Category: General (Page 23 of 61)

This past week, including Easter Sunday, was a study in spring weather. One day it was warm, up in the 70 degree range, then snow came in.

While the accumulation was not great here in Elma, less than one inch, Rochester (about 70 miles north) received nine inches of snow. We were on the fringe of the heavy snow band.

Still, the wind blew and the snow had a decided horizontal element to it, making it a good day to stay inside and enjoy a hot cup of cocoa.

During the week we had colored Easter eggs, an exercise I hadn’t taken part in for some time. Brought back some memories of days when our kids were younger, and back when I was a kid.

Activities for the rest of the week were somewhat limited; the remaining boxes were removed from the storage area and put in the garage, Pam’s painting continued, and I did [still more] lawn clean up after winds had blown quite a few leaves onto our lawn.

For any who might view my Galleries, a few technical changes have been made. Most photos now have rounded corners and video clips are labeled as to their run times. Galleries that have one or more video clips associated with them have an * in the title. Layout of the galleries has been standardized with captions below the thumbnails and centered on the page.

I know these changes mean more to me than to others but I enjoy tinkering with the underlying code and I think the changes present the photos and video clips in a more attractive way. The hard part was editing all the galleries and video pages; a very time consuming and (at times) tedious task. Glad to have it done.

Pam is trying to trim up the dogs Bru and JoJo as they are well past their normal grooming appointments. Both were getting quite shaggy. (Blondie is a short hair so grooming is not a high priority with her.) Although not perfect, the dogs do look much better after their trim. JoJo is still a work in progress as she will sit still only so long while Pam works on her section by section. I think dogs and humans will both be happy when pet groomers reopen for business!

From The Photo Archive

Back to when it all started: August 10th, 1974.

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

Pam’s Two Cents:

I was thinkin’ I might eventually invest in some equipment and try doing the dog grooming myself, now that I’m retired. Using a scissors and comb this time, I proceeded to give it a try. Bru ended up with one errant snip on her belly and I cut myself in the hand working on Jo. Both wounds were bleeders. I knew there was a reason I paid people to do this.

Home grooming might work with Bru, who is a smaller dog, so the overall volume of hair (and thus time devoted to the task) is less. With JoJo, however, who is basically a Springer Spaniel mix, too much dog and too much hair.

And too little patience all around.

Happy (future) Trails.

Mondays are grocery shopping days for us. I headed out to a local store, Fareway, located in Cresco. Cresco is about 25 miles from Elma.

The store is not large but carries most of the basics we need. However, “exotic” items, such as agave liquid sweetener and witch hazel, are not part of the product mix. We alternate between this store and the HyVee store in Charles City, which carries a wider range of products. Next Monday will be a HyVee trip.

Given the COVID-19 situation, I can take advantage of “Senior Shopping Hours” that run from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM every morning. Best part for me is no kids running up and down the aisles!

Quite a few of the shoppers were wearing face coverings so I may need to find one or dig out my ATV dust mask for future use. Masks are not mandated but are picking up in popularity.

Paper towels are still a scarce item, but I did find some hand sanitizer. (Last week HyVee had TP so we are OK there.) Other items are still rationed; a limit of 4 “water items” was posted, along with limits on some paper products.

All told it was a mostly successful shopping trip. What I did not get this time will go on the list for next week’s trip to Charles City.

Around the house, work continues on a couple different fronts. Pam continues to paint and I work on projects mentioned in previous posts such as lawn clean-up and moving boxes out of our storage unit into the garage.

I did take the snow blade off the John Deere tractor and put on the mowing deck and grass bagger. I ran the mower over the yard to even out the grass and pick up leaves that had blown in from surrounding yards. I raked out several corners around the house, dog run, and along the garage and finished mulching the “heavy” winter accumulation of leaves. The lawn mowing, combined with sidewalk edging and leaf mulching, has the yard looking pretty good.

Given the number of trees in the yard it is no surprise that there are a lot of small branches and twigs on the lawn. These will have to be raked up as they are too heavy for the mower deck or lawn vac to handle.

I continue to work on my web pages; my galleries now have an “Auto Play” button on them which will start the chosen gallery to run as a slide show. I find this more convenient than clicking on each photo to go through an entire gallery but that option is still there for those who want it. Combining the Auto Play with the Full Screen mode makes for a nice way to view these collections.

