I spent another three-day weekend at The Lot, working on clean up. I know this gets repetitive but, after all, it is what I do when I’m in the high country.

Each weekend visit I set a goal of how much area to clear. The borders are arbitrary; usually an imaginary line between a couple of trees or an outcropping. Then I get started, cutting downed and standing dead trees. This year I have not done a thorough job of piling brush to chip although I do make a few small piles here and there. After all, I need walking paths to make it easier and safer for me to carry logs to a pile.

If I go up on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon is spent getting started. The second day I put in a long day and finish the bulk of the work. The third day I clean up in the morning, walk the property, and get ready to head home, normally just after lunch.

I’ve been getting just over a cord of wood cut each time; a cord of wood is a pile that is four feet wide, four feet tall, and eight feet long (128 cubic feet). I already have more logs cut and piled than we give away each year and have not chipped anything for the last couple of weekends. But that’s OK; Pam keeps telling me I have time to get this stuff done and not to push it so hard. (Pam worries about me running the saw and chipper when she’s not there.)

It’s time to spend the next few weekends at home taking care of maintenance chores. However, I’ve taken the week of July 4th off as vacation and hope to finish cleaning the area at Sanderling we call the Aspen Grove (where I’ve been working these last few weekends). I’ll have a load of stuff to take to the burn pit, stuff too rotten to salvage as firewood and too big to chip. Add a few stumps to the mix and there is a load big enough to haul. I picked up a burn pit pass last weekend; the burn pit opened the first weekend in June. It’s open mainly Saturday hours.

Not all my mountain time is spent working, however. I like to sit in my chair and look out over South Park, plus enjoy the views from various points on the upper part of The Lot — including Pavilion Point and Squirrel Rock. There have already been a few nice sunsets to appreciate. No campfires this year, though. The entire state of Colorado is very dry and open fires have been banned. Some forest service lands have been shut down completely: no camping, no hiking, no recreation of any kind. Signs on the road encourage people to make sure that safety chains on campers and trailers don’t drag and start roadside fires from the sparks. There have been several minor and a couple major fires already in the state.

This last weekend I was reminded that Sanderling is in an open range area. In the morning a cow was munching some of the grass that has grown up along the edges of our driveway. It didn’t seem very concerned about me or the car.

Not that this is exciting stuff, but I do enjoy my time at The Lot. It gets harder and harder when it’s time to leave; I don’t look forward to returning to work and dealing with computer (or operator) problems as much as I used to. And, of course, it’s much cooler in the mountains than it is on the edge of the high desert in the summer!

Here are a couple more photos taken over the weekend:

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I spent the last few weekends working with the feral cat moms and the kittens. The four kitten litter has been weaned, and their mom is scheduled to be spayed next week.  The single kitten from the other litter just started weaning this week.  I really want these feral moms o-u-t, and I’m sure after two months of confinement, the feral moms feel the same way.

Happy Trails.

I spent the last two weekends, which included Memorial Day, at The Lot. These were the first overnighters of the season.

Memorial Day Weekend: While there I met a new neighbor and was not impressed. The guy (Greg) is camping out in a tent (no permits, one is required by the County) and was partly on our property. He reminds me of a burned-out druggie. Not politically correct, but he has a long beard, two dogs, and bought the lot without locating the corner survey markers. “I guess I’ll have to buy a chain saw” he says when talking about cleaning up the lot. And, oh yes, he says is on permanent disability with back problems. He wishes to build a full-time house on his 5 acres ( completed in 3 months.) No water, no toilet facilities, no tools, no shower….

I was not impressed and asked him to move his stuff, and dogs, off our property. We will see if he complies. If not I may have to take stronger action.

That encounter threw me off a bit but the weekend was otherwise good. I cut some wood, chipped some brush, got The Box filled with water and some provisions, walked the lot, took a short ATV ride, and generally enjoyed being in the high country again.

Here are a few photos taken over Memorial Day weekend:

The second weekend, June 2-4, was a three-day event as I had taken the Monday off as vacation. (I plan to do this several times this summer.) Going up on Saturday, I saw that our new neighbor had moved some stuff off our property but not all. I again asked him to move his stuff to his own land. (He had set up a line between two trees to use to tie his dog leashes to when the dogs are out of the tent. The trees are on our land.) I am not happy about this development.

Still, it was a good working weekend. I began clearing part of The Lot we call the Aspen Grove. Lower on the lot, this section is not quite as steep as The Nook and other upper areas. (The Aspen Grove was one of the first places we worked and thinned trees when we started on this piece of property five years ago.) I cleared quite a bit of area but now have to haul the logs out and gather up the brush to be chipped. I estimate I cut about a cord and a half (two full trailer loads) of logs to convert into firewood. Considering we do about 3 cords of wood a year, this weekend’s work represents a good start on the summer’s activities.

Wild flowers are blooming, including wild iris. These always bring a smile to my face. They are mostly located in the ditches and fields leading up to The Lot, not on our property itself, as the deer would simply eat them. A shower on Sunday night was welcome as Colorado has been very dry and any moisture is appreciated. Monday all the flowers were out in full bloom, quite a colorful sight as I was driving home.

