AppleAttic Blog

The Pam and Jerry Fields' Blog Page

Month: April 2012

Lots of stuff!

April 29, 2012 / / 2 Comments

I have a lot of ground to cover in this post, so let’s get started.

I generally like to post at least every 2 weeks, but  the delay from the last post to this one was due to a bout with the flu, which kept me down for about 4 days. Ever since my illness in January of 2011 I seem to be susceptible to the stomach flu. Not fun.

The kittens are entering their cute stage, about 5 weeks old, and are beginning to explore their surroundings.  Here is a photo of all 6 of them:

Kittens at 5 weeks

I figure we did well to get 4 looking in the same direction at the same time! Some of them are developing a taste for being petted and will roll over to have their chin scratched or tummy rubbed. They are a well- adjusted and healthy group.

I did make a land hunt trip, solo, on my motorcycle a couple of weekends ago. This time was a return to the Lake George area to look at a cabin on 3 acres. Not mentioned in the listing was the fact the cabin is off-grid and has no running water. Pass! It was a gorgeous day to ride, however, and I checked  a few other properties as well. I called the guy who was going to list his lot, and he indicated family problems (his father had a severe stroke) had delayed his moving ahead with the listing. I have a bad feeling about this. We will give this another few weeks, and if nothing happens we will move on.

Computer update: I have decided to replace my 10 year old Mac G4 with a newer (not new) model. Apple is changing its e-mail and other services to run in “the cloud” and I need a Mac new enough to run the latest software. I bought a used Mac Pro from E-bay and will be configuring it in the next couple weeks. Moving all our Favorites, music, photos, and other files from the old to the new system will take some time. The result will be a faster system for us and the ability to run newer copies of our favorite programs.

Around the house, yard work is big. Although there was a freeze warning this last Friday night – Saturday morning, it did not get that cold here. Our Lilacs are blooming and the yard needs mowing, which is on my list for later today. Daffodils are done, and a few Tulips are blooming. Lilies are coming up, and this year, for the first time, Hollyhocks are growing in a couple places. (Pam harvested some seeds from neighbor’s plants and planted them last fall). Hopefully they will bloom and we’ll see what color combinations we get.

I was able to take my ATV to Moab, Utah yesterday to run some trails. The area around Moab is famous for the number and variety of Jeep and off-road trails available for public use. I had to buy an out-of-state annual permit ($30.00) to be legal, but no one was checking permits where I rode. It was a good day; I ran 2 trails (Kane Creek and Hurrah Ridge) for a total of about 6 hours of riding. Here are a couple photos from the trip:

LaSalle Mountains near Moab, Utah

Part of the Kane Creek trail

Kane Creek trail scenic moment

It was a good day to be out and about, and I can now say I 4-wheeled in Moab. Given it is a long trip over and back, I won’t be in that area often, but will probably make another trip or two during the course of the summer.

Eli says she wants more photos of our cats and dogs. Well, Eli, here are a few photos for you:

This is what our 3 dogs do most of the day - sleep!

 

Velvet (in window) and Mira relax in the afternoon sun.

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

 

Land, Kittens and General Updates

April 9, 2012 / / 3 Comments

In the last couple of weeks since my last post, Spring has advanced. Our Daffodils are blooming, along with a couple of early Tulips. Trees are turning more green. Our Cherry tree has blossoms on it. Still, the water Pam leaves out for the outside cats froze a couple of times last week, so winter has not yet fully released its grip.

Now for the news from our part of the world.

Momcat Precious and her kittens are doing well. The kits have their eyes open now, and are starting to move a bit within the cage. Even at this early stage they show some signs of individual personality. Some are more curious, some cry more when handled, a couple seem more adventurous. They really are growing fast!

Precious and kittens on April 9th

Pam is holding 3 of the kittens

Our major outside project, the privacy fence, is (mostly) completed. Included are 3 gates and 88 linear feet of fencing.

Front fence

Back fence

The back fence is being held up  with steel “T” posts. Putting these in was a major job, but we were able to borrow a pneumatic fence post driver. Here is a shot of Pam and me using the driver:

Pam and Jerry using pneumatic driver

That thing is really heavy and we had quite the time lifting it to the top of the posts!  The install has 3 gates, one to the front yard, one to go behind the house for access to our grill, and the 3rd is hung on the original chain link gate that is the main entrance from the driveway. The cats are getting used to going under the 3rd gate to get in and out of the yard. While they were used to doing this with the chain link gate, the wooden one gave them a bit of a challenge which they have now overcome. I did have to cut a couple of the boards a little shorter to give them more clearance, though.

The fence still needs to have sealer put on to help protect the wood. We will be doing this over the next few weeks. The back fence faces a chain link fence and was sealed before the installation. Here is a shot of Pam applying the sealer:

Pam applying sealer to a fence panel

We are glad to have this project mostly done. It is nice to have the added privacy in the back yard. Next we need to work on cleaning and staining the decks.

Last, but not least, is the Land Hunt. Current status: On hold. In my last post I wrote that the land owner, Jessie, is going to meet with a realtor to establish an asking price for his lot. We think that will happen this week. In the mean time, we drove over to walk the lot and get a feel for the views. We also looked at a couple other lots while in the area. The day was windy and hazy, but here are a couple shots of Jessie’s lot.

Looking SW to the Collegiate Peaks

The fence delineates the western boundary of the lot. This would be a good place for a gazebo. We like this view because of the way your eye tends to zig-zag as you look from the fence back up the the mountains.

Driveway to top of lot

You can see some views through the many Aspen on the lot. There are some Pine trees mixed in, and we saw several young pines growing all over the lot. If the asking price is reasonable we will go for this one!

In family news, Toby is starting to referee ball games, and may get on with a local city’s summer program. He is looking forward to the extra income that refereeing gives him. Felicity has picked up a few more paying jobs for her business, and seems to be getting along fine. It will be an interesting year for all of us!

As usual, clicking on any photo will open a larger image.

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

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