We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! For us this kicks off the holiday season and means we will be putting out our holiday decorations shortly. (For those who might have missed out electronic Thanksgiving card this year you can view it here.)

Even before this, though, we had a bit of a treat as the Capitol Christmas Tree made a stop in Glenwood Springs on November 17th. En-route from Idaho to Washington DC, the transport schedules several stops along the way and this year we were the beneficiaries of one such stop.

The day was a bit rainy and cold but that didn’t stop people from enjoying the visit.

Christmas tree transport truck

Tree inside, partially decorated

Crowd enjoys the visit.

Note the snow on the slopes in the background and the fire pit off to the right. The day was a bit raw but that didn’t dampen any enthusiasm.

We plan to put up our outside lights and decorations in the next day or two; this year we may add a few new items to our aging collection. We don’t go overboard but do enjoy having the lights on when we get home from work.

A different milestone was reached this past week; our 2001 Honda Accord rolled over 400,000 miles. We bought the vehicle in 2004 and it had just under 64,000 miles on it then. The Honda has served us well over the last 336,000 miles.

Honda hit 400,000 miles on November 23

The car is beginning to show its age in small ways: the doors occasionally lock for no apparent reason, the door lock switch on the driver’s side does not work, and the rubber gaskets around the doors and trunk have a few gaps. Nothing major and the car keeps providing our daily commute. We’re glad we spent the money to replace the transmission at about 384,000 miles.

It’s been busy for us at work; in my case the search continues for an assistant without much luck. This has put additional stress on me to cover the 4 locations in my organization. I did interview one person but lack of knowledge and no experience ruled her out. The search continues. Pam has also been busy; applications for the spring semester have been arriving in increasing numbers and along with them come transcripts that she needs to evaluate. Both of us would have appreciated a bit of down time, but no!

The guy who bought my snowmobile paid me but has yet to pick up the sled; he indicated he will be coming by this Sunday with a trailer and it up then. I will be sad to see it go.

Otherwise there is not a lot of other activity around the house, at least in the evenings. Yard work has come pretty much to an end, too dark at night to do anything anyway.

Here and there are small victories in life. Our corner street light finally got fixed after I called the energy company – twice. The first call was canceled “due to lack of information” but I gave the same information when I called in to check on the repair order status. Pam happened to be home when the serve tech came out and she reports the guy appeared to be quite unhappy about having to make the service call. I guess we should just be glad the light is working again.

Along those same lines I finally (since June) got credit against my insurance deductible for my c-pap machine which is used to treat my sleep apnea. First the insurance company could not find me in the system. I resubmitted all the paperwork and eventually they had to admit I existed, but they denied the claim citing the need for more information.  After another round of phone calls the company grudgingly admitted some of the expenses but not the cleaning supplies; those were classed as “comfort and convenience items” and my claim for those expenses was denied. (They also asked how much would it have cost to rent the machine? Really?) Oh well…I received credit for a partial claim; that’s the best I can hope for. The money applied toward my deductible and at least I gained a moral victory in the end. Those insurance companies are definitely run by Ferengi.

That about brings me up-to-date for this week. Next time I may have some yard decoration photos so share. Oh, and I did get the snow blade and wheel weights on the John Deere garden tractor since my last post, just in case anyone is paying attention!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Kiddo Update: Toby called to say he’s picked up another part-time job (in addition to his waiter gig) in South Bend.  Felicity arrives back in the USA December 1st.

House Hunt Update:  Zero progress.  Information regarding a water supply line to that house in Cedaredge (mentioned last post) resulted in news we would have to pay for the line to go under a state highway to reach that location.  Nope.

Happy Trails.

Thanksgiving is next Thursday and Pam and I will have a few days off. We’re looking forward to the break even though we have little planned for the holiday.

Normally Pam puts a roast in the crock pot but our pot died earlier this year; the ceramic pot broke. Pam ordered a new pot but it is back-ordered so we may not have it by Thanksgiving this year. Oh well…on to Plan B for preparing Thanksgiving dinner (whatever that may be…).

As for the past week since my last post, there are a few points of interest. We had our first snow of the season, very light, but nighttime temps have now been below freezing for several days and it looks like that trend will continue. Winter is arriving here and has already arrived in the high country; several mountain towns report a foot of snow or more fell during this last storm. Time for me to take the mower deck off the John Deere garden tractor and put on the snow blade, wheel weights, and chains. That is my task for today.

I’ve sold my snowmobile; the guy is supposed to be by later today and pick it up. I had really enjoyed riding for several years but have done little riding over the last couple of years so it’s better to move the sled along rather than keep it stored behind the house. The proceeds will go toward a brush chipper which will aid in cleaning The Lot up at Sanderling.