The same storm left a layer of fresh snow on the mountain tops. The views from The Lot were very attractive in the morning sun with the blue sky behind the peaks. I took the opportunity to walk the higher parts of The Lot and take in the scenery before I started the day’s planned work.

I stopped by the Indian Mountain Community Center and picked up my burn permit for the year. While we will chip quite a bit of wood, there are some stumps and larger pieces of wood, not good enough to salvage, that are too big for the chipper. This stuff will go to the burn pit for disposal. During my work I accumulated several more semi-rotten logs that fall into this category, which will probably justify a burn pit run next weekend.

Here are a few photos from the weekend of June 2 – 4:

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

We knew a piece of property was for sale adjacent to our upper property line, so the “new neighbor” should not have been a surprise.  The guy is a flatlander from Kansas, and has not a clue as to how one survives at 9,000 + feet; even in the summer there are challenges.  I’m most concerned about his dogs being so close to our RV location, particularly when our dogs come up to the high country.  And, the human excrement he is no doubt leaving in all sorts of interesting places for JoJo  to find will not be an addition to our mountain experience.

There are now neighbors on pretty much all the Sanderling boundaries, with the exception of along the rock formations at the back of The Lot.  More neighbors in the area could mean additional folks who might respond in an emergency — should Fields experience one when he is operating power equipment solo at Sanderling (chain saw, chipper). Mostly, more neighbors means more noise and garbage.

Happy Trails.

It must be summer…I took The Box (RV trailer) up to The Lot/Sanderling last week and will be spending this Memorial Day weekend there. Last week’s activities were mostly centered around getting The Box ready: restocking food, clothing, bedding, checking the mechanicals, getting propane tanks filled, and flushing the RV-specific antifreeze out of the water lines. I hope The Box is ready for the season! Our driveway looks a little bare now that The Box is not sitting there but it does make getting in and out of the garage much easier.

Weather at The Lot was still a factor last week; while I was trying to put water in The Box’s fresh water tank it started to hail and there were a few snowflakes mixed in. I left about half the water in jugs under the RV and will have to put it in this weekend after I arrive. Here are a couple photos of the trip up with The Box:

While getting my first load of water these deer were seen near the road:

The white spots in this photo (below) are hailstones that fell, keeping me from filling the The Box’s fresh water tank. I went into The Box to wait out the storm but it didn’t quit before I had to head home.

The chipper will go to Sanderling this weekend. I put a high altitude kit in the carburetor (for use over 5,000 foot elevation). It seemed to help when we chipped up the Cottonwood tree branches a month ago; now we’ll see how well it works at 9,500 feet elevation.

Around-the-house news:

Pam has spent many hours cleaning up the front corner of our property and the Mary Lynn Memorial Garden spot. Weeds and a type of vine take over quickly and are hard to remove, particularly the vines. Pam put in some flowers in flower pots; the results look great.

Bugs, particularly gnats, are a problem this year, more so than in the past. We don’t know why but the little buggers are quite the irritant when we work outside. Their bites do itch. Insect repellents don’t seem to be effective; we have tried Backwoods Off and other Deet products with no discernible results.

On a bit of a side note, last year we received some very sweet and tasty peaches from a neighbor’s tree. Pam kept several pits and planted them in a container, leaving it outside over the winter. One has sprouted, much to our surprise. We’ll see if it survives and if so, decide where to plant it.

We received the larger window air conditioner I had ordered (10,000 btu capacity) and I installed it in one of the dining area windows. While our roof-mounted swamp cooler unit still works, it’s wearing out (very noisy) and should be replaced. Given that we can take the AC unit with us when we move but cannot take the swamp cooler,  we decided to go the AC route instead of putting $500.00 plus into the cooler (which is mounted on the roof and hard to access for repair or replacement). Temps are supposed to be near 90 this weekend so Pam will give the AC unit a good workout.

Our trimmed-back Cottonwood tree is leafed out and we have noticed some new sprouts starting to grow from the remaining branches. It will take several years for those new sprouts to fill in for the limbs that were removed, but it’s good to see the tree is not on the “way out” after limb surgery. Purchase of the AC unit was tied to the loss of foliage on the Cottonwood.  The living room windows (behind the tree) face west; the blazing afternoon sun in the high desert heats the house up unbearably without the shade we used to depend on.  Hopefully the AC unit will be a more aggressive cooling mechanism than the swamp cooler was.

One final note. You will now see a link to my blog’s Privacy Policy from both the blog’s main page and from the About Us page. The new GDPR rules and regulations apply to any site where people can leave comments so I thought I better put out a policy. It is based on a template and a little awkward but you will get the idea. Please read if you have any interest in this sort of thing.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I’ll be staying home with the feral kitten litters this holiday weekend.  At 8 weeks (the four kittens) and 5 weeks (one kitten), all of the babies are beginning to eat solid food and drink water.  Although still nursing, their nursing days are numbered.  The transition period from mom’s milk to kibble tends to be tricky and can result in dehydration and diarrhea if not monitored. I guess I will be the monitor.

