Category: General (Page 32 of 60)

Although the temperatures have been a bit cool, this weekend has been a great Fall weekend. We have had lots of sun, a light breeze, blue skies, and the Fall colors are still present along the Colorado River and tributaries.

I did fire up the furnace for the first time this season as overnight lows dropped into the upper 20 degree range. (The outside cat water dishes froze pretty solid last night.) Even though I had vacuumed out the vents and put a new filter in the furnace, the first time or two it runs we get that “dusty” smell out of the vents. It can’t be helped, I guess.

Yesterday afternoon I took an ATV ride into Wild Horse Mesa (after completing various routine chores). Here are a couple photos from that ride:

Rock formation – Wild Horse Mesa

Colorado River Valley from Wild Horse Mesa

It was a very pleasant, if cool, afternoon to go for a ride.

All the Sanderling firewood for the season has been delivered to our local friend.  She reports she’s already heating her rescue pet building with it on these cooler nights.

Closer to home, I have begun some preliminary work on the OC-3 crawler tractor. I removed, cleaned, and rebuilt the carburetor but have not yet reinstalled it; that will be one of today’s tasks. I have a set of manuals on the way which should help me move ahead on repairs. Some general clean-up is about all I have done for far, but I did remove the spark plugs and put some penetrating oil into the cylinders. This should help the engine turn over a bit easier when I get to that point.

Pam’s retirement house hunt has turned up an interesting listing: there is a small church for sale in an out-of-the way Washington town.

Church for sale in Wilkeson, WA

Here is the link to the full listing which includes 13 photos. On acreage with a stream, the building is 1,200 square feet (rather small) and not very ornate inside. This used to be Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church out of the Seattle Archdiocese in its previous life.  Nearest large town, Puyallup (Pew-all-up), is about a 20 – 30 minute drive away. Not exactly what we had in mind, but an interesting idea to contemplate. An internet search turned up several ideas on how to divide and decorate what is basically a rectangular box into an attractive and functional living space. We have been looking for unusual architecture…

I’m planning a solo driving trip back to Wisconsin to visit my mother. This would be during the last full week of October and needs to be a quick out-and-back visit with no side trips. Lots of driving involved (yippee – Nebraska)  but any later in the year and weather starts to become a real factor. More on this in my next post.

That’s about it. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Hey-ho, we get another ten minutes of Fall.  I’ve been scoping out pet heaters for the garage cats, quite a gang of young’uns out there this year. Time for the heated outside water bowl too, I guess.  I mentally resist this change of seasons — but — resistance is futile.

Contemplating changes in 2018, the house hunt being only one of several factors at play.  Employment issues at work appear to be pushing me toward semi-retirement earlier than I had originally planned. (I’m trying to listen to The Universe, as my departed friend Mary always advised me to do.) Watch this space.

Happy Trails.

Fall is here in a big way. We have had our first high desert frost of the season and snow flakes fell in Glenwood Springs where we both work. I-70 passes (Vail and Eisenhower) were closed due to snow last week. Mountain tops are now white with fresh snow.

Of course, it’s colder and snowier up at Sanderling. I had been to The Lot last weekend and pretty much shut down The Box, emptying the holding tanks and draining the water. All the “freezable” stuff like liquid soaps, canned goods, and lotions and potions were brought home. I have not brought The Box down from the high country yet, though, as we don’t have off-street parking for it until our snowbird neighbors head back to Arizona. They let us park The Box on their property in the same spot they normally park their Class-A motorhome. I did bring home the chipper, as I decided not to over-winter it on The Lot.

Here are some Fall color photos taken over the last couple of weeks.

Mosquito Range across South Park

Driveway at dusk with moon rise

Link Ridge hillside as seen from our driveway

A walkabout at Sanderling revealed some damage from a recent wind storm. We found a couple trees that were snapped off at the base, perhaps from a microburst:

Wind snapped this aspen off at the base

Elsewhere on The Lot we can now enjoy the results of our last chip-spreading activity. This inviting path leads up to The Nook:

Chips spread on The Nook footpath

It’s time to begin Fall chores at the high desert elevation, such as raking leaves, cutting the last of the firewood, winterizing the swamp cooler, getting the AC unit out of the bedroom window. Night arrives much earlier now; there are some chores that have to wait until weekends to get done. Wood cutting is one of them. And maybe I will have a chance to work on the OC-3 crawler.

