Category: General (Page 39 of 64)

Tomorrow is Christmas (as I write this) and we’re as ready as we ever are. It seems the holiday creeps up then – wham – it’s here. Even though we were more organized this year than in most years it still seems strange that tomorrow is The Day.

It was easier to get excited when we were kids. Looking forward to school vacation, riding our sleds, building snow forts, and eating cookies and goodies from Mom’s kitchen. There were church events and a party or two; band concerts and seasonal music provided a Christmas sound track. Now that we have no kids in the house and are working right up to the day, some of the magic is no longer present.

2016 Christmas Tree

There are a few other topics I need to cover including the house hunt and a few other updates.

The house I mentioned in my last post (Kutzu Ridge) appears to be a non-starter. I spoke to the realtor who has the listing and he advised me the home needs a new boiler. The boiler provides radiant heat as well as domestic hot water and would be about a $15,000.00 repair. Even then there may be unknown damage to the radiant heating coils built into the floor. The house had been vacated but not winterized and everything froze up. The realtor also had a few details on the lot, which slopes down sharply from the house, and problems with the water district that supplies the area with water. An embezzlement case has caused water rates to go sky-high, typically $200.00 per month as the water service tries to rebuild their finances. Even empty houses are charged $150.00 per month even if no water is consumed. Not a good situation when this would be a 2nd mortgage for us until retirement in a couple years; the extra monthly expenses would be hard to absorb. Given the needed repairs and higher utilities I think this house is out of the running, although I really liked the interior and it turns out there are two bedrooms and a bath on the main floor, features high on our priority list.  Pam will check back from time to time to see if the price drops significantly over the next few months.

Speaking of which, Pam continues to monitor the realty listings but nothing of interest is on the horizon. One strange listing came out of Ouray, CO. A house is on the market that has a problem: a 40-ton boulder rolled off a nearby slope and bashed through one wall of the house, broke though the floor, and is currently sitting in the basement with the top of the rock still above the first floor. House is being sold “as is” (wall is still open to the elements) for  $286,000.00. Might be a great fixer-upper–  but — not for us!

Closer to home, we had snow on Thursday night, 2 – 3 inches of heavy, wet stuff. Pam took this photo of me out on the John Deere garden tractor clearing some of the sidewalk areas on Friday morning:

Clearing recent snowfall.

Note the driveway has already been cleared. Temperatures were not bad so the cleanup was not to onerous. I will say that the cut-down cable chains that I made for the tractor’s rear tires last fall worked very well, far better than the conventional chains I had used the past few years. With this addition (and the extra suitcase weights that were my Christmas present last year) the little tractor does a respectable job of snow plowing.

That does it for this post. We hope all who read this have a Merry Christmas!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Ignore that diabetes, we’re having a pie for Christmas Day (strawberry/rhubarb)!

Happy Trails.

While we are not getting whacked with the very cold weather and snow that is hitting the Midwest, where the bulk of my family lives, we are experiencing another cold snap. Night time temperatures are (once again) in the single digits. Typically we get below-zero conditions in December, although this year is considered to be warmer than normal (but it is still cold). The wind has blown a few days, giving a wind chill of well below zero. I fired up the Aladdin heater again to help warm the garage a bit.

Aladdin heater in garage

The Aladdin keeps the garage warm enough to keep the cat water from freezing; this is my “did it work” criteria, so I guess it did work. The next few nights are forecast to be quite cold so the heater will get a couple more workouts this week. If the lows are in the twin-digits the garage generally gets warm enough during the day to stay above freezing at night so the heater isn’t required.

We have moved our oldest outside cat, Mr. Bibbs, into the house for these cold nights. Mr. Bibbs is about 12 years old and does not appear to be in robust health even though he moves around, eats, and will jump into my lap when I am sitting outside in warmer weather. Right now he is in the cat room where he sits on the heated pad Pam provides for him and moves only to eat and use the cat box. A year ago in December we lost our cat Soot to cancer; I would hate to think losing a cat every year at Christmas would become a tradition. Hopefully the indoor respite will add a few years to Mr. Bibbs’ life. He is my favorite cat.