The first weekend at Sanderling is a cleanup weekend anyway.  Fields will walk The Lot, pick up any garbage and debris that has blown in during the winter, clean the weeds off the driveway, fill the hummer feeder etc.  (I assume sitting in his chair and gazing at the mountains will be worked in there somewhere. ) I’ll miss the frothy spring green of the aspen leaves this time around.

Drive Safely.  Happy Trails.

This post will be a summary of our family-visiting and house-hunting trip to the Midwest. It contains lots of pictures and will be fairly long!

Leaving Colorado on May 5th, the trip would take us (and our three dogs) as far east as lower Michigan, where we planned to check out some areas in which Pam had seen some on-line house listings. On the way we stopped to visit our son Toby who lives in South Bend, Indiana. A jog north to the LaCrosse, Wisconsin territory would allow us to visit Pam’s sister and two brothers as well as her cousin and friends. We met up with daughter Felicity in Madison, who had flown in to visit a high school friend. Side trips into Iowa would let us explore more areas where interesting houses could be found. Here, in more-or-less chronological order, are a few details of the trip.

The trip across the Great Plains (Nebraska in particular) was uneventful but long. We stayed the first night in York, Nebraska. (After the Motel 6 found us a room — they had lost our reservation even though we had a confirmation number. It was the local high school graduation weekend to boot.)  The only outstanding feature of York is the water tower, which is painted to resemble a hot air balloon.

The Sunday night we stayed in Joliet, Illinois, a pretty much forgettable overnight stop. The next day, Monday, we moved on to South Bend where we stayed two nights outside the city in Nappannee at a property named Amish Acres. Amish Acres acted as our base of operations while we visited Toby and investigated southern Michigan.

As we had arrived early in the day and had not planned to see Toby until evening we took a jaunt up along Michigan’s western side to a town called Allegan to check out a home listing Pam had printed before departure. En route we stopped at the rest area in New Buffalo where Michigan has a tourist info center. Pam snapped this photo of me at the center’s lighthouse landmark (“Pure Michigan” sign in background):

In Allegan, the house we walked around needs a lot of work but is on the lower end of the price range, listed at $72,000.00. Interesting to see what that kind of budget would get in terms of housing. While the house has some attractive features it probably needs more work than we are willing to take on (plastic tarps on the roof — never a good sign). I hope someone does rescue this fine old place, though, as it bothers me to see this once-grand house falling into disrepair. This house fit the stereotype of “find the worst house on the best block” – it was surrounded by fairly well-kept mansions from back in the day.

We liked the town, and will keep an eye out for listings in this area.

Then it was back to South Bend and dinner with Toby and some of Toby’s friends. Toby had arranged a dinner reservation for a small group and we had a pleasant time meeting and speaking to Toby’s “homies.” Sadly we did not take a photo off this group; we should have done, but were having such a lively discussion we forgot photos. It appeared Toby’s friends and ourselves represented age groups 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.  Quite a bit of diversity!

The next day we drove into eastern Michigan to meet a realtor and walk through a home located in Horton. On the upper end of our price range, at $149,900, this place had been upgraded with central air, new wiring, high-end appliances in the kitchen and other updates. Plus it had a carriage house that had been converted into a garage (with the original horse stalls and sliding barn door between garage sections – historic!).

Pam really liked the tasteful and period-specific home interior, larger-sized yard and small town atmosphere (church across the street). Major downside is it’s located on the corner of a very busy and noisy street. And, the listing price may be high for the area as the house next door is in poor repair, literally starting to fall apart. Still, it shows what’s available if we want to boost the budget upwards. The renovation projects would be do-able (add shower and laundry room to partial downstairs bathroom and expand both into a small eating nook, paint and/or update upstairs windows). Central air already installed is a big plus.

We spent several hours driving through the area and looking at small towns to see what services were available and just get a general feel of the area. In the late afternoon we headed back to South Bend to have a quiet dinner with Toby (carry-out pizza) before heading back to the hotel.

The next day (Wednesday, May 9th) we headed west; the plan was to meet daughter Felicity and her friends Kate and Ben in Madison. Fate had other plans, however.

On the way out of Indiana our Honda’s check engine light came on and the cruise control stopped working. We made a quick stop at a Honda shop and had a mechanic reset the light to get us on our way, but the light came on again several hours later as we were approaching Madison. Pam used her cell phone to locate and call a Honda dealership to schedule a service appointment, but it meant the car would not be available for our meeting with Felicity et al that evening.

I dropped Pam, our luggage, and the dogs off at our hotel and drove to the shop. One of their courtesy drivers drove me to a Red Robin as I had not had dinner yet. While there the shop called and said they would need to keep the car overnight, but they could fix me up with a no-charge loaner so I could get back to the hotel – several miles away in Baraboo. The loaner was  a Honda Fit, small but adequate.

We rescheduled with Felicity, planning to meet her late Thursday evening along with her friend Kate (Kate’s husband, Ben, would not be able to attend on the rescheduled date).

So Thursday, May 10, we took the morning off, basically (good opportunity to do laundry). I drove to the Honda shop around noon and ransomed the car ($475.00 bill) and drove back to Baraboo. We had lunch, packed up the dogs, and headed for Whitewater.

