Month: February 2014

This week’s post will consist of a little of this and a little of that. No major theme.

Local weather has warmed into the mid 50 degree range the last few days, above our normal highs by 10 – 12 degrees. Snow on our lawn is almost gone except for a few piles that are in the shade all day. Robins have returned and we see some birds flying in and out of the nesting hole in the cottonwood tree in the front yard. Pam says she saw a couple of iris shoots coming up through the leaf mulch. Is spring really near?

I took the ATV out for a ride today. There’s still a lot of snow in elevations just a few hundred feet higher than De Beque. Chance of snow is in the Thursday night forecast with undoubtedly a lot of winter left, but it was very nice to get out today.

Yesterday I did some scraping of old paint on the back deck and repainted until I ran out of paint. Deck looks better from the road as I did get most of the front-facing wood covered. Also was able to hook up the hose and wash the Honda by hand, have not been able to do that for months. Even fired up the 8N Ford and ran it around the block. Pam opened the kitchen window and back door for a bit and we had fresh air in the house for a while. The dandelion plants are turning green.

I mentioned in my last post that we had cats under the trailer and had plans to remove them. That project appears to have worked and we have closed up the skirting. With the reinforcements we made we hope to avoid a repeat of the tunneling problem. Pam says she has seen all the cats she thought were under the trailer out and about at the garage and back deck feeders.

Those of you who know me well know my mother has never forgiven me for moving away from Wisconsin. In her last letter she reminded me – again – how great my brother is as a son as he stops by often and does maintenance projects around the house. I liked living in Wisconsin but the mountains are my home. Apparently my happiness is not all that important in my mother’s scheme of things…

We figured out our State and Federal taxes. We knew we would get whacked this year as I started getting a retirement annuity from the State of Wisconsin in 2013 (the annuity distribution takes out Federal but not State tax) and I had cashed in a small trust fund that wasn’t taxed. As a result we owe both Federal and Colorado state taxes this year. This was not unforeseen (Pam has been putting funds aside) but it’s irritating to see the final numbers. Since we owe money we won’t actually file until early April. This gives us a couple more months to get the money together before we write the checks.

That’s about it for this past week, and there doesn’t look to be much going on in the upcoming week. Goodbye to the Olympics coverage – have been watching some of it most evenings –  although I’m not so thrilled to see all the X-Games events added to the Olympic venues. I still prefer the standards; downhill races, male/female/pairs ice skating events, and ski jumping. Half-pipe and slope-style are not my thing. I’m just a grumpy old man, I guess!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Love to see those robins.  Bless them. Time to plan the year’s getaways, now that we know our additional tax liability.  Potential trips could include: Jer’s cycle getaway in June/July (this year in central Canada, likely to include a Midwest swing), 40th Anniversary trip in August (thinking about Napa Valley, CA), possible road trip in November (to Florida?).  Plus all the travel to and from Sanderling during the summer (potential development plans there start in early spring).  Busy.

Happy Trails.

It has been warm for a change. All the snow on the roads has melted and small puddles of water dot our emerging lawn. It is a different story in the high country, though.

Yesterday (Saturday) I took the truck and drove up to our Sanderling lot to check on the trailer and check things out. Last March we were able to start putting in the driveway and we hoped to get an early start on the extension this year. It doesn’t look like that will happen this Spring!

Here is a through-the-windshield shot of me going up Red Hill Pass east of Fairplay:

Heading east up Red Hill Pass

The wind was blowing and snow was flying. I had no idea what I would find on the lot,which is about 20 miles from this point.

Elkhorn Road, the main road to the lot, was much better:

Elkhorn Road (Co Rd 15) south of Como

The gravel part of the road was mostly dry as well, but there were some muddy places. I still did not know what I would find at the lot.

I was relieved to find Sanderling Court fully plowed out. Our driveway was a different story, but after several tries (and some shoveling in the deepest snow) I made it up to the RV. Here is a shot of the driveway looking back toward Sanderling Court:

Looking back down driveway, 2-15-14.