I get out with the ATV fairly frequently, which somewhat offsets selling the snowmobile. Last month I joined the Western Slope ATV Association and attended my first club ride yesterday. (Here is a link to the Club web site.) The ride was based out of De Beque, convenient for me! We went into some of the new space I had mentioned in my last post. While the scenery is not all that great I did see an eagle (photo did not turn out well) and passed a few year-round springs I didn’t know were in the area.

The group ride also passed an old homestead site, interesting in that the cabin was made mostly out of stone.

Stone cabin homestead, Wild Horse Mesa

Not only the material, but the construction is unusual for this part of the country. The walls are double; an outside wall and an inside wall with the gap filled with rubble. This is old country construction that I have not seen in western Colorado. Would be interesting to know the history of this place! Just to the right of the photo there is a small stream that appears to run year-round; this supplied water. Best guess is that sheep were run in the area which contains a lot of high plains grass. Cattle may have been run in the area but the consensus was more to sheep than cattle.

Here is a photo of a couple of us who made the ride. This was taken on a branch off the main trail, that goes up a sand – covered hill (my “sand dune”) and emerges at the top of a rock formation.

Two riders plus Sophia the dog

Keith is in the middle of the photo while Steve, with Keith’s dog Sophia, is at the left. Sophia rides with Keith on some ATV trips.

From this vantage point you can see the “De Beque Arch”, a hole in one of the local sandstone rocks.

The De Beque Arch

De Beque is a very small town and this is a very small arch.

The ride was fairly long, almost 60 miles, and did not require 4-wheel drive during any part but there were a couple of places where low range came in handy. The snow we encounterd made the main route muddy so we detoured onto less-used trails that were more grassy and traversed more rock shelves. This approach worked out well and gave us a variety of terrain to ride through. It was a nice way to spend several hours this past Saturday morning.

When I returned home Pam was outside with the dogs doing some leaf raking to tidy the last bits of the yard, so I pitched in until that job was finished. A final batch of leaves was used as mulch for the tree peony and various columbine plants. Anything left over was mulched and taken to my dumping area. By the time we finished the sun was setting and it was time to call it a day. As usual it was a busy Saturday, with lots of outside time and activity.

A comment on the house hunt: It’s been a week of doing some background checking on the house we thought might be a possibility (I mentioned this house in my last post). One concern is the cistern; I looked into the possibility of getting city water (Cedaredge) into the place. Turns out that’s not an option, and even if it was the total cost to connect to city water lines would be over $16,000.00. There is another water supplier in the area, the City of Orchard Mesa, and they are doing some research to see if they could connect to that parcel. I hope to hear back from them next week. Water in Colorado is always an issue. If domestic water to that location in Cedaredge is that expensive (a well would also be around $10 – $12K) then this house is out of the running (even though we are attracted to the lot and stream). Watch this space.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I had an adventure in pet care this week when I removed Blondie’s stitches.  After all these years of cats and dogs, I’ve never done stitch removal before.  Luckily it went well; Blondie was very patient with me.  I don’t do needles/injections either, although as my pets age who knows but that might be an activity I need to add to my skill set.

Our house hunt financing window may be closing.  The Federal Reserve meets in December, when home mortgage rates are predicted to go higher.  With the new administration due to hit D.C. in January, investments are volatile, which will impact one of the funds we plan to use for the down payment.  I kinda figured we should’ve had an offer in play by election day this month, and it isn’t as if we haven’t been looking continually.  Figures.

Happy Trials.

My comments this time are going to cover a range of topics, including the weather, Fall chores, the election, ATV rides, and our house hunt.

Weather:
I must say that Colorado’s October weather, and so far November, has been excellent. Although a few mornings have seen frost on some surfaces, the daytime temps have been in the 60s with no snow so far. This has made our weekends very pleasant. The soil is getting pretty dry, though, and could use some moisture.

Fall chores:
The leaf season is nearly over; what remains are a few straggling leaves that persist in clinging to their branches. While there may be another weekend or two requiring some raking, the bulk of the season is completed. This is OK with me; while I enjoy outside work, raking leaves gets a little boring after a while. Fortunately I have the leaf vac/mulcher (which got a new catch bag this year) that helps the cleaning process a great deal.

The Election:

Kind-of sums up our attitude.

ATV rides:

The weather has been so pleasant that I have been able to get in a few more local ATV rides. Nothing special; I ride west out of De Beque into the Wild Horse Mesa area. However, on my last ride I found a gated trail, previously locked, is now open for public use. Apparently the Forest Service came to an agreement with a private landowner to allow access across a small portion (.1 mile) of the landowner’s property. This agreement  opens a huge area for future riding and exploration.