Pam had arranged to meet with friends John and Carol Holford in Whitewater for a short visit. Dinner with a few of Pam’s previous co-workers [from the Whitewater school system] was on the schedule for a bit later in the evening, also in Whitewater, so we did not have to drive between the two appointments.

Dinner (below) was attended by (left to right) Virgil Miller, Pam, Mike Van Eimeren, Sue Mealy, and Carol Holford.

The night was not over, though. After we finished dinner in Whitewater, we drove up to Madison to meet with Felicity and her high-school friend Kate. Meeting at a Culver’s restaurant for a late evening treat, we had a chance to see both girls for a quick update on what’s happening with them.

Felicity stays in constant touch with Pam but it had been a while since we had seen Kate. We have known her since Felicity’s high school days and we took the opportunity to catch up on her news – she and her husband are in the process of buying a new home.

Back to the hotel for the night and get ready for the busy Friday that was on tap.

The agenda called for staying in the La Crosse area and getting together with Pam’s brothers Larry and Craig (plus Craig’s wife Dianne) and cousin Cheri Nindorf and her husband Bob. Pam’s sister Becky attended as well, resulting in all four of the “Paroubek kids” being together for an evening. We packed up and headed for La Crosse.

As the gathering was scheduled for the evening we took a morning short loop through eastern Iowa after crossing the Mississippi River at Prairie Du Chien. (This is a pleasant area and could be an area of interest for properties that might come on the market.)

Heading north on Hwy 35 (the river road – Wisconsin side), we arrived at our motel in Holmen, unpacked for the night, and got ready for the evening’s fish fry and gathering. This event, held in Pam’s home town of Onalaska, turned out well with good conversation and an excellent fish dinner. Later we ended up at Larry’s apartment for additional catching-up.

Pictured is our dinner group. (Photo by our waiter.)

Left to right: (front) Bob Nindorf, Cheri Nindorf, Becky, Pam, Dianne, (back) Craig, Larry, Jerry.

At Larry’s apartment the four kids pose for a photo:

Full of good food and caught up with the latest family news, we headed back to our hotel for the  night.

Saturday morning had one more social event on the itinerary; meeting with another of Pam’s friends, this one from her high school days. Pam had met Sally Eglinton in high school; Sally was a librarian and had conducted Pam’s freshman orientation. Later Pam worked with Sally’s husband Ken on Prom arrangements. (Ken passed away about two years ago.) A bond was formed and Pam and Sally + Ken remained in contact over the years. (Sally attended our wedding then gave birth to her first child, Shannon, a week later.)

Meeting in a small cafe in Hokah, Minnesota, we ate a late breakfast and caught up with some of the news. Pam’s sister Becky was able to join us, which made the morning extra special.

As a side note, I really enjoy eating in these small town places. The food is good, prices reasonable, and the places reflect the working class nature of the towns they are in. Here are a couple of photos taken in the cafe:

This stop pretty much concluded the social part of our trip; from now on we would be looking at more homes and areas that might be potential retirement homes or areas.

After leaving Hokah we set out to drive an extended route in eastern Iowa. Traveling south we visited Keokuk (right on the Mississippi) along with Ft. Madison and other river towns. Ft. Madison contains some nice older homes and offers plenty of services but the houses are on steeper lots with narrow roads. Definitely an area to keep under consideration.

Now heading west toward home, one place we stopped to look at was in Keosauqua. Listed at $57,000.00, this place is on the edge of town and offers a bit larger-than-average lot. The property includes an older two car garage.

I walked around the place and then called the realtor but we were unable to view the inside as the owner required a 24 hours notice to set an appointment. We were told it does have a bed and bath on the main floor, two of our check-off items. The realtor said she will make a video tour of the inside and post it to You Tube and let us know when it was ready to view.

Like all houses in this price range, it needs repairs. As long as these are not structural we can deal with those types of projects. Older houses were built before building codes were in place; one of the biggest issues is finding out what you have to work with since each builder was left to do whatever they wanted to do. Project labor costs are generally higher for these homes than they would be for a more modern place.

Here are a couple photos of the property:

We will keep an eye one this one although its rural location would mean a drive to a larger town for most services. The low asking price is the main attraction.

After leaving Keosauqua we began the long drive home to Colorado. Arriving home early Tuesday afternoon we began unloading the car, doing laundry, going through accumulated mail, and taking care of other chores such as mowing the lawn. I had taken Wednesday off so we could do our grocery shopping and decompress after the long trip.

Finally, one property that I did not put in sequence: the church in Rossville. We had high hopes for this one but were disappointed.

Not with the church itself, but the surrounding neighborhood was just the pits. One side featured a burned-out house, another had abandoned trucks sitting on the lot. Other neighbors lived in old and run-down trailers. We just came to the conclusion that even if we liked the church, the neighborhood (unlikely to change in our lifetimes) would not be a place we would care to call home.

A few trip statistics:

Trip duration: 10 days. Miles driven: 4,543. Most expensive gasoline: $3.01. Cheapest: $2.33. Average price per gallon: $2.75. 132.8 gallons of gasoline were purchased for a total cost of $365.21. Average miles per gallon: 34.2. (Hundreds of miles with air conditioning running.)

