Pam has been busy this last week decorating the Christmas tree. The ornaments are a combination of hand-made and commercial and the tree looks great. Here are a few photos taken during the decorating process:

Coming out of storage

(Greenwood HS) Cheerleader

Mountain Man

Ballerina

Queen E. I

Santa Bike

Fat Cat (Looks like our Antonio!)

Santa ornament

Golden globe

Decorated tree

Even the Spirit of De Beque received a decoration:

Spirit of De Beque

We hope everyone is getting into the holiday mood.

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

Pam’s Two Cents:

All the holiday stuff is pretty much done – cards, decorating, tree.  (I don’t bake much in light of Fields’ diabetes.) Highlighted above are just a few of our collected ornaments — hand-made or purchased.  The stout branches on this year’s pine allowed me to pull out heavier ornaments that aren’t well supported by lighter-weight evergreens.  There is always at least one ornament on the floor every morning.

I started working on a new project. While in the Midwest on the two trips in May and October, I noticed “quilting squares” on the sides of barns in the countryside drives we took.  I’m working on my own version of a quilting square for our garage, to go up when the holiday lights come down.  Looking at my quilting square will bolster my spirits during the coming days of Winter.

Barn with painted quilt square (Shutterstock image)

Where are your holiday cards, people?! Support the USPS…

Happy Trails.

For the past few years our daughter Felicity has sent us a table-top Christmas tree from Oregon. This year we decided to locate a full-size tree in Colorado.

Pam found a tree farm near Montrose that looked like a good candidate, the Covered Bridge Tree Farm:

Covered Bridge Tree Farm, Montrose, Colorado

We drove about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the farm, then hopped on their tractor-pulled wagon, and headed out to find a tree. (Well, some of us hopped, some of us climbed slowly and carefully into the wagon…)

On wagon. (Photo by another passenger.)

I located a suitable tree — the first one we looked at and near the road — but Pam needed to look around a bit before I cut it.

Jerry with cut tree

So far the tree has lights but no other decorations. Pam will take care of finishing the task this coming week.

Beginning – lights on, more to follow

You may have noticed Maxwell Moose (in his Christmas hat) looking in from the top-left corner of the above photo:

Maxwell Moose in holiday garb

We are very pleased with this Scotch Pine tree; the size, shape, and scent are all excellent. It’s been a while since we had a taller tree and it will be interesting to see some of our less-used ornaments on display again. The tree is, of course, fastened to the wall to prevent the cats from toppling it.  (We hope.)

There is an update on a topic mentioned last time; my dental appointment came and went. The tooth that was bothering me – with a “leaking” crown – was too far gone to salvage and had to be extracted. My jaw is very sore and I am popping Tylenol every 6 hours or so. This kind of sucks but things should improve by the end of next week.

Another update – the defective furnace relay has been replaced and the furnace is now working without having to be whacked to shut down the boost fan. Sometimes it’s the small things that matter!

Our Solstice cards have all been mailed to those of you lucky enough to be on our card list this year. The tree is up. Less than two weeks until Winter Solstice!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

When we first moved to Colorado in the 1970s, we often purchased a national forest tree cutting permit and ventured into the wilds for our Christmas tree.  (Once we topped a tree that was physically longer than the car we were driving.)  Later on, in Wisconsin, tree farm day was a family event when the kiddos were young; we used to cut our tree every year.

This year — the first year of my retirement — I found myself thinking about the tree farm experience again.  The Covered Bridge Tree Farm did not disappoint.  The operation functioned like a well-oiled machine. Trees available to be cut on the acreage were marked with information as to name of conifer, height, and price. I must admit I enjoyed visiting the various animal pens (and saying “hi” to the goats) while Fields supervised the shaking/netting/stashing the tree in the RAV.  (I must observe, though, Christmas trees were much less expensive back in the day.)

What a gift to have time for decorating the tree at leisure.  When I was working, it was all I could do to find time to throw a few ornaments on a tree each December.  This year, I have started going through all the containers of decorations and ornaments; I do believe we will be seeing some items on the tree that have not seen the light of day for decades. Assuming, of course, these items are pet proof.

ChristmasCat (Shutterstock image)

Happy Trails.

Well, not much of significance happened this past week, but here are a few things that occupied our time.

