Category: General (Page 25 of 61)

Much has happened since my last post concerning the house purchase, a motorcycle rally, and trips to The Lot. Here is what is going on.

House Purchase

Our initial offer on the house was countered and we upped our offer price a bit. This offer was accepted but was contingent on a home inspection and financing approval. We submitted our financials to the local bank and arranged for a home inspection, to be paid for by us.

The bank side of things did not pose any problems, but the home inspection did turn up some unknown issues. Some problems can be rectified as we go forward, such as some wiring that is not up to code. Biggest problem, and a deal stopper, was bats found in the attic. We asked the sellers to remediate this and they refused. Pam was adamant – the bats had to go. We thought the deal was dead and Pam prepared to start looking, once again, at other properties listed for sale in the NE corner of Iowa.

Then, out of the blue, the realtor – Phil – contacted us and said the sellers had reconsidered their decision and offered to reduce the price of the house to compensate for the cost of fixing the electrical issues. We countered with our original offer, and suggested we would pay back the sellers the cost of bat remediation if they did it before closing. We also suggested moving the closing date from September 30 to September 16, to potentially give us some more “good weather” time to move and get a few other projects done.

As I type this (on Tuesday 7/23) the sellers are getting a free estimate for the bat removal, after which they have until this Thursday to accept or reject our current offer.

The home inspection, 75 pages in all including a several page summary, turned up a few other problems we had not noticed, such as a few gaps between the sill plates and foundation. These gaps would have to be sealed. One upstairs bedroom does not have heating / cooling vents. In the garage, the wiring has the neutral and ground wires on the same buss and they should be separated.

The report was very thorough and included images from a drone the inspectors used to view the outside, roof, and gutters of the house. The report was not particularly cheap, and not money  we really wanted to spend. But, on old houses, it’s worth it to discover what projects we would have to schedule with over time. Planning for one major renovation project per year ($5,000 +/-) is realistic.

Right now we’re waiting for the seller’s decision. If they agree to our offer, the next step would be for the bank to order an appraisal as part of the loan approval process. There are a lot of moving parts!

We had to pause and take stock after mentally moving away from this house after our counter had been rejected – and – in light of the issues turned up in the property inspection report. While we were pondering, a second Victorian house in Iowa, about 20 miles away from the first and listed at $50K, had come on the market. Two calls to the realtor revealed that this place was in the middle of a remodel and the owners had decided to walk. Only half-finished, the place needed a LOT of work. The realtor indicated a contractor would (probably) buy the place, finish the work, then flip the house when it was completed. We didn’t want to take on such a large project, but it did take our minds off the Elma house. Going over the pros and cons, we decided to make this last offer in Elma. Now it’s the sellers’ move. We await their decision!

The Lot

I went up to The Lot the weekend of July 20 – 21st to continue this year’s clean-up work. I was able to finish the corner of the aspen grove that I had not had time to finish last year.

The results of the weekend’s work turned out to be three piles of wood; one for chipping, one for salvage logs for firewood, and one for “burn pit” wood.

I  also worked in The Nook, cutting a few trees that had not survived the winter. A few were large enough to salvage, but most were small and were added to the chipping pile I started on Bird House Ridge. The steepness of the slope made this work particularly tiring as I had to hand-carry the chain saw up and down and carry the trees and brush down to the piles…serious exercise for the legs to do!

Motorcycle Rally

Our Yamaha Owner’s motorcycle group held a rally in Durango beginning on Thursday evening, July 11th, and ending on Monday, July 14th. (I had to be home Sunday night, July 13, so missed part of the rally.)

I rode to Durango on Thursday evening and met up with a couple other early arrivals. Base camp was a United Campground, and I set up my tent and gear before we headed into town to find a late dinner.

Friday morning we rode up Dolores Canyon, one of my favorite places in Colorado. The route includes mountain scenics, river valleys, alpine lakes, and some open countryside…just about everything Colorado offers with the exception of high desert.

The rest of the group had arrived by Friday evening, and we had a cookout in the campground and shot the breeze with other riders. There was only one person I had not previously met, so the conversations were pretty friendly and I caught up with people not seen since the last rally.

I’ll be putting together a gallery of photos from this event and will add a link to a future post for those who might be interested. I enjoyed the camping, seeing old friends, and riding in the picturesque SW corner of the state.