One place of note: The Corn Crib restaurant in Shelby, Iowa. Good food, fast service, reasonable prices. We stopped there on the way east and liked it so much I made it a point to stop there again on our way home.

We brought our housing requirements into sharper focus this trip. A couple observations: 1. We are not flatlanders. Whatever we buy will have to be in an area of rolling hills with trees. 2. We will be on the edge of or very near a town, not out in the boonies. 3. Town character matters. We prefer something that offers some cultural opportunities such as concerts, theater, and other social events.

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

Pam’s Five Cents Worth:

General observations must begin with the deterioration of the Motel 6 chain.  They accept pets (more than two) and have recently redecorated, which includes removing the carpet and changing to scrubbable flooring (goodbye in-carpet nasties).  But the poor general maintenance (ride ’em cowboy toilet seats) and lack of exterior upkeep (particularly no picking up of lawn garbage) of this low-cost chain shows it is heading downhill rapidly (in all states we visited).  Also, if one wants a fridge and microwave in the room, this must usually be requested in advance and merits an extra charge. (That the dog walking areas are filled with poop reflects more on the self-centered dog owning population than the Motel 6.)

Travel with three doggies in a Honda Accord is a bit of an adventure.  Once we all got into the rhythm of rest stops, night time routines, and morning routines, the trip was smoother. Having the three pups along was a trial run for future road trips and a test for the animals.  (Two of the animals tested at “B” grades, one was a [generous] “C-.”) However, when our room contained two beds, one of them was for the dogs:

The low point of the trip was certainly the automotive repair, but at least we didn’t break down in Chicagoland. Schedule adjustments were not that difficult and the cost of the repair would have been necessary whether on the road or if it had happened in Colorado. I started using my cell phone for texting, checking on house listings, and pulling up maps to the street level — this is new for me — and this skill was useful in dealing with the auto repair.

It was distressing to see all the road kill in the Midwest, but amazingly, on one southeastern Iowa side road a magnificent bald eagle was feasting on one such hapless road kill animal. Who would have thought we’d see an eagle up close, and in rural Iowa?

Regarding the house hunt, the semi-urban areas of southern Michigan had a better vibe for us than the seemingly-endless farm fields of Iowa.  Iowa properties around the Mississippi River might be the exception – I do enjoy my rivers. Overall, it struck me that the hunt is not just about the house.  It is also a search for a retirement lifestyle. Farm fields ain’t it. We need some “culture.”

Happy Trails.

This Saturday we undertook a project that was only marginally on the radar; getting our Cottonwood tree trimmed.

Already this Spring windy weather has caused several larger dead branches to launch out of the Cottonwood and onto the roof. So when a tree guy was working on our neighbor’s trees, Pam approached him to ask how much it would cost to remove a dead snag at the top of the Cottonwood and trim back some of the branches that extended over our roof. The guy, whose name is Charlie, came over and took a look and gave us a quote I thought was very competitive (factoring in we would handle the clean-up).

On Saturday morning I fired up the chipper to help with this effort. Other than having to repair one electrical connector the chipper appears to have wintered just fine. I had the battery in the garage and had put it on a charger from time to time. After the minor repair on the chipper the engine fired up OK.

Around 9:00 a.m. Charlie showed up with his truck and equipment and proceeded to start the trim work. Sadly the tree was in worse shape than we had suspected as it is suffering from a fungus unique to Cottonwood trees. Charlie cut the tree back pretty severely to find non-affected wood. We hope the tree can survive this surgery and come back with more green in the next few years. This hope is not merely aesthetic – that tree provides major shade for the front of the mobile home and without that shade our energy costs will soar.

The chips  became mulch for a corner of the property (near the Mary Lynn Memorial Garden) as well as a muddy area beside where the RV trailer is currently parked. Wood big enough to salvage as firewood was stacked near the back deck and will be added to the firewood total next fall.

While not a project we really had “on the books,” it’s satisfying to have this particular job done. We’ll miss the canopy and shade this summer for sure. (But repairing a tree-damaged roof would not have been fun either.) Charlie cut out the hollow part where birds had nested in the past so a few birds will miss the tree as well.

It was an energetic way to begin the weekend. Neither of us is used to hours of continuous clean-up activity so there were a few aches when we got up Sunday morning. Good thing there were no big plans for Sunday!

Note: Due to scheduling conflicts there will be no posts for the next few weeks.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Fields and the kids will all tell you I love to trim trees, sometimes drastically.  But the amount that had to be cut off that Cottonwood about made me sick.  Just as with any surgery, the “patient” will either survive or die.  Several other Cottonwoods that had been planted in the neighborhood at the same time as ours have already succumbed to the disease. Bummer.

A kitten died this week, a little orange and white male from the second litter born this month.  That leaves the first-time mother with only one kitten – baby Solette, a female black and white. Solette seems to be holding her own at present. All four kittens (and mom) from the first litter are doing fine.

Happy Trails.

With no major (or even minor) projects going on right now, this post will be a collection of updates and short notes about what happened this week. Family news will be front and center.