First, Pam is working steadily on our Solstice (as opposed to Christmas) cards this year. We drove to Grand Junction to a hobby store and picked up card supplies last month. Pam’s in full production mode now:

Solstice cards in production

Most cards have already been mailed. This is probably the earliest we’ve mailed cards; Pam’s retirement has its advantages!

Speaking of retirement, Pam received her first retirement pension deposit on Friday. This is a new milestone for her, and will help determine the household budget going forward.

With cold weather here, our furnace started to act up (Murphy’s Law). There’s a relay sticking, causing a small motor to run continuously. (The motor creates a draft when the furnace burner first lights up.) I have a new relay on order; I could not find one locally. Part should be in tomorrow and it will be about a 10 minute job to install it. For now we have to smack the side of the furnace to un-stick the relay to shut off the motor. Ah, well…….

Light snow fell this past week but not enough to cover the roads. High temp yesterday was in the 40s, so sidewalks and drives are clear, but some snow remains in the shadows and on grassy areas. I took the mower deck and bagger off the John Deere tractor and installed the snow blade, wheel weights, and cable chains so the tractor is ready for the snow season. Forecast is for about an inch of snow tonight  and colder temperatures – highs in the low 30s – for the upcoming week. Normal high temps are in the low 40s this time of year.

John Deere set for winter snow plowing

Last Tuesday I had to make an emergency trip to the dentist; the tooth that will need a new crown (and a root canal) was giving me pain. The dentist prescribed some antibiotics and sent me off to see a specialist. The latter will be doing the root canal (if needed) and he determined an older root canal in a nearby tooth would have to be re-done as well. The antibiotics helped reduce the discomfort although I cannot chew on that side of my mouth. I go in this next Thursday, first to the specialist, followed by the dentist, to do the crown prep work. Thursday is not going to be a good day.

(Internet artwork)

In my last post I mentioned my ‘gallery conversion’ project; this is going well with 27 galleries converted so far. I consolidated a few (had 3 Lead King Basins, for example) into single collections so the total number of converted collections will be less than I originally had. There are 17 more galleries to go, enough to keep me busy for the next few weeks.

The rest of today will be quiet; snow is supposed to be coming in later and there are always Solstice card notes to complete. (And whacking the side of the furnace from time to time…)

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

Pam’s Penny:

Always a plus when one’s first electronic pension deposit actually arrives in the account, as scheduled.  Saves having to hassle a clerk somewhere.

Happy Trails.

First of all, we hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. And, if you hit the “Black Friday” sales, we hope you found deals on all your purchases. (We don’t do “Black Friday” ourselves.)

It is with sadness that I compose this post as our foster cat, Solette, had to be euthanized last night. She was suffering from a feline disease called FIP which is untreatable. The symptoms are similar to pneumonia in humans; lungs fill with fluid and eventually cause death. Solette was about 7 months old. Pam is very upset but there is nothing any human could have done to make the situation right.

Foster kitten Solette

Thanksgiving Day itself was pleasant. We joined in with a few neighbors to have a small community lunch. Pam baked an apple and a cherry pie for the event. Several neighbors attended and we met a few new people. The food was good and typical; turkey, bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and quite a few deserts were spread out for a help-yourself lunch.

As is our habit, we put up our outdoor Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. (Indoor decoration will come in a few weeks.) We decided that when we move we will replace most, if not all, our decorations as they are getting a bit old (dating from Old Vic in Whitewater). The lights do look good when lit up at night.

Today will be quiet as there is a storm coming in later. I will get out to fill a small grocery list and get gasoline for the car. After that it will be working on the computer and watching some college football.

And I mentioned in a prior post, I am converting my galleries collections into a new format. I have 16 done so far with about 30 more to go. The biggest difference is video presentation; under the old format I could put a video clip directly into the gallery. Now I have to add a separate link and have the video(s) open in a new page. It works and in some ways I like this arrangement but it does make coding the pages a bit more complicated and adds a few more files. In addition, video clips must be in at least two formats, .mp4 and .webm, so they will play on most devices. The old service did this for me; now I have to do this myself. It takes extra time to set up each gallery. This project will continue for a while.

For those who might care, I am using two programs to convert videos and create the web pages: Prism from NCH Software handles the video chores and JuiceBoxBuilder-Pro produces the gallery code. Prism is a free download (for non-commercial use) and will run on both Windows and Macintosh computers. JuiceBoxBuilder-Pro costs about $50.00 for a lifetime license and also runs on Windows and Mac platforms. Adobe Corporation’s Air (also a free download) is required for JuiceBoxBuilder.