On my last trip I took these photos:

Moon rise over a promontory

De Beque Canyon / Colorado River overlook

As long as the weather remains fairly warm I’ll keep riding.

House Hunt:

Last weekend we did a drive-by of several houses in the Cedaredge area. Of the 4 we looked at, one may have possibilities. Located on 3+ acres and with a stream going through, the lot is appealing. The house is a two-story plus basement, which means steps, but it does have bedrooms and a bath on the main floor. Drawbacks: coal boiler for the hot water heating system, a cistern for water, and no garage. (There is a pad poured for a garage or shed.)  For us, the water is the biggest issue; we would have to put in a well or see if city water was available as an option. The coal boiler would have to be replaced with a natural gas or propane boiler. Eventually a garage or carport would be needed. Right now we are waiting for our realtor to get us a plat map of the property. If we find another house or two in Cedaredge with possibilities, we’ll arrange to see the inside of this one too. No rush.

Kizer Creek home

Footbridge over Kizer Creek

Jerry checks out deck

While the creek is not large it produces a lovely sound of water falling over rocks. The property itself is the biggest draw of this place; it remains to be seen if the inside would be suitable for us, now and into the future.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Blondie’s surgery on Election Day went well — not a cancerous lump, although a fairly large mass was removed, and a steady recovery.  Now the oldest cat, London, is ailing.  A trip to the vet next week for him may need to be scheduled.  Our animals are in the process of “aging out.”  It makes me sad.

New house hunt areas to research include the Dolores area outside of Cortez, CO and Cascade/Green Mountain Falls outside of Colorado Springs.  The retirement house hunt has lasted a year already; good thing we started early.

Happy Trails.

Little of note has passed this past week. I have been working my typical Fall chores which consists mostly of raking leaves and a bit of yard work. Among other small tasks I moved the RV trailer over to our neighbor’s yard, where we have been able to park it for the last few winters. Other than that the week has been pretty quiet.

So…here are a few off-beat topics.

Bagger kit on JD tractor

The bagger kit (grass catcher) was my birthday present back in August. Designed for a different model tractor, I adapted the used kit to my rig. It works pretty well and speeds up lawn mowing. Previously I did not use the tractor on the lawn, as the dogs tracked the resulting grass clippings into the house; with the catcher in place this is no longer an issue.

I added a new gallery to my Galleries page; the Photo Wall gallery is a collection of some of my favorite photos. The Galleries page has been modified a bit to make it look a little better; headings centered and icons re-arranged a bit for better viewing.

Along those same lines I added the Easter 2016 e-card (electronic card) to my E-Card page. While I had included this card in a previous post I had neglected to add it to the page.  I’ll continue to tweak various web pages over the winter months to freshen them up a bit.

Rebuilt banker’s lamp

This banker’s lamp had been in our garage attic for over a decade before Pam encouraged me to get it out and repair it so she could use it when working at home. A new lamp holder and bulbs were procured and installed; the lamp now sees almost daily use. This is just another example of smaller projects that are getting attention these days.

At the office, my assistant of 3 years has taken a job with Amazon; he will be moving his family to Seattle to begin his new job. While I wish him the best, this development means I will be without an an assistant for a while — any new hire will require a great deal of training. This complicates my future for the next several months or longer; I am not looking forward to it. Just me and 145 fellow employees in four locations that need 24/7 computer support.

Later today we will be going on a house hunt drive-by; Pam has identified 4 potential homes, all in the Cedaredge area, that warrant taking a first look.

By my next post the elections will be over and we will have a new president-elect. Can’t wait for this cycle to be over, but then comes the aftermath — which may be just as bad as the election itself. I think our Founding Fathers would cringe and be ashamed at how the democratic process has degenerated into the mess we have today. For the record, I have long held that gerrymandering election districts – done by both parties – is the root cause of this degradation. (Gerrymandering is the formation of voting districts that specifically advantage one political party over another.) This practice has resulted in the gridlock of the political system that we have today. If we are to fix our system – which is broken – we will need to start with de-gerrymandering our states.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The groomer found a lump on Blondie this week; she is scheduled for lump removal on Election Day.  I always worry when my pets require operations, as it is one of my least favorite parts of having companion animals.

Time to pull out the Christmas music and see what I can play on the ukulele.  The uke is keyed the same as a guitar, so I am trying to see what songs in the guitar books I can play on the uke.  It’s a mental exercise – the chords are fingered differently between the two instruments.  I can almost feel my mind working through the conversions.

Tenor Ukulele

Happy Trails.

I had high hopes when we scheduled a 2nd visit to the Primrose Lane property that this might be “the one.” Well, it wasn’t.

This time the listing realtor was with us and managed to get the dogs into the back yard which allowed us to get into the house. We found the place arranged more like a split level than a ranch, with half the useable space in the lower basement section.