One of my aunts, Aunt Helen, died last Saturday, the 14th. I could not get back to her funeral but have great memories of her and my Uncle Al. (Uncle Al passed away years ago.) Many years ago, Al and Helen hosted our wedding shower. In my youth, I attended many family parties at their farm. Aunt Helen was a gentle soul who liked to cook and bake. She was a huge help in the family dairy operation.

Uncle Al was my mother’s brother and Aunt Helen my father’s sister; a brother and sister from one family married a brother and sister from another family. This double-bond meant my 4 cousins, myself and my 3 siblings had an unusual situation — all of us had the same family tree. One of the cousins, Sue, and I are the same age and we became good friends during high school.

In other family news, niece Caitlin’s Cake Plus Size Boutique earned a mention on a Minneapolis Reader’s Choice TV show. Caitlin is working hard to make this store a success and we wish her the best of luck in “year one” as a small businesswoman!

Daughter Felicity cut her hair short, the first time in a decade or more. She performs with the Northwest Harmony Sweet Adeline singing group and they are getting ready for the spring competition. The costuming calls for hair “off the neck.” In past years Felicity had put her hair up in a bun but this year decided it would be a lot easier to have the hair short and not have to fool with it. Felicity sent a photo; she is getting into her performance costume with the help of one of her friends:

Son Toby has been promoted to a Team Leader position at the casino loading dock. This means he had a bump up in income but has to commute to a new worksite. He recently bought a newer used car and seems to be happy with the new wheels. We plan to visit him during our swing into the Midwest next month.

Closer to home, my mother  and brother Jon are making arrangements to sell  a large parcel of land my mother owns, almost 40 acres. Proceeds from this sale should take care of some bills, cover the cost of a few home updates, and provide funds to help cover the cost of Mom’s in-house care. So far a verbal agreement has been reached but the paperwork still needs to be drawn up and processed.

Spring has arrived on the high desert, although we did see snow flurries last Friday. Temps today are in the low 70s. I mowed the lawn yesterday, and the cherry tree is humming with honeybees, more than I have ever seen before.

I recently took my ATV for a spin and came across an old-style pumping rig, now out of operation.

These old rigs were powered by natural gas driven engines; the engines ran off the natural gas coming out of the well. A few of these rigs (none in operation) can be found here and there on Wild Horse Mesa. However, at least one that I used to visit has been removed and one wonders how long these others will survive. Not far from this old well was a spot where a well had been capped and all equipment removed.

I’m going to include an odd-ball photo; this appears to be the way well output was measured in the past. The chart paper in this instrument recorded the output of a well on a 2-week graph:

I had never seen one of these so thought I would take a photo of it. I don’t know which is odder (more odd?) — the device itself or my wanting to take a picture of it. (?)

Both the water dispenser and new vacuum, both mentioned in a previous post, are working out well. The amount of gallon water jug plastic we recycle has dropped dramatically and it is convenient to have the water available. We purchased a 2nd 5-gallon jug so we can always have a full one on hand.

That about sums up the news I have for this week.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I interrupted a birth-in-progress in the garage on Wednesday.  Another one of the feral cats [who overwintered in the garage] decided to come “home” to have her litter.  This cat is a first-time mom and fairly clueless; I actually had to trap her, using her two newborn kittens as “bait,” to get her to stay with her babies. I was NOT about to hand feed kittens (every four hours for two weeks, then less frequently until six weeks). My neighbor agreed to take care of the now two feral litters — in addition to the other cats and the house — while we are on vacation.  Here’s hoping another pregnant feral does not show up.

Next week I assemble house listings in the Midwest and chart a course for the upcoming road trip vacation, a zig-zag course that includes family-and-friend visits plus house drive-bys. A few recently-listed homes/locations to consider:   601 South Main Street, Fairfield, Iowa (currently for sale by owner)   and  104 Main Street, Horton, Michigan.  I am more than a little bummed by the high price of property taxes on homes in or near small towns.  Rural area taxes seem a bit easier to take.

Happy Trails.

We have accumulated a few photos of pets and Pam’s “project.” This week I’ll look into a few topics related to these photos.

First up are a couple recent photos of our oldest dog, Blondie. She has always had a habit of sitting up on her hind legs:

We call this her “prairie dog” or “circus dog” stance and Blondie assumes it quite often.  I’ve only seen one other dog do this, but it must be more common than that. She can hold this pose for up to a minute.

And the other evening Blondie was taking a nap on the couch when I approached with my camera:

I don’t know if she was giving me the “evil eye” for disturbing her or exactly what that expression is supposed to mean. She went back to sleep a few minutes later.

Pam started working on cleaning the closet in the third bedroom, a room currently housing cats, cat pens and collected cat stuff. Photo albums that Pam had assembled for Felicity’s childhood-through-high-school-graduation years were unboxed after seventeen years of storage and relocated. The goal (at some point) is to permanently deliver these albums to Felicity in the Pacific Northwest.

Pam says she will be going through closets for the rest of the summer.

Yesterday we had snow flurries; last night ice formed on the back deck cat’s water dish. We hope the flowers and tree buds didn’t get whacked too hard by these cold temps. Today is bright but chilly. A few cold days – low of 24 is forecast for next Tuesday – are upcoming next week. That’s Spring in Colorado, last week we enjoyed several days in the 70s.

