This week was a pretty typical autumn week, with no major stories or events. In fact, most of the week was routine — projects included lawn and flower bed cleanup, grooming JoJo, and scanning a few more black-and-white negatives.

The biggest job of the week was a major lawn cleanup. Pam cut back the rest of the hostas and geranium plants in the flower beds and cut back the blackberry bushes in the garden. I used the lawn vac to clean up leaves around the garage, along fence lines, and under shrubs. Several runs with the John Deere LX 176 lawn mower and bagger system cleaned up the large areas of the lawn.

It is sad to see the empty flower beds. We enjoy the flowering plants all spring and summer and it’s always a big change to see them go in the fall.

Below is a photo of the south and east sides of the house as of October 29th.

Other “outside” chores included putting up the bird feeder, hanging the suet feeder, and putting a heated water dish in service for the squirrels. On the last, it took the squirrels a few days to figure out the new water arrangement but they soon adapted. (In the photo above you can just see the stand and water bowl at the base of the right-hand tree. The weather has not been cold enough to plug in the dish yet.)

It did not take the birds long to discover the feeder was back up and stocked. No cardinals yet, but we have seen junkos, sparrows, and a red-headed woodpecker at the feeder at various times. Along the same lines we hung the suet feeder and have seen nuthatches and a downy woodpecker use it in the last couple days.

I moved the big trailer into a winter storage position closer to the east end of the garage. While doing this I took a good look at the tires and calculated the trailer can handle up to 12,000 pounds. (Each tire is rated at 3,100 pounds and there are 4 of them.) Below are a couple photos of the tires, D-rings, and side marker lights. I would never use all of this capacity as the F-150 could not handle it, but the truck can handle the Ford 8N which weighs in at around 4,000 pounds.

On to inside projects. Pam now has to trim JoJo, as the groomer we had been using quit the business.

I scanned a few more black-and-white negatives; some of these are in this post’s Photo Gallery section. Other tasks completed included an oil and filter change for the RAV-4 and maintenance on power equipment. Inside the house I boxed in the vent pipe in the corner of the upstairs bathroom and added a patch to the floor in the same room, bringing that set up to the same level as the floor. (The patch was a result of the work we had done last year, moving the toilet away from the outside wall and re-plumbing the sink.)

It was a low-key week filled with routine and mundane tasks, but there was one other development that applied to me. I had previously reported that my broken front tooth had been extracted. This week my “social tooth” with its retainer was fitted by the dentist. Now when I go out in public I don’t display the gap of the missing tooth. Around the house I don’t wear it, hoping to speed the healing of the gum.

So much for medical news. Now on to the scanned images.

Photo Gallery

These photos were taken when we attended a military re-enactment in 1990 and features a squad of US army soldiers. I believe the time period depicted was the early 1800s. We were in Prairie du Chien at the Fur Trappers Rendezvous.

Normally I would leave it at that, but with Halloween coming up I decided to include a couple of “artsy” pumpkin photos.

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

Pam’s Penny

Dog grooming – ugh. I suspect JoJo will need to be “surface groomed” at least three times this winter to keep the Springer Spaniel coat under control. You can see I scissor-cut the dogs at present; I will likely buy a grooming razor next year to shave dogs for the summer. (Because, of course, Bru needs to be trimmed frequently as well as Jo.) I really miss our dog groomer from Colorado, Aunt Nan. She was excellent with the dogs and reasonably priced. Interestingly enough, Nan/Nancy sold her business and got out of dog grooming (similar to the local groomer). Too much work and not enough profit in dog grooming, I guess.

The yard at Heart House looks empty and sad. Or maybe I’m sad looking at the yard. Or maybe both. Once the holiday decorations are up next month, the porches at least will look colorful.

Oh well, the kittens keep me entertained. Hard to be gloomy when those little charmers are so active.

Happy Trails.

We had another busy week. Daughter Felicity and her companion Peter visited us for a few days. The new kittens continue settling in and began to play with Elmo. Squirrels have been drinking out of our birdbath. We took in an arts and craft show. Details of all are below.

Felicity and Peter were with us for a few days. Visiting from Tulsa, Oklahoma, this was their first trip to Heart House and we were glad see them. Much talking and eating ensued during the time they were here. It was good to catch up personally with happenings in their life and show them the house. Sister Becky joined us at Heart House on Thursday, to visit with her niece and enjoy the hospitality of the visit.

Pam and I had begun the week with a trip to an arts and antique fair. The event was smaller than in previous years and we didn’t buy much, although Pam came home with a tin sign to place in the kitchen. I was on the look out for kerosene lamps but did not find any this trip.

The new kittens, Stirling and Vienna, continue to get comfortable in their new digs. Elmo has begun playing with them and the kittens are getting used to the dogs (and dogs to kittens). A kitten priority is finding comfortable places to sleep; both are getting that down pat.

I am including a 1:56 video of the kittens and Elmo playing around the house. This footage is fairly typical of the activity (or sometimes lack of it) of the young and old cats. Not exciting, but typical.

The dogs have sleeping down to a science. Here are Blondie and Bru settled in for an afternoon nap.

I have a 36 second video of a black squirrel drinking our of our bird bath. This happens on a fairly regular basis, causing us to wonder where the squirrels were getting their water before we put up the birdbath last spring. We are considering putting up a heated dish for the squirrels to use during the winter and seeing if it gets any use.

Other mundane items accomplished include a major yard clean up. Pam has cut back many of the hostas and geraniums in various flower beds but has more to do. I have been using the lawn vac, with the new hose adapter, but have run into mechanical problems with the machine which has limited its run time. I need to have everything rectified this week as we are at the height of leaf season and really need to have the equipment in top operating condition. More lawn work is on tap for the upcoming week.

