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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!

Spring Kittens and General News

March 25, 2012 / / 3 Comments

Precious and her kittens

Our current foster cat, Precious, had a litter of 6 kittens this past Thursday, March 22nd. The 6 consist of 3 males and 3 females. Although not named yet, Pam is considering using names from the old TV series “Gilligan’s Island: ” Thurston Howell III, Minnow, Gilligan, Ginger, Lovey, and Mary Ann. This is the 20th litter Pam has hosted.

Could this be Ginger?

Kittens can’t see or hear for about the first 10 days after birth. All the kittens appear to be very healthy and active. Precious, a young cat, seems to have all the right maternal instincts and is taking good care of her offspring.

Litter #20. Mother: Precious

In Land Hunt news, I received a call back from a gentleman I had spoken to regarding the sale of his 3 acre lot. If you remember, I was walking a For-Sale lot and happened to speak to the guy who owned the adjoining lot. He and his family were up for a day visit. It turns out he may want to sell that lot, and he called to say he was having a real estate company look at it to determine a fair price. If it’s reasonable, this parcel may be a very real possibility. We hope to get over and take a closer look at it in the next few days.

Another project is underway — installing some privacy fence. This would make our back yard more private. Our hope is the dogs would be able to stay outside when we went to work and they would bark less. (Less to see, less to bark at.) This will be a multi-weekend project, as it includes setting posts in cement, building 2 gates, and sealing the wood with a clear sealer to help keep the “new wood” look.

Bringing home privacy fence supplies

This is what it looks like after day 1 of the project:

 

Privacy fence install, day 1

Completing the project will take more time, as the back fence requires more posts to be put in before the fence goes up. Its a major project!

One note concerning photos: I am trying out a new format called The Photo Wall. Please take a look and tell me what you think! Get to The Photo Wall from our AppleAttic home page, or click here. Hint:  Look for the double-headed arrow in the lower right part of the screen. Clicking on this arrow will display photos in full-screen mode. Clicking again, or hitting the Esc key, will return the display back to the original page size. Have fun!

As usual, clicking on any of the photos is this post will open a larger version of that photo.

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

Land Hunts 15, 16, and 17

March 18, 2012 / / 1 Comment

(Click on photos to open larger versions.)

Boy.

We never thought it would take this long to find a piece of property. Since my last post on this subject Pam and I made 2 trips together, and I made one solo trip to check out properties.

I’m going to take these in chronological order, hitting the high points of each trip. Listing all the properties we visited would simply take too long!

Since we had expanded our search to include small houses, our trip on February 11 took us to this property on Houma:

House at 19 Houma Way

This place is off-grid (solar with a generator backup) and was a just-in-the-neighborhood kind of stop, as the description was not that great. We found the place attractive, and with a view of Indian Mountain, satisfied most of our basic requirements. Alas, it sold within a week of our viewing, so we never had a chance to look inside!

Moving ahead to March 10, we found a couple of different properties, including this cabin on Bear Lane:

Cabin on Bear Lane

Digging deeper, we found this place had no running water, no electricity in the house, and had never received a “Certificate of Occupancy.” This last is needed to get insurance coverage. So, while there were some good views from the back of the lot, we had to pass on this one.

We also looked at some lots, including this one on Osprey Road:

View from Osprey Road lot

This lot is one of the “pleasant” lots; some level land, some views, some trees. It may be a possibility if a more dramatic lot can’t be found.

The find of the day was a For Sale By Owner lot, 381 Antler Ridge. Terrific views, good access, and a well and septic in place.  (Also a small garage that should be demolished due to water damage and deterioration, which would leave a usable cement pad.)

View from 381 Antler Ridge

This photo looks great blown up full-size! At the top of the lot is an old foundation, well, electrical service, and views:

381 Antler Ridge foundation

The lady who owns this lot called me back, and her pricing for the lot (2.74 acres) is way out of line, even considering the well and septic. We feel, based on looking at many other lots in the area, this property is worth somewhere in the $60k range. The owner is asking $100k, so it is  not likely we can come to an agreement. Too bad, as this is a great lot and we could be very happy with it.