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

Pam’s Penny Worth:

I think we had maybe 15 minutes of Fall weather before it started feeling like Winter.

Happy Trails.

Well. We had planned to go to Sanderling this Saturday morning but it is raining steadily here plus there is a 100 percent chance of rain at The Lot. Change of plans…do what we can around the house today and try for a one-day round trip tomorrow.

This is the peak of “color” season so we want to get out and enjoy the scenery before the leaves fall off the trees. Plus we need to get one more load of wood home, bring back the old Honda, and start bringing home tools such as the chainsaw, rakes, and other gear that we don’t over-winter on-site.

Around the house, I’ve upgraded my Macintosh computer system, replacing my old 2001 Mac Pro with a late 2013 Mac Pro. It is nice to have the higher speeds and run all the latest software. Apple stopped supporting the old system some time ago so it was time to update.

Late 2013 Mac Pro (Internet file)

Our internet speeds are dependent on the number of people in our area who are on-line simultaneously; the only area provider over-subscribes the lines and response time can get really slow. At least now the computer speed is not the bottleneck it was – but – there are times when the service is frustrating.

There are not many other projects going on at the moment. I put the utility trailer back together; a new tire replaced the one that blew out on my trip home from Omaha with the OC-3 and the stake sides have been put back in their pockets. We had work done on the new Honda; a wheel alignment appointment turned up other problems with the front sway bar and a non-Honda wheel, not concentric, was causing a vibration in the steering wheel. All these issues have been fixed but we also had to replace two tires that had strange wear patterns as a result of these issues. Not cheap; we have a good independent mechanic shop that does the work I don’t want to take on and I am confident the repairs were done correctly. Just money, right?

All told it was a quiet week, work is about normal and we are getting used to the detours required until the new bridge into Glenwood Springs is finished. If we get up to The Lot tomorrow for a one-day-quick-trip, I may have a few fall color photos to add to this post. If not, photos will be in the next post.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Routine for me as well. Bru’s 8th birthday is Monday, all three dogs go to the vet on Tuesday for annual checkups. Blondie has a lump on her neck that needs to be checked out – she had a lump on her side last year that needed to be surgically removed.

We were in the initial stages of planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest in October, but events are changing, and it looks like we will reschedule that into the Spring.  In the Spring, Felicity can come here to watch the pets/house in exchange for us using her house in Vancouver, Washington as a trip base. A bit disappointed we won’t be traveling in October, but it makes financial sense to wait. Motel prices for overnights keep going up and up, particularly if traveling with dogs.

Happy Trails.

There isn’t a lot of news this time but I’ll cover what there is. Main items – my mother is home and we continue to work on The Lot.

Last weekend Pam and I went to The Lot and put in a few hours of work. Our agenda was not full; all we really wanted to get done was spread chips from my last chipping session and bring home a load of firewood. These tasks were finished and I managed to work in another chipping session, chipping a pile of brush I had stacked a couple weeks ago. Those chips were also spread on a walking path.

This weekend we will be home as I have an office function to attend; our annual appreciation dinner is scheduled for this Saturday, the 16th.

My mother is back in her own home after her medical episode, but with 24-hour care. Mom seems to be happy to be home but objects to the 24 hour coverage she is getting. (Given her medical history I think the coverage is a good thing.) At any rate, my brother Jon and sister Sienna oversaw some modifications to the home, such as installing a shower in the main level bathroom and putting a bed where the dining table used to be on the main floor. These changes will make it easier for Mom to live on a single level rather than having to go up and down steps to get to a bathroom, shower, or bed. We’ll see how this works out long-term.

