High Summer

During my “pause” quite a bit has happened. Here is some news and photos taken over the last couple of weeks.

Cats:
Since lawn mowing season is in full swing I keep the lawn mower in the garage. One morning I went out to find Gwyneth, one of our outside cats, had decided to make the catch bag her bed.

Gwyneth sleeping on the lawn mower’s catch bag

Not like the dogs, who have higher standards. Here are Bru, Jo, and Blondie taking a rest on Pam’s bed in the RV trailer we call The Box:

Our three dogs resting in The Box RV trailer

Caring for our pets takes up a lot of time, mostly Pam’s, but they are an integral part of our daily life.

I had received a jury summons and had to show up at the Justice Center as a potential jurist. Quite a number of people were called; I was first to be dismissed, probably because I put my place of employment (Sheriff’s Office) on my form. (This was Pam’s idea.) So, while it killed a morning, it did fulfill my civic obligation to report for jury duty, at least for the next 12 months.

My jury summons

House hunting:

We have been active, doing drive-by visits and checking out areas we are not familiar with. One place -with character – was an old Victorian home. Near a busy road, however, and we found we could not carry on a conversation outside without raising our voices due to road noise; there would be no way to mitigate it. Burros pastured behind the house seemed to exude biting horse flies, not good. Too bad, as the setting would otherwise be very pleasant.

Grandma house – front

Grandma house – side

The search continues.

A recent storm sparked a forest fire fairly close to our commuting route. This was just west of Rifle, Co.

Fire between Rulison and Rife, Co

Rains in the area and a quick response by fire-fighting crews kept the damage to a minimum.

The Lot:

I have been to The Lot three times and Pam has been there twice. Our normal routine of getting piles of slash ready to take to the burn pit and piling up salvageable wood to be cut into firewood has resumed. So far we have worked on Birdhouse Ridge and the upper reaches of The Nook; both are areas we can see from The Box.

Clearing brush and piling logs for firewood is our summer routine at The Lot

Not all is work, however, and we take time to enjoy being in the high country.

Wildflowers drip with recent rain

I’ll have to look up this flower as I do not yet know the name. Flowers, in general, seem to be doing very well this year and the growth on the pine trees is outstanding.

A recent sunset gave us brilliant colors to close out the day.

Late June sunset from The Lot

Even though we have been in Colorado for more than a decade we still take time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

The last bit of news concerns my health; I have a CPAP machine on order to treat my diagnosed sleep apnea. Getting this far has been a trial since I did not want to take the $3,000.00+ in-hospital overnight sleep study. My doctor finally wrote me a prescription for a pump and head gear ( I am going to try a nose pillow) and I put in an order from CPAP.com. The gear should be here within a few days. Biggest problem will be dialing in the pressure I need to set on the machine but I can borrow the clinic’s oximeter and use the overnight results (I can download the readings) to fine-tune the CPAP settings as I go forward. Oh, the joys of getting old.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

We are busy. The weeks fly by.  With so much to do outside, it seems a total waste of time to be at work 8 hours a day.

Happy Trails.