Mr. Bibbs in cat room

In other news,  we have seen a potential retirement home listing that may be a possibility. It is in Florissant, an area we have considered before, but it is a long way from De Beque. Address is 816 Kutsu Ridge Road, Florissant, Co. We may try to arrange a realtor-guided visit over the holiday break, depending on weather conditions. Watch this space.

I’ve added a few photos taken in 2016 to The Lot gallery. Here is a link to that gallery; the new photos are at the bottom of the page.

Daughter Felicity is back in the USA; she is staying with a friend until January 1st when she can move into a room she will be renting (in a house with three other young women). Her new base will be in Vancouver, Washington (across the Columbia River from Portland, OR). While Felicity still intends to travel a great deal, it will be a benefit for her to have a place to return to between international trips. Felicity’s ongoing travel blog can be found on-line at this address: http://www.blog.felicityfields.com and is worth a read — take a look!

Son Toby has picked up a new part-time job working for a used book company, Better World Books. This will supplement the income he gets from his restaurant job and refereeing softball games in summer leagues. Unlike the other two jobs, this one will give him a base income that he can count on.  Toby seems to be happy in his life and working three part-time jobs, perfectly OK with us.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The cards are out, the tree is up, the holiday songs are ringing through the house.  Only four more workdays to go until the community college closes down between Christmas and New Year. If the weather would just warm up a bit, life wouldn’t be half bad, even though this is the shortest daylight period of the year.  I do worry about the feral cats outside during these cold snaps; I provide Dogloos for shelter and bedding, food, and heated water bowls.

Happy Trails.

Although we have had  a spell of colder weather (lows in single digits) and snow, today is bright and sunny with a forecast high in the low 40s. The morning frost is already gone from the driveway and sidewalks and we appreciate the temporary respite from winter.

Yesterday was also mild but not as warm, but that did not stop me from raking the yard one last time and getting rid of a few drifting leaves. A couple spots were still snow-covered; I just raked around these areas. Imagine…raking the yard in December! The Christmas music on the CD player is a reminder, though, that Christmas is only a few weeks away.

We’ve been receiving Christmas cards in the mail and, for once, all of our cards are done. This is early for us: in many years our cards have been New Year’s cards instead!  We hope everyone is enjoying preparations for the holidays.

During the last cold snap I fired up my garage-sale Aladdin kerosene heater. The goal was to keep the inside of the garage above freezing and the heater provided enough heat to accomplish this. We won’t use it often, only when the temps are single-digits or below zero, but it will make the cars easier to start and give some comfort to the cats who consider the garage their home. It was nice to walk into the garage, otherwise unheated, and have the the car start without any issues.

Our Christmas tree, a gift from daughter Felicity, arrived last Friday (direct from Oregon!) and we are in the process of decorating it. Right now it has lights and a star topper; Pam will work on adding ornaments this coming week. The tree is very fragrant, has an excellent shape, and fits the spot in the master bedroom very well. (The location keeps the tree safe from our 3 dogs and 6 cats.) Going to sleep with the pine scent is a delight in itself.

Pam says I can’t have a post with no pictures in it, but I haven’t taken any new photos for the last week or so. Here is a photo taken when we lived in Whitewater of a squirrel at a feeder we had set up:

Getting dinner.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I spent the morning packaging gifts for shipping.  I don’t think I’ve been this organized in years.  Of course, the gifts to be shipped are smaller (in size and quantity) each year, and the holiday card list reduces in size too.

Happy Trails.

With winter weather in place and not much happening on the house hunt scene, our activity has been limited to putting up outside Christmas decorations. The days after Thanksgiving featured above-average temperatures which made this task easier.