Good news from friends and family in Florida; everybody we know came through with no major hurricane damage although Jeff Hayes (Pam’s classmate and friend) lost power for a week. With temperatures getting back into the 90 degree range and high humidity, the loss of air conditioning made sleeping very difficult. We breathed a sigh of relief after receiving word from my niece, Jennifer, who lives near Florida’s west coast (Gulf side) and learned they had not even lost electrical power. They had some damage due to storm winds but nothing as serious as in southern parts of the state. We hope it is a long time before anther storm of this magnitude hits Florida – but – the water in the Atlantic is very warm this year.

The mountains in Southwestern Colorado received a dusting of snow the other night. Is it that time of year again? Fall colors are becoming more prevalent with the peak coming in about two weeks. Although the timing is normal for the change of seasons, it seems this summer was much too short for Fall to be upon us already!

One event that brought a chuckle, even though it was a serious accident: A load of hogs overturned on Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs (where both of us work). Considering we are dealing with a 90+ day bridge closure into the city, it’s amusing to see a road closure of another sort. Here’s a photo from the local paper:

Accident on I-70 left hogs walking around

I’ve begun creating a Gallery page for the Oliver OC-3 tractor. Not much there yet as I’ve not had time to do any work on it, but I have assembled a few photos and old ads that I found on the internet.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Snow. Ugh. Flurries are in the forecast for next weekend’s color viewing at Sanderling. Time to start wrapping up operations in the high country, bringing home pantry items that might freeze, emptying tanks on the RV.

I wonder if the local cat population knows something about the weather that we don’t? I almost always have some wild kittens at my Fall/Winter feeders from Summer litters.  This year somewhere between 8-10 feral kittens are already hanging out in the garage at night, near the food and water center. I will try to feed as many of them as survive through the Winter plus provide warmth and shelter.  But, if they all stick around, I will need the help of the local shelter to have them spayed and neutered.  When the kittens are older next Spring, I can try to find barn or ranch homes for them.  That type of outdoor life is not an easy one for cats, and there is a high mortality rate.  But the mean streets of De Beque provide death traps as well — such as when cats climb into machinery and are injured, or are hit by cars. Feral cats have been a constant in De Beque, ever since we moved here 11 years ago.

Happy Trails.

A while back I mentioned I would be looking for a small crawler tractor to use on The Lot for pulling around the brush chipper and firewood trailer. Well, now I have one that I really didn’t want.

I bid on this particular tractor thinking my bid was low and I would not win the bidding. Oops! I received a call from the auction house, located in Omaha, informing me that I had the high bid and when would I be coming to get it? I drove to Omaha on Sunday, August 26, and brought the tractor home on Monday, August 27.

1953 Oliver OC3 at home

Tractor, bucket, and blade at auction site

Loading OC3

Loaded up, ready to head home

Pam is NOT happy about this and has dubbed the tractor “The Spirit of De Beque”  and threatens to turn it into yard art, complete with flowers on the seat. It was not a good move on my part to bid on a unit I could not examine myself but now that I have it I am going to try and get it running.

What I have is a 1953 Oliver OC-3 crawler tractor equipped with a Ware (brand name) 3WI bucket loader and bulldozer blade. While it might be nice to have these items I don’t really need or want them; I just wanted a basic tractor. However, checking eBay I see the loader and blade selling for several hundred dollars and it may be I can sell these parts to help pay for repairs.

Loading in Omaha was accomplished using a forklift. The bucket and blade were loaded into the back of the F-150 and the tractor on my utility trailer. The trip home was uneventful, if not real fast.

Once home I used my 8N Ford tractor to pull the OC-3 off the trailer;  a neighbor who owns a skid-steer helped me unload the bucket and blade.

There is a ton load of work to be done. Biggest problem is that the engine is missing a critical part, the magneto that supplies “spark” to the spark plugs. I did not realize this when I placed my bid or I would have bid a lot less. Rebuilt magnetos are available for about $325.00, ouch. On the positive side there is oil in the crankcase and the engine can be turned with the aid of a wrench so the engine is not frozen. I think I could get it running if I had a good magneto.

Does this mean the tractor could be useful at that point? Probably not; a lot of maintenance is required for a tractor that has been sitting outside for an unknown period of time. Some of the tasks include installing a battery, rewiring the basic electrical system, replace radiator hoses, repair and adjust the clutch linkage, replace all hydraulic hoses, grease and lubricate all pivot points and rollers. These are just some of the tasks that need to be completed provided I can get the engine to fire. It will be some time before the tractor will be ready to do any work, if ever.