Life goes on despite the COVID-19 restrictions. We are keeping busy with outside projects on nicer days and inside projects on the (many) dreary days. There is still paperwork coming through regarding my retirement; Medicare just sent us a multi-month billing and I had to call them to remove my former private insurance coverage as primary. (Former coverage ended at the end of February this year.) Pretty soon, though, I will have to find an open barbershop and we both should set up dentist appointments for routine cleaning (when dentists are operational again). Nothing critical, though I do miss open library hours. Overall we are doing OK.

Archive

Here is photo of me from 2007. We had visited a museum in Reno, Nevada as part of a longer trip.

The sign below was made for us by our good friend Hank when we lived in Colorado in the late 1970s.

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

Pam’s Two Cents:

It’s been a month since the unexpected gall bladder removal surgery. Supposedly I can now start to lift items weighing more than ten pounds, although my torso incisions frequently object to heavier weights.

Our sheltering in place continues. Although Iowa’s governor has not issued a formal “stay safe at home” order, we’re finding local businesses are on reduced hours and/or reduced public interaction, if not downright closed period. Neighbors are maintaining a social distance when speaking to us, as are potential service providers who arrive for quotes (electrician, foundation spray company owner, handyman).

I’ve been surprised by the catio cat population. I assumed that, once given the freedom to come-and-go at will, there would be considerably more wandering about than is presently occurring. I guess they are “sheltering in place” where the food, water, and heated beds are. No dummies.

Happy (future) Trails.

I am going to start this post with a few follow-up comments about our current activities and projects

Medical: Pam is doing very well. She has now finished with three of the four weeks restriction on lifting ten pounds or less and is looking forward to finishing the final week.

Her “painted-on” incision bandages have fallen off, just as the doctors said they would after a few weeks. Pam is glad to be rid of them for psychological reasons as well as physical ones. The healing process is moving along just as it should.

Pam continues the bedroom painting project:

She works on this project every few days and allows her shoulder to recover in the off-time.

Yard work: I have finished edging the Main Street sidewalk, the last bit to do in that project. Very few people in Elma maintain their sidewalks so the neighbors probably think I am a bit crazy, but I do think having neatly trimmed and edged walks show that someone cares about their property and neat walks add to the curbside appeal.

I was able to get some more lawn raking done and move forward with the lawn clean-up. While below-freezing temperatures are still in the forecast, the daytime temps are gradually warming up. I hope to have the initial lawn work finished in a couple of weeks, depending on weather conditions.

Home repairs: New this week is a quote for getting the foundation sealed. A local company does this work, and the owner stopped by to examine the job site and give us an estimate of $3,300.00. We told him to put us on his work schedule. We are hoping for completion by early summer.

Project begun: Moving boxes from our rented storage unit to put in the attic of the garage. I have been frustrated in my quest to find tools and odd items such as screws, nails, and shelf brackets so I decided to bring most boxes out of the storage unit. I will have better access that way and can go through boxes at my leisure when I need to find something.

This will be a multi-week task in parallel with lawn work when the weather justifies the outside activity. (Today we have a mix of rain and snow in the air so neither project gets any attention.) There is another side benefit; the “big boy” toys fit much better in the storage unit and allows easier access to the remaining boxes.

Social: While still not fully “mid-westernized” we are getting there. One local shopper runs this weekly ad:

We have not tuned in yet. 🙂

Pet update: The cats and dogs have adopted the house and appear to be quite comfortable. Here are 4 of the cats and JoJo sleeping around one of the main floor heating vents.

Pam has opened the catio so the ferrel cats can start getting some outside time. We had half-expected them to run off but they seem to be fine coming back to the cat shed for food, water, and heated sleeping beds.

Finally, a new feature for my posts: Jerry’s Archive. I will, from time to time, include a photo or two dating back in time. I have started to go through older photos taken over the years and will put a few in these posts as a reminder of past places, people, and things we have known or experienced. I hope you enjoy them.

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

Pam’s Penny:

Nothing new to report. Sheltering in place seems a lot like surviving winter in Iowa.

Happy (future) Trails.

Well, as normal as we get. 🙂

In truth, not much went on this last week. The weather was cold and had a mix of snow and rain which curbed our outside activities. To make up for this, Pam began to paint a bedroom and update the bedroom furniture.

Up to this point Pam has been sleeping on our roll-away bed during the transition; available beds is one more thing to update. A new day bed and mattress arrived and found their home in the soon-to-be-updated bedroom.

The pink cover is to keep the cats off the pillows. The old mattress is under the bed until we can find a place to store it. The new bed is “comfy” to sleep on, as the cats will attest.

I spent a few hours applying some updates to my Galleries pages. A sharp eye will note that there is no longer E-Card, OC-3, or Scout II galleries. The OC-3 and Scout II were sold before we left Colorado and the E-Card gallery requires Adobe Flash to work. Flash is no longer supported by the major web browsers so I decided to remove that gallery.