Which brings us to my solo trip on March 17, when I went over on my motorcycle. While I looked at 7 lots and revisited Antler Ridge, this trip didn’t turn up much. I did look at a property on Murphy Road — house and a shed plus 45 acres of land. Listed as a forclosure, there was not a tree or shrub in sight.

631 Murphy

I checked out 2 side-by-side For Sale lots on Sanderling, but both are very steep. Good views from the top, though.

Sanderling lot

While I was getting ready to walk this lot, I spoke to a guy on the neighboring lot. He said he would sell me his acres, as he had to take care of his aging parents and needed the money. I told him I was interested and gave him my business card. We will see if anything comes of it.

For now we have come to a stopping point. We have looked at and walked dozens of lots in the area we like the best, and will have to wait for more properties to come up for sale. We have contacted a realtor in the area to give us a hand, and he supplied us with several maps that show all the plots, lot numbers, and information we would need to do more research. That’s a help.

We had thought we would have a place to go to this summer when we started this process. If all we wanted was a piece of land, there are several that would suffice. Problem is we want it all — views, space (without having to look into or over a neighbor’s house), decent price. The search will continue, but probably not with the same frequency of trips as in the past.  Having found the subdivision and the view, it’s a waiting game!

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

Spring?

March 8, 2012 / / 1 Comment

I was out last Sunday on my snowmobile. It was a glorious day. Lots of people out snowmobiling, skiing, and snowboarding. However, temps were getting into the 40’s even at that elevation, 10,000+ feet.

Our bulbs are starting to grow. Walking around the yard we see our Iris, Tulips, and Daffodil bulbs starting to sprout  their green shoots. Some of the trees look like their buds are filling out. According to our calendar, this is happening  about a week earlier than last year. Like many places we had a mild winter, which may explain the earlier than normal start to the growing season.

It is still below freezing at night, so I have not started riding my motorcycle to work, but the daytime temperatures of mid to upper 50’s sure feels good. Pam has been out raking the yard, which is bare of snow, just to get outdoors. The dogs have been rolling in the dry grass and bringing it in with them, so the more we can get picked up the cleaner the house will stay.

I was watching 2 female Robins this morning as they were picking at the yard looking for food. At night, after we get home, I have been cleaning the windshield of bugs. (That part of spring I could do without.) Still, all are indicators that spring will soon be fully here.

We have some around the house projects planned, including putting up some taller privacy fence. The dogs bark at everything that moves past the house, so the theory is that if they can see less, they will bark less.  We are waiting for the ground to fully thaw so we can begin putting in the posts.

I had completed a project to add more lights to the garage. The twin light fixtures at the rear of the garage had not been sufficient, so I added another pair to the front, just at the point where the garage door ends in its open position. What a difference that has made! Much easier to  feed the cats, back the cars in and out, and generally just get around. Understand the garage houses 2 cars, 2 motorcycles, 2 garden tractors, my ATV, and a bunch of other “stuff.”  It was not always easy to navigate in poor light!

We plan another Land Hunt trip this weekend, mostly to get out of the house as the weather is going to be great. I have been remiss in reporting on our last trip, so will combine notes on the two trips in my next post.

Last time I mentioned we had to do taxes…and have done so. What a bite. Due to a couple factors we ended up owing both the Fed and state extra money. That means there will be less to go into the housing fund. No matter what we do it seems we always own the Fed something at tax time, but we generally break even or get a small refund from the state. Not this year!

Thanks to family and friends who responded to the news of Pam’s father passing away on February 17. Your support was appreciated!

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

High mileage people

February 25, 2012 / / 1 Comment

We drive a lot.

I keep a log book in both cars, entering gas fills and maintenance items such as oil and filter changes. I also keep track of mileage that I put on my motorcycle. Here are the numbers for all 3 vehicles from 2011:

Pam’s Honda: On 1-3-2011 it had 225,893 miles on it. By 1-2-2012 it had gone to 252,571. That’s 26,678 miles.

My Subaru: On 1-1-11 it had 49,903 miles on the odometer. By 12-30-2011 it registered 70,926 miles. Yep, 21,023 miles in 2011.

My motorcycle has a 2nd odometer which I set to zero at the start of the year. It showed I had ridden  7,247 miles in 2011.