Work on this rig will be a common theme in future posts and I plan to start a dedicated web page in my “Toys” section on my web site. I’m sure readers of these notes will be hanging on every word…. 🙂

In other news, work continues at The Lot. We are nearing the end of the season with only a few more work weekends planned. Fall colors are already present and night time temps have dropped into the mid-40s. Normally I bring The Box home in early October by which time low temps are consistently below freezing.

More chipping has been done, pretty much finishing Homestead Acre. This weekend we plan to spread the chips from this chipping session, a job that requires shoveling and raking to finish. We will bring back a load of firewood, probably the second to last of the season. (I have more than one load stacked up.) Work on other parts of The Lot has resulted in quite a few piles of both firewood and brush stacked here and there. (I need the OC-3 running to get the chipper to some of these brush piles.)

Photos of my last trip:

Sidelight accentuates rock’s red tinge

Trees cut, now to haul out and pile

Ready to load up and take home

Large pile of wood for chipping, base of Grassy Ridge

Even with a hit-and-miss summer schedule, spending fewer days on The Lot than planned, quite a bit was accomplished. Probably more surface area was cleared than in many past years, including Homestead Acre and The Grassy Ridge. Plenty of firewood was moved out, about three cords, which is enough for our friend Kathy to get through the winter; this is about our regular annual harvest.

This time of year is the best time to be in the high country. During my last trip I saw antelope, deer, and spotted a badger. The badger photo is not very crisp as I took it from inside my car at maximum zoom with my iPhone, but I do have to say these critters have attractive faces.

Badger face

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Did Fields mention The Spirit of De Beque weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 pounds? Dangerous. Unnecessary.

Fall aspen changing color in the high country is equally as beautiful as fresh green Spring in the high country. Looking forward to it.

Happy Trails.

There is a fair amount to cover this time; the last trip to The Lot was full of work and was topped off with a trip over Boreas Pass on the way home. Let’s get to it!

First of all, when I opened up The Box on Friday night there was no evidence of additional mouse problems. All the traps I had left set were still intact and baited. I had taken up my shop-vac to do more cleaning; this was accomplished with the aid of the generator on Saturday morning. A cleaning spray infused with bleach was used on all surfaces to make sure they were as clean as possible. Hopefully this will be the end of it!

I was solo at The Lot but managed to get two areas cleaned up. Both involved a lot of walking/carrying as I could not get a cart or the ATV in place to help. One area was uphill from The Grassy Knoll and the other was behind and uphill from my stump-converted-to-a-bench on the left side of The Nook as you look uphill. Here are a few photos of the wood and brush piles I created. More brush, less wood — which I had expected as I viewed these areas.

Brush/wood pile at left side of The Nook.

Brush/wood pile uphill from The Grassy Knoll

I had also added to Pam’s wood pile which is on the edge of Homestead Acre:

Homestead Acre brush pile

The next time we both go up to The Lot there will be a lot of chipping to get done!

Next task was to spread the final load of chips, this still left from Felicity’s visit, which took a bit of effort as it had been raining and it is surprising how much water those chips had absorbed. They were quite heavy but the task was finished; one more thing to mark off the “needs to be done” list.

Sunday afternoon looked a bit threatening for rain and a few light showers came and went. I decided to make the trip home by going over Boreas Pass. (You may remember that Pam’s mother’s ashes were spread at the top of the pass per her wish.) Wildflowers brightened up the roadside and there was even a bit of fall color along the way. Seems much too early for that!

Here are some photos of the flowers and color along the route. I don’t know the names of many of the blooms but recognized some asters.

Colors were vibrant against the cloudy sky

Reds, yellows, and blues predominate with a few whites here and there.

Fall flowers (late August) in full display

I was surprised to see bits of aspen fall color appearing:

Early fall aspen colors

The  current auto road mostly follows the old rail grade but a few stretches diverge. Here is a photo of a rebuilt section of the original railroad that crossed Boreas Pass, bring mining supplies into Breckenridge and hauling precious metal ores back to Denver for processing.