In medical news, I went to the dentist last week and found I need a new crown on one tooth (as I had chipped a corner off it) and an existing crown has to be replaced as well. A root canal may also be needed if the tooth under the old crown has deteriorated. The dentist said the crown had been ‘leaking’ and some decay has formed under it. Oh joy. First work will be in early December, second job in January as my dental insurance is based on calendar years. Splitting the work between 2018 and 2019 will save me several hundred dollars of out-of-pocket expense, but I am not looking forward to having to go  in twice.

Other minor stuff: I put the new belts in the washing machine and Pam reports the spin cycle now completely empties the drum of water. I put the new tire on the John Deere tractor; nice to have it ready to go instead of having to add air every time I wanted to use it. (So far I have not removed the mower deck and mounted the snow blade on the JD but will probably do that next weekend.)

Monday it will be back to the usual grind. Right now I need to be off the the grocery store and gas station.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Solette is the poster child for what rescue has become in this neighborhood.  What used to be the joy of births and bittersweet goodbyes of successful adoptions has now become rides through the dark to vet services and gruesome deaths.  The local cat population has certainly become inbred, which contributes to the decline in general feline health.  Solette is the fourth kitten I’ve buried this year; in addition. one other adult male was euthanized at the shelter after being diagnosed with feline leukemia.

The sadness takes its toll on me, as does the impact on our household budget.  I daily weigh the dilemma — do I feed the strays and keep them alive only to watch them die of diseases later?  Rescue work is no longer satisfying; not likely I’ll become a hoarder.

Happy Trails.

Our daughter Felicity had a “house sit” in Louisville, a community northwest of Denver. We had arranged to drive over to that part of the state to visit her, stay overnight, then drop Felicity off at the Denver airport the next day so she could catch her flight back to Portland.

The drive over, on Saturday, was uneventful. We met up with Felicity at her house, visited, then went out for dinner at a place called Huckleberry’s. The food was good and the house’s specialty tea was a big hit with Pam. Then we retired back to the house, visited for another few hours, then went to bed.

Sunday morning saw several inches of new snow on the ground. We had expected this storm but had hoped it would arrive later in the day; that was the original forecast. Apparently the storm arrived early!

Jerry and Felicity walking to breakfast in the snow

After breakfast we dropped Felicity off at Denver International Airport and began the westward trip home. Driving through Denver was more than a bit tense, as we saw a few cars spin out and our own tires slipped a few times. Getting up into the foothills and leaving the storm behind seemed to be working, until we exited Eisenhower Tunnel and began the ascent up Vail Pass, which was socked-in with snow. The eastbound lanes (traffic traveling toward Denver) were hard hit, with cars spinning out and stopping traffic.

Eastbound traffic stopped on Vail Pass

A bit further along on Vail Pass, the state police has closed the eastbound lanes, something we had suspected due to a sudden and complete lack of eastbound traffic. What a mess.

Colorado does have a law that requires passenger cars and commercial vehicles to have “adequate snow tires, traction devices, or 4-wheel/all wheel drive” for winter driving. Obviously the passenger cars we saw causing the problems did not have this equipment. Fines for noncompliance can run several hundred dollars. If only one or two cars spin out, the pass gets closed to all traffic, irritating other travelers and causing big headaches for the 18-wheelers.

We ran out from under the storm right about the bottom of Vail Pass. After our wild ride through the snow belt, the rest of the trip home was uneventful.  Arriving home after dark, we unloaded the car and called it a night.

I had Monday off to observe Veteran’s Day but had several projects to work on. First was putting in a temporary repair on the clothes washer; one of two belts had bit the dust, making the machine  inoperative. A trip to the nearest NAPA got me two auto belts, not an exact match but something that would work until I could order new belts through Maytag. The washer works but Pam has to run the spin cycle a couple times to get all the water out of the drum. New Maytag belts will be here next week and I’ll finish the repair then.

Another chore was leaf collection and mulching. I worked on our lawn, including mowing the grass for the last time this year, and a neighbor’s yard as well. At least the weather was decent – sweatshirt temperatures for the most part – and dry, making this job go pretty well.