Total miles for 2011: A whopping 54,948. That does not include short runs with the Scout II, which I used for going to the dump and pulling trailers on occasion. I don’t log the Scout as I do the other vehicles, but guess I ran it between 400 and 500 miles in 2011.

That takes a lot of gasoline. And tires. And oil. And filters. And …you get the idea. We replaced 3 windshields last year, all broken by rocks thrown up by energy industry trucks. Our deductible is $100.00 per windshield.

Believe me, we watch the price of gas going up with something approaching dismay. Most of the time Pam and I try to commute together, but this last week saw us with differing schedules so we ran a couple cars a few of the days. Fuel bill for the week: $108.65.

Our commute is about 114 miles a day. Including the running of local errands, the average goes to around 120 miles a day. We live in the boonies: A grocery run  is 58 miles, round trip. On outing to a shopping center is even longer. Long trips account for some of the mileage;  I was back to Wisconsin a couple times in 2011, dealing with the aftermath of my father’s passing. Then there are the “land hunt” trips we take one or two weekends per month. It all adds up to a lot of driving and a lot of miles.

We drive a lot.

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

Pam’s father passed away

February 19, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Pam’s father, Myron O. Paroubek, passed away this past Friday, February 17th. He was 92 years old.

Readers of this blog will know that Myron had been in failing health for the last 3 years, suffering from Alzheimer’s and other ailments. The immediate cause of death was pneumonia. Myron, a WWII Navy veteran, had been in a VA care center for a few months, but took a turn for the worse a few days ago.

Lorraine, Pam’s mother, had passed away a bit over 20 years ago. Pam has 2 brothers, Larry and Craig, and a sister, Becky. All 3 live in the Midwest.

Myron had requested that he be cremated. A ceremony to inter his ashes will be held  Memorial Day week in Merrill, Wisconsin, which is Myron’s home town.

I was not particularly close to my father-in law, who lived a good number of years in Florida after he and Lorraine were divorced. Relations between Myron and his children were strained to a degree, partially because of the physical distances involved, and part as fallout from the divorce. However, things improved when Myron relocated back to the Midwest. Larry, Becky, and Craig were at the hospital during Myron’s last hours.

Myron, who was a Navy machinist during the closing days of WWII, was stationed in Japan after VJ day, and witnessed the signing of the armistice. He had some interesting stories about his time in Japan, the people he saw, and dealing with the aftermath of the war. He worked for most of his after-service life at Trane Company as a machinist and tool-and-die maker. (Trane Company makes air conditioning systems, some of them huge, and they are sold around the world.)

We have a couple photos of Myron with our dogs Blondie and Bru:

Myron and Blondie

 

Myron and Bru

Myron Oscar Paroubek: 5/3/1919 – 2/17/2012.

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

 

Arizona trip, family and friends

February 1, 2012 / / 4 Comments

Our friends for 30+ years, Hank and Elinor Tourtillott, live in Casa Grande, Arizona. (Casa Grande is about 45 minutes SW of Phoenix.) We like to visit them this time of year, both to catch up on the news and take advantage of the warm winter weather Arizona offers.  This year Eli is having some health problems, an even more important reason to touch base with the two of them.

We first met Hank and Eli when we bought a home in Colorado’s foothills west of Boulder, and became good friends. That was back in the early ’80s, and we have kept up the relationship through all of our subsequent moves, which include Oregon, Wisconsin, Arizona, and back to Colorado. They are good people, and we consider them family.

This year we made arrangements to meet our daughter, Felicity, at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on our Arizona junket.  She flew in from Portland, Oregon, courtesy of  her boyfriend. We celebrated Felicity’s 29th birthday as well as visiting with Hank and Eli.

Pam tried something different this time, she boarded 2 of our 3 dogs, Jo and Bru. Blondie (the Diva) traveled with us on the drive to AZ and back.  Blondie loves motel rooms; she likes to lounge on the beds.

Blondie relaxes in the hotel room

Acting on a tip from Hank, the Legacy Suites became our base of operations.  We reserved a suite of adjoining rooms, one for us and the other for Felicity.

Our base of operations for this trip

We didn’t realize the place had a pool, or we would have brought our swim suits. (ha, ha) The weather was great the whole time, with daytime temps in the upper 70’s and night time temps in the upper 40’s.