Conclusion

It’s been a busy few weeks since my last post, with way more activity than usual. We await the decision on the Elma house, and if positive, will move on to the next step in the transaction process.

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

Pam’s Penny

I’m not terribly fond of all the paperwork involved in house purchase transactions. Or all the fees. Or all the back-and-forth.

Packing, planning and preparing is at a standstill until we know which direction we’re going. Probably just as well; this is the hottest part of the summer, when quiet projects in front of the air conditioner have their merits.

Happy Trails.

Regular readers will know that we have been looking for a retirement home for the last two years. After several trips and many house visits, the search may be over.

The last house we looked at on our most recent trip (July 4 – 8) may be “The One.” We have contacted the realtor to enter a bid.

More photos, including interior photos, can be found on the listing. (Note: Link does not open in a new tab.) This home has a bed and bath on the main floor as well as more bedrooms and a 2nd bath on the top floor. The back door enters into a mud room complete with washer and dryer. A detached two car garage begins to take care of auto storage. The corner lot is larger than most city lots and backs up to an alley, which provides garage access; this means no in-your-window neighbors on three sides. The remaining neighbor is separated from the house by the side yard. Two porches, both shown above, add some outside seating.

Pet Problems

The trip did not start well. Barely two hours on the road and our pet caretaker called to inform us JoJo had jumped into a pile of weeds that also has some fencing in it and had cut her inner left upper leg. Eight stitches were required to close Jo’s skin, but luckily no muscle tissue was damaged. Shortly after that, another call let us know that one of the cats, Velvet, had problems with a tooth that must have become infected and the abcess had broken open. Other than dosing with antibiotics and cleaning the gums, little else could be done for Velvet until Pam returned home and could make a vet appointment.

On The Road

The trip went OK. Total mileage was 2,746 and about 300 of that was driving around looking at homes in several communities. We based out of Oelwein, but visited Decorah, Spillville, Elkader, Elma, Harpers Ferry, and many other small towns in the area.

We were surprised at the amount of standing water in Nebraska and South Dakota. This trip we chose the “northern” route, turning on Hwy 83 North out of North Platte, Nebraska, and crossing South Dakota on I-90. Hwy 83 had a surprise; part of the route was under water! Here is a photo Pam took out the window while we drove through the low spot:

By and large the trip to and from Iowa was uneventful but contained miles of repair work, a few one-lane sections, and some rain showers.

Other House Hunting

We looked at a few other homes this trip. The Bridge Street home in Elkader had been the prime candidate, based on Pam’s previous visit and on-line pictures, but the lot, very small, ruled it out. The house had other issues as well, including a non-functioning fireplace and severe in-town restrictions on building a garage (impossible) and was located on one of the busiest roads in town.

We really tried to like this place as it had historic features as well, but, in the end the lot (both size and restrictions) took this one off the “possible” list.

Next up was a “For Sale By Owner” home and, as a bonus, had an ex-corner service station as part of the deal. While the house was tidy and updated inside, the small size would not have accommodated us and the pets.

Just for fun, we drove by a home situated on a ridge near Harpers Ferry. Out of our price range, the home featured draw-dropping scenic views of the bluffs and valley around it. Photos really do not do it justice.

Discouraged

By the time we were ready to head to Elma, we were pretty discouraged. The Bridge Street home was out, the Spillville place was out, the ridge home was yet to come but one we knew was over our budget, and we were getting tired. Elma was next on our list, but we had previously driven by the house on the incoming trip and were not terribly impressed. However, we had an appointment and we intended to keep it.

Pleasant surprise

When we arrived in Elma we met with the realtor, Phil, and started going through the home. It soon became apparent this place met our major checklist of desirable features: full bath and bedrooms upstairs, full bath and bedroom downstairs, mud room / laundry room on the main floor, large (for a city lot) open spaces, two car garage, utility shed that could be utilized for the outdoor cats, and Victorian styling. No air conditioning, but the place had been upgraded for a 200 amp service, also rare, in expectation of adding an a/c unit to the existing forced air furnace. Elma is not much of a town, a bit more rural than we would like, being about 30 minutes from four different county seats and about an hour away from several large metropolitan areas.

We would be comfortable here. There was no “Eureka!”moment; it just became obvious that this could be our retirement home.