Photo Archive

Photos from 1975 showing our first home, a single-wide in a Menomonie, Wisconsin, mobile home park.

A fall shot from ’75

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

Pam’s Penny

It’s pretty clear, when young folks visit, that our retired lifestyle has become fairly uninteresting. Felicity and Peter have jobs to discuss, they have hobbies to discuss, they have future plans to discuss. Himself and I talk about house renovations and various body ailments. (I remember wondering in my past years why oldsters talk about medical stuff so much. Now I know.)

Heart House stretches and flexes to accommodate company pretty well. It will certainly be more hospitable in this regard when the upstairs bathroom is fully renovated.

Happy Trails.

We had snow flakes in the air this week so I guess summer is over and we are well into fall. The week was a mixed bag of traveling, medical issues, and lawn clean up. There is also a new kitten video, so let’s get to it.

We’ll begin with the kittens. Tuesday they traveled to the vet and received their next set of shots. Both Stirling and Vienna traveled OK and were not traumatized by the visit. (The vet tech commented they were two of the best behaved kittens she had handled in quite some time.) Within minutes of returning home they were running and playing as if nothing had happened.

I tried to get more exciting “kitten video” but ended up with shots of the pair just exploring around the house. (Nothing very exciting in this video, but I include it due to popular demand for kitten videos.)

In medical news, Pam and I received the latest COVID-19 booster shots this week. Both of us had mild reactions, which we were expecting based on reactions to past shots. Sore arms primarily, but Pam had a few other side effects as well for a few days including tiredness and slight nausea. We are both OK now.

In dental news, I had my broken front tooth removed through oral surgery. Due to my high A1C levels, brought on by my treatment for prostate cancer, I could not get the implant post installed at the same time. I have a retainer that holds a fake tooth to fill the gap for now and will complete the implant process next spring. Getting old is not fun; everything breaks down.

I mentioned in my last post that I had brought our generator and fire pit home from Colorado. I did not say how. These items were trailered in the utility trailer I built 7 or 8 years ago. (Long-time readers of this blog may remember it.) The trailer is currently filled with leaves that I removed from the lawn this past week. To use the trailer in its new role I did some modifications, including removing the top level of the side boards and lining the bottom portions with a wire mesh material to keep leaves and other debris inside the trailer.

Speaking of trailers, I took the “big” trailer paperwork to the county seat and traded the South Dakota title for an Iowa title and plate. Cost of this included Iowa sales tax, $30.00, a title application fee of $25.00, and actual license plate and registration for another $30.00 bringing the total to $85.00. I also applied for and received a plate for the utility trailer, the first it has ever had. (In the past I used an Arizona “permanent” plate I had found in a ditch.) The cost of getting the D-rings ($50.00) welded to the big trailer, done when I was in Colorado, came to $100.00, about what I was expecting. I finished bolting on and wiring in the side marker lights ($25.00) so the big trailer is now street-legal and ready to be put to work. Investment to get to this point is about $820.00, a reasonable price for a tandem axle equipment trailer.

Pam continues to clean flower beds and cut back plants as they die, due to the below-freezing nights NE Iowa is experiencing. Both of us had been hoping for a mild autumn but it appears that is not to be. (Maybe we can hope for an Indian Summer?) We hate saying goodby to the plants and flowers that have been such a treat all summer.

The upcoming week promises to be active. Daughter Felicity and her companion Peter will be visiting us for a few days. Pam is preparing for their visit by locating and laundering additional bedding; she plans a thorough house cleaning before they arrive. (I help where I can but I don’t clean to Pam’s higher standards.) My contribution will be the grocery run early next week for additional supplies. Look for photos of this visit in the next post.

I have a few maintenance items to do, such as changing oil in the RAV-4 and working on my lawn chipper / vac which needs a new fuel pump. Winterizing the house will be an ongoing project which involves installing the window inserts and putting up windbreak tarps around the back door and dog run. The back door protection helps keep the cold west and north-west winds from hitting the door directly and we found it helped a great deal last year, the first year we had tried adding this wind screen protection.

I will note the passing of my cousin, Dennis Rohland, who passed away this past Wednesday. Dennis (one of two cousins by that name) was in his mid-’80s and had been ill for some time. I did not have a close relationship with him due to differences in age and distance, but he was a good guy.

Photo Archive

A couple more photos from the mid-’70s starts us off.

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

Pam’s Penny

I’ve been asked how I integrate new cats into the household so they all get along. Mainly I don’t stress about it, just give incoming cats their safe space(s) and correct confrontive behavior when it occurs. Cats can’t be trained in the way dogs can be trained, best not to even try. Having said that, I sure am enjoying the luxury of time to interact with these two kittens. (I love retirement in that regard.)

All the paint cans headed down to the basement this week. No reason to keep them in the laundry room or on the basement landing. Exterior painting is OVER for the year, and interior paint projects will not be attempted until 2023.

Happy trails.

It has been a couple weeks since my last post, a couple of busy weeks. I drove to Colorado to winterize the RV trailer and bring home two new cats for Pam. We have had visitors and fall colors are everywhere. Here are events of the last couple weeks.

Fall colors are present everywhere this time of year. While I was taking a package to a UPS drop-off in nearby Riceville I passed a greenhouse featuring mums of all colors. I enjoyed the riot of color.

