Month: October 2016

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.