Steps to basement

This would not be bad except Pam, even after just a single trip up and down the relatively steep stairs, could feel the pull in her hips (bursitis). In essence, the upper area (around 1,250 square feet) would be the main living area and it was a bit small and had an awkward layout.

The upper bedrooms were dark, kitchen and bathrooms needed attention, and the fireplace faced the entry door, an arrangement that makes the fireplace an after thought rather than a focal point of the room. While the place had a few nice features, such as a bathroom just off the breezeway and the huge basement level with lots of extra storage, the list price is not justified and the house would require more work than we are willing to put in at that price point.

Here are a couple more photos of the house:

Basement bonus room. (Pool table comes with house.)

Kitchen

Pam checks back yard while our realtor stands at front entrance

In spite of the flaws I kind of like the place, but the reality is the upper level is just not what we are looking for in a retirement home. On to the next place.

We viewed another home on the same trip, this one closer to the city of Montrose on Jig Road. While it was neat and clean, it was also small (1,250 square feet) with a galley kitchen and little inside storage. A pole building, large lot, and nice finishes were part of the package. Price was more appropriate as well.

Jig Road home’s kitchen

Large yard has underground sprinkler system

Shop would be Jer’s man cave

Jig Road was updated and tidy but just too small for us, cats and dogs, and all the “stuff” we have. Had the built-in two-car garage been living space, this place would have been a real contender.

So the search goes on. Another listing has popped up in the same area as the Primrose Lane home (Cedaredge) and we may drive by and see if it warrants an inside visit. We are a bit bummed out at the moment after having such high hopes that one of the listings we visited would be “the one” but it was not to be, I guess.

There is not much else going on. Fall chores, a few maintenance items (such as getting RV anti-freeze in The Box, new spark plugs in the 8N Ford tractor) and other routine stuff take up my weekend time. I’ve created a new photo gallery titled Wild Horse Mesa which includes photos from various trips into that area (near De Beque).  As  we get deeper into Fall I hope to upgrade and refresh some of my web pages.

Honda follow-up…

Problem with the Honda, reported in my last post, turned out to be bad battery cable ends. The shop replaced these ($16.00 in parts, $60.00 labor for diagnosis and replacement) and the Honda has started faithfully since. Shop tested but did not find any problems with the battery or alternator. We hope that took care of it but I carry the jumper cables in the trunk now, just in case.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

For the most part, older homes (1970-1980 is now older, as are we!) without updates — featuring that expensive electric baseboard heat — seem to be a reoccurring theme in our house hunt. We have remarked on houses being unimaginative boxes [architecturally] as well.  Even a simple vault or cove ceiling would be a welcome feature.

It’s almost winter now, Sellers, get real on your prices.

Happy Trails.

There is quite a bit to cover this time, including our house hunt, Fall arriving, and miscellaneous happenings.

We went to view a house (more in a bit) and had problems with our Honda; when we arrived at the house to view, the car battery appeared to be dead. A friend of a friend who lives in the area, and his wife, came by to give us a jump start. On the way home the car died again and a passing motorist gave us another jump start. But wouldn’t you know…once at home the car started just fine! I have an appointment for the Honda  – at the shop that does all our automotive work- to have the electrical system checked out. I suspect the alternator, now with 396,000 plus miles on it, has worn-out brushes in it and is not charging the battery correctly. We will have the results by the next post.

The house hunt continues, this time in Cedaredge, about an hour from our home in De Beque. On paper the house at 16794 Primrose Lane has much of what we want; ranch style with two bedrooms on the main floor, a garage, 2.4 acre lot with a variety of mature trees, and an extra storage shed for my “stuff.” We decided to schedule a tour with our agent. (It was at this house that the Honda died.)

While we were waiting for our realtor to arrive, the lady of the house vacated the premises for the appointment but stopped to tell us her 4 dogs were in the house but were “very friendly” and would not be a problem. Not true, as it turned out. One of the pooches was very aggressive, ears flat and growling, and we never were able to get into the house despite Pam’s coaxing of the dogs to try and get them to relax.

There are no photos of the inside as the current renters are packing and the place is in disarray. We had really wanted to see the interior as the house includes a fireplace and a full and a half-bath on the main level. Another bed and full bath is in the basement. As a result of the dog’s attitude we walked around the outside of the house and looked into windows; built in the 80’s it is in need of a refresh. Still, what we were able to see led us to put this place on the “potential” list. We hope to get to see the inside once the renters (and their dogs + horses) have moved along.

Primrose House

Back yard

Equipment shed

A few plusses of the place are location in a very nice subdivision, no more than 10 minutes from the local grocery store, level lot, some views, quite a bit of fencing in place, and the original landscaping which included an underground sprinkler system (which probably needs repair.) It is listed over our price point but with winter coming on and the house empty the sellers might entertain a more reasonable offer.