I have been working on my “new” trailer, wiring in replacement side marker lights. During this work I discovered the trailer did have ramps stored under the deck. I was able to pull them out, grease the slides, and put them back under the trailer. While I feel like an idiot for missing these on my first inspection, having the ramps will save me a couple hundred dollars, plus time trying to find a set. The ramps are heavy duty and will certainly take the weight of the 8N tractor when I get ready to bring it home. A local shop welded on “D-ring” tie downs while I was in Colorado, giving me places to secure chains and straps for transporting large items.

My trip to Colorado was a success in that I took a few ATV rides and winterized The Box. Additionally, I brought home our portable generator and fire pit. Not only can we use these items here, particularly if we have a power failure, but this begins the process of bringing home items we would not sell with The Lot should we choose to go down that path.

Here are a few fall color photos from this Colorado trip.

The return trip from Colorado found me with two passengers, kittens Stirling and Vienna. Pam had adopted this pair from the Rifle Animal Shelter and good friend (+rescue kitten foster) Kathy Powers brought them to Fairplay. Kathy and I rendezvoused in Fairplay, where we made the transfer. Stirling is a male Siamese mix and Vienna is a female black shorthair. The two enjoyed an “adventure” drive across the Great Plains to NE Iowa. They behaved well while penned.

I put together a short (1:36) video of Stirling and Vienna beginning to play in their new home. So far they have settled in nicely, but still have to come to some accommodations with the dogs and senior cats KitKat and Elmo. I suspect Elmo will accept them sooner than KitKat, but we’ll have to wait and see how those interactions work out.

We had visitors this past week. Zach Hayes and his wife Sakura were married in Seattle earlier this year but due to a number of factors we couldn’t make the wedding. Zach and Sakura are making a “meet the family and friends” tour of the Midwest for those unable to be in the Pacific NW for the wedding. Heart House made the list for the Midwest tour, and they were able to stop in and visit us for a couple of hours.

As background – Zach is the son of Mary and Jeff Hayes. Mary was Pam’s best friend until Mary’s untimely death five years ago due to pancreatic cancer (the Mary Lynn of the annual memorial garden on this blog). Zach is Pam’s godchild. Over the years Pam and Zach have kept in touch by phone. (Jeff also visited us last year, representing the Hayes family.) We were looking forward to seeing Zach and meeting his new wife, and the afternoon did not disappoint. Young people have such busy and interesting lives.

With colder weather settling in summer tasks are drawing to a close. We don’t know if we will get any more painting done, for example. Fall tasks, including cleaning out the garden of vines and corn stalks, are next up on the to-do list. I will be mulching leaves and raking the lawn. Some tasks that need to be done yet include reglazing a couple windows in the house to seal gaps that are passing cold air into rooms. There are always many projects to keep us busy!

Photo Archive

From ’74 or ’75.

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

Pam’s Penny

How lovely to have plenty of time to play and interact with the newly-arrived kittens! I fostered over 30 litters of kittens in my days working with rescue in Colorado. But, what with being employed and the intrusions of daily life, I never had the gift of time then to socialize babies I was planning to keep. Stirling (‘Ling) and Vienna (“V”) bring some much-needed youth into the household. And retirement makes it possible for me to enjoy their integration process. Nice.

Happy Trails.

You may be tired of seeing more “painting” details, as much as we are of painting, but the work continues. Here are a few photos from our weekend work on the west side of the house.

We rented a bucket lift for the weekend to get the lower “weekend rate” from the rental shop. The lift was in use both Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday not quite as intense as Saturday. Both of us were pretty well tired out from the hours spent scraping, detailing, and painting but we did get the wall done in red, some white trim painted, and a couple minor repairs on the east side of the house as the ending tasks for the two day effort.

We begin with this “Before” shot of the west wall as it looked before we removed the A/C unit from the upper floor and had the new windows installed.

Pam on the lift this past weekend.

The first task is always scraping and wire brushing the old paint off the siding. In the above photo you can see where this has been accomplished on Pam’s left side. I generally do this work then take a break while Pam does the detail painting around the trim. Also note the yellowed vertical trim on the corner of the walls. (This area will be shown again in the next photo, for reference.)

At this point the trim painting is pretty far along. I am painting the white trim and will shortly move to my left to paint the under-eave areas. Some wood, behind the gutters, had not seen paint since the house was new.

This is a shot of the completed red and white painting on Sunday evening. While the “gingerbread” trim in the peaks still needs to be painted, we are quite pleased with the looks of this west wall after about 12 hours of hard work. (I still need to put the dog run fence back in place.) Getting this work done was a main goal for 2022 and the house is starting to look pretty good. What a feeling to have finished this particular wall!

Next we will move to the east side and deal with all the windows and trim, more detail work than on the west wall so progress will be slower. A few repairs will be needed on some of the siding boards; the east elevation is where many telephone and internet cables were drilled into the second floor, resulting in broken and damaged hundred-year-old siding. The siding will be replaced with Hardie Board because (as I recently found out) original redwood siding is no longer available. Hardie Board is the siding used on the garage and on the south wall of the house and comes pretty close to matching the original stuff.

Also this week…

I had my first appointment with the oral surgery place in Mason City. The work to replace a broken front tooth will commence after I return from my upcoming trip to Colorado. It is hoped that the extraction and placement of the implant will be done in a single session, but it turns out my diabetes may be a limiting factor. I have scheduled a blood draw for later this week to verify my current A1C levels. The cost for both orthodontist and dentist to replace ONE tooth is in the “crazy thousands of dollars” range. Unreal.

On a non-health related topic, I’ve mentioned in past posts that the Elma area is home to many Mennonite families. One of their prohibitions is they can’t use tractors with rubber tires. A steel-wheeled tractor was parked on Main Street so I took a photo of it which represents a very common conversion to steel wheels. This is the type of thing one can see on Main Street in NE Iowa.