Note the section in the middle of the photo where the undercarriage dragged. 4-wheel drive was required!

The trailer was OK, but the snow  deeper than I had anticipated. In fact there’s more snow than at any time we have visited up to this point. It looks like our hopes for beginning projects in March may be doomed as there is a lot of Winter left and more snow is certain to accumulate.

Pam asked me to bring home some of the small aspen we had set aside at Sanderling last year (we thought they might be used as posts for a dog run). Instead, the small tree trunks will now be used to reinforce the bottom edge of the skirting around the mobile, which has started to show signs of developing a few gaps. I had brought along my snowmobile boots but even so the snow, in places, was up to just below my knees. The snow melt later will be great for the alpine flowers and trees, but walking and dragging those aspen trees down to the truck was real work. 

After getting the wood in the truck I ate my lunch (it was about 46 degrees inside the RV) and took a short break before heading home. As in my previous trip I had the generator going to charge the batteries and had been on the roof to clear the snow off the solar panels. I could see a snow storm coming in over the Mosquito Range and wanted to get back on the road home before 3:00 PM.

Storm from the Mosquito Range heading for South Park

There were no real problems getting home, though the north side of Hoosier Pass was fairly slippery:

Light snow on Hoosier Pass made for slow travel

I made it home by around 7:00 PM, pretty much as I had planned. I was glad I had made the trip – it has been nearly 2 months since the last visit – and it was good to be on the lot again.

Today we tackled a problem that will need a more permanent fix later this spring. A gap in the skirting  allowed cats to get under the trailer this Winter. We removed a couple panels and reinforced the skirting base inside with some of the wood I brought from the lot. We also spread three bales of cedar shavings under the trailer after spraying a couple containers of Out pet deodorizer under the dark, grungy space. We replaced all panels but one and just outside of that panel Pam has set up one of her cat cages. The idea is to make sure all the cats are out from underneath the trailer before sealing the skirting up again. Sure hope this works!

So it was a long and busy weekend, as there were the “normal” chores of grocery shopping, a Walmart run, and getting fuel for the cars. It was warm enough to warrant taking both the truck and the Honda to a local U-Spray car wash to try to get the layers of road dirt and road grime off them. Weather outlook for the next week is seasonable but no major rain or snow predicted so the cars should stay clean for a week or two.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

No good deed goes unpunished.  Rescuing De Beque cats frequently causes problems, this time it’s the skirting needing repair after the little beasts clawed their way under.  Gr-r-r-r-r.

Happy Trails.

Well. The Super Bowl was last Sunday and the Broncos were embarrassed 43 to 8. I had predicted a Seahawk win but the margin was greater than I ever imagined.  Oh well…time to move on.

We are watching the Olympics today and rooting for US athletes when we can, but so far the US has not had a lot of success. It’s early in the games — there have been some excellent performances already.  Pam likes to watch figure skating, both the individuals and pairs. Some competitors have great style and elegance and others have fantastic jumps. It’s interesting to contrast the performances. We tend to go more for the grace and elegance rather than spectacular  jumps, particularly in the pairs events, but the singles tend to score higher with the more athletic programs.

Following are updates on topics mentioned in  previous posts.

First, Pam has completed the cushion for the glider and it turned out very well.

Pam sewed a pad for the glider.

It’s a nice feeling to sit on the glider and gently move to and fro. The padding makes it even more comfortable. I think we’ll get much use from this piece of furniture.

Second, the weather. The snow I mentioned in the last post did arrive as predicted. We didn’t get huge amounts but it snowed for about four days in a row, meaning I had to clear snow when we arrived home and again in the mornings before we left. Each time it seemed like we had 2 – 3 inches of snow to clear. Today it is well above freezing and the snow is melting but there is still a bank on the side of the road that seems melt-resistant. Night time temps, although moderating, are still well below freezing.  Snow melts during the day and freezes at night, creating  slippery conditions for driving to work.  We  are ready for spring, or at least a break between snow storms.