After discussing our options during the return trip, we decided we would contact the realtor and put in an offer once we returned home. We also looked up the local bank and are in the process of submitting a mortgage loan application. After this flurry of activity there will be a quiet period as the process continues, assuming our bid is accepted. (There may be some back and forth on the price before we come to an agreement.)

We are both excited and relieved that our long search may finally have borne fruit. Now, for the next few days, all we can do is wait and see!

Miscellaneous

Here are a few other photos taken along the way. They don’t really belong in any of the narrative above so I’ll add them in here.

Home again.

On return home there was a lot to do. A priority: fixing the washing machine which was not draining water. A plugged discharge hose was found to be the culprit.

There was laundry to clean, lawn to mow, groceries to buy, and stuff to put away. I have a Colorado-based motorcycle rally this upcoming weekend so needed to go though my motorcycle camping stuff and trailer to get ready for that trip.

In addition, we finalized our paperwork for the bank application and real estate offer. Busy!

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

Pam’s Penny

Hallelujah – could this mean I no longer have to review For Sale listings every day?

Deciding on a home closes one door, but opens a list of moving parts, all of which have to be managed to get the entire retinue from here — to there.

One thing I’m sure of – I don’t like driving on a road where the car has to become a boat. The Midwest humidity was oppressive, especially the morning where a person could almost reach out and grab a handful of fluid air. We kept the car AC on mainly to dry out the air so our Colorado noses could breathe. There will be an adjustment period.

Happy Trails.

I know it’s been a couple weeks since my last post. It has been a busy time for us and I’ll try to cover what has happened over the last few weeks.

Critter Stories

A few weeks ago Pam and I visited The Lot. Out of that trip come a couple of “critter” stories I have not previously mentioned.

As we approached our turnoff in South Park, I saw something crossing the road ahead of us but couldn’t identify what it was. Getting closer, we saw a mom coyote with six kitts who had just crossed the road.

Now this is rare; coyote kitts are rarely seen in daylight. I don’t know why the mom was moving them, but the kitts were as cute as can be. Little triangle ears poking up from small but well defined heads. Each kitt was a miniature image of the mother. We didn’t stop for a photo, but the image remains clear in our memories. Cute!

One of my chores when we start the season is to get fresh water, something I mentioned in an earlier post. However, while I was on my first water trip, I came around a corner and almost ran into three adult pronghorn bucks. I stopped the truck, but when I started to move to grab my camera, the animals took off.

They looked great. Black ebony horns rose above clearly marked faces. One looked to be molting his winter coat in a small area near his belly, but otherwise they were sleek and healthy.

Again, no photos but the memory remains. Seeing these critters was a highlight of that trip.

The Lot News

I have made a couple more solo trips to The Lot and have been able to get some work started. I haven’t done as much as I’d like, primarily due to the weather.

Two weeks ago I went up on a Saturday – Sunday visit; the weather report called for a low of 34 degrees and a chance of snow. In fact, it did snow on the way home, enough to accumulate on Vail Pass, and there were flakes in the air in many places. The main goal was to take up the chipper, replace the LP lines on the tanks, and do some replenishing of items we had forgotten on the first trip. Good thing my goals were not any higher!

Last weekend I made another overnighter, this time to get some work done. I cut brush, chipped small piles of brush, salvaged a few logs for firewood, consolidated some of my pine wood, and cleaned up some dead wood along the driveway and on Homestead Acre. However, rain moved in and I had to cut my visit a few hours short. I brought home a truck full of ‘burn pit’ wood; this stuff is too rotten to salvage and too big to chip.

Here are a few photos from the most recent trip:

Once the storm rumblings began I closed down my operations, put the ATV in shed storage, and shut down The Box in preparation to head for home.

Around the House

The home place looks a little bare with the utility trailer and the chipper gone from the spots they had occupied over the winter. However, the hollyhocks are blooming profusely and the lawn remains very green due to recent rains.

I picked all the cherries off my cherry tree. There were not as many as last year. Pam froze them pits-in for future distribution to the squirrels and chippies at The Lot this fall and early winter. (Pam was not impressed with the crop of “pie cherries” last year; this year’s crop was meant for a different fate.)

So the summer goes on. I have a motorcycle rally in a couple of weeks, based out of Durango in Colorado’s southwest corner. Looking forward to it.