I have ordered some bits and pieces for the new trailer, mostly replacement marker lights and “D-ring” tie downs. The later will be welded in place by a local shop. I would like to locate a set of ramps but may end up getting a set made. New ramps are quite expensive and I would rarely be using them but they sure would make life easier for loading and unloading the Ford 8N tractor and other heavy equipment. If anyone reading this has a set they would part with, please let me know!

Otherwise, life goes on as usual. Pam has been working in the garden and I am getting ready for my Colorado trip. (The next post will be delayed until after I return.) Leaf season has begun and I am moving ahead on building a hose attachment for my lawn chipper/vac. New hose kits are around $380.00 but I hope to have mine completed for around $100.00. The hose should aid in cleaning up around fence lines, flower beds, the LP tank, and other places difficult to rake.

Photo Archive

I have a few miscellaneous Black-and-White scans to show this time. The first photo is from the early ’60s and is my family with my Grandpa Joe at the far right. Back left is my mother, Emily, and in front of her is my Dad, George, and in front of him is my brother Jon. Next to Jon in the front row is me. Behind me is my sister Mary and to her left is my other sister, Carol. Photo was taken at Grandpa Joe’s home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This next photo is of our home in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado and taken in the early ’80’s. It shows some firewood cut and stacked up. We did a lot of heating in our fireplace with this wood.

Finally, an “artsy” shot of an old wagon. It may have been a manure spreader judging by the large gear on the back wheel.

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

Pam’s Penny

The pageantry surrounding the funeral activities of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain held my interest this past week. Many of the coffin viewing locations (both in Scotland and in England) are places I have visited in my travels to the UK over the years. The Brits can always be counted on for an over-the-top display of colorful uniforms, banners and ornamental braiding. (I would observe bagpipes should only be wailing while disappearing into the distance – up close is TOO MUCH. Kilts however, well, who can ever have too many kilts?) And, of course, including her Majesty’s horse and dogs in the Windsor portion of the proceedings was the most touching part of all to me.

Daughter Felicity and I both watched BBC coverage of the funeral from our respective locations; both of us were struck by how their commentators knew when to stop talking and just listen — listen to the marching feet, the jangling of harness and swords, the murmur of the crowds– to the sounds that conveyed the import and solemnity of the event. In contrast, American commentators seemed to talk nonstop, cancelling out important audio information that set the mood. Those BBC folks really know what they are doing – a class act.

Happy Trails.

It has been a bit since my last post — I’ve been busy! I’ve spent a lot of time on the road and will be doing more of the same in the next few days. Here is an account of recent events.

Last week was not a good week. I went to the dentist on Monday and she confirmed the front tooth I had broken could not be saved. An implant is in the works. Tuesday I was back at the dentist office getting fitted for a retainer. This device carries a false tooth that will fill the gap after the broken tooth is removed.

Wednesday was a particularly sad day as Cirrus, our oldest cat, was taken to the vet to see if anything could be done for his labored breathing. The vet got back to us after reviewing X-rays and indicated Cirrus was having fluid build up around his heart and the fluid was making its way into his lungs. He was literally suffocating. Because Cirrus was in great distress, Pam made the difficult decision to have Cirrus euthanized. Which meant I made the second trip of the day back to the vet’s office to pick him up. Pam buried Cirrus in the garden, next to the eight other cats who have died in the last three years.

Believe it or not, we actually did some painting on Thursday! Working from the wooden ladder, we tried a new technique Pam devised. This involved using a 4-inch roller on an extension handle. I was on the tall ladder and Pam was on the ground with the paint tray. I would hand the roller’s extension handle down to her, Pam coated the roller with paint from the tray, and handed the extension handle back up to me. This worked out quite well and we were able to get more of the west wall painted.

I reserved a bucket lift for this weekend and hope to get the rest of the west side painting completed. There is a chance of scattered showers so work may be intermittent.

Friday was an odds and ends day. I prepared the utility trailer for a trip north to help my brother Jon move. I hit the road early Saturday morning on my way to northern MN, where I helped Jon unload my trailer and the U-Haul truck and trailer he drove up, then returned on Sunday. This was about 800 miles round trip, as Jon’s new place is near the town of Black Duck, Minnesota. Jon had to return the U-Haul gear by 5:00 PM on Sunday so we unloaded into the wee hours of Saturday night, finishing at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday morning.

Back at Heart House, Monday was a lawn and garden day. More than a week had gone by since attending to the lawn, as with Jon’s stuff in my trailer I had no place to put grass clippings and other yard debris. Monday’s load was quite large and included clippings from the garden as Pam removed many of our sunflower plants. These had started to break off and generally were looking bedraggled.

Somewhat out of sequence, Pam had worked on another project in our “courtyard” area we refer to as the “quad” (four doors open into the space from the house, catio, and garage). Eventually we will fill the depression around these pavers with black dirt and level out the area. Plans are to put a fire pit in the middle where Pam spread some of the gravel left over from the gravel project.

Tuesday I drove to Canby, Minnesota, to pick up a 16 foot trailer I had purchased through an online auction. I will use this to bring my Dad’s old Ford 8N tractor to Iowa from Colorado and for any other heavy hauling we might need in the future. This purchase was spurred by the outlandish price U-Haul charges for renting a trailer 1-way so I could bring the 8N home: $544.00. I thought for a couple hundred more I could have a trailer for occasional use; if I sold it after getting the tractor home I would still come out better than renting through U-Haul.