Boreas Pass rail line, rebuilt, to show people what the line would have looked like in places.

It was a weekend that involved a lot of hard work but also included some rail history and fall colors. I would say it was a great weekend!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Fields dropped off the summer litter of kittens at the shelter today, hopefully to soon find their adoptive homes.  I spent some of the morning cleaning the cat room and doing cat cage laundry (always laundry). Antonio, the big orange feline who is the permanent resident of the cat room, says he is glad the kittens are gone — but he misses the entertainment. For the first time in many years, I did not feel sad to have the litter leave.  After all, the five were over three months old and their energy levels — very tiring. Goodbye litter #27.

Happy Trails.

We drove to The Lot on Saturday, August 12, intending to get a lot done. Unfortunately, when we opened the RV, we found mice had managed to find a way in.

An inspection of the bottom side of The Box located a spot where the mice may have entered; a piece of corrugated plastic that seals the bottom had broken away from the screws that hold it in place leaving a gap large enough for mice to enter.

While Pam began to clean the inside of the trailer, I drove into Fairplay to buy some large “fender” washers to put under the heads of the screws. Upon returning to the The Box I was able to remove the screws, put the washers on them, and put the screws back in place. This closed the gap and, I hope, closed off the entry way.

Jumping ahead in the timeline…I put out traps and caught 5 mice over the course of Saturday night/Sunday morning. (Last trap sprung at about 3:30 AM.) Neither of us got a lot of sleep, and when we left on Sunday I left the traps in place. We will see what gets caught (if anything) when I go up for my next working weekend.

Typical field mouse

So, due to the mice delay we started working on the property later than anticipated. Much was accomplished, though, as we loaded the trailer with wood to bring home, spread chips on the Birdhouse Ridge walking path to finish it, cut more standing dead trees, and moved the chipper to a new location. (The chips were from chipping during Felicity’s visit.) While I was cutting trees Pam collected and stacked a large pile of brush near the chipper. Homestead Acre is looking pretty good!

The goals for next trip include cleaning up where I cut the trees — getting all the limbs and tops in a pile ready for chipping. There are some chips left to spread; these will go on an area that seems to be washing out a bit. Another area, just uphill from the Grassy Knoll, has a lot of dead trees down on the ground. Most of these cannot be salvaged as they are rotten and will need to get cut and piled for future chipping. A few weeks ago I had cut several small dead trees around Pavilion Point; these trees will need to be hauled (by hand) out to an area where I can get to them with my ATV and cart so they can then be moved to a chipping pile. Lots of leg work and hauling is on tap for my next working weekend. I just hope that mice do not have a role!

In family related items:

My mother may return home due to financing issues with the care center; it remains to be seen if an arrangement can be made to keep her at the center. I don’t believe she can live at home, unassisted, any longer even if she wishes to do so. My brother, Jon, is executor of the estate and is working on this problem. Finding in-home help is both difficult and expensive; my mother does not have a large estate to pay for expensive care. We do not want her to use her assets down to zero and have the state step in and dictate her future. It is a quandary.

Locally, our bridge replacement project (in the city where both of us work) has entered a critical phase: the old bridge that crossed the Colorado River and was the main artery into Glenwood Springs has been shut down pending removal and replacement with a new, larger, modern bridge. For me this means a long delay in getting to and from my office – an hour delay during off-peak times is now normal, with much longer delays at peak times. While I can get most of my work done from remote locations there are some things that require my presence in the main office. It is going to be an interesting 95 days until the new bridge is placed in service.

Road closed, bridge out: Glenwood Springs, Co.

Pam is affected by the bridge closure as well and has arranged to work more days from home, cutting down the need to get to her office at all. She will come in from time to time to get a new load of paperwork and drop off the completed work – this requires a physical transfer of paper forms and records – but fewer trips to the office can only be a good thing while the bridge is out.