It is obvious that any place we can afford is going to need work. The dilemma is not unique; do we spend more up-front for a place that need less work, or go to a lower price point and plan to spend more on projects? Given our age and a retirement income we are tending to go with the ‘less work’ approach, but the better quality houses are just that more expensive to where the mortgage payment is bigger than we would like. We are still waiting for the “You will know it when you see it” moment to happen, even after all the properties we have viewed.

On to other topics. This past weekend I removed the leaf mulcher from storage and began mulching Fall leaves. Windy conditions had blown quite a few leaves off the trees, enough to begin the Fall ritual of raking and mulching. As part of this Fall’s maintenance, Pam had me remove some dead limbs from our cottonwood tree; this cleaned it up a bit and it looks better. Some upper branches cannot be reached from a ladder and I may need, at some point, to rent a lift of some sort to finish the job. We do what we can with the tools at hand.

I did get my snowmobile running and listed it on Craig’s list. So far no hits but the ad has not been up very long. My search for a chipper continues, at this point, without any candidates in view.

2001 Yamaha Mountain Max 700

Last Sunday I took an ATV ride, perhaps the last of the season, on the top of Grand Mesa. We had driven past the trailheads many times but I had only ridden winter snowmobile trails up there, never any summer trails. Looking for a place closer to home to ride, I decided to give on of these trails a go.

It turns out there is quite a network of summer trails open to ATV riders. Most are old logging roads which don’t pass historic places such as old town sites or have any old structures along them, but they do go past quite a variety of alpine lakes and ponds, many man-made. I would classify the trails as pleasant. Some are snowmobile trails I had ridden in past winters; it was interesting to see them in their summer state.

There was one unusual wrinkle to these trails; many are open only to vehicles 50 inches wide or less. This rules out Jeeps and other full-size 4-wheel drive vehicles. I am used to riding through old mining areas where no restrictions apply. When I looked into this later it turns out the size restriction is, in fact, a weight restriction; the theory is that lighter vehicles cause less wear and tear on the trails, resulting in lower maintenance costs and less damage to the environment. It was nice not having to share the trails with big 4×4 rigs!

50″ restrictor gate

Green Mountain Trail #719

Autumn is upon us and summer has come to a close. Night time temps are dipping closer to freezing and it is dark in the mornings when the alarm goes off. Trips to Sanderling are done; leaf raking has begun, and I see Christmas-related ads beginning to appear. Now it is time for more relaxed weekends and hot apple cider on cool Saturday mornings. After another very busy summer, I can appreciate the more relaxed and less hectic grind.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Car problems, not too surprising as the Honda is old enough to be temperamental. House search problems – I must say, dogs left in the house for a viewing appointment is a new one.

Happy Trails.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was on vacation the week of October 3 – 7. During that time multiple tasks were finished, including: 1) Brought The Box home from The Lot, 2) Repaired the garage door, 3) Cut last of firewood, 4) Winterized the swamp cooler, 5) Put new filters in the furnace and vacuumed out the furnace vents, 6) Replaced an 8-foot section of our privacy fence after painting it with wood preservative, 7) Put new rear brake rotors on the Toyota, 8) Changed oil and filter in the Honda, 9) Painted the utility trailer bed and fenders after replacing some rivets in the fenders and replacing the tongue jack mount, 10) Washed the Toyota and the F-150 truck, 11) Mowed lawn, 12) Started winterizing The Box, 13) Took the window air conditioner our of the window and stored it, 14) Went into the garage attic, threw some stuff away, and swept the garage, 15) Cleaned and tested the Alladin brand kerosene heater I bought at a garage sale this summer (it works!), 16) Used our fuel point discount to buy 35 gallons of gasoline, 17) Was called into the office to work on an e-mail problem and fixed that (Web mail site would not start.) and finally 18) Worked on an old Banker’s lamp. Additionally, our friend Kathy came over and picked up the last of her firewood so that task really is done for the season.  And one morning I was able to build a fire in the fire pit and enjoy a cup of tea in front of it.

I need a vacation from my vacation.

And at that there are several projects I did not get to, including removing the leaf mulcher/shredder from storage and getting it ready to use this leaf season, starting the snowmobile and getting photos of it for the “For Sale” listing on Craig’s List and in the local paper, getting RV antifreeze in The Box’s water lines, and working on the Gilson lawn tractor that is normally my main snow plowing rig in the winter. (Needs to have the flywheel replaced.) I could use another several days off to get all this done!