We hope everyone has a Hppy 4th of July!

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

Pam’s Penny

I’m spending quite a bit of time this season being the door concierge for the dogs and a couple of cats. Out/in, out/in, out/in, repeat, repeat, repeat…

Toward the end of July, I may just assemble materials and start working on the Winter Solstice cards. The number of holiday cards I send is dwindling; this past year saw another handful of folks pass into the ether and off my list. I’m thinking of Solstice cards in sapphire blue, since the sapphire is the precious stone representing 45 years of marriage — a milestone Fields and I will pass at the end of the summer.

Happy Trails.

The weekend forecast was for 48 degrees and raining at The Lot so I decided to stay home this weekend. In addition to the normal chores I decided to do some work on the Ford 8N and Oliver OC-3 tractors.

Now don’t roll your eyes… there will be a few bits from around the house and life in general as well.

Ford 8N

The Ford is getting a bit closer to operating condition. The leveler box I ordered arrived and was installed along with the 3-point hitch adapter and top link. As you might expect, the top link attaches between the top of the hitch adapter and the tractor and keeps the hitch from pitching forward or back.

The new leveler box is at the right-hand side of the hitch. The top link keeps the hitch vertical as the hitch is raised and lowered. I hope to test this arrangement by pulling the chipper around a bit this week.

OC-3

A few hours were spent working on the Oliver OC-3. One job I knew I had to do was replace the clutch linkage, as when I bought the tractor parts of the link were missing. I had ordered a replacement and now was a good time to begin that work.

The OC-3 has an adapter that goes between the clutch and the drive shaft that had to be removed. Once I had the adapter off I found quite a bit of dirt, old seeds, and even a few small stones that had found their way into the adapter and clutch assembly. What a mess!

After some scraping and several tanks of compressed air to blow out the crud, the assembly looked to be fairly clean. I was getting ready to reinstall everything until I realized the replacement linkage I had ordered (used) was missing a nut and washer, according to the OC-3’s parts manual. These are standard hardware parts but I did not have them on hand, so I came to a stopping point. I’ll get them on my home from work tomorrow.

Here are a few photos of this project so far:

It will be a long time yet before the OC-3 is in running condition but getting one of the many projects that need doing under way is a step in the right direction.

House

Pam has been busy with her Solstice card project plus working on the yard’s aesthetics by adding a few more flowers and greenery.

Pam added several more geraniums to the corner planter; due to cooler early summer temps than last year, flowers are thriving.

Another “Pam Project” has been putting together this year’s Summer Solstice cards. Using cutouts from catalogs and craft store stock, the [few] cards created are unique and bright.

Conclusion

So, even though it was an “at home” weekend instead of an “at The Lot” weekend, we both kept busy and I proceeded to Plan B projects. (There is always a Plan B.)

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

Pam’s Penny

This coming week, I’ll probably start going through more of the boxes we currently have stored above the garage. How did we get so much crap up there anyway?

Happy Trails.

Last weekend (June 8 – 9) we made our first overnight stay of the season at The Lot. The visit consisted mostly of restocking The Box’s dry and canned goods, replenishing the linens that had been removed for winter storage, and getting a supply of fresh water.

Water

Getting fresh water in The Box’s storage tank is always a chore the first time each season. Water has to be hand-pumped from the community well and each round trip takes just over an hour. Two trips are required.

The storage tank hold about 40 gallons of water and the hot water heater holds another 6 gallons. With the water jugs I have, each trip will get me about 23 gallons. I use my home-built water transfer system (a 12 volt pump and two hoses, one for the jug(s) and the other for the water tank) to move the water into the storage tank. This not a fast process but works better than trying to pour the water from the jugs into a funnel to get it into the tank.

Weather

Saturday’s weather was terrific. It was warmer than expected, low 70s, but a breeze was blowing to keep us cool, even when in the sun. The blue sky was populated with white clouds, and recent snows had the mountain tops painted in white which made them really stand out against the sky.

Sunday’s weather was not so good. We awoke to a heavy mist and grey skies. This was OK with us as we had planned to return home fairly early in the day, this not being a “work” trip. Any moisture is always welcome at The Lot.

Aspen

At this elevation spring has just begun and the aspen had that “new spring leaves” look going, which is quite attractive. Young pine already have new growth on the ends of their branches.