The trailer is pretty basic. It does need minor repairs as all 4 side marker lights are broken or missing. (The tail lights do work.) I plan to paint it at some point. With a price of $645.75 it is on the low end of the scale for this type of trailer but I think it will serve my rather minimal needs OK. Lights will run $40.00 – $50.00 and registration, with getting an Iowa title, should be in the $50.00 range. I would like to get some “D rings” welded on to provide tie down points but don’t have any idea how much this will cost, or who does this type of welding locally.

With all the trips over the last several days you would think I would be done driving. Not so. In the next few days I will driver to Decorah to pick up the bucket lift, another trip to return it, with each trip being close to 100 miles. Then on Monday the 19th I drive to Mason City for my implant consultation, another 90 miles or so. Our gasoline bill is going to be quite high when the charge statement arrives.

More so than normal, the last couple of weeks have seen a lot of road travel. This trend will not end soon as I head for Colorado the last week of the month to enjoy the fall colors, shut down and winterize The Box, and bring home a few items such as the generator and fire pit. Another 2,000 miles on the horizon…

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

Pam’s Penny

With the sad and sudden death of Cirrus, two cats remain in the house. (There are an additional two aging cats who stay in the catio, and one free-roaming cat, all fed outside.) This feels too quiet to me. I am in the process of adopting two kittens from my rescue friend and foster mentor in Colorado, Kathy Powers. Kathy visited us in June; upon her return to Colorado, she fostered a rescue litter from the Rifle Shelter containing a male Siamese mix and a black female. Long story short, Himself will be rendezvousing with Kathy on this Colorado trip and bringing Stirling and Vienna to their new home on his return trip. Elmo, I think, will benefit as well as myself — Elmo cries occasionally in a way that suggests he misses his buddy Cirrus.

Happy Trails.

We had planned to resume painting this week but life got in the way. It seems every day had something else that took priority. Here is how the week went down.

Monday was another humid “lawn and garden day” as Pam maintained the garden area and I did lawn work. The acorns continue to fall and raking them takes a lot of time and effort. We now confine acorn pickup activity to places we walk often, such as the dog run and near the garage. I scoop up acorns by the snow shovel full.

Tuesday’s tasks included a trip to the town’s compost site to unload the trailer of its grass and garden clippings plus the acorns. Later that day I helped Becky move a hutch she had purchased in Charles City, bringing the purchase to her home in Greene.

Wednesday was “vet day” as all three dogs, plus Cirrus the cat, took a trip to New Hampton. Most of the work was routine, but Cirrus is suffering from labored breathing and the vet said he may have asthma. Cirrus received a steroid shot and is on antibiotics but so far these have made no noticeable difference and we are concerned about his health. We continue to monitor him.

I thought we might resume painting on Thursday, but late Wednesday night I received a message from Bob the Builder indicating he could install our second floor window set Thursday if we were agreeable. I immediately responded in the affirmative! We had ordered the windows in March, before Bob fell ill, and were beginning to wonder if we could arrange an install before winter. Bob indicated he had run into a delay on his current project and could fit in our windows as a “filler” job. We were delighted he could work us in, and that became the main event of the week.

I was somewhat nervous as I had personally measured and ordered the windows, something I’d never done before. Would they fit? It turns out I was within about 1/8th of an inch and the windows fit without shimming or other modifications. Boy, was I relieved. Here is how the work progressed.

You may recall we removed the AC unit and inside windows some weeks ago. Bob and his assistant Bill put up scaffolding and removed the storm windows and outside trim.

A surprise…there was a w-i-d-e cavity between the window frames and the wood siding of the house. Apparently, unlike the windows in the snug (replaced last year), the wood siding had not been built all the way to the window frame (possibly as far back as 1894). Is it any wonder drafts were streaming in around that window all winter?

Bob filled the gaps with a combination of expanding foam and caulk. Below you can see the white foam around the window and the sill “boxed” as Bob and Bill begin installing the new window frames.

The second to last task was to install new trim. We had decided to go with a “plastic wood” replacement instead of conventional lumber. (Bob had done the lower windows the same way last year.) Pam is of the opinion plastic wood should be used as much as is practical at Heart House. Particularly at the second floor level, since nobody wants to maintain wood at that height (now or into the future).

We were able to re-use the original blue trim piece located at the top of the window. After it was removed Pam did a quick paint job and Bob was able to reinstall it. The finished install looks good, the insulation will help keep the house warmer in winter, the windows can be opened to allow fresh air to circulate, and the outside west wall looks so-o-o much better than it did with the old A/C cover and destroyed sill plate.

Friday was an off day as the combination of temperatures and humidity resulted in a “feels like” temperature in the low 90 degree range. No need for us to paint in those conditions. I did some work on the trailer, replacing a couple dead side marker lights and installing a new trailer-side plug for the lights. The old connector was developing an intermittent problem which made the turn lights a hit or miss operation.

My brother Jon and his wife have purchased a home on a lake in northern Minnesota. I had offered my services, along with the truck and trailer, to help with the move. Saturday I drove to their current home in Stoddard, Wisconsin (south of LaCrosse) and we loaded up the truck and trailer. The load will not head north until next Saturday, but Jon wanted to clear some space in his garage for staging totes and boxes for the move. (He has reserved a 24-foot truck and 12 foot trailer for the next trip.)

That means next week’s blog post may be delayed for a few days as I will drive my load up on Saturday, help Jon unload, stay over that night and return on Sunday. It’s about a 400 mile trip each way and I anticipate 8 – 10 hours of on the road time – figure a lot of 2-lane roads with a 55 mph speed limit plus stops for food and gas. Here are a couple photos of my loaded truck and trailer.