We made a few minor upgrades to our lights this year. We don’t go overboard but over the years some of the outside decorations had deteriorated and were discarded. A few new lights took their place, including the battery-powered stars you can see hanging from our front-yard Locust tree:

A few [new] stars in the Locust tree

Snowflakes adorn one of our front windows

The stars and snowflakes join some of our traditional decorations which include lights, wreaths, and  illuminated bells and tree:

Our daughter Felicity has arranged for us to get a fresh Oregon Christmas tree; when it arrives we will begin decorating inside the house.  Harkens back to our Oregon days and visiting the lovely tree farms in the Pacific Northwest.

We did have one other event of note; we delivered our last two foster cats, Pieter and Ernst, to the Rifle Animal Shelter, where they are awaiting adoption. It seems a bit strange not to have kittens in the house (Pieter and Ernst were here six months due to a continuing medical issue), but the kittens are now certainly ready to be adopted into homes of their own. May they adopt quickly.

A few other notes: We had our first measurable snow, 2 – 3 inches, enough that I used the John Deere lawn tractor/blade combo to clear our driveway and sidewalks. More snow, and frigid weather, is in the forecast for the upcoming week. The cold is harder to bear than the snow but – it is December – such weather is normal. I’ve started carrying the jumper cables in the car just in case, and have the cable chains and tensioners ready to go as well. I hope to not have to use jumpers/chains/tensioners, but with an hour-long commute each way it is best to be prepared.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Preparing holiday cards — the list gets smaller each year.  Busy time at work — the end of the semester at the community college.

Hate, hate, hate the colder-than-a-welldigger’s-behind weather.

Happy Trails.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! For us this kicks off the holiday season and means we will be putting out our holiday decorations shortly. (For those who might have missed out electronic Thanksgiving card this year you can view it here.)

Even before this, though, we had a bit of a treat as the Capitol Christmas Tree made a stop in Glenwood Springs on November 17th. En-route from Idaho to Washington DC, the transport schedules several stops along the way and this year we were the beneficiaries of one such stop.

The day was a bit rainy and cold but that didn’t stop people from enjoying the visit.

Christmas tree transport truck

Tree inside, partially decorated

Crowd enjoys the visit.

Note the snow on the slopes in the background and the fire pit off to the right. The day was a bit raw but that didn’t dampen any enthusiasm.

We plan to put up our outside lights and decorations in the next day or two; this year we may add a few new items to our aging collection. We don’t go overboard but do enjoy having the lights on when we get home from work.

A different milestone was reached this past week; our 2001 Honda Accord rolled over 400,000 miles. We bought the vehicle in 2004 and it had just under 64,000 miles on it then. The Honda has served us well over the last 336,000 miles.

Honda hit 400,000 miles on November 23

The car is beginning to show its age in small ways: the doors occasionally lock for no apparent reason, the door lock switch on the driver’s side does not work, and the rubber gaskets around the doors and trunk have a few gaps. Nothing major and the car keeps providing our daily commute. We’re glad we spent the money to replace the transmission at about 384,000 miles.

It’s been busy for us at work; in my case the search continues for an assistant without much luck. This has put additional stress on me to cover the 4 locations in my organization. I did interview one person but lack of knowledge and no experience ruled her out. The search continues. Pam has also been busy; applications for the spring semester have been arriving in increasing numbers and along with them come transcripts that she needs to evaluate. Both of us would have appreciated a bit of down time, but no!

The guy who bought my snowmobile paid me but has yet to pick up the sled; he indicated he will be coming by this Sunday with a trailer and it up then. I will be sad to see it go.

Otherwise there is not a lot of other activity around the house, at least in the evenings. Yard work has come pretty much to an end, too dark at night to do anything anyway.

Here and there are small victories in life. Our corner street light finally got fixed after I called the energy company – twice. The first call was canceled “due to lack of information” but I gave the same information when I called in to check on the repair order status. Pam happened to be home when the serve tech came out and she reports the guy appeared to be quite unhappy about having to make the service call. I guess we should just be glad the light is working again.