A walk around The Lot revealed work to be done to remove some aspen that had not survived the winter. This happens every year as aspen are not long-lived trees; I generally begin the season by doing “clean up” in areas we had previously worked.

Walking through the area we call the aspen grove was an absolute delight. With all the dead wood gone a person can move unhindered through the area, taking in the sunlight filtered through the new leaves. We remarked to each other that young pine, some only a few inches tall, could now get the sunlight they need to thrive.

Plan for 2019

It became pretty clear that 2019 will be a tidy up year for The Lot. In addition to removing the trees that didn’t survive the winter, several smaller jobs need to be done.  These include consolidating the pine firewood I now have scattered in several piles around The Lot, finishing cleanup in one small corner of the aspen grove, hauling logs to a central location for processing this fall, and chipping piles of brush left from clean up efforts in 2017 and 2018.

Last year we harvested around 4 cords of firewood. This year that number will be more in the 1 to 2 range, just because we are moving higher into The Lot and the dead wood is not as thick on the ground as it was in the aspen grove. That is OK with me; my left arm is improving but still not 100% and I don’t yet know how it will react to very hard labor.

Conclusion

The trip turned out well. The Box is now ready for summer use. A plan of action for the summer has been formulated. Now I just need to get my chipper, trailer,  and other tools to The Lot to begin this summer’s clean up activities.

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

Pam’s Penny

Hard to believe we’re almost at the Summer Solstice already. I sent out a few cards to mark the occasion.

Things are heating up on the retirement house search too, with a potential road trip in the planning stages. Stay tuned.

Happy Trails.

There is no “theme” to this post; it is the time of they year when summer its not quite here (aka working at The Lot) and our time is filled with tasks large and small and just doing “stuff.”

Packing

Last weekend Pam and I removed several boxes of items that had been in storage in the garage attic. Pam has spent several hours going through these boxes, repacking what we would like to keep, and throwing out things we no longer want.

There is quite a bit of “Kid Stuff” in these boxes including Legos, computer games, posters, and books. Some will be sent to the kids, some will go to a local donation charity and some may get sold on eBay. This is all in preparation for an eventual move to a Midwest retirement location.

Lawn

Last year we had our big cottonwood trees trimmed back in an effort to save it from a fungus that attacked that species. The tree is not looking good this year. I had to use my chain saw to remove several dead limbs. We decided any shade was worth keeping so the cottonwood will remain in place for the rest of the summer before we decide to remove or keep it.

To help offset that loss we planted a new tree, a globe willow. There are several of these growing in the neighborhood so I hope this one will take root and grow well.

Flowers

Some of our flowers are going great guns. Blue and yellow iris are in bloom and one of our columbine plants has popped out some red and yellow blossoms.

The yellow columbine, blue iris, yellow iris, and blue flax are adding color to the yard.

Last weekend we stopped at a home improvement store and bought some annuals and mulch. Pam has been busy arranging the flowers in the corner planting box.

Some red geraniums are in the planter and will add a spot of red when they bloom. The greenery in the background is hollyhock plants, budding out now and getting ready to sport a variety of pastels. When they do we will have the nicest corner in town!

Ford 8n tractor

In addition to helping Pam, mowing and weed-wacking the yard, and handing down boxes from the garage attic, I have been doing a bit more work on the Ford 8N tractor. I am hoping to use it at The Lot this year to move the chipper around to places I could not get to using the ATV.

I put in a few minor repairs to the air intake system but the bulk of the effort went into the “load leveler” box, part of the rear hitch.

The load leveler had one major function: plowing. With the tractor’s right wheels in a plow furrow farmers needed to be a way to keep the plow level. The right-hand hitch linkage is adjustable to make this happen. When not plowing, the adjustable link was used to make the drawbar level.

On my 8n the adjustable link was frozen (rusted) in the plowing position. If I am going to use the tractor for towing I needed to have the drawbar level.

After much work, including removing the link from the tractor, I was able to get the link to move only to find it is rusted beyond usefulness. Decades of sitting outside had allowed water to enter the threaded area of the link, damaging the threads beyond use. I now have a new link (around $50.00) on order and hope to get it next week.

