Month: April 2018

This Saturday we undertook a project that was only marginally on the radar; getting our Cottonwood tree trimmed.

Already this Spring windy weather has caused several larger dead branches to launch out of the Cottonwood and onto the roof. So when a tree guy was working on our neighbor’s trees, Pam approached him to ask how much it would cost to remove a dead snag at the top of the Cottonwood and trim back some of the branches that extended over our roof. The guy, whose name is Charlie, came over and took a look and gave us a quote I thought was very competitive (factoring in we would handle the clean-up).

On Saturday morning I fired up the chipper to help with this effort. Other than having to repair one electrical connector the chipper appears to have wintered just fine. I had the battery in the garage and had put it on a charger from time to time. After the minor repair on the chipper the engine fired up OK.

Around 9:00 a.m. Charlie showed up with his truck and equipment and proceeded to start the trim work. Sadly the tree was in worse shape than we had suspected as it is suffering from a fungus unique to Cottonwood trees. Charlie cut the tree back pretty severely to find non-affected wood. We hope the tree can survive this surgery and come back with more green in the next few years. This hope is not merely aesthetic – that tree provides major shade for the front of the mobile home and without that shade our energy costs will soar.

Charlie in tree while Jerry watches from the ground. (Photo by Pam.)

Branches to clean up. (Photo by Pam.)

Finishing chipping the branches

The chips  became mulch for a corner of the property (near the Mary Lynn Memorial Garden) as well as a muddy area beside where the RV trailer is currently parked. Wood big enough to salvage as firewood was stacked near the back deck and will be added to the firewood total next fall.

Wood chips became mulch

While not a project we really had “on the books,” it’s satisfying to have this particular job done. We’ll miss the canopy and shade this summer for sure. (But repairing a tree-damaged roof would not have been fun either.) Charlie cut out the hollow part where birds had nested in the past so a few birds will miss the tree as well.

Tree after trimming looks pretty bare!

It was an energetic way to begin the weekend. Neither of us is used to hours of continuous clean-up activity so there were a few aches when we got up Sunday morning. Good thing there were no big plans for Sunday!

Note: Due to scheduling conflicts there will be no posts for the next few weeks.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Fields and the kids will all tell you I love to trim trees, sometimes drastically.  But the amount that had to be cut off that Cottonwood about made me sick.  Just as with any surgery, the “patient” will either survive or die.  Several other Cottonwoods that had been planted in the neighborhood at the same time as ours have already succumbed to the disease. Bummer.

A kitten died this week, a little orange and white male from the second litter born this month.  That leaves the first-time mother with only one kitten – baby Solette, a female black and white. Solette seems to be holding her own at present. All four kittens (and mom) from the first litter are doing fine.

Happy Trails.

With no major (or even minor) projects going on right now, this post will be a collection of updates and short notes about what happened this week. Family news will be front and center.

One of my aunts, Aunt Helen, died last Saturday, the 14th. I could not get back to her funeral but have great memories of her and my Uncle Al. (Uncle Al passed away years ago.) Many years ago, Al and Helen hosted our wedding shower. In my youth, I attended many family parties at their farm. Aunt Helen was a gentle soul who liked to cook and bake. She was a huge help in the family dairy operation.

Uncle Al was my mother’s brother and Aunt Helen my father’s sister; a brother and sister from one family married a brother and sister from another family. This double-bond meant my 4 cousins, myself and my 3 siblings had an unusual situation — all of us had the same family tree. One of the cousins, Sue, and I are the same age and we became good friends during high school.

In other family news, niece Caitlin’s Cake Plus Size Boutique earned a mention on a Minneapolis Reader’s Choice TV show. Caitlin is working hard to make this store a success and we wish her the best of luck in “year one” as a small businesswoman!

Daughter Felicity cut her hair short, the first time in a decade or more. She performs with the Northwest Harmony Sweet Adeline singing group and they are getting ready for the spring competition. The costuming calls for hair “off the neck.” In past years Felicity had put her hair up in a bun but this year decided it would be a lot easier to have the hair short and not have to fool with it. Felicity sent a photo; she is getting into her performance costume with the help of one of her friends:

Felicity (left) with short hair cut

Son Toby has been promoted to a Team Leader position at the casino loading dock. This means he had a bump up in income but has to commute to a new worksite. He recently bought a newer used car and seems to be happy with the new wheels. We plan to visit him during our swing into the Midwest next month.