So life goes on, both the good and the bad. We have the physical work at The Lot but also have the mental and emotional pull of family and friends who are having end-of-life issues. We are not unique in facing these, but finding our way forward can be a challenge.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

My friend-since-childhood, Mary, died this week due to cancer. The world will be way less fun now that Mary is not in it. I will miss her constantly going forward.  Calm seas and fair weather as you travel on, my friend.

There had better not be any more mice in the RV at Sanderling.  They are nasty little buggers.

Happy Trails.

I had planned to go to The Lot this past weekend after work on Friday; had the ATV on the trailer and the trailer hitched to the truck but the truck refused to run on all 8 cylinders. The “Check Engine” light was blinking indicating ignition problems.

A quick check under the hood did not reveal a simple solution so I returned home. I looked up the engine error code and found a spark plug failure was indicated.  Now, on this engine, a 5.4L Triton,  this could be a problem; trying to remove the plugs often results in them breaking off. A special tool is then needed to remove the broken plug(s.) I was not eager to take on a replacement job but after checking with various shops and getting a few price quotes I decided to tackle the job myself.

Aided by a neighbor’s loan of a couple tools I do not own, I was able to remove the first spark plug. It appeared to be a factory-original plug, rated to go 100,000 miles but the truck has over 168,000 miles on it. If that is the case then the spark plugs had lasted well beyond their design parameters.

Ford F-150 old spark plug

Pam encouraged me to change all 8 plugs so I bought a new set from the local NAPA auto parts store (almost $20.00 per plug) and went to work. Service shops have a rack that they use when they need to work over the engine; I had to kneel on the front bumper.

Replacing the 8 plugs took me over 6 hours. First you have to blow the area clean with an air hose, then you need to remove the coil on the plug. Then you have to remove the plug, a process that can take time depending on how stuck the plug is. I worked slowly and carefully so as not to break a plug! Then you install the new plug, replace the coil (each plug has its own coil) then re-connect the wires you had to remove to get the coil off the plug.

As I worked toward the back of the engine the task became more difficult as room to maneuver tools gets tighter and tighter. Eventually I did get all 8 plugs replaced, cleared the error codes using my code reader, then took the truck for a drive. The F-150 ran well and no error messages were returned. I consider the work a success!  Heck of a way to spend my birthday, though.

Otherwise it was mostly a routine week with only minor news to report. Our friend Kathy came and picked up a load of wood, we have had rain several days this week, I’ve begun a major network upgrade at work, Pam is particularly busy at her job as it is the start of the fall semester and the Registrar’s Office is really hopping.  All pretty typical stuff!

We hope to get up to The Lot this next weekend and spend time clearing brush and bad wood. Fall is not that far away; we usually shut down operations around the first week of October. That gives us about 7 weekends and we probably will not get up every weekend at that. We’ll have  to get a lot of work done when we do get to The Lot if we want to hit our cleaning goals for the year. These were not extensive, mostly Homestead Acre and the surrounding area, but I would like to get a couple more loads of wood for Kathy to use in heating her rescue building over the winter months.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The kittens are scheduled for their spay/neuter operations next week.  They will recuperate with me a few days, then (hopefully) the shelter will have room for these three-month-old babies.  Their mom, Rambler, was successfully spayed and released last week.  I’ve seen her at my outdoor feeder a few times; Rambler is thrilled to be free.

The cancer fight for my friend Mary in Florida is not going well. She is in month 16 since the diagnosis, and the cancer is starting to spread.  Chemo is no longer effective.  My sadness is ongoing; I think I’ve been grieving for my friend-since-childhood the entire 16 months so far.

Happy Trails.

It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted, so here are a few of the things that have happened in the interim.

My mother is in a nursing care home at the moment; it remains to be seen if this is a temporary or permanent situation. Mom appears to be OK with this; the food is good, they make her exercise, and she can talk to the other residents for some social interaction. We are playing this on an almost day-by-day basis to see what happens next.

We let Rambler, the feral mom cat, go today. She had her spay operation this last week and it was time to return her to the outside world. I’m sure that, just like other cats in the same situation, Rambler will stay around the house where there is food, water, and shelter (the garage) available.