The job I was least looking forward to was working on the garage door. Over the last couple of months the door was getting harder and harder to operate and the side rollers would come out of the rails. This was very frustrating plus not a little unsafe. I looked on-line to learn more about garage door maintenance and adjustment; the result of this (plus a visual inspection) was a diagnosis of worn or bad cable pulleys located at the top of the garage door frame. The pulleys attached to the door springs appeared to be OK.

The pulleys are not expensive (around $5.00 each) but have cables running over them; these are under some tension, less when the door is open, more when the door is closed. When the shop I called could not make it out on the appointed date I decided to take on the replacement myself.

Replacement pulley (stock photo.)

With the door propped open I was able to remove the old pulleys, one at a time, and replaced them with pulleys I had purchased at Home Depot. The tension on the cables was light and I was able to put the new pulleys in place without much trouble. One pulley was definitely bad; it would no longer rotate on its bearings. The other I replaced just to be on the safe side even though it seemed to be OK. While I had the ladder out I adjusted the top brackets to allow the top door panel to rest closer to the door frame, closing a gap which should help keep the garage a little warmer in the winter. (It also looks better.) I was able to move two small brackets to new locations which enabled the door locking mechanism to work for the first time. I lubricated all the pulleys and rollers; the result is a door that works better now than at any time during our occupancy of the place, now over 10 years. In fact you have to be careful closing the door so that it does not come down too fast. All in all this turned out to be a very successful repair job and I was relieved it went as well as it did.

Top door cable pulley (upper left) and spring pulley; I replaced both top door pulleys. (Stock photo.)

Of the other jobs not much to be said; replacing the 4 foot by 8 foot privacy fence panel was the hardest due to the panel’s weight. The old panel had pickets that were curling up or broken and needed to be replaced. Changing out the entire panel was the easiest way to take care of it. Many of the other jobs – swamp cooler, window AC, furnace – are routine jobs that need to be done every year. The rear brake rotor replacement on the Toyota RAV4 was a bit messy but not difficult except for trying to loosen the bolts that have now seen 160K+  miles of use. A hammer was involved.

Much was accomplished but it didn’t feel like a vacation.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

And now I have four days of “vacation” built around the upcoming weekend, during which I will attempt a thorough housecleaning, probably wrap the window inserts in plastic (most of our windows leak air), and locate the winter coats/boots/hats again. I have the cat heaters ready to put in the garage, and will likely need to locate yet another cat heater for the back deck (kittens are still coming to that feeder, will be a hard winter for them).

But – the weather has been glorious this week, absolutely stunning Fall temps featuring cool (but not cold) nights and temperate days.  I plan to enjoy those too.

(Stock image)

Happy Trails.

Our 2016 summer season at The Lot has come to a close. As I write this there is fresh snow on the sides of the Mamm Range within eyesight of our back deck. It won’t last long – we are in a a spell of below-average temperatures – but it is still a bit of a shock. Back in the Como area (the town nearest Sanderling but a bit lower in elevation), the weather report shows at or below freezing temperatures for the next four nights. It’s time to bring The Box home.

October 4: Bringing home The Box

I had been at The Lot over the weekend to finish the last bits of wood pickup; I took a load of stumps to the burn pit and brought home the last load of firewood for 2016. There were a few evening rain showers but the days were very enjoyable. Here is a photo taken on Saturday (through The Box’s main window) of the aspen grove:

Lookin’ out my window

The Lot has quite a few pine and aspen stumps on it; many can be pulled out by hand. A few were larger ends of old trees that had fallen and these needed to be cut before I could move them. At any rate, quite a few stumps had been accumulating and it was time to dispose of them.

In many ways the stumps are harder to handle than the normal burn pit wood as they are bulky, irregularly shaped, and heavy. It was a job to get them loaded but removing them did provide sort of a final touch to Birdhouse Ridge and other areas we had cleaned. There are still many left for future trips!

Which leads me to today (Tuesday), when I brought The Box back from the mountains.  The trip home was uneventful but I did drive through snow flurries from Fairplay to Vail Pass, a distance of 60 miles or so. Here and there some snow was sticking to the forest floor and side of the road. Normally this would be the height of the “color” season (which typically runs into mid-October) but everything appears to be advanced by a couple weeks; winter is fast approaching.

Trailer repair update: A couple of posts ago I mentioned I had worked on the utility trailer, replacing screws  in the stake bed sides with 1/4 inch bolts. This modification has worked out very well; with several trips to the burn pit and a couple loads of firewood brought home since the upgrade I have not had to do any maintenance as I had been doing when the screws were in place.

On to maintenance: Our garage door has one, possibly two, bad pulleys in the system. This has caused problems opening and closing the door and has, of late, been getting worse. I will be replacing the pulleys which is not an expensive job but involves working with the door’s springs and cables, something I have not done in the past. I hope to not have to replace the entire door so we shall see if this repair enables us to get a few more years of life out of it.

