Month: October 2012

It has been a week since my last post, so I thought I better write a bit to let people know we are still alive.  There are a couple topics to update.

Last Sunday we went to the lot to continue driveway clearing. While we did some work on that, we also took time to walk the lot’s steep upper region. Pam is looking for a Christmas tree, and the pine and spruce are thicker near the back of the lot. We spotted a couple of tree-topping possibilities to consider for the holiday tree.

The day was super. While we had thought we might find snow, instead we had a bright day with temperatures in the low 60’s and a bit of a breeze. Although the leaves have dropped from the aspen, it was warm enough to generate the “pine” smell that you get in Rocky Mountain forests when it’s warm enough. It’s an aroma I particularly enjoy.

Photos from this outing:

Jerry by lot sign

Pam, myself, and our 3 dogs near Squirrel Rock.

We had a great weather afternoon, far better than we expected, and lingered as long as we could before we had to head home. Next time we’ll remember to bring camp chairs, as finding a comfortable place to sit on the rocks proved to be a challenge.

We did not bring the trailer this time as my 5-to-4 wire adapter failed, leaving us with no trailer lights. I have a spare adapter in the garage, but will have to work on it’s wiring harness before I can plug it into the Subaru’s wiring system. Always something.

The foster kittens are doing better. All are suffering from an upper respiratory  condition, but they seem to be getting over it. They have a lot of energy and are eating well. Here are a couple photos of them:

Quirky (left) and Quentin (right)

Quinn

My nose is finally healed to the point where I am not covering it with bandages or Band-Aids. What a relief to shower again and not worry about soggy bandages or bleeding on the towel. (Ah, the small pleasures of life.) The nose does look better, but is still red from the last session. The worst is over but regardless, no more needles in the nose for me.

Toby has not yet found a job in Indiana (one might ask, has he even looked?). We hope he does soon, as his savings account was not large to begin with and there is not much of a cushion for him to fall back on. He does seem to enjoy being back in the Midwest, though.  Particularly  during Notre Dame football home game weekends.

As I write this we have a lawn full of soggy leaves; it’s been raining and blowing for the last day or so. Snow level is down to around 7,000 feet, and we saw the white stuff on both sides of the valley as we came  home from work. We are not ready for this. What happened to our fall? Tonight was a hot-soup-and-french-bread evening, followed later by a cup of hot tea. No TV, just listening to music and working on this post. It is a quiet evening. On that note I will close.

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

This is one of those “catch up” posts covering a variety of topics.

We received our driveway permit. It contains some terms we don’t understand, but we hope the contractor we called will be able to decipher them. We would like to get started on the drive, but for the rest of this year the construction may consist of just leveling out a path we can drive on. We have a year to get the driveway completed.

I had my follow-up visit with the dermatologist. The nose is healing OK, but there are a couple of rough spots. I go back again to have the nose numbed and have the edges of the rough spots “sanded” and “blended”  so my nose looks better. Is the cure worse than the disease?

Pam hurt her foot while helping me move the trailer. Three toes on the right foot now have some pretty colorful bruises as a result of the back edge of the trailer hitting her foot. No broken bones or toe nails, as far as Pam can tell. The swelling is going down (Pam put on a regular shoe this morning) but the foot still aches and has some healing to do.

Toby made it to South Bend, Indiana, on the 4th. He met his landlord and received his keys. Toby was unpacking when Pam called to see how he was doing. The reply is he is OK but very tired. After unpacking it was going to be nap time then get some groceries. We hope Toby does OK in his new location/job search/life.

I received a few tractor parts and will try to get the brakes on the right side of the tractor fixed this weekend. If I have time I will pull the left side and see how bad the brakes are on that side.  I expected to have to buy some parts in addition to the new brake shoes and seals, but a few items have surprised me. For example, Ford used special bolts to hold the brakes and axle onto the tractor. Six per side, $10.50 per bolt. The right side had 2 of these bolts broken, and at some point someone had substituted a couple standard bolts for a few of the special ones. I want to fix it correctly so I’ve obtained a few of the Ford bolts. I hope I don’t need many more!

Fall chores have begun. I drained and covered the swamp cooler and started checking out my snowplow rig, which is a garden tractor with a blade mounted up front. Forecast calls for a low of 29 and a slight chance of snow this weekend. Guess I better pull out the snowmobile and see if it will start. 🙂

I have added counters to our home page and this blog page. The home page counter is at the bottom of the screen, and the blog page counters are on the right side of this page. I was just curious as to how many times people look at either page, and Pam thought counters might be a Good Idea, so I added them in.

For all you pet lovers out there who have ever had to take your animal(s) to the vet, here is a cartoon you might enjoy. Click on it to bring it up full-size.

Carpool Syndrome

Days are getting shorter, leaves beginning to fall on our lawn, and Christmas(!) decorations are already on the shelves. September went by quickly, it seems. (Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset. Quickly go the days…) As usual we are busy with work, chores around the house, animal care, and projects that keep us active. I guess we would not have it any other way.

And, for Elli, who is always looking for “pet” photos, a few recent shots of some of our menagerie:

Velvet (“Vel”) plays cute on the sideboard

London on his favorite kitchen table chair.

Blondie doing her “circus dog” sit.

Bru and Jo sharing the couch.

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