When we arrived in the late morning, we were told we couldn’t check in until 4:00 P.M.  This gave us about 5 hours to kill. Felicity decided to take in a movie — the latest “Underworld” sequel — while Pam and I visited an IKEA store to pick up up a few ideas about living in a small space (which we will need if our land hunt eventually leads us to owning a small cabin). You have to think ahead…

We celebrated Felicity’s birthday with cake and a gift.

Felicity's birthday cake.

 

Felicity opening her gift

We bought ice cream for the cake from the Dairy Queen located across the road, and had a small party. It was good to have a chance to catch up.  It’s been about two years since we last visited Felicity in Portland.

The desert is renowned for it sunsets, and we were treated to some brilliant ones while in Casa Grande.  My point-and-shoot camera doesn’t really do justice to these kinds of shots, but here is one sunset:

 

Arizona sunset #1

Hank and Eli are of our parent’s generation, and, sadly, they have begun to have some medical issues. Because of this we needed to keep our 2 visits to about 2 hours each.  We found both of them as sharp and quick-witted as ever, and decidedly enjoyed our time with them.

 

Eli and Pam talking up a storm

 

Hank and Pam are exchanging comments with Eli

We hope the two of them enjoyed the visit as much as we did! In our “off” times we sat in the sun, read, walked Blondie, and just enjoyed the warm and clear days.

After the visits, birthday cake, and sunsets, we had to head home. We dropped Felicity off at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport, then headed north to Colorado, arriving home late in the day. (Felicity was in Portland many hours before we arrived in Colorado.) The trip back featured good weather, but returning to snow country made us regret not being able to spend more time in Arizona’s sunshine. Round trip was 1,440 miles.

One place we ate deserves special mention. Hank and Eli had suggested a restaurant called Mimi’s Cafe, which features French and southern (Louisiana) food. A banjo on the wall, part of the jazz theme, summed it up with the message it held: “Bonjor, Y’all!”  The food was very good, and we enjoyed the experience.

Here is a slide show with these and more photos taken on this trip:
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Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

January ATV ride

January 25, 2012 / / 2 Comments

Due to the mild weather I have been able to keep riding my ATV. Here are some photos from my last trip out. (Click on photos to open a larger image.)

"The Giz" on a muddy trail

The road started off muddy due to melting snow. Grand Mesa is in the background.

A bit further up the trail I spied one of the wild horses that live here. Although a bit far off the road for my point-and-shoot camera, I took this photo:

Wild horse on Wild Horse Mesa

This is the 2nd horse I have seen while riding my ATV. Its nice to know they are there.

As I rode further the elevation increased, and I found myself above the snow line and looking at this landscape:

Snowy landscape

Wild Horse Mesa is the foreground and way in the back is Grand Mesa.

Eventually, as the snow got deeper, I decided to turn around and head for home. Here I am turning around at the top of a hill:

Turning around in the snow

At this point I am about 22 miles up the trail. Shortly after heading back I stopped at this sign post:

De Beque 19 Miles

Once I got home I had to take The Griz to a car wash to clean off all the mud and snow, then home to catch the Giants – Patriots football game. All in all, a pretty good weekend day!

 

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

 

Land Hunt, Post-Christmas, other stuff

January 18, 2012 / / 1 Comment

It’s been a few busy weeks since my last post, so let’s get to it.

(Click on any photo to open a larger version.)

Land Hunt:

We have made 2 more trips. After viewing several lots on the first trip we  found one that looked good. It was about 2 acres, had a well drilled, and had a minimal view of the back of Pike’s Peak. Bonuses: The lot was fairly flat, lots of trees, and a gently sloping driveway.

Lot behind Pike's Peak

Alas, upon further research, we found the well was a dry hole, and restrictive covenants ruled out larger outbuildings as well as casual weekend use. We had to pass on this one.

The next trip took us north of our regular search area, as Pam had found some listings near the town of Fairplay, which is south of  the ski/resort town of Breckenridge. One lot stood out of the many we toured that day:

Raven Way lot with view of Collegiate Peaks

This five-acre parcel has possibly the best view of any land we’ve considered purchasing. In addition to views to the southwest (of the Collegiate Peaks and South Park) the lot has a well rated at 10 gallons-per-minute (gpm) which is good for Colorado, and has a driveway in place.