The Ford F-150 had developed an engine miss so I replaced a fouled spark plug. Truck is currently running fine again. Along those same lines, my John Deere garden tractor had a front tire that decided to give up the ghost. It frequently goes flat in about an hour after I fill it with air, so time to replace it. A new tire was found online for $20.00 with free shipping and the nearest Walmart mounted it for$5.00. As I use the JD for snow plowing in winter, I want the tires to be in good shape.

Holiday Preparations: Thanksgiving is coming up next week. The day after Turkey Day we usually put up our outside Christmas decorations. We’ll be watching the long-term weather forecast, which shows a storm coming in — but — we are still several days away and that may change. Pam is working on this year’s Christmas (actually Solstice) cards, which will be hand-made, similar to what we used to do years ago.

We hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

While it was great to have a nice, long, face-to-face chat with Felicity into the night hours, I am so done with drives through Colorado mini-blizzards over mountain passes.  Done.

However, I did have both a lovely [Fall-spice-flavored] Chai tea at dinner in Louisville and a Culver’s pumpkin shake on the way home. Simple pleasures.

Happy trails.

Another quiet week, except for the elections. I see Scott Walker is out as Governor of Wisconsin; wonder what changes the new guy will put into place? Maybe he’ll fix the “Scott-holes” (pot holes).

We had planned to visit Felicity, who is in Colorado for a house sit, last weekend but the weather turned bad and we postponed the trip until this next weekend.

True to form, the first major snow of the year caused accidents on I-70 though Glenwood Canyon, closing east- and west-bound lanes. Some of those bridges can get really slick, particularly where the change in elevation causes a transition from wet to snow-packed surfaces. We were better off staying at home last weekend!

Halloween was very low-key this year. We had no trick-or-treaters at all and I saw only one small group going house to house in another part of town. It was cold, granted, but there just didn’t seem to be much interest in trick-or-treating. It was a mid-week school night, and I think the local community center was running the Halloween party.

On the other hand, eggnog is now in our grocery store. The holiday season must be in the air.

There will be a few changes in my galleries and blog posts going forward. The company that I’ve used for several years to host photos and videos just raised their rates astronomically, from $225.00 per year to $1,000.00 per year and I am not going to renew my contract. Instead I am looking at software to create and host slide shows and video files on the server thats hosts this blog. I may have to pay a bit more for additional storage but rather that than pay a ransom.

The home-grown slide shows may not be as slick as the ones created to date; the home-grown shows will have a different (and simpler) look. I’ve started practicing on shows I create at work, which gives me a chance to experiment and learn as I go.

The biggest problem is that I can’t upload any more photos to existing galleries; I am “over limit” for the number of photos and video clips my $225.00 plan will accept. That is why no new images have made their way to, say, The Lot gallery, showing off the work we did this summer.

It will be a bit of effort to convert the existing galleries but, in the end, I will have more control over them and save some money to boot. Sigh. As Anna RoseAnna Danna would say, “It’s always something.”

Locally, our high school ladies soccer team made it to state finals. How do I know? This sign on our local city office:

Sign on city office door

I’ll have to ask around to find out how the team did.

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

Pam’s Penny:

Poor little Solette is having a rough go trying to recuperate from her spay operation. I hate seeing a kitten in discomfort.

I’m “celebrating” a significant birthday, ending with a “5.” I begin my pension through the State of Colorado.

Happy Trails.

This week has been quiet. After our long trip to the Midwest this is probably a good thing. Next week will be a bit more active; Felicity will be in Colorado, Halloween happens, dogs go in for grooming. Until then, here is a brief recap of this week’s activities.

Leaf season is underway. We did the first major raking/mulching session of the year. In addition to doing our yard we take care of our neighbor’s yard across the road from our place.

Pam concentrated on the raking part while I got the mulcher started. (After sitting for a year, getting the machine started is always a task.) Mulched leaves (and brush and twigs) were loaded into the truck for transport to our town’s “organic materials” dumping spot. Between our lawn and neighbor Jim’s lawn, this job took most of Saturday morning.

During the week Pam added a few items to the Mary Lynn Memorial garden in keeping with the autumnal season. She picked up a few pumpkins to add color to the corner:

Pumpkins in the Mary Lynn Memorial Garden

Pam also spent some time going through her closets and making up packages of clothing to donate to LiftUp, a local organization similar to Goodwill.

My week was routine although I have kicked off a project to upgrade our network; I am planning to increase our network speeds from 1gb to 10gb. The first phase will increase the speed between my servers, storage units, and core switches. Upgrading  remote switches and individual workstations will come later.  Purchases and upgrades I’v done over the last few years have had this goal in mind; now is the time to begin implementation. I hope it goes smoothly.