Finally, a photo of the house as it looks today. The Labor Day bunting went up on Friday. Sure wish the second floor was totally painted, the tower repaired and re-shingled, etc. but what has been done looks sharp for the holiday.

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

Pam’s Penny

While Himself was putzing around with this-and-that this week, I finished the second coat on the LP tank hearts. I shoveled rock into the quad paver project, and moved the last of the dumped rock (piled by the garage) in front of the three garage entries on the alley side. So, LP tank painting DONE, rock pile totally moved/DONE, quad pavers in place + that rock DONE.

On to the dogs. Bru needed grooming and bathing before the vet appointment. Bru grooming is a three day project (Day 1 butt and back end, Day 2 head and front legs, Day 3 everything else). At least Bru bathing is much easier these days, since she fits in the job sink. JoJo needed trimming on her legs and feet, a task I completed after the vet appointment. I also applied the monthly flea and tick meds and dogs had their monthly doses of heart worm meds.

Looks like Bru will have to have a bunch of skin tags and fatty growths removed from her coat sometime this month. Several are on her face, and they have been bothering her. This will require sedation and a vet procedure. Always something for the animal concierge to keep track of…

What about that second floor window done – whoot whoot!!!

Happy Trails.

Last week was very busy. We had a social engagement, a trip to the Mayo Clinic, pressure-washing Becky’s deck, splitting hostas, and more. Details are below.

Our oak trees are dropping mature acorns and the “caps” or “crowns” that hold the acorns in the trees. The “caps” are abnormally abundant this year. Pam and I have been raking, trying to clean up the areas of lawn where we normally walk. The acorns and caps make walking around the yard something of a trial, as they tend to roll underfoot. Pam saved a large bag of the acorns and will try to use them as squirrel food next winter.

The first photo is a section of lawn showing the acorns and their caps. This photo is not doctored and the area had already been raked a few days prior to the photo being taken.

While on the topic of the yard, here is a shot of the sunflowers in bloom.

The week included quite a few trips away from Elma. The first was a social engagement; we journeyed to Trempealeau, Wisconsin, to attend a birthday celebration. Pam and friend Ed Allen were high school classmates and have kept in contact over the years. Ed’s wife, Annie, was celebrating a birthday and we were invited to join the party. (Trempealeau is about a 2 1/2 hour drive for us each way, so Becky came up from Greene to watch the dogs while we were gone.) Pam was familiar with the area from her high school days, but there’s been quite a bit of development/road changes since that time. Located right on the banks of the Mississippi, Trempealeau is a quiet river town with great views of the river and the bluffs on the Minnesota side.

Music was provided by the Piper Road Spring Band, many of whom are friends of Ed. I created a short (1:36) clip of the event that features the band playing one of their songs.

Another attendee was Pam’s long time friend, and former classmate, Diane Wittenberg, and her husband Jim. Pam and Diane had a lively conversation and Pam discovered Diane had accepted the invite partly to visit with Pam in person. I had the chance to meet Ed and Annie and Diane and Jim, people Pam has mentioned often over the years. We enjoyed the outing and social connections were refreshed and renewed.

The trip to Trempealeau was the first of three trips taken on three consecutive days. The second was to the Mayo Clinic for my latest 6-month check-up. The news from this visit was that my blood work looks good and I am done with getting infusions of Eligard, AKA Lupron. I will have another check in 6 months, then another 12 months later. This means I will gradually recover my energy and stamina levels as the Eligard works out of my system over the next couple months. My hot flashes, a side effect of the treatment, should also decrease as well. Good news all around.

During the Mayo Clinic trip I stopped at a Goodwill store (unusual for me). I was eating a burger and saw the store across the parking lot and decided to stop and look around before I headed home. I found the store had received a couple metal-wire rolling racks similar to the ones we’d purchased for the storage room. The Goodwill racks were heavier-duty as they had been in retail use before arriving at Goodwill. I bought one of the three racks; it’s now in the Media Room. This allowed the unpacking of family photo albums that had been in storage in a closet – albums are now out where we can access them.

The third trip was to the Regional Medical Center in Cresco. I finally scheduled the MRI on my right shoulder. Results indicate some muscle damage and a tear in the rotator cuff. The center referred me to a Mayo Clinic specialist. Turns out in addition to the MRI Mayo wants an X-ray of the shoulder for review. Once I finished at the Medical Center, and since I was then halfway to Decorah, I rolled a shopping trip into that outing.

To thank Becky for her dog-sitting Pam split several of our hosta plants to give to Becky for her “new” river cottage. I took them down to Greene yesterday (Saturday) along with my pressure washer. While Becky replanted the hostas I pressure-washed Becky’s deck and cement pad leading into the garage. Both areas cleaned up pretty well, with the deck almost a different color after the removal of accumulated tree sap, dirt, and some lichen. I did not take photos of the Greene outing, but here is a shot of the hostas Pam had bagged for Becky.

I took advantage of a rainy Wednesday to put new belts and “tire” in my cassette deck. (The “tire” controls fast-forward and rewind functions.) My deck, a Nakamichi BX-100, was produced from ’84 through ’87 and still gets excellent reviews. I had decided to update it instead of taking a chance on another used deck, and the results are good. The deck now plays, fast-forwards, and rewinds like new.

The extended weather forecast for the upcoming week is a good one to get back to painting. We will be hauling out the ladders, paint, and brushes and have at the red exterior painting again. All work at this point is from ladders so will be slower than painting from the ground. Neither of us is looking forward to this as we always feel the stress in our legs and backs from going up and down the ladder. At some point we’ll have to rent a lift again, but first the ladder work has to be done.