Pam and dogs on Raven Way parcel

Although a little steeper than we wanted, the views, access, well,  and minimal covenants make this land very attractive. There is a flat spot of land behind where I am standing that would make a nice place to put a house. We will be following up on this one! The only drawback we see is that the well has not been used in a while, and my portable generator does not have the 220 volt output needed to test the pump motor.

We have learned it costs from $3,500.00 to $5,000.00 to get power to the lot. This requires a pier pole, transformer, electrical service, and cable and must be done by an electrician in conjunction with the power company.

If the well pump has to be replaced we would be looking at an additional price tag of $1,200.00 – $1,500.00.  We’ll take all this into consideration if/when we make an offer. It’s exciting to find a lot that looks like it has all the right stuff, but the research goes on.  After 1+ years searching and 15+ trips into the mountains, we don’t plan to do anything without thorough study.
 
In other news, winter is returning to the area after very mild conditions. I’ve been out snowmobiling a couple of times.

First snowmobile ride of the season

I took the following photo from Land’s End on Grand Mesa (overlooking Grand Junction, CO). Rising air from the valley below was forming clouds. Combined with the bright sun and new snow, I thought it made a striking shot.

Clouds forming over the Grand Valley

I’ve been able to get some more seat time on the ATV as well. Too bad the mild temperatures won’t last!

Post-Christmas summary:

Thanks to all who mentioned visiting this site in their cards and letters. Our Christms was low key, and it was good to open and read the cards and letters we received. We met with our son Toby over the holidays, had a good meal, and caught up with his activities. He went to Florida for one of the bowl games and enjoyed getting away for a while.

Felicity is keeping busy with her many projects. We’ll be seeing her in Phoenix at the end of the month.  She flies and we drive to Arizona to celebrate her 29th birthday.  Looking forward to it.

We are keeping busy. Pam is entering the busiest time of the year for her at work, as am I.  For me it means new projects to get underway as the 2012 budget kicks in, and for Pam more paperwork to process and more transcripts to evaluate. Our weekends are full of activities ranging from shopping to hunting for land, with ATV rides and snowmobile outings thrown in. One of these days we will tackle our tax returns, an annual excercise in frustration. Oh well, has to be done.

A short note for cat lovers: My mother had never cared much for cats. Last fall a couple of her great-grandchildren found a beat-up young kitten, but couldn’t take it home, so asked my mother to care for it. Reluctantly, my mother agreed. For the first few months the kitten, dubbed “Mouse Mouse” by the great-grandkids, would not let my mother approach him, although Mom put out food and water daily. Eventually Mouse Mouse let Mom take him into the house, and he is now Mom’s inseparable companion. Mom is delighted, and is convinced that Mouse Mouse is the most affectionate cat who ever lived. With my father gone we are glad Mom has a companion in Mouse Mouse, who has grown sleek  from the attention of Mom and a good vet. His poor leg, damaged when he was a ruffian, will never be fully functional, but it doesn’t stop him from jumping into Mom’s lap and purring up a storm while Mom watches TV or reads. My sister Kitt says the interaction between Mouse Mouse and Mom is something to see.

I’ll be doing more land research, and with another land hunt trip already in the works plus visiting with Felicity at the end of the month, the next few weeks will be busy. Check back for updates when you can.

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

Changes to web pages

January 12, 2012 / / 2 Comments

Just a short note this time. I’ve made some changes to a few of the web pages that deal with photos and slide shows. On both the Cats and Dogs pages, clicking on the photos will now open a larger version of that photo. On the Jer’s Toys page, clicking on any of the 4 photos will bring up a sub-page that deals a little more in depth with that topic. So far, 3 of the 4 pages (Motorcycle, Snowmobile, and ATV) have topic-specific slide shows at the bottom of the page. Hopefully I will have the 4th slide show, dealing with the Scout II, done by this weekend.

Pam kids me about these changes, and they are probably not of great interest to many people, but heck. Its my web page, and I enjoy tweaking the code to make some of these things happen.  These changes also allow me show off a few more photos. You be the judge!

In a few days I’ll have another post dealing with our Land Hunt (we are making another trip this weekend) and a post-Christmas summary. Check back when you can.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in.

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