We read a short book I had requested from the library: “Notes from a Public Typewriter.” Written by a bookstore owner, the book features notes left by customers, typed out on a manual typewriter the owner left on a table for that purpose. While there are several notable quotes in the book, one that resonated with both Pam and me was: “Typewriters remind us that words are sound — they make noise like the striking of keys, the scratch of pen on paper. What have we lost now that words are silent?” Another favorite: “A bookstore is larger than the universe. After all, the universe only contains what IS.” If you are in the mood  to read a new book, this short one is highly recommended.

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

Pam’s Penny:

It felt excellent to recycle work clothes from my previous life.  My current wardrobe must meet a different standard — clothes as comfortable as pajamas, shoes as comfortable as slippers.

Happy Trails.

On Saturday, October 13, Pam, JoJo and I began our trip to Iowa and Wisconsin. The goal was to visit family and check out a few houses in Iowa that Pam had seen online. I’ll begin with the house hunt.

Let me start by observing realtor property descriptions are helpful but frequently incomplete. In fact, these descriptions omit crucial information that one can only confirm with a site visit.

A case in point was this ‘painted lady’ in Lake Mills; it looked good in photos but we found the window sills were rotten and the foundation had settled, leaving cracks between the foundation and the sill plate. A fixer is one thing, this was another.

Lake Mills house

Another house was advertised ‘river front property’ — but — the river was across the road and you would have had to jump over a guard rail to get to it. Some descriptions take a lot of liberty; here is a ‘walk out basement”  (for a very short person) noted in one of the ads:

Walk out basement? For a gnome?

We also learned to ask if the house had been a rental unit; those properties we viewed that had been rentals were in pretty rough shape inside and out. Most renters just don’t take care of a property the way a resident owner would.

There were some nicer elements. One house in rural Elkader, Iowa had some of the historic woodwork we’re looking for:

Stairway in Fawn Hollow Road house

A place in nearby Volga, Iowa was tidy and updated, but small, with a very large tree-lined lot that was already partially fenced for dogs:

Part of the Volga lot. Plenty of trees!

Generally we were disappointed with what we saw. This may be due to the price range we are looking in; pretty much low end of the scale (the Volga house was priced at $51,500.00). Even the higher-priced places ($125k to 150k) did not offer that much more in housing. Some of the lots were huge, 6 acres or more. We don’t need that much land, we need more house.

The most useful outcome was our personal contact with two realtor agents, Penni and Kenny, a married couple. We hope this contact will result in locating a place more suited to our wishes. We also identified a specific geographic area in which to house hunt in the future — generally within 30 miles of the Mississippi River in two northeastern Iowa counties, as farther west Iowa flattens out and interesting vistas disappear. One town in particular caught our attention; Elkader is the county seat for Clayton County and is a charming place. The search continues, but with new direction.

The other goal of the trip was to hook up with relatives and catch up on family news and events. We met with my sister Carol and her friend Matt, Pam’s brother Craig and his wife Dianne, and Pam’s sister Becky, and I went see my mother. An added, and unplanned, visit with my Aunt Gina Buhr (my father’s sister) rounded out this aspect of the trip.

My sister Carol and her friend Matt (whom we met for the first time) rendezvoused with us at our base of house hunting operations in the river town of Guttenberg, Iowa. It had been awhile since I’d seen Carol, and Matt proved to be an interesting guy. There was lively conversation over dinner — and again the following morning at breakfast — before we headed north and Carol and Matt headed home to the Chicago area.

Carole and Matt at a Mississippi River overlook. (Photo by a passerby.)

Our next meeting was with Pam’s brother Craig and his wife Dianne. It was Dianne’s birthday and Pam and I has shopped at an antique store in Elkader to find her a small gift. However, on the way to their lake house in mid-central Wisconsin, we received a call from Becky informing us that Dianne’s dog, Sophie, had just passed away on Dianne’s lap on the way to the vet. Dianne was understandably very upset, as Sophie has been a part of their family 14 years plus had been a gift from Dianne’s late mother.

This complicated matters a bit as I had planned to stay with Craig and Dianne that night. On to Plan B.