Speaking of doors…

When Pam re-arranged the third bedroom to give the foster kittens more room, she purchased this cat door on-line and had me install it in the laundry room door. The indoor cat feeding dish and cat boxes are now in this area and the cat portal keeps the dogs from entering.

Cat portal installed in laundry room door.

So far it is working well; all the cats got used to the new arrangement without any problem. (Pam stained the portal to match the door.)

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

We will have two of the kittens (Pieter and Ernst) from this summer’s rescue litter through October and possibly into November.  Mother Nature is not cooperating re: providing these little guys some action on testicle growth.  Bummer. Which is why I rearranged indoor cat facilities for longer-term house guests. The other two neutered kittens went to the shelter last week, and hopefully are adopted by now.

House hunting has slowed down.  I review new listings [in several cities], and monitor certain houses to see if price drops are forthcoming.  With the snow now showing up in the mountains, maybe some Sellers will start to get real about prices?

Happy Trails.

Last weekend we went up to The Lot for a rare (!) non-work day. The plan was to enjoy the fall colors, do some packing in preparation of towing the RV trailer home next week, and take a trip to view some properties Pam had seen on-line. The weekend was a success in all aspects.

During the trip up on Saturday morning it rained until we hit Vail, where the rain turned to snow flurries. The trees were flocked white and enough snow had fallen to begin accumulating on the forest floor. The fall colors, though dimmed by the weather, were still great to see.

We arrived at The Box under cloudy skies but no precipitation was falling. After letting the dogs run and having lunch, we left to view the potential properties, 8 of them in all. The best of the lot was a place in the Silverheels subdivision near Fairplay. (Address: 242 Silverheels Road, Fairplay, Colorado.) The property borders a lake, rare in this part of the country. Actually there is a set-back from the lake so the lot does not go all the way to the water but for all practical purposes – other than building – it is lake front property. We tried calling our local realtor contact in the Fairplay area (from purchasing the Sanderling property four years ago) to see if we could view the inside, but could not arrange to do this on such short notice.

The house itself is small and there is no garage, but the lot is five mostly-wooded acres (narrow – runs between the road and the lake) which still gives some room for expansion. With only one small bedroom down and a spiral staircase to get upstairs it is not the best layout for us, but water views compensate for a great deal of other drawbacks. The key here would be to see if the price goes low enough to be able to keep some funds for adding on to the house and to build a garage. The place is listed at $250,000.00 and has only been on the market a few days so Pam will be watching for price reductions if it does not sell quickly.

Silverheels house

Living room view through a window

Dry Lake from Silverheels lot

The other places were either properties that were steep, had junk on them or junky neighbors, or were in very poor repair. A few were forclosures and would have required major work to get into liveable condition. The asking prices reflected this as the lowest priced property had a starting bid price of $131,000.00. (You bid on a forclosure and your offer may or may not be accepted.) Still, we looked at new possibilities and enjoyed the outing.

We returned to The Box around sunset and had dinner. I made sure the furnace was working as the temps were going to get down to the freezing level. (The dog’s outside water dish had a layer of ice on it the next morning.) After dinner and talking about the various properties we had seen, we called it a day and went to bed.

Sunday A.M. was cold but the furnace worked OK with no real problems. I built a campfire while Pam took the dogs for their morning run. Then it was time for a leisurely breakfast and hot tea. We got out and walked the lot including Birdhouse Ridge and the grassy Nook areas we had cleaned out this year. The ability to walk our woods in the fall colors without tripping over dead logs was a good reward for all the hard work we had done. The day was perfect fall weather: sunny, bright, warming into the mid-60s with a light occasional breeze.

Colors on a fall day

We also started planning our strategy for next year–what areas we want to clean and how to access them. I will have to build a trail near the far side edge of the property to access the rest of the aspen grove; the proposed path will require minimal removal of live trees and get us access to a part of the lot that has a high concentration of both standing and down dead aspen trees. Cleaning out the area will probably take more than one summer but will finish an area we began cleaning back in 2013.

I am going to look around for a medium-size brush chipper, one with a capacity that can handle wood 6 inches around. Some of these pop up on the market in the $1,000.00 – $1,500.00 dollar range and I am going to try to sell my snowmobile to raise the money to pay for it. I am just getting frustrated with the Saturday-only burn pit schedule at Sanderling and the fact that it takes over an hour each load to drive to the pit, unload the trailer, then drive back to the lot. When you add in the time it takes to load the trailer this really limits how much junk wood I can get rid of any given week. If I can chip the slash on-site and use the chips for mulch or creating hiking paths it would not only speed the clean-up but also return some of the wood to the lot. Stay tuned to see how the search for a chipper turns out.

