate

Green Mountain Trail #719

Autumn is upon us and summer has come to a close. Night time temps are dipping closer to freezing and it is dark in the mornings when the alarm goes off. Trips to Sanderling are done; leaf raking has begun, and I see Christmas-related ads beginning to appear. Now it is time for more relaxed weekends and hot apple cider on cool Saturday mornings. After another very busy summer, I can appreciate the more relaxed and less hectic grind.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Car problems, not too surprising as the Honda is old enough to be temperamental. House search problems – I must say, dogs left in the house for a viewing appointment is a new one.

Happy Trails.