On the other hand, one might notice two new galleries: the “Heart House” gallery has a few photos taken in and around 702 Main here in Elma and will get more photos in the future. The second link is to a couple of motorcycle-related videos and is titled “Bike Videos” which may be of interest to my biker friends.

I made some changes to the underlying structure of the pages, adding code that would allow me to add or remove navigation buttons and footer information from two files, one for the nav buttons and the other for the footer information. This eliminates the need for me to go in and modify every page individually, a great savings of time and effort.

As I continue to unpack the Media Room, I am getting more and more of our old LP records back on their shelves. It is good to see these (and dozens more) “old friends” again, and I try to make sure I listen to some music every day. I’ve also been going through my old cassette tapes as well.

We have begun to contact various service providers; the local electrician stopped by a couple days ago and gave us a quote on bringing the house wiring up to standard. His schedule is about three weeks out and so it will be mid-April before that work can start (depending on COVID-19 infiltration in this area).

We have also spoken to the air conditioning folks about getting a current quote and getting on their work schedule, but the install can’t begin until after the electrical service is installed. Hopefully the work will be completed before the hot weather season begins – there is a waiting list. And again, the HVAC company (based in Elma) is putting together its own COVID-19 plan.

Next up will be to contact the company that seals foundations with a spray-on material. Our foundation is of mixed stone and allows a lot of cold air to enter. The sealant should make the place much easier to heat and cool and is a high priority for us to get done.

I would like to get started on a garage addition that would be able to handle some of my big boy toys and the Ford F-150 truck. I have not sought a quote yet for that project, which may have to be done in stages starting with cement work.

Pam is planning a fencing project to replace the temporary dog run I put up last fall. Poor JoJo has not had a proper place to stretch her legs since last fall, and she does love to run!

Hanging over all of these plans, as noted, is the COVID-19 issue; we don’t know if the businesses we need to do the work will be able to take on new jobs. We hope for the best but the situation is “fluid” to say the least.

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

Pam’s Penny:

Sometimes I lose track of Fields. He’s generally up in the Media Room, listening to music. There are worse ways to start a retirement than “sheltering in place” with music.

Happy (Future) Trails.

It has been a week since Pam returned home from her gallbladder surgery. Here is the latest update.

Pam is recovering nicely. Finding comfortable sleeping positions was a challenge but she is now getting the rest she needs. The incisions are healing and starting to pull a bit depending on how Pam moves her torso, but the incisions are clean with no indication of infection or other trouble.

Pam’s sister, Becky, headed back to her home in Wisconsin last Thursday after determining Pam could handle the pet care and other routine tasks with no problems.

A shout out to my niece Jenn and her family who sent Pam a lovely bouquet of “Get Well” flowers.

I would also like to say Thank You to everyone else who checked in to see how Pam was doing: Craig, Carol, Julie, and Hank among them.

While Pam was recovering last week I started doing some lawn chores. Last fall I was not here to clean up the lawn and rake leaves so the lawn, which had been neglected for some time, now needs attention. I fired up my lawn vac/chipper and started to mulch leaves. Right now I have the truck bed full of mulched leaves and twigs and hope to get them to the town compost area tomorrow. When the weather improves again (light snow this morning) I will finish the lawn clean up.

The sidewalks needed work to remove the grass that had encroached on them over the years — or maybe decades. Several hours were spent with the edger and shovel cleaning the pavement and edging. I am about 3/4 done, having the Main Street side to do after finishing the 7th street side, front walk, and walk around the house and between the house and garage. Makes me realize just how long the sidewalks really are!

The transplanted Mary Lynn Memorial tulips are starting to green out. Pam was worried about the bulbs’ ability to make the trip from Colorado to Iowa and grow in the new (and very different) soil. While still too early to see the totality of the bulbs sprouting, the fact that quite a few can already be seen is encouraging.

And so we continue to unpack a few boxes, re-arrange stuff to make a better fit, and wait for warmer weather when we can get major projects underway.

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

Pam’s Penny:

We are on the alert for COVID-19, as is the rest of the country (and the world). Very relieved Jerry is not still driving back and forth between IA and CO.

Happy Trails (stay home and explore local trails)

This past week has been marked by one important event: Pam was in the hospital.

The episode started with a rash that was causing severe itching, so we went to the nearest clinic to have it looked at. After the source of the rash was diagnosed, Pam mentioned she had been having some abdominal discomfort as well. A blood test revealed pancreatitis was present and the clinic doctor insisted, in no uncertain terms, that immediate surgery was required.