The last, and major, project to do is replacing a leaking gasket. This requires removing the PTO shaft and dropping the hydraulic pump out of the tractor. The work is not terribly precise but is very messy and involves moving and lifting quite a bit of weight. It will take several hours to complete as once the pump is removed one must clean everything, and based on my experience so far, cleaning the pump and the cavity it fits in will be no small job. It needs to be done but I am not looking forward to doing it.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth

I’ve been watching news reports of the flooding in Iowa, first in Davenport and now in Burlington. The Mississippi River has been predictably high since the snowmelt started. So have other rivers in the state, which we saw first-hand during our visit in April. Something to consider re: the relocation.

It’s already heating up on the high desert. Bummer that. Fields is putting up blocking panels on all our skylights. It’s amazing how much heat comes in from the roof through those skylights. One of our cats, Velvet, will not be happy with this development, as she follows incoming spots of sun around different rooms for her naps.

Happy Trails.

Winter Storm

Winter storms last week remind us that Colorado’s variable weather is a fact of life.

This is what my commute looked like on Tuesday, May 21st:

Jumping ahead in the time line a bit, my Sunday trip to The Lot (to begin opening the RV trailer for the season) had a mix of good and bad weather. On the way home it was raining in Fairplay but snowing in Alma and on Hoosier Pass. I made it home without incident.

The Box

Up in the high country at Sanderling, the RV trailer (The Box) was in pretty good shape. No mice had made their way in over the winter, quite a relief! I reinstalled the batteries and LP tanks, put my chain saw and fuel in the storage shed, dispersed some chipmunk food (odds and ends of bread products we save for this purpose) and walked The Lot to determine this year’s cleaning strategy.

It’s still early spring at The Lot. Aspen are just beginning to show a blush of green. It will be a few weeks yet — late for us — to really get this year’s activities under way. Still, I was glad to be back on the Sanderling property and enjoyed my walk about and time spent there.

Hoosier Pass

I’ve mentioned Hoosier Pass a few times, as we cross it to get from Breckenridge to Fairplay on driving trips to The Lot. Here are a couple photos taken at the top of the pass:

Cats

Pam has been taking cat photos and I thought I would share a few of them here.

Sunny (long hair Marmalade cat) and London (part Siamese) take in some sun on a bright afternoon.

Sunny (background) and Mr. Bibbs (curled up on his towel under the fire pit) enjoy a mild afternoon outside this past week.

ATV Ride

Last week I took a short ride west of De Beque on Wild Horse Mesa. I have ridden this area many times as it is so close to home; I enjoy getting out.

A few wildflowers are starting to bloom, probably due to the wetter-than-average spring we have been having on the high desert. Here’s a flower I had not seen before, white with bottoms of the petals in gold.

A type of paint brush was also blooming in many places:

Since the high country trails are still closed, lower elevation trails (like Wild Hose Mesa) are the only places open to ride at present.

Motorcycle Registration

I had to take a photo of the registration fees the County charges to register my motorcycle. I wonder who is in charge of making up ways to charge more for license plate renewals? 13 separate line entries!

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

Pam’s Penny

Finished the embroidery project. Now starting a few yard cleanups before the temps soar. Still monitoring houses for sale in the Midwest. I think we’ll end up with a “quirky” one; I seem to be attracted to those. Next house hunting trip will likely be later this year, possibly via Amtrak.

Happy Trails.

Yard

Spring is well along now. The lilacs are on their way out and tulips and daffodils are done for the year. On the other hand, iris are starting to bloom and we had a few yellow columbine open this past week. The blue flax is putting on more flowers, making a nice show of blue in the flower bed. The lawn has been mowed a couple times and, due to rain, is looking nice and green. While we had a couple days near 80 degrees, a front has moved in that will give us 60s and 70s for the next week, which is about perfect for us. 

High Country

The one drawback to a wet spring is that it is still snowing in the high country. Normally we “open” The Lot and begin our summer trips to continue the clean up effort about this time. This year it looks like it will be a late start.

I had planned to go up to Sanderling this weekend and set up The Box, which includes reinstalling the batteries, propane tanks, and getting water. (The batteries are in my garage on a maintenance charger and the propane tanks are kept in The Lot’s storage shed over the winter.) A couple nights this upcoming week will hit below freezing temperatures up there, so I decided the “opening day” will not be until Memorial Day weekend. I’ve taken an extra day and a half off over the holiday to get The Box set up for the season. Hope the weather cooperates!