Rambler’s kittens had their first set of shots and will soon get a larger run in the cat room. They are socializing well and are very cute at this age. Kitten spay/neuter operations are scheduled for mid-August; after a few post-op days at home recuperating, they will be off to the shelter for adoption.

In my last post I mentioned another feral kitten, Devon, that we had captured due to injury and taken to the vet. Although hoping for the best, considering her injuries (leg lacerations), Devon began to fail and had to be euthanized. Can’t win them all, but I felt bad for this particular kitten. At least her last days were spent in clean and caring surroundings.

I did get to The Lot last weekend and managed to get in more clean-up work. I am starting to work in the higher areas of The Lot which has caused me to change tactics a bit. For example, there is less room for the trailer so I have started using the 2-wheel cart to haul logs. A set of side stakes makes this possible:

Hauling logs on the 2-wheel cart

The second load of wood has been cut and is waiting for our friend Kathy to swing by with her truck and take the wood home. This was a good-size load, about 2/3 of a cord by my measurements.

Second batch of firewood for 2017

Another three loads like this and Kathy will have all the wood she needs to get through the winter. Most likely we will bring home the bulk of the wood in September when the temps drop a little.

Walking around The Lot, I came on this stump. Patterns in wood always attract me so I took a photo of it.

Pine stump #1

We have had a spell of rainy weather; the moisture is greatly appreciated and the lawns have “greened up” again. Temperatures have dropped into the upper 80’s and lower 90’s, better than the 100+ days we had been experiencing. It is a welcome change. (Except for the humidity.)

This weekend is a stay-at-home as thunderstorms are forecast for The Lot and there are other chores and projects to work on around the house. I need one of these weekends from time to time; driving 400 miles every weekend to get to The Lot and back plus the normal work schedule requires a weekend of down time now and then.

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

Pam’s Penny’s Worth:

I hate the high desert in July/August.

Happy Trails.

Quite a few items to report this time: Motorcycle rally, kitten news, family news, and general updates. Last weekend (July 14 – 17) our motorcycle group held a rally in Kremmling, Co. Kremmling is near the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park and via Grand Lake.

Our group consisted of 16 riders and a couple who came up in their Toyota to visit. Weather was warm (of course!) but the riding was very good and the socializing was excellent. I had met 14 of the 16 riders at previous rallies; it is always good to see friends again and the new attendees were welcome as well.

Below are a few photos. I will put together a gallery page later that is more complete and will contain photos from some of the other participants.

Kremmling entrance sign

Socializing at campground

Burgers on the grill. Spatula is a pair of pliers and an electrical junction box cover.

A stop at the Forest Canyon overlook off Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. (I am 3rd from right.) Photo: S. Hanson

I put on just under 1,000 miles this trip and it was a good way to spend the weekend; riding  and visiting with friends.  I enjoyed the outing very much.

Turning to family news, my mother had an episode that put her in the hospital. She is now in a care facility recuperating from a loss of blood compounded by taking an aspirin-based pain reliever on top of the blood thinner meds she is on; aspirin also acts as a blood thinner and taking the two together is not a good idea! It has yet to be determined if she will be able to return home after her care is completed. At 88 years old it is getting difficult for her to keep up her own house and independent lifestyle. We will learn more in the next few weeks as her treatment continues.

We have sort-of acquired another feral kitten; Devon was found beneath our back deck in pretty bad shape and is currently at the vet. Problem is leg damage; she had an exposed bone and several sores on her legs and may yet lose a foot although the vet is trying to save it. We don’t even have a photo of her at this point but the vet says she is doing well, particularly over the last 24 hours. Devon is now walking (although wobbly), eating, and eliminating and seems to be getting quite comfortable with humans thanks to a volunteer worker who is working to socialize her. We hope for the best.

In general news, both of us get new glasses later today. Expensive but it had been several years since the last pair(s) so it was time. Firewood cutting continues some evenings and we are about half-way though the current load of logs brought home from the last lot visit. Heat has been an issue; we work for an hour or so then clean up for the evening. This is not a critical task but I would like to have the trailer empty for the next trip to The Lot.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Having Fields out of the house for a long weekend was my vacation too.

Happy Trails.