Along those same lines I finally (since June) got credit against my insurance deductible for my c-pap machine which is used to treat my sleep apnea. First the insurance company could not find me in the system. I resubmitted all the paperwork and eventually they had to admit I existed, but they denied the claim citing the need for more information.  After another round of phone calls the company grudgingly admitted some of the expenses but not the cleaning supplies; those were classed as “comfort and convenience items” and my claim for those expenses was denied. (They also asked how much would it have cost to rent the machine? Really?) Oh well…I received credit for a partial claim; that’s the best I can hope for. The money applied toward my deductible and at least I gained a moral victory in the end. Those insurance companies are definitely run by Ferengi.

That about brings me up-to-date for this week. Next time I may have some yard decoration photos so share. Oh, and I did get the snow blade and wheel weights on the John Deere garden tractor since my last post, just in case anyone is paying attention!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Kiddo Update: Toby called to say he’s picked up another part-time job (in addition to his waiter gig) in South Bend.  Felicity arrives back in the USA December 1st.

House Hunt Update:  Zero progress.  Information regarding a water supply line to that house in Cedaredge (mentioned last post) resulted in news we would have to pay for the line to go under a state highway to reach that location.  Nope.

Happy Trails.

Thanksgiving is next Thursday and Pam and I will have a few days off. We’re looking forward to the break even though we have little planned for the holiday.

Normally Pam puts a roast in the crock pot but our pot died earlier this year; the ceramic pot broke. Pam ordered a new pot but it is back-ordered so we may not have it by Thanksgiving this year. Oh well…on to Plan B for preparing Thanksgiving dinner (whatever that may be…).

As for the past week since my last post, there are a few points of interest. We had our first snow of the season, very light, but nighttime temps have now been below freezing for several days and it looks like that trend will continue. Winter is arriving here and has already arrived in the high country; several mountain towns report a foot of snow or more fell during this last storm. Time for me to take the mower deck off the John Deere garden tractor and put on the snow blade, wheel weights, and chains. That is my task for today.

I’ve sold my snowmobile; the guy is supposed to be by later today and pick it up. I had really enjoyed riding for several years but have done little riding over the last couple of years so it’s better to move the sled along rather than keep it stored behind the house. The proceeds will go toward a brush chipper which will aid in cleaning The Lot up at Sanderling.

I get out with the ATV fairly frequently, which somewhat offsets selling the snowmobile. Last month I joined the Western Slope ATV Association and attended my first club ride yesterday. (Here is a link to the Club web site.) The ride was based out of De Beque, convenient for me! We went into some of the new space I had mentioned in my last post. While the scenery is not all that great I did see an eagle (photo did not turn out well) and passed a few year-round springs I didn’t know were in the area.

The group ride also passed an old homestead site, interesting in that the cabin was made mostly out of stone.

Stone cabin homestead, Wild Horse Mesa

Not only the material, but the construction is unusual for this part of the country. The walls are double; an outside wall and an inside wall with the gap filled with rubble. This is old country construction that I have not seen in western Colorado. Would be interesting to know the history of this place! Just to the right of the photo there is a small stream that appears to run year-round; this supplied water. Best guess is that sheep were run in the area which contains a lot of high plains grass. Cattle may have been run in the area but the consensus was more to sheep than cattle.

Here is a photo of a couple of us who made the ride. This was taken on a branch off the main trail, that goes up a sand – covered hill (my “sand dune”) and emerges at the top of a rock formation.

Two riders plus Sophia the dog

Keith is in the middle of the photo while Steve, with Keith’s dog Sophia, is at the left. Sophia rides with Keith on some ATV trips.

From this vantage point you can see the “De Beque Arch”, a hole in one of the local sandstone rocks.