Spring Cleaning

Big Boy Toys

This weekend I did some maintenance on a couple of my “big boy” toys. The chipper received an oil and filter change and the Ford 8n tractor had the air cleaner system rebuilt.

The 8n uses an oil bath air filtration system, quite common on tractors, construction equipment, semi trucks, and older farm equipment. This filtering system is considered to be more efficient than systems using paper filters but requires more service and maintenance.

In the case of the 8n, it looks like the air cleaner had not been serviced in decades. The cup, located at the bottom of the air cleaner, had almost no oil in it as it had filled with dirt and crud over the years. I had to scape out the junk with a putty knife then clean the cup with solvent.

I had expected the filtering media to be in bad shape, and it was. I had ordered replacement media (which is woven stainless steel) to have on hand before I started this job.

I removed the old filter material, installed the new filter material, and put the unit back on the 8n. I filled the oil cup with oil and put it back on the filter, installed the battery (which had been in the garage on a maintainer) and started the tractor. It seems to run much better now that it can get a good supply of air!

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

Pam’s Penny

Due to the still-winter conditions in the high country, Fields will be opening The Box solo over Memorial Day weekend. After our snowy visit to Rice Lake (WI) in April, the dogs and I are “so over” doggie coats and leashes.

Happy Trails.

Our white lilac has attracted a variety of flying critters to its blossoms. While this is expected, this year the numbers and variety of flying critters is above average.

Increased insect activity may be due to the wetter-than-normal spring we are having — almost 50% more rain than usual for the year so far. Lawns are nice and green and more flowers (including iris, blue flax, and peony) are blooming a bit earlier.

Here are a few photos of some of the critters visiting our lilac:

It’s safe to say that dozens of these critters visited the lilac bushes this spring, far more than I’m used to seeing. One critter that I didn’t get a photo of is a “hummingbird moth” which is smaller than a true hummingbird but is similarly shaped and with similar flight movements.

Pam spent a few hours Saturday weeding flowerbeds while I weed-wacked and mowed our yard and the neighbor’s yard. Pretty typical for a spring weekend. I also began a project to improve our back deck, which is not in the best of shape. I removed some pickets (that Pam never really liked) and rebuilt a weak section. Needs paint and other work yet so this is a work-in-progress. At least a start has been made.

The weather report for The Lot looks promising; for the upcoming week night time temperatures are above freezing. I would like to get up there before Memorial Day weekend if possible and start this year’s clean-up. I have quite a bit of brush to chip from last year, plus a small corner of the aspen grove area still needs attention. It will take a few trips to get everything in place and I’m eager to get started. If my healing elbow will cooperate!

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth

While cleaning closets late last year, I happened upon a box of my old craft projects. One such project I had started 34 years ago — a 12 Days of Christmas embroidery project — and it was about a third completed. I almost threw the whole thing out. But, in homage to my previous self, I decided to complete the embroidery and make the ornaments. I began [again] in March. It’s been awhile since I’ve done this type of handwork, but I kept at it and recently completed all the panels. Now to put them into the ornament format and finish the project.

Happy Trails.

Well. There’s not a lot of “new news” to report on this week so I thought I would mention a few miscellaneous items.

My Commute

This time of year is generally good for commuting. The weather has improved and western Colorado is as green as it ever gets. However, occasional snow flurries remind us that full spring is still a few weeks away.

Here are a couple photos taken this last Friday on my way home from work. Note the bare trees and snow – that white stuff on the peaks – has high country trails still closed.

The later sunsets give rise to “purple mountain” effects on the way home as well.

Lilacs

Closer to home, our white and dark purple lilacs are having a banner year. Most years a spring frost nips the buds but this year we made it through without any freezes. The scent from these on the cool and still evening air is great.

It is also time to start thinking about getting The Lot set up for the year. I try to have everything in place by Memorial Day weekend but late high country snows may delay me this season. (Breckenridge ski area, for example, is staying open through Memorial Day weekend. I drive right through Breckenridge on the way to The Lot.) We’ll have to wait and see what the weather holds in store.

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

Pam’s Penny

Nothing new here. A little yard work, a lotta elder cat care — the usual.

Happy Trails.