Closer to home, my mother  and brother Jon are making arrangements to sell  a large parcel of land my mother owns, almost 40 acres. Proceeds from this sale should take care of some bills, cover the cost of a few home updates, and provide funds to help cover the cost of Mom’s in-house care. So far a verbal agreement has been reached but the paperwork still needs to be drawn up and processed.

Spring has arrived on the high desert, although we did see snow flurries last Friday. Temps today are in the low 70s. I mowed the lawn yesterday, and the cherry tree is humming with honeybees, more than I have ever seen before.

Cherry tree flowering out

I recently took my ATV for a spin and came across an old-style pumping rig, now out of operation.

Old pumping rig, Wild Horse Mesa, CO.

These old rigs were powered by natural gas driven engines; the engines ran off the natural gas coming out of the well. A few of these rigs (none in operation) can be found here and there on Wild Horse Mesa. However, at least one that I used to visit has been removed and one wonders how long these others will survive. Not far from this old well was a spot where a well had been capped and all equipment removed.

I’m going to include an odd-ball photo; this appears to be the way well output was measured in the past. The chart paper in this instrument recorded the output of a well on a 2-week graph:

Chart recorder kept track of well output

I had never seen one of these so thought I would take a photo of it. I don’t know which is odder (more odd?) — the device itself or my wanting to take a picture of it. (?)

Both the water dispenser and new vacuum, both mentioned in a previous post, are working out well. The amount of gallon water jug plastic we recycle has dropped dramatically and it is convenient to have the water available. We purchased a 2nd 5-gallon jug so we can always have a full one on hand.

That about sums up the news I have for this week.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I interrupted a birth-in-progress in the garage on Wednesday.  Another one of the feral cats [who overwintered in the garage] decided to come “home” to have her litter.  This cat is a first-time mom and fairly clueless; I actually had to trap her, using her two newborn kittens as “bait,” to get her to stay with her babies. I was NOT about to hand feed kittens (every four hours for two weeks, then less frequently until six weeks). My neighbor agreed to take care of the now two feral litters — in addition to the other cats and the house — while we are on vacation.  Here’s hoping another pregnant feral does not show up.

Next week I assemble house listings in the Midwest and chart a course for the upcoming road trip vacation, a zig-zag course that includes family-and-friend visits plus house drive-bys. A few recently-listed homes/locations to consider:   601 South Main Street, Fairfield, Iowa (currently for sale by owner)   and  104 Main Street, Horton, Michigan.  I am more than a little bummed by the high price of property taxes on homes in or near small towns.  Rural area taxes seem a bit easier to take.

Happy Trails.

We have accumulated a few photos of pets and Pam’s “project.” This week I’ll look into a few topics related to these photos.

First up are a couple recent photos of our oldest dog, Blondie. She has always had a habit of sitting up on her hind legs:

Blondie sitting on her hind legs

We call this her “prairie dog” or “circus dog” stance and Blondie assumes it quite often.  I’ve only seen one other dog do this, but it must be more common than that. She can hold this pose for up to a minute.

And the other evening Blondie was taking a nap on the couch when I approached with my camera:

Blondie on couch

I don’t know if she was giving me the “evil eye” for disturbing her or exactly what that expression is supposed to mean. She went back to sleep a few minutes later.

Pam started working on cleaning the closet in the third bedroom, a room currently housing cats, cat pens and collected cat stuff. Photo albums that Pam had assembled for Felicity’s childhood-through-high-school-graduation years were unboxed after seventeen years of storage and relocated. The goal (at some point) is to permanently deliver these albums to Felicity in the Pacific Northwest.

Felicity’s childhood photo albums

Pam says she will be going through closets for the rest of the summer.

Yesterday we had snow flurries; last night ice formed on the back deck cat’s water dish. We hope the flowers and tree buds didn’t get whacked too hard by these cold temps. Today is bright but chilly. A few cold days – low of 24 is forecast for next Tuesday – are upcoming next week. That’s Spring in Colorado, last week we enjoyed several days in the 70s.

The town did turn on our irrigation water system but may shut it down again to avoid damage from  freezing. The ground is dry, even with some rain last week, and mountain snow levels  (which affect our summertime water supply) are down almost 20 percent from normal. It may be a hot and dry year for the high desert.

On tap for today: Swap the snow blade for the mower deck on the John Deere garden tractor. Grocery shopping later in the day. Weed-wacking around the edges of the lawn, garage, and house. Change oil and filter in the Honda. All pretty routine tasks.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

By request, included below are photos of Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden.  At present, 90+ tulips have broken ground, about 25% are currently in bloom.  I did plant early, middle, and late bloomers to try to extend the color in that bed. Several iris plants overwintered in the same bed for variety.

Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden as of April 14th

Spring – the time of new growth and new birth. Mother Nature had another Spring surprise for me last weekend.  After a very stormy and windy night Saturday into Sunday, I checked feral cat feeders on Sunday morning for food supply levels. When I heard tiny mewing sounds, I knew the feeder area in the garage was now the home of newborn kittens – somewhere.  Four babies and Mom Scoobie were in one of the cat bedding crates.  Moving the little family from the garage — inside to the third bedroom — was a bit of a production number, but finally all was satisfactorily accomplished.  I wasn’t planning on foster litter #29 (or maybe any litters this summer – ha, ha on me) until after returning from our planned trip to the Midwest in early May. Luckily one of my neighbors, who feeds our cats and watches the house when we are on vacation, is comfortable feeding and cleaning up after a feral mom cat and litter.

Happy Trails.

I’m feeling better. Apparently the reaction I had to the new med (gemfibrozil) was a series of muscle spasms in my lower back. More than a week after discontinuing the med I still have a back ache; it’s not severe enough to keep me from going to work and is getting less and less noticeable as the days go by. Won’t go there again!

I was able to finish the shower faucet repair. I replaced the fitting that the shower head pipe fits into; I am not sure if the old fitting went bad or had just worked loose. At any rate, I replacing the fitting and tube that runs from the shower head to the faucet assembly. This  resulted in a non-leaking installation. We are glad to have the main shower back in operation!.

Here are a few photos of various plumbing bits and pieces involved with the repair.

Sharkbyte brand crimp ring and crimping pliers

Old shower head fitting

New red plumbing line to shower head in place. Note crimp ring just above brass fitting.

When I removed the old line I had tied a cord to the fitting (from the shower side) and pulled the old line out the access hole. I then attached the new line and pulled the cord to get the fitting back up behind the shower and back through the shower head opening. This actually worked better than I expected.

This closes out the “shower from hell” episode; the new faucet does not drip and works smoother than the unit it replaced. Even with the expense of specialized tools and parts it was cheaper to do this myself as opposed to calling a plumber.

Today is wet and overcast; we are getting some much needed rain but it does put a bit of a crimp in outdoor activities. Several tulips are blooming and trees, including the cherry tree and lilacs, are budding out. I hope we don’t get a late freeze as we would like to see as many flowers as possible this spring.

Some strong winds did come through and I had to get on the roof to remove some dead branches that had blown down from one of our cottonwood trees. I’ll try to get those to the compost area today along with the first of the grass clippings from the lawn.

Pam has completed the first week of her “retirement” and worked on several projects both inside and outside the house. Inside she started going through closets and sorting out stuff  (like photo albums, some to be delivered to the kids) and it looks like closet organization + recycle will be an ongoing project for the summer. Outside jobs included working on the corner of our lawn near the new tulip bed. She installed some lawn edging and transplanted some hollyhock plants, while also continuing to remove mulch from beds around the house. Pam has a list of projects to keep her busy.

I’m getting used to commuting by myself. Some mornings I really don’t feel like getting out of bed when the house is dark and quiet, however.

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

Pam’s Four Cents Worth:

The tulip bed is at about 90% bulbs germinated, but the tulips that have started to flower are pygmy-sized.  I’m holding off on photos of Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden until the tulips fill in and grow taller. Hopefully, both will happen after this rain we’ve been enjoying.

Being OCD, I decided to make a weekly list of things to do to guide me through my first weeks and months of “unemployment.” I feel perfectly free to pick and choose what I want to do on this list; if something doesn’t get done then something moves to next week.  (This week, one outside project needed to be moved forward due to wind and weather.) I do believe the closet purge project will be ongoing, but no pressure.

I make sure to find opportunities to read, play the uke, and spend time outside with the dogs. Not to mention sleeping later in the morning.  Some transitions are funny, like realizing I can wear all my clothes now and not keep some of them “nice” for work.  I wonder if I will forget how to apply makeup in a few months?

While monitoring online houses for sale (the retirement house hunt continues), I found a stunning mansion along the Mississippi River at 11 Park Place Keokuk, Iowa.

Mansion overlooking the Mississippi

More square footage and taxes than we would ever consider, but it ticks me off the price of this lovely historic property (with a view of Lock & Dam 19) is about the same as this dumpy trailer we now live in.  Gr-r-r-r-r.

Happy Trails.