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

Pam’s Penny

The “little” project – AKA painting hearts on the LP tank – stretches into another week, with second coats going on the existing hearts. Himself suggested red hearts should be added to the blue heart mix – but – definitely not this year.

I’m a big fan of hostas as a landscape plant (not a flowering plant); hostas need to be divided frequently, however. Their root systems are akin to cement blocks when one cuts into them. Hardy little buggers, right up there with dandelions and day lilly plants.

Speaking of hardy little buggers, another bat showed up in the stairwell. Himself speculates the bats may be using the unfinished plumbing in the second floor bathroom as a conduit into the house. Great. Just great.

Happy Trails.

This week I am writing about ATV rides I recently took during my Colorado visit. In addition, I have a few details of the trip there and back. Rounding out this post will be our recent purchase of three tons of gravel!

I alternated work on The Lot with a few ATV rides on local trails. All of the places I visited were new to me. Helping guide me along was a new app I had downloaded to my iPhone, Avenza Maps. In addition to the app, I had downloaded the South Park Ranger District maps from the Avenza site.

I used the basic, and free, version of Avenza. The pay-for version adds a lot of features, but I was just interested in trying out the basic functions of the program. I must say it worked out very well! In use, a blue dot marks your location using the phone’s built-in GPS information. Since the maps are downloaded to the phone, no internet connection is required. This is a good thing as the areas I was riding had no cell phone coverage. Here is a screen shot of part of the map as it appears on my phone.

The black-and-white lines indicate trails suitable for motorized traffic. The dots represent single-track trails used by horse riders, bicyclists, and dirt bikes. Single-track trails have a “restrictor” at both ends of the trail.

My first few rides were in the Lost Park area, about 15 miles from The Lot. These were pleasant rides but not very scenic. Mostly old logging roads, these trails now serve as fire-fighting routes if needed. I did get a couple interesting photos in this area, though.

The later rides, located in an area west of Fairplay, were more interesting as the area supported a timber industry as well as some mining. Ruins of both activities were found along the area trails. Here is a selection of photos taken during these rides.

There were many, many flowers blooming. Here are a few of them.

As mentioned above, mining and logging were present in this area. I saw several remains of cabins that had been used by loggers and an old mine building.

I enjoyed these outings and the time I spent on the trails. Back at The Lot, I had plenty of time to take a few photos of changing weather conditions and views across South Park.

The trip from Iowa to Colorado and back was uneventful, with little road construction or other stoppages. I did find a wide variation in fuel prices, even given the price drop in the two weeks I was gone. The most expensive fuel was in Fairplay at $4.73 per gallon and the least expensive was on the way back in Ankeny, Iowa, at $3.15 per gallon.

Since our anniversary was on August 10th, I brought Pam back a gift: Henry Weinhart’s Gourmet Root Beer. We used to buy this in Colorado but can’t find it in Iowa. I came home with two 6-packs.

Back home, it was a busy week. We bought an estimated 3 tons of gravel to spread along the west end of the garage and a few other places.

We added gravel into the catio screen porch as well. There is still a pile of gravel left and we will find other uses for it as we go along. The gravel improves the looks of the garage, but mostly improves drainage and keeps mud from splashing up on the walls during rain storms. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

Also around the house…

I had a major load of grass clippings mixed with flower bed clean-up debris to take to the compost area this week. Pam has been getting a few blackberries from her bushes. We trimmed back a few oak branches from around the garage and patio.

In short, it was another busy week at Heart House.

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

Pam’s Penny

Heart House has already been visited by a couple of bats – a bit early this year. Bat #1 was stunned and on the floor downstairs during the middle of the night a few weeks ago. Bat #2 was cornered in the kitchen a few days ago. In both instances, Elmo was instrumental in identifying the bat’s presence and jumping at it as it moved. (Little brown bats are a protected species, I get that, but they are ugly little chittering intruders.)

Once a bat has been located, Elmo keeps watch on that spot — even after the offending creature has been relocated outside. Bat patrol is a tiring job, but a cat’s gotta do what a cat’s gotta do. After staying on duty all night, Elmo is pretty much wiped all day. At least Elmo does something to earn his keep.

Happy Trails.

I spent the last two weeks at our lot in central Colorado. During that time I celebrated my 70th birthday, took some ATV rides, and worked to clear brush and dead trees. Many photos were taken and a few obstacles overcome. Due to the events that transpired and number of photos taken I will break the trip into two reports, the first this week and the second next week. I will start with my 70th birthday.

Pam set up a memorable birthday consisting of several moving parts. First she identified people in our contacts and her Facebook pages, encouraging friends and extended family to send me birthday greetings. It worked. I received more text and e-mail greetings than ever before. (Note: Cell phone and internet coverage is very poor at The Lot and text messages work best.) Thank you to all who took the time to send me greetings!

Second, Pam had contacted a friend at my old workplace, Jim Brassfield. Jim spread the word around the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and a card was circulated for people to sign. A few people sent me text messages as well. Jim went above and beyond when he and Tim Rhodes, who had been my first assistant, took time off from work and drove up to The Lot, bringing a birthday cake and cards with them. This was a substantial commitment of time for my past coworkers, as it is a three hour trip [each way] from their Glenwood Springs base to the Park County property and back

I was flabbergasted when Jim and Tim arrived. Pam had told me to expect a “delivery” but I assumed she had arranged for flowers or a cake to be delivered. I had no idea Jim and Tim were on their way.

It was really good to see the guys again. We spent about 3 hours talking non-stop, catching up with personal and professional news. There have been many changes at my old place of work with some retirements, promotions, and even a couple weddings. Many of the people I worked with are still there and my birthday card was signed with familiar names.