The De Beque Arch

De Beque is a very small town and this is a very small arch.

The ride was fairly long, almost 60 miles, and did not require 4-wheel drive during any part but there were a couple of places where low range came in handy. The snow we encounterd made the main route muddy so we detoured onto less-used trails that were more grassy and traversed more rock shelves. This approach worked out well and gave us a variety of terrain to ride through. It was a nice way to spend several hours this past Saturday morning.

When I returned home Pam was outside with the dogs doing some leaf raking to tidy the last bits of the yard, so I pitched in until that job was finished. A final batch of leaves was used as mulch for the tree peony and various columbine plants. Anything left over was mulched and taken to my dumping area. By the time we finished the sun was setting and it was time to call it a day. As usual it was a busy Saturday, with lots of outside time and activity.

A comment on the house hunt: It’s been a week of doing some background checking on the house we thought might be a possibility (I mentioned this house in my last post). One concern is the cistern; I looked into the possibility of getting city water (Cedaredge) into the place. Turns out that’s not an option, and even if it was the total cost to connect to city water lines would be over $16,000.00. There is another water supplier in the area, the City of Orchard Mesa, and they are doing some research to see if they could connect to that parcel. I hope to hear back from them next week. Water in Colorado is always an issue. If domestic water to that location in Cedaredge is that expensive (a well would also be around $10 – $12K) then this house is out of the running (even though we are attracted to the lot and stream). Watch this space.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I had an adventure in pet care this week when I removed Blondie’s stitches.  After all these years of cats and dogs, I’ve never done stitch removal before.  Luckily it went well; Blondie was very patient with me.  I don’t do needles/injections either, although as my pets age who knows but that might be an activity I need to add to my skill set.

Our house hunt financing window may be closing.  The Federal Reserve meets in December, when home mortgage rates are predicted to go higher.  With the new administration due to hit D.C. in January, investments are volatile, which will impact one of the funds we plan to use for the down payment.  I kinda figured we should’ve had an offer in play by election day this month, and it isn’t as if we haven’t been looking continually.  Figures.

Happy Trials.

My comments this time are going to cover a range of topics, including the weather, Fall chores, the election, ATV rides, and our house hunt.

Weather:
I must say that Colorado’s October weather, and so far November, has been excellent. Although a few mornings have seen frost on some surfaces, the daytime temps have been in the 60s with no snow so far. This has made our weekends very pleasant. The soil is getting pretty dry, though, and could use some moisture.

Fall chores:
The leaf season is nearly over; what remains are a few straggling leaves that persist in clinging to their branches. While there may be another weekend or two requiring some raking, the bulk of the season is completed. This is OK with me; while I enjoy outside work, raking leaves gets a little boring after a while. Fortunately I have the leaf vac/mulcher (which got a new catch bag this year) that helps the cleaning process a great deal.

The Election:

Kind-of sums up our attitude.

ATV rides:

The weather has been so pleasant that I have been able to get in a few more local ATV rides. Nothing special; I ride west out of De Beque into the Wild Horse Mesa area. However, on my last ride I found a gated trail, previously locked, is now open for public use. Apparently the Forest Service came to an agreement with a private landowner to allow access across a small portion (.1 mile) of the landowner’s property. This agreement  opens a huge area for future riding and exploration.

On my last trip I took these photos:

Moon rise over a promontory

De Beque Canyon / Colorado River overlook

As long as the weather remains fairly warm I’ll keep riding.

House Hunt:

Last weekend we did a drive-by of several houses in the Cedaredge area. Of the 4 we looked at, one may have possibilities. Located on 3+ acres and with a stream going through, the lot is appealing. The house is a two-story plus basement, which means steps, but it does have bedrooms and a bath on the main floor. Drawbacks: coal boiler for the hot water heating system, a cistern for water, and no garage. (There is a pad poured for a garage or shed.)  For us, the water is the biggest issue; we would have to put in a well or see if city water was available as an option. The coal boiler would have to be replaced with a natural gas or propane boiler. Eventually a garage or carport would be needed. Right now we are waiting for our realtor to get us a plat map of the property. If we find another house or two in Cedaredge with possibilities, we’ll arrange to see the inside of this one too. No rush.