Craig and Dianne live in Bloomer, Wisconsin, about an hour or so away from my mother’s place in Greenwood. I drove to see my mother while Pam (and Becky, who had driven down from Rice Lake) went with Craig to meet Pam’s nephew’s wife Ellie (whom neither of us had met). Nephew Josh and Ellie have two children that Pam also wanted to see. Here is photo of Ellie with Marcie, their dog:

Ellie and Marcie, the dog. (Photo by Pam.)

Grady is the oldest child:

Grady. (Photo by Pam.)

Daughter Addy is the second child, here with Grandpa Craig:

Craig with granddaughter Addy. (Photo by Pam.)

Pam’s visit was brief and full of very active little kiddos. Pam felt it was valuable to connect personalities to Ellie’s Facebook posts.

My visit with my mother was mainly uneventful, a necessary health check. From my mother I learned that my Aunt Gina had moved into a residence home in Chippewa Falls. Plan B involved both Pam and I (and the dog) staying with Becky that night in Rice Lake.  As we would have to go through Chippewa Falls to pick up our link to the interstate to head home the following day, we decided to visit Aunt Gina then.

Becky is still settling into her new trailer and we appreciated her willingness to put us up for the night. An added bonus was that Becky had prepared a hearty roast for dinner and it was waiting for me when I arrived in Rice Lake. The food was excellent and it was a thoughtful gesture on Becky’s part, one that I appreciated.

Now it was October 18th and time for us to head home. We found Aunt Gina’s residence and had a short visit with her. I am glad to say her mind is as sharp as ever and she had a few great stories about family life and growing up in central Wisconsin.

Then it was on the road for the long haul back to Colorado. We spent the night in York, Nebraska, and made it home to De Beque early Friday evening. The trip encompassed a bit over 3,300 miles.

York water tower

Along the way there were a few funny moments. We passed one restaurant sign that caught our fancy: “Ole’s Restaurant. Cold Beer. Greasy Food.” Truth in advertising? We also saw this slogan on the side of a semi-truck stopped in a rest area:

Only in the Midwest

Another sign + photo op was in Cylinder, Iowa. Pam though it was appropriate for me:

Sign for Cylinder, Iowa

In summary, the trip had high and low points. We had hoped one of the houses would be suitable for us into retirement, but such was not the case. We did connect with several family members, a good thing, and I hope we made Aunt Gina’s day a little brighter. We saw a lot of rolling farm country around the Mississippi River and a lot of forgettable land across Nebraska and western Iowa. Now we’ll have to settle back into our ‘normal’ routine and hope the contacts made with Iowa realtors (and Pam’s internet efforts) pay off in finding a suitable place for us to retire to.

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

Pam’s Five Cents Worth:

Nebraska’s 2019 tourist slogan will be: “Nebraska.  Honestly, It’s Not For Everyone.” Now there is truth in advertising.  As Stephen Colbert noted on his late-night talk show, “Nebraska, are you OK? Do you need a vacation, someplace that is not-Nebraska?” Crossing that state seems endless, and on the way to the Midwest we traveled through snow flurries in Nebraska. Nasty.

Lots of miles traveled, and only five house visits scheduled.  Two additional houses I was trying to schedule already had solid offers on them, and one property was eliminated prior to our departure (house empty for three years, furnace froze up, well abandoned). Property listings that sat all summer are now starting to receive offers (Murphy’s Law, I guess).

As Fields noted above, some general progress was made, however.  We identified and connected with the realtor team at Ole’s 5 Star Realty in Elkader, we spent about an hour and a half in downtown Elkader.  We drove along many charming and familiar types of little country roads, saw the harvest in action, I recited the poem “When the Frost is on the Punkin” for Fields’ edification. I bonded with the Mississippi River again. We narrowed down the geographical parameters of the future search.

Shocks of corn in eastern Iowa

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin’ turkey cock
And the clackin’ of the guineys, and the cluckin’ of the hens
And the rooster’s hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence
O, it’s then’s the times a feller is a-feelin’ at his best
With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock

“When The Frost Is On The Punkin” by James Whitcomb Riley

Family visits proved to include sorrow as well as new (to me) faces.  Aunt Gina, possibly one of my favorite relatives on Fields’ side of the family, is 97 and as amazing as ever. So glad we made the time to briefly visit her.

The adventure continues.

Happy Trails.

This past weekend, October 6th and 7th, I went to The Lot for the last working weekend of the year. I had much to do, including spreading the last pile of chips and winterizing The Box. I had taken the truck and trailer, as some of the tasks for this trip included bringing home the ATV, generator, various hand tools, and the chain saw.