Here is how Jim described the event to Pam:

From: “James Brassfield”
To: “Pamela”
Sent: Friday, August 5, 2022 7:43:10 PM
Subject: Re: 70th Birthday – Jerry Fields

Jerry was very surprised!!! We enjoyed the visit!  Tim and I were busy talking all the way and forgot to take a video of his expression……which was too bad because it was priceless!!  Thank you for letting us know about this special day and hope Jerry enjoyed it as much as we did! 

I did indeed enjoy the day. The visit and Pam’s efforts made this a birthday I will always remember. Thank you to all involved, and particularly to Pam.

I had some worries before I arrived at The Lot as to how much work I could really get done given the medical treatments I am on and the fact that any high-altitude acclimatization I once had has long since disappeared. I found that I could indeed get some work done, with with plenty of breaks and rests thrown in. The weather helped in this regard as it rained several days, mostly in late afternoons and evenings, thus putting a halt on that day’s activities.

Most of what I did was a ‘summer cleanup’ of trees that had reached the end of their life cycle over the last few years. Aspen are not long-lived trees and some die off every year. Most are brush-sized but a few are large enough to be salvaged for firewood. In the photo above I am picking up salvageable trunks (cut with the chain saw) and hauling them to my firewood pile.

That pile was reduced noticeable this year. Pam suggested I stop at the local fire department station and offer the logs as firewood to any members of the fire crew who might be interested. This I did, and one of the firefighters came by with his truck and 14 foot trailer and hauled off about 3/4 of the pile. I will let him know when I will be back at The Lot this fall to winterize the trailer, and he will pick up the rest.

Other brush was consolidated into larger piles and was chipped.

I spread the chips up along Birdhouse Ridge. The south facing slope struggles to support much growth, although there is some. I am hoping the addition of more organic material might encourage more growth.

I usually move the chipper around to a limited number of places with the Ford 8N tractor. This year I ran into a few problems. First, one tractor tire had gone flat and the others were low. While I had brought along my little 12-volt air compressor, it was not up to the task. Luckily my neighbor was in residence for the weekend and I was able to borrow a small compressor that worked to inflate the tires.

Then the fun really began. I pulled back the tarps that cover the tractor when not in use, then opened the battery compartment door. I had to jump back in a hurry as wasps had built a nest in the battery compartment and they were NOT happy to be disturbed.

Using a long stick I was able to dislodge the nest, but I had to wait until going to town the next day to get some wasp spray and finally clear the wasps from around the tractor. Eventually I was able to install the battery and get the tractor started.

Then the chipper would not start. I tracked the problem down to a split in the fuel line where it connected to the fuel tank. The fix was simple, cut off the split end and reinstall the line. Once that was done the chipper started right up. Over the course of a few days I was able to chip several piles of brush. Most were situated where I could get close to them with the tractor and chipper, but one larger pile had to be dragged to the chipper. I used the ATV as the puller for this job by wrapping a chain around the brush and hooking the other end to the ATV. This particular pile took 3 drags and one trip with the 2-wheel cart to move everything to the chipper.

Keep in mind that all this work was accompanied with FREQUENT rest breaks. While I did not get any “new” ground cleared I was able to go through areas we had worked in the past and remove the dead trees and brush from them. I did get 4 piles (a couple consolidated from smaller piles) chipped which was my goal for this trip. I was quite satisfied with the work I was able to accomplish.

Because I spent quite a bit of my time sitting in my chair, with my feet up on the footrest and looking out the 5-foot door, I observed more critters than normal. Here are a couple of them.

I had two deer come by the trailer but did not have my camera at hand to photograph them. And, as our acreage is part of open range, I did get visits from local high range cattle.

That will about cover the first part of my trip report. Next time I will cover my ATV rides, some weather-related topics, and a few details of being on the road.

While I was gone Pam accomplished several tasks, including repainting porch floor and risers, the installation of a new bathroom floor and adding more hearts to the end of the LP tank.

These activities took much work to get done. The floor, in particular, was a challenge as there are no truly square corners anywhere in the room. Many tiles had to be custom cut and fitted to the others and/or the irregular floor moldings. The end result is a much brighter room; the flooring compliments the art deco designs Pam had previously painted on the walls.

Around the yard, the morning glories and hydrangea are in bloom.

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

Pam’s Penny

That bathroom floor was a real bear. Limited space to move, limited ability to move in the limited space, uneven floor and uneven walls. It took me three days to put down 28 peel-and-stick tiles to my satisfaction. It all sounds so easy on the installation instructions, but I’d “installed” one of these types of floors before and I knew what I was getting into. This type of tile is not meant to last years and years; it’s a “quickie” lightener and brightener for a dark little dated bathroom. D-O-N-E.

High humidity was definitely a factor in my inability to work on outdoor paint projects the past two weeks. Which is why various indoor tasks received attention. There were a few storms; one night at 2:30 a.m. the dogs woke me during a mighty thunder and lightning event. I learned a few days later lighting had struck the ground one house west of Heart House and the impact popped internet connections to two residences. The noise of that strike was apparently what had agitated the dogs to the point of waking me.

The Grandpa Ott morning-glories climbing the trellis on the south porch feature a new pink variant in the mix this year. I’ve been picking blackberries (a few, but more each year) from the vines, and gathering tender rhubarb stalks. The white phlox finally bloomed. Except for the Indian corn (just now tasseling), seed plants are doing well; moisture has been frequent and humidity has been greenhouse-level (humidity you can cut, cube, and stack). High summer in NE Iowa.

Happy Trails.