Kizer Creek home

Footbridge over Kizer Creek

Jerry checks out deck

While the creek is not large it produces a lovely sound of water falling over rocks. The property itself is the biggest draw of this place; it remains to be seen if the inside would be suitable for us, now and into the future.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Blondie’s surgery on Election Day went well — not a cancerous lump, although a fairly large mass was removed, and a steady recovery.  Now the oldest cat, London, is ailing.  A trip to the vet next week for him may need to be scheduled.  Our animals are in the process of “aging out.”  It makes me sad.

New house hunt areas to research include the Dolores area outside of Cortez, CO and Cascade/Green Mountain Falls outside of Colorado Springs.  The retirement house hunt has lasted a year already; good thing we started early.

Happy Trails.

Little of note has passed this past week. I have been working my typical Fall chores which consists mostly of raking leaves and a bit of yard work. Among other small tasks I moved the RV trailer over to our neighbor’s yard, where we have been able to park it for the last few winters. Other than that the week has been pretty quiet.

So…here are a few off-beat topics.

Bagger kit on JD tractor

The bagger kit (grass catcher) was my birthday present back in August. Designed for a different model tractor, I adapted the used kit to my rig. It works pretty well and speeds up lawn mowing. Previously I did not use the tractor on the lawn, as the dogs tracked the resulting grass clippings into the house; with the catcher in place this is no longer an issue.

I added a new gallery to my Galleries page; the Photo Wall gallery is a collection of some of my favorite photos. The Galleries page has been modified a bit to make it look a little better; headings centered and icons re-arranged a bit for better viewing.

Along those same lines I added the Easter 2016 e-card (electronic card) to my E-Card page. While I had included this card in a previous post I had neglected to add it to the page.  I’ll continue to tweak various web pages over the winter months to freshen them up a bit.

Rebuilt banker’s lamp

This banker’s lamp had been in our garage attic for over a decade before Pam encouraged me to get it out and repair it so she could use it when working at home. A new lamp holder and bulbs were procured and installed; the lamp now sees almost daily use. This is just another example of smaller projects that are getting attention these days.

At the office, my assistant of 3 years has taken a job with Amazon; he will be moving his family to Seattle to begin his new job. While I wish him the best, this development means I will be without an an assistant for a while — any new hire will require a great deal of training. This complicates my future for the next several months or longer; I am not looking forward to it. Just me and 145 fellow employees in four locations that need 24/7 computer support.

Later today we will be going on a house hunt drive-by; Pam has identified 4 potential homes, all in the Cedaredge area, that warrant taking a first look.

By my next post the elections will be over and we will have a new president-elect. Can’t wait for this cycle to be over, but then comes the aftermath — which may be just as bad as the election itself. I think our Founding Fathers would cringe and be ashamed at how the democratic process has degenerated into the mess we have today. For the record, I have long held that gerrymandering election districts – done by both parties – is the root cause of this degradation. (Gerrymandering is the formation of voting districts that specifically advantage one political party over another.) This practice has resulted in the gridlock of the political system that we have today. If we are to fix our system – which is broken – we will need to start with de-gerrymandering our states.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The groomer found a lump on Blondie this week; she is scheduled for lump removal on Election Day.  I always worry when my pets require operations, as it is one of my least favorite parts of having companion animals.

Time to pull out the Christmas music and see what I can play on the ukulele.  The uke is keyed the same as a guitar, so I am trying to see what songs in the guitar books I can play on the uke.  It’s a mental exercise – the chords are fingered differently between the two instruments.  I can almost feel my mind working through the conversions.

Tenor Ukulele

Happy Trails.

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.