To make a long story short, Pam entered the Gundersen Hospital in La Crosse, WI on Friday night. (Hospital choices were either Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN or Gundersen in LaCrosse, a hospital from Pam’s old stomping grounds which was familiar to her). Saturday was spent running more tests and prepping Pam for gallbladder removal surgery, which occurred early Sunday morning.

The surgery was successful but long due to two complications: the gallbladder was deteriorating and sticking to the liver, so extra care had to be taken in removal so as not to damage the liver. After the gallbladder was removed laproscopically, another procedure called an ERCP, had to be performed to clear the duct between the pancreas and small intestine. It had been blocked with small gallstones.

The result was a much longer time under anesthesia than expected, in this case about 5 hours. Coming out was disorienting and scary for Pam and had the unwanted side effect of nausea. Not good times.

However, a day later on Monday afternoon, I was able to bring Pam home to Elma. She had been able to walk around and eat the light food provided by the hospital. Her recovery has few a limitations, the major one being restricted to not lifting more than 10 pounds at a time for the next 4 weeks. The largest source of discomfort is the larger incision made on Pam’s right side under the ribcage where the medical instruments had been inserted. All incisions are healing well, and her “internal processes” returned to normal post surgery.

The hospital is about a 270 mile round trip from Elma so I was on the road a great deal plus time at the hospital. We put in an emergency call to Pam’s sister Becky to see if she could come down and help out with pet care (6 cats, 3 dogs.) Becky was able to come to Elma, which was a tremendous load off our minds and allowed me to travel and spend time with Pam. We can’t thank Becky enough for her help!

While I did not take any photos of Pam in her hospital room, I did get a couple shots of her status board:

Pam is recovering and spending time talking to Becky and doing light household tasks. I am getting back to other projects such as putting up some garage shelves and replacing the hood on my John Deer lawn tractor. Life goes on.

We did have another issue this past week. Mr. Bibbs, one of our cats for the last 15 plus years, walked over the Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday. We buried him next to one of our other cats in the Elma back yard. Mr. Bibbs had not been well for some time so the end was not unexpected but I miss him.

I hope that is the end of traumatic events for a time. The weather is getting better, snow is mostly gone, grass is beginning to green up and it will soon be “major project time” as spring arrives. Who knows, maybe I can begin to enjoy my retirement!

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

Pam’s Penny:

Now I have an old age surgery story to tell. But I hate hospitals. They are so invasive – always needles, always vitals, always measuring every drop of fluid going in and out.

I’m going to be a terrible old person. Especially in the hospital.

Happy Trails.

Now that I have found most of my computer stuff, here are a few images of us moving to our new Iowa home.

These next two photos take a bit of an explanation. The new place is a two-story Victorian with a steep and narrow staircase. Getting “upstairs” items in would be a problem. Pam devised a plan; hire a man-lift to raise the goods to upper window height and move the stuff through an open window.

Since the move took place over a five month period, starting in October 2019 and ending in February 2020, weather and travel conditions were always a factor.

We also had a few breakdowns of the U-Haul gear during a couple of the trips.

And, to close this photo essay, here is the house as it appeared at my last trip from Colorado.

As spring begins to arrive there will be more activity around our new home. For now, I am enjoying my first few days of at-home retirement.

During the two weeks from February 14th to February 28th I made two round trips to western Colorado with the truck and trailer and sold the De Beque home. Now it is time to relax!

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

I am now an Iowan.

The home sale in Colorado went through as scheduled; as of February 26 we no longer own a home in Colorado. Immediately after the closing, brother-in-law Craig and I left Colorado and headed for Iowa. I was driving my F-150 and pulling a 6×12 U-Haul trailer while Craig was driving our Honda sedan.

The last trip was uneventful; no bad weather, breakdowns, or other problems cropped up. Long days of driving, though, as the first night we spent in Ogalala, Nebraska, due to the late start after the closing. That left a 13+ hour drive on Thursday to make it to Iowa.

Friday we unpacked the trailer returned it to the U-Haul rental spot in Charles City. Craig and sister-in-law Becky (who had brought Craig to Elma and was staying with Pam until Craig and I arrived from Colorado) headed north to their respective Wisconsin homes. Pam and I really appreciate the help from Craig and Becky!

Friday afternoon and most of the day on Saturday was spent unpacking the latest batch of boxes and setting up the “media room” where my computer is now located. The media room also has the upstairs TV, a recliner, microwave oven, and my stereo system. During the winter months I will be spending some time in that room.