On the way home we traveled over Boreas Pass, as we try to do at least once every year. (Pam’s mother’s ashes are scattered at the top of the pass near an old boarding house and cabin.) Due to the bad Saturday weather the previous day and the excellent Sunday weather that day, the pass was very busy with people out leaf-peeping. Can’t blame them as this route features some gorgeous fall color vistas, but a couple places were downright crowded and had miniature traffic jams made worse by drivers not experienced in driving narrow back-country roads. Several drivers were so afraid of driving near the edge of a shelf road they were not able to move over, or place their vehicles so cars going the opposite direction could pass. It would be better to drive Boreas Pass during the week, but if you have no choice then you just have to put up with it.

Between Fairplay and Como this hayfield caught my eye and I had to try this “artsy” shot of the bales:

Fresh baled hay

The return home trip, under bright autumnal blue skies, featured some stunning color views particularly on the west side of Vail Pass near the Gerald Ford Golf Course. Even though the colors portend the coming of winter, this is one of the best times to be living in Colorado.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Is it possible to feel at home with acreage, but not necessarily the house on the acreage? I kinda feel that way about the Silverheels property we saw last weekend.  The house is too small with a bad flow, work needed there.  No garage for Fields and his outside storage needs.  Quite the winding driveway down to the house location as well.  But that lovely aspen and evergreen lot that leads out to the lake is quite special.

A new retirement home location I will be examining into the winter is the Woodland Park area.  Woodland Park, a mountain town outside of Colorado Springs, is charming in a cowboy kind of way and we have always remarked on this.  Woodland Park hosts the regional hospital and most of the service providers in that neck of the woods.  Traveling there from De Beque and back in one day to do drive-bys – difficult. With The Box coming home from the high country (snow predicted next week at 9,000 feet), our “base” for exploring that part of Colorado will not be available. A challenge.

Happy Trails.

I have a few loose ends, left over from the last few posts, that I need to address and update.

House Hunt:

The “Grandma house” I noted in a recent post has, we assume, been sold as it is off the market. Not that we were seriously considering making an offer but it did have a certain attraction and we hope the new owners clean up the place and make it tidy.

We never did hear anything more concerning the Chu Chu Lane house that we made the offer on, but it also appears to be off the market as it no longer shows up in the realtor listings.

The Lot:

The load of firewood I brought home has been cut and stacked along our driveway and we are waiting for our friend Kathy to come and pick it up. Until then the fresh-cut wood smell is nice to have around.

Most recent firewood

Foster cats:

Two of the four kittens have had their neuter operations and we are waiting for the others to get mature enough to handle the operation. Pam has re-arranged the cat room to give the kittens more play room, which they certainly seem to enjoy. Mom Juliana is also still with us, successfully spayed — the three altered cats are waiting for room at the shelter to open up. (The remaining two male kittens have testicles that did not descend, so we wait to see if Mother Nature will assist in that regard.)

Wheeler Lake:

I have created a Gallery for the Wheeler Lake ATV trip; take a look! The gallery includes a 5:04 video that features overdubbing. I knew the wind was going to make for an unusable audio track so I am trying out a Yetti Blue microphone to do the overdub. This is my first attempt and I find the lack of background noise a bit odd but at least the sound track is quite audible.

New Stuff:

This weekend will be quite busy, with a trip planned to The Lot to pack up The Box in preparation of bringing it home the first week of October. (I have scheduled some time off for this task.) The “color” in high country aspen leaves should be at max this weekend and we hope to enjoy viewing the fall colors. Forecast high for the area is 52 with nighttime temps getting to the freezing point. Its time to shut down for this year.

Weekend plans include driving by some potential retirement properties near the towns of Fairplay, Lake George, Florissant and Divide. We have not driven through this area much since we found Sanderling four years ago – it’s a four-hour distance from De Beque. However, a property search turned up several “potentials” that might be of interest. Per our regular routine, we will drive by the properties and if a property looks interesting enough we will contact a realtor for an in-house tour. No reason we can’t also enjoy the fall colors along the way!

In other news, I attended the Sheriff’s Office annual Appreciation Dinner last Saturday, an event which kept us home for the weekend. Attendance is as much political as social but I did win a $25.00 gift card from Target.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I’m looking forward to seeing the fall colors at Sanderling; I missed them last year with my bursitis acting up then.  Blondie will need her doggie coat with temps near freezing – b-r-r-r. I also am interested in seeing what the housing search turns up.  My main complaint of house hunting in the Montrose area is plenty of irrigation water but no trees around the houses. The irrigation is used to keep the pastures green.  Not exactly what we are looking for.  Prices are super high in the Montrose market as well.  I have been quite disappointed.

Happy Trails.