While the peak of the fall color season has passed, I was surprised at the amount of  ‘color’ still in the high country. Individual trees, groves, and the valley cottonwoods are still very colorful. I enjoyed the drive through the mountains up to The Lot.

Once I arrived the first job was to spread the last pile of wood chips. There were 16 loads in all and I spread the chips on the path, hoping they will settle in over the winter and make a good base to walk on come spring.

Loading chips

Hauling chips

Chips spread on this year’s path

With the chips spread, it was time to move on to the weekend’s next task. Last year we had quite a bit of gravel wash in from the neighbor’s driveway, coming over the edge at one of their switchbacks. To help counter this I built a small log wall over the path where the water naturally descends. My hope is this wall will slow the water enough so the gravel settles out on their property and doesn’t get carried down to our property.

My “dam” to help prevent gravel washing down to our property

The final job on Saturday was to load the last of the burn pit wood into the back of the truck; this clears out all I had stacked for disposal.

Sunday’s tasks were routine end-of-season jobs. I drained the fresh water tank and water heater, then emptied all three holding tanks. I loaded the ATV and generator into the trailer along with my tools. All food items and the rest of the linens were packed into the truck. Finally, I removed the propane tanks and put them in the shed, then pulled the RV batteries out and loaded them in the truck.

The 2018 Sanderling work season is over.

Heading home – end of 2018 season

By the time I was ready to leave The Lot the sun had broken through and the day was so beautiful, I tell you, it was tough to head out. However, with the snow in the air Saturday evening and frost on the windows Sunday morning…definitely time to shut down The Box for the year.  Weather for the next week shows night temperatures dropping into the teens:

10 day forecast for Como

I am pleased by the area cleaned up this year. Not only did we get many piles of brush chipped and the chips spread, I also salvaged around 4 cords of wood…a typical year is around 3 cords.

It’s just very pleasant to walk this part of Sanderling without having to detour around, or trip over, downed logs and brush. It gives me a feeling of satisfaction to have this area cleaned.

Aspen grove as seen from driveway

What’s next? We still have some work on the east side of the path, far side as seen in the above photo, to finish cleaning up to our property line. A few piles of brush remain to be chipped, some from last year and a few from this year, that I didn’t get to. Next year I hope to finish the Grassy Ridge area all the way up to our northeast corner post. Think big!

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

Pam’s Penny:

Six months of unemployment-to-retirement has passed; I am grateful every single day I don’t have to haul my butt across two counties to sit in a cubicle.

Happy Trails.

I have much to cover in this post from my 3-day weekend trip to The Lot, September 22, 23, and 24.

In my last post I’d mentioned I would be doing some maintenance chores on The Box; replacing damaged vent covers was one of these tasks. I did get all 3 covers replaced. The new lids are substantially thicker than the original units. This is a mixed blessing; they should stand up to weather (including hail) better than the originals but they do not let in as much light.

Another maintenance chore was to make sure the bottom-of-the-trailer sheets, which look sort of like cardboard but are made out of heavier plastic, were in good shape and would not allow rodents to enter the trailer over the winter. Basically I added fender washers (larger than standard) under the heads of the screws that hold these sheets in place. This prevents the sheets from sagging and opening gaps where mice could enter.

Although I was not planning this last item — emptying the holding tanks — I really had no choice as the kitchen grey water tank was full and the sink would not drain. I got out the ‘honey wagon’ gear and emptied both grey water tanks and the black water tank.

Given that my fresh water level was low I also had to make a ‘water run’ to get some water for showers and cleaning. I didn’t pump a full load, just enough (around 15 gallons) to get through the weekend’s demand for showers and general cleaning up. (We use bottled water for drinking and most cooking.)

Then it was on to other tasks.

Last time out I had trouble with the chipper; it would not start due to carburetor flooding. I had brought along my tools and a few spare parts, hoping I could repair the carb on-site and finish chipping some piles of brush.

I removed the carb, repaired the float holder (a screw had come loose, causing the flooding) and reinstalled the carb on the chipper. The engine started right up and I was back in business.

I chipped no fewer than 6 piles of brush, one Saturday evening and the others Sunday morning. While I was one tired guy, I am very pleased to get the Aspen Grove brush chipped. (Spreading the chips will be the main task for the next visit.) Photos below document the before-and-after appearance of this area.