What else…

January is done, and the month saw hectic work schedules for us both. CMC, the community college where Pam works, has several new managers including one for the Registrar’s Office. While this manager occupies a spot a few levels higher than Pam’s position, office politics always come to the fore, something  Pam dislikes after all these working years (creating drama she would rather avoid).

As for me, one of my vendors discovered a problem in their hardware that necessitated swapping out two of my network storage units. Although we were able to make the swap in one day I can’t say it was very much fun. That is, however, life in the IT world.

Our daughter Felicity has a new job with a Canadian-based on-line marketing company named Fire Pole. Felicity is writing web page content and answering on-line questions from the client base. She’s quite good with social media, an area of expertise Felic developed while running her own small business these past years. So far the only problem encountered is Felicity has to be up and functioning for a  daily 7:00 AM staff meeting phone call (the company is in Montreal, she’s in Oregon), and Felicity is not a morning person. I guess she’ll learn to cope.

Our son Toby was disappointed at the Bronco loss but otherwise seems to be doing OK. The carpet cleaning business he works for in Indiana shut down a couple times due to bad weather, which cut his hours a bit.  He’s looking forward to spring so he can pick up his refereeing work again.

That really is about it for now. Next weekend I hope to drive into the mountains to the Sanderling lot, to check on snow conditions and make sure the trailer is OK. We also need to get started on tax preparation. Not looking forward to it; I suspect we will owe federal taxes this year.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Due to delicate sensibilities, I will not be discussing “Amateur Night at the Super Bowl.”

Happy Trails.

First, thanks for the comments. I am feeling better this week and am back to eating 3 regular meals a day. Looks like this particular health episode is over.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and the game starts at about 4:30 PM our time.  Locally this has caused quite a buzz with parties, sales, and media coverage of even the most inconsequential details of the Broncos football team. Seattle is picked to win by 3 points by many of the odds-makers, though, and that indicates it should be a close game. We will see.

Pam has been looking at house interiors for ideas. This living room, from a house for sale near Lake Tahoe, caught her eye:

Comfy living room. (Realtor photo.)

This place features stone walls, windows and open areas,  ideas we find attractive. Leather furniture is definitely not in our future, but there may be a way to replicate the feeling on a smaller scale and with other cabin furnishings. At this point we’re starting to put together things we like — we’ll eventually  try to incorporate as many of these ideas as we can into a floor plan and design for a house on the lot.

Locally, last Friday the area set a snow-fall-for-the-date record. The past record was 2.3 inches and the new one was 5.7 inches. Not a huge amount, but it was a heavy, wet snow that was difficult to shovel. I fired up the old Gilson lawn tractor and used it’s blade to clear our driveway and sidewalks, then did the same for our neighbors up and down the block.  (At which point the local “plow” came by with it’s blade to clean the streets and pushed the snow  up onto the sidewalks again.)  Yesterday and today the high temps were above freezing so some of the snow is already beginning to melt. More snow is forecast for this week, though. February and March are the biggest snow months for Colorado so I expect to be using the Gilson again in the near future.  At least the ski areas are doing a thriving business, and the snow pack in the mountains is above average, so the Spring melt should bring this area some much-needed water.  (Unlike California’s water situation.)

There really is not much going on at the moment that is noteworthy. Pam and I are very busy at our jobs as is normal for the beginning of a new year. We haven’t been out much and I have not been touring on my ATV for a while, so no trip reports to write up. It is a slow time of the year!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Jer is feeling better.  However, I’m thinkin’ a colonoscopy may be in his [near] future.

More snow on the way is depressing, but hey, it’s not getting dark till almost 5:30 p.m. —  that’s progress.  We arrive home from work in the twilight instead of full dark.

I’m going to try to work on a cushion for the glider, maybe Jer will sneak in another picture at some point.  Watch this space.

Happy trails.