The town did turn on our irrigation water system but may shut it down again to avoid damage from  freezing. The ground is dry, even with some rain last week, and mountain snow levels  (which affect our summertime water supply) are down almost 20 percent from normal. It may be a hot and dry year for the high desert.

On tap for today: Swap the snow blade for the mower deck on the John Deere garden tractor. Grocery shopping later in the day. Weed-wacking around the edges of the lawn, garage, and house. Change oil and filter in the Honda. All pretty routine tasks.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

By request, included below are photos of Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden.  At present, 90+ tulips have broken ground, about 25% are currently in bloom.  I did plant early, middle, and late bloomers to try to extend the color in that bed. Several iris plants overwintered in the same bed for variety.

Spring – the time of new growth and new birth. Mother Nature had another Spring surprise for me last weekend.  After a very stormy and windy night Saturday into Sunday, I checked feral cat feeders on Sunday morning for food supply levels. When I heard tiny mewing sounds, I knew the feeder area in the garage was now the home of newborn kittens – somewhere.  Four babies and Mom Scoobie were in one of the cat bedding crates.  Moving the little family from the garage — inside to the third bedroom — was a bit of a production number, but finally all was satisfactorily accomplished.  I wasn’t planning on foster litter #29 (or maybe any litters this summer – ha, ha on me) until after returning from our planned trip to the Midwest in early May. Luckily one of my neighbors, who feeds our cats and watches the house when we are on vacation, is comfortable feeding and cleaning up after a feral mom cat and litter.

Happy Trails.

I’m feeling better. Apparently the reaction I had to the new med (gemfibrozil) was a series of muscle spasms in my lower back. More than a week after discontinuing the med I still have a back ache; it’s not severe enough to keep me from going to work and is getting less and less noticeable as the days go by. Won’t go there again!

I was able to finish the shower faucet repair. I replaced the fitting that the shower head pipe fits into; I am not sure if the old fitting went bad or had just worked loose. At any rate, I replacing the fitting and tube that runs from the shower head to the faucet assembly. This  resulted in a non-leaking installation. We are glad to have the main shower back in operation!.

Here are a few photos of various plumbing bits and pieces involved with the repair.

When I removed the old line I had tied a cord to the fitting (from the shower side) and pulled the old line out the access hole. I then attached the new line and pulled the cord to get the fitting back up behind the shower and back through the shower head opening. This actually worked better than I expected.

This closes out the “shower from hell” episode; the new faucet does not drip and works smoother than the unit it replaced. Even with the expense of specialized tools and parts it was cheaper to do this myself as opposed to calling a plumber.

Today is wet and overcast; we are getting some much needed rain but it does put a bit of a crimp in outdoor activities. Several tulips are blooming and trees, including the cherry tree and lilacs, are budding out. I hope we don’t get a late freeze as we would like to see as many flowers as possible this spring.

Some strong winds did come through and I had to get on the roof to remove some dead branches that had blown down from one of our cottonwood trees. I’ll try to get those to the compost area today along with the first of the grass clippings from the lawn.

Pam has completed the first week of her “retirement” and worked on several projects both inside and outside the house. Inside she started going through closets and sorting out stuff  (like photo albums, some to be delivered to the kids) and it looks like closet organization + recycle will be an ongoing project for the summer. Outside jobs included working on the corner of our lawn near the new tulip bed. She installed some lawn edging and transplanted some hollyhock plants, while also continuing to remove mulch from beds around the house. Pam has a list of projects to keep her busy.

I’m getting used to commuting by myself. Some mornings I really don’t feel like getting out of bed when the house is dark and quiet, however.

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

Pam’s Four Cents Worth:

The tulip bed is at about 90% bulbs germinated, but the tulips that have started to flower are pygmy-sized.  I’m holding off on photos of Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden until the tulips fill in and grow taller. Hopefully, both will happen after this rain we’ve been enjoying.

Being OCD, I decided to make a weekly list of things to do to guide me through my first weeks and months of “unemployment.” I feel perfectly free to pick and choose what I want to do on this list; if something doesn’t get done then something moves to next week.  (This week, one outside project needed to be moved forward due to wind and weather.) I do believe the closet purge project will be ongoing, but no pressure.

I make sure to find opportunities to read, play the uke, and spend time outside with the dogs. Not to mention sleeping later in the morning.  Some transitions are funny, like realizing I can wear all my clothes now and not keep some of them “nice” for work.  I wonder if I will forget how to apply makeup in a few months?

While monitoring online houses for sale (the retirement house hunt continues), I found a stunning mansion along the Mississippi River at 11 Park Place Keokuk, Iowa.

More square footage and taxes than we would ever consider, but it ticks me off the price of this lovely historic property (with a view of Lock & Dam 19) is about the same as this dumpy trailer we now live in.  Gr-r-r-r-r.

Happy Trails.

 

This post includes news on health issues; it might get boring.