Before chipping

After chipping

The activity resulted in a large pile of chips to be spread on a future trip:

Chip pile along the path

From last week: chips spread on path up to Grassy Ridge:

Chips spread on walking path

Here is an over-all shot of part of the area that was cleaned this year:

Cleaned Aspen Grove

Here is a “work in progress” shot of the same area taken earlier this year:

Brush and log piles in the Aspen Grove

Skipping ahead a bit: Monday morning I loaded the truck with another load of ‘burn pit’ wood and prepared the chipper to tow it home. I had to wait out a couple of rain showers while doing this but the moisture is welcome.

Chipper heading home from The Lot

After all the work was done I planned to treat myself to an ATV ride in the general area of Sanderling, either at Hall Valley or Webster Pass. Both are in the same neighborhood on the east (Denver) side of Kenosha Pass, which is itself several miles east of Como. I have ridden this area before and knew the Webster Pass route generally had good fall color views. I loaded the ATV in the back of the truck and left The Lot.

Traffic was fierce on Highway 285 heading to Kenosha Pass. In fact, it was stop and go traffic many miles away from my turn off. Since it was already afternoon (and I didn’t think I had the time or patience to wait in traffic) I changed plans. I turned around and headed to Fairplay, then turned north to Mosquito Pass. Mosquito Pass is another area I have ridden before, but at least there was no traffic.

This ride was disappointing as it appears the Mosquito Pass mining area is under new ownership. Routes to the historic buildings and mine sites of North London Mill and South London Mill are now blocked off. Without these routes there is not a lot of reason to ride there. I’m glad I was able to visit these sites in the past and get some photos, although my visit to the South London Mill took place on a rainy and dreary day; I had hoped to get a better set of photos this time around.

I did see something I rarely see in the high country on this trip, though. Pussy willows!

Pussy willows in the mountains – a rare sight

At the top of the pass is this marker:

Father Dyer memorial stone on Mosquito Pass

Heading home after my ride I found traffic on Highway 285, which I needed to take to get back to Elkhorn Ranch Road and The Lot, had gotten worse! Traffic was backed up to the east foot of Red Hill Pass, several miles from Elkhorn Ranch Road, and traffic was virtually at a standstill. Accident, leaf-peepers, campers…I still don’t know the reason why the traffic was so heavy but I was determined not to stay in it.

So…I made a U-turn and headed back to Fairplay, then took Highway 9 south to Highway 24, turned east on 24 to intersect with the lower end of Elkhorn Ranch Road, then north up to The Lot. At least I made it back in reasonable time.

Now this tale gets even stranger. Just after I had parked on the Sanderling driveway and unloaded the ATV, I received a visit from a Sheriff’s Deputy. He was asking questions about Greg, our new neighbor, who has not been sighted for several weeks (although his tent is still in place.)

It appears Greg is an alias and not his real name, and the officer found “drug paraphernalia” in his tent. Given that marijuana is legal in Colorado this may not be a crime, but if it involves other drugs then “Greg” could get busted for drug abuse.

I gave the officer what information I had (make, model, color of car, description of Greg and his dogs) and kept the officer’s card. I promised to notify him if I saw Greg again. The officer thanked me and left.

It was a strange afternoon all around.

What lies ahead? This coming weekend I have a wedding reception to attend on Sunday so will not be back to The Lot. I hope to make it back to Sanderling the weekend after next and it will be a busy visit as I will have to bring home the ATV, generator, and chain saw as well as the rest of the food and linens plus drain the holding tanks one last time. RV anti-freeze must be put in all the water lines. There is still much to do to shut down The Box and get it winterized. (Forecast low for Tuesday, September 25th, is 34 degrees up in the high country.) And I hope to get the large pile of chips spread on the path. (This would be optional, depending on how long it takes me to get the other chores done.)

There have been a couple of very busy weekends, with at least one more to go, before the RV is “shut down” for the winter. Two things that are final; no more wood cutting or chipping this year! Our friend Kathy picked up the bulk of the cut firewood on Saturday that was stacked along our driveway here at home. She’ll stop by for the remaining wood this coming Saturday, so that’s the end of the wood. The chipper is home from The Lot and waiting for me to do routine maintenance over the winter, so it will be ready to go next spring.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Lovely, crisp nights and warm days have begun.  One of my favorite times of year.

(Internet graphic.)

Happy Trails.