We still have multiple boxes to sort through and find spots for more “stuff” brought from Colorado, but we are now functioning pretty well in our new digs.

Now that I am retired and the move is complete, what’s next? Many projects, that’s for sure! Today I finished cleaning snow and ice from the Elma sidewalks, something Pam chose not to keep up with while I was not here. The garage needs to be organized and I need to start finding some of my tools. House projects will wait just a bit until the weather warms up some, but small jobs, such as patching some of the plaster spots and using the shop vac to clean out some of the vents, can go ahead now.

Then there are the relocation tasks; changing driver’s licenses, getting Iowa titles and plates for the Honda, F-150, and motorcycle. Finding a doctor, dentist, and barber shop. Making sure all banking is transferred to the new bank. All “stuff” that needs to be done when one makes a major move.

I hope to get back to a weekly update of this blog after the disruption caused such an erratic schedule. Most of the updates will be boring, I am sure, dealing with home updates, continued unpacking, weather reports, and other matter-of-fact aspects of moving into an old home. Still, tune in from time to time as we will be exploring Iowa and southern Minnesota and discovering the best places to visit.

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

Pam’s Two Cents:

It has been five long [and quite stressful] months since the purchase of the Elma, IA property. Since we were unable to winterize during the fall relocation, suffice to say winterization systems will have been addressed by the fall of 2020 before the next Iowa winter.

I’ve had to learn a few tasks outside my comfort zone – packing Qwikcrete into the foundation, trapping mice, working with the local HVAC shop to update the furnace burners all come to mind. Jerry has likewise been exploring grocery purchase, cooking, doing laundry and cleaning on the CO end. It remains to be seen what cross over from these experiences will survive the relocation.

Our relocation pre-planning and predictions re: number of trips, expense, and timing mostly were accurate. Jerry retired several months later than planned, the Colorado house sold several months earlier than anticipated. We landed on our feet financially. And we are finally both here.

Now — can I learn to coexist with strident hog manure odors riding on the change of the wind?

Tomorrow I head back to Colorado for what, I hope, will be my last “moving” trip. Before I go I wanted to pass along this snow report; current snow levels in NE Iowa.

Last Tuesday, when I arrived, it was snowing. Today the sun is shining and temps are above freezing. Pam asked me to measure how much snow was on the ground after three days of settling. Here is the result:

As you can see, there is about 11 – 12 inches on the level in a part of the walk that is in the sun a lot. One result: the dogs are not running much; they get out and walk around. Poor Bru, who is the shortest, mostly follows existing paths as she does not like her belly to be dragging in the snow.

As we don’t really have a place to park the truck, our 3rd vehicle, a place was plowed out so I could park it off-street.

Weather for the trip back to Colorado should be OK, although it looks like I will be coming in a day behind a storm that is expected to dump some snow in Denver. Hopefully the road conditions will be OK for the round trip.

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

I am in Iowa for a few days. We close on the sale of our De Beque home on February 26, if all goes well.

I retired on February 14. Saturday I loaded up the truck with a few boxes of stuff and hooked up our aluminum open trailer, which had a few items in it that would not get hurt if they got wet, and headed out on Sunday. This trip was necessary to move the trailer, which I had for sale but did not get any buyers.

The last trip will be a joint effort between me and brother-in-law Craig. We will head for Colorado, pick up a U-Haul trailer, and load the last of my stuff, including my Kawasaki motorcycle. Loading should be completed on the 25th. The closing will be on the morning of the 26th, then Craig and I will be on the road; Craig will drive our Honda and I will drive the truck and trailer. We should be back in Iowa on the 27th or 28, depending on weather conditions.

That’s a lot to take in…retirement, closing, a move, and final move in less than two weeks. I will be glad to settle down for a few days once I get to Elma for good! It has been an ever-eventful five months.

The trip that brought me here, with the aluminum trailer, was, well, interesting. I ran through freezing drizzle that built ice up to over an inch on the front license plate and other parts of the truck. Then it began to snow. Elma received between 4 and 5 inches out of the storm, which meant one of my first chores was to shovel snow.

After the essentials were cleared I dug out my parts and pieces and put the snow blade on the John Deere garden tractor. Suitcase weights, tire chains, and blade were put to good use after the City plowed a batch of snow in front of our garage doors. The blade made quick work of cleaning up that mess.

Tonight…Cold. -14 is the forecast, then warming up with highs above freezing through the weekend. Welcome to Iowa.

A few more photos will be posted once I unpack the rest of my computer gear and retrieve my storage drives.