I am on medication for Type-2 diabetes and it was time for my annual check-up. The doctor decided to change my prescription a bit and added a triglyceride-reducing compound called gemfibrozil. I had a severe reaction to this addition; after three days of discontinuing any medication I can barely walk, even after taking a prescription pain medication that consists of Tylenol and codeine. Sitting is not too bad but getting up and down is difficult — and forget about bending over for anything. I am hurting and it shows. I’ve missed a couple days of work so far and may miss more.

The forced idleness is also hard to take as there is so much to be done this time of year. I have not finished “the shower from hell;” once I got the compression ring in place a leak developed behind the shower head and I have not had a chance to pull it out and complete the repair. For another week we are using the small “coffin” shower in the other bathroom.

The lawn is about ready for a first mowing; it gets “tufts” that are longer and makes the lawn look a bit ragged until I can get it mowed.

Last weekend I had moved the RV trailer, chipper, and utility trailer from our neighbor’s yard to ours and all items need attention to get them ready for summer use. The RV is sitting out on our driveway, partially blocking access to the garage so getting a car in and out is a bit of a challenge. I am frustrated that I can’t get out and work on these tasks!

The other big news is that Pam has (more or less) retired. Or, as she says, is now “unemployed” until she applies for her pension at the end of the year. Her final day of work at the community college was last Thursday. Over the course of her dozen-plus years she evaluated 17,029 incoming student transcripts. Her section took Pam out to lunch and presented her with a few small gifts. My guess is that Pam will be greatly missed in the next several weeks!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

It feels mighty strange realizing I don’t have to pack all my weekend activities into the weekends any more. I suspect having the luxury of time will be a learning curve for me.

Felicity has suggested I consider joining her in England this Fall for a vacation, to dovetail with a several-month house sit she has arranged.  This prospect is very attractive, but highly dependent on how the new budget I’ve figured out in theory actually works in fact. Still, I sometimes get caught up in “what ifs” and daydream about locations I might like to see on a return visit to the U.K.  On one of my internet searches, I came across a lovely high tea table (in Scotland!), complete with champagne.  Love it. Something to ponder.

Happy Trails.

 

I have several small items to report on this week, including a plumbing horror story and receiving two new household items.

Last time I noted I needed to change out the tub/shower faucet in our main bathroom. I knew this would be a nasty job, as the working area is very small and this place uses plastic plumbing (which requires specialized tools I do not own).

For starters, access to the back of the shower in the main bathroom is through a closet in the master bathroom:

In this photo you can see more of the plastic lines and fittings:

Note that in this photo the line running up to the shower head is disconnected. The reason:  I had to order a crimp tool and crimp rings to make the connection water-tight. I tried other methods, including small hose clamps, but could not keep the top fitting from leaking. The crimp tool and rings are on order from Amazon and should be here in a few days. Hopefully I will be able to finish this job once those items have arrived.

In the interim we have been using the shower in the master bathroom. This one we call “The Coffin” as it isn’t much more than an RV shower, very small. It needed some work (hasn’t been  used except for storage in years), particularly on the hot water side, but thankfully I’d accumulated enough small parts to make the repair. I hope in my next post I’ll be able to report a completion to this whole episode!

A few other upgrades were completed this week. We’ve been talking about getting a bulk water dispenser for awhile, to help save costs and reduce the amount of plastic we recycle. Pam uses bottled water for a variety of cooking purposes, plus as drinking water for the indoor cats and dogs. I drink bottled water while commuting and when I’m out on ATV and motorcycle trips. Bottled jug water runs about a dollar a gallon (and includes a lot of plastic recycle), refilled bulk water is thirty-nine cents a gallon locally.

Looking on-line, I found a unit that appeared to would fit our needs. Brand is Primo and the dispenser is available from a few different sources; Pam had a discount coupon from Bed, Bath, and Beyond so we ordered the Primo through them. Our local grocery store carries the empty jugs (5 gallon) so I bought one and filled it. Here is what the working dispenser looks like:

We calculate the savings in water cost will pay for the dispenser in 3 – 4 months.

Another household upgrade involved replacing our aging Hoover vacuum cleaner. While it still works, and we still have a few bags for it, the vac is definitely on the way out. Pam has commented — more than once! — that she would like to try a Dyson [animal hair] vac because of the amount of dog and cat hair that accumulates in our house. (3 dogs, 6 cats) Newegg Company, known for their lines of electronic and computer gear, put out a sales bulletin that featured  refurbished Dyson vacs so I ordered one. This is one of the “ball” vacuums (a bagless model) that Dyson is known for:

In its first use the Dyson picked up quite a bit of material and seems to be easy to maneuver around furniture. Here’s hoping this investment gives us good service for a long time.

A rain/snow mix is in the forecast for today along with several upcoming nights below freezing, but generally the weather is typical for this time of year and during the next week conditions will improve. Buds are beginning to appear on the lilac trees and I look forward to seeing those blossoms, providing a late freeze does not wipe them out (as it unfortunately did last year).

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Woo-hoo — the 100 tulip bed (AKA Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden) now has about 60-65 bulbs total poking through. Much as I suspected, when I walk to that end of the lawn to check on bulb growth, it usually triggers a wave of sadness. I miss my friend and frequently ponder her loss.  Grieving is a tricky thing.

Happy Trails.