Category: General (Page 39 of 64)

We are in a cold snap which has given the high desert the first sub-zero temperatures of the season. Last night we hit -4 degrees F. Below zero temperatures are not uncommon in western Colorado; we generally get several very cold nights each year. This is the first of the season, though, and it was still a bit of a shock to walk outside this morning. My “Nanook” hat is getting a lot of use!

I had the kerosene heater going in the garage; the cats have found they can stay nice and toasty if they sit right in front of it.

Cats Ink and Gywneth in front of garage heater

The forecast for the coming week indicates a warm-up to more seasonal temperatures with highs in the upper 30s and lows in the 20s; I hope it’s some time before we get below-zero conditions again.

We did get more snow before the cold temperatures hit. Every thing is covered in white and I used the John Deere garden tractor to plow snow this past Thursday morning and evening. (Blowing snow was more of a problem than accumulation and led to having to do a morning and evening clean-up.) Main roads are now clear but side roads are snow-packed. The warming temperatures will clear the side roads in the next several days but will lead to rather sloppy conditions until they are completely dry. These are typical conditions for the time of year.

There is not much else to report. We continue to monitor the real estate market, but there’s nothing of interest in this slow winter listing period. I am still looking for a new assistant at the Sheriff’s Office. Pam’s stack of incoming transcripts at the community college indicates an even busier year than 2016. Life goes on.

I have a few “general” photos to include; on these cold days, both the cats and dogs look for pockets of sunlight to soak up the warmth.

Senior dog Blondie in a patch of sunlight

Sunny and Cirrus enjoy a spot of sunshine

(Note: These photos were taken with my phone and not my regular camera. I’m not as familiar with the camera phone and the photos are not the best quality but they are what I have for this post.)

Since the Broncos are not in the playoffs this year, Go Packers! Along those same lines, congratulations to the Wisconsin Badgers for their Cotton Bowl win.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Two more months, I tell myself, two more months before warmer temps (the dogs and outdoor cats would certainly appreciate it).  Unlike my Midwest childhood days  — when the “gray snow” and wind chill lasted well into April — I can expect periods of springlike weather by the end of February in the high desert. Some compensation for fairly frequent 100-degree temps in the summer…

Since the retirement house hunt has slowed wa-a-a-ay down at present, I am refreshing rugs, chairs, and misc. household items in preparation for an eventual move to “somewhere.”  Wish we were getting on with it.  Additionally, I’m practicing my meditation skills (New Year’s resolution) after listening to the presidential transition news.

Happy Trails.

A new year has begun. Let’s hope it will be a better year than 2016, although given the political situation that seems unlikely. We have pretty low expectations.

Christmas was celebrated in our typical low-key style, at home with a good meal and gifts. Here are a few Christmas photos:

Pam opening Christmas gifts

Jerry with his new  “Nanook of the North” cap

The week following Christmas we packed up the [indoor and outdoor] decorations and stored them for another year. Weather conditions cooperated, with a warm snap that made taking down the outside lights less of a chore than normal. In fact it was so warm, I hand-washed the cars on December 31st!

Having done a bit of shopping before New Year’s Eve, we settled down with a few new bottles of wine to enjoy the evening and watched the fireworks display put on by the town. Here is a 41 second clip of the finale:

Tomorrow we’ll watch the Tournament of Roses parade (what’s with that, not on New Year’s Day), but today we’ll catch some of the football games and generally take it easy. Pam has been on winter break from the community college for the last week while I have a four day weekend off; neither one of us is anxious to go back to work on Tuesday but life goes on (or at least life’s bills).

Generally the weather has been mild, but Winter may come roaring back this coming week. A chance of snow is in the forecast for the next several days and high temperatures will not be getting above freezing a few of those days. It’s an odd situation; mild here (for the date) but above-average snowpack in the high country. All OK with us!

I’ve added our New Year’s electronic card to my E-card library; here is a link to the 2017 card. We hope everyone has as happy a New Year as possible.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The new year: Let’s see — I feel as if this is the Spring semester of my senior year in high school, when I remember repeating to myself, “Let’s get on with it.”  That’s how I feel about this coming year, and life, and the retirement house purchase, and generally planning for retirement in 2017.  “Let’s get on with it.”

Happy Trails.

2017 is fast approaching and, as has been my custom at this time of year, here is a quick review of 2016 and  our goals for the new year.

Our daughter Felicity and son Toby visited us over the Memorial Day weekend. We hadn’t been in one place for many years and it was “interesting” to visit and catch up with all of the news and events that had passed. During this visit we took a tram ride up a mountain (near Glenwood Springs), where we enjoyed an outdoor concert and views of the town and valley below.

Fields family and dogs, May 28, 2016

After the visit Toby returned to his home in South Bend, Indiana, where he works several different jobs. He recently started a position with Better World Books, a company that specializes in reselling used books of many kinds. This company is quite large and has warehouses in foreign countries. Toby also continues his refereeing jobs in the summer and works as a waiter part-time/year round.

Felicity enjoyed another year of international locations, including Malta (in the Mediterranean) plus Ireland and Switzerland, and a visit to the Galapagos Islands. She recently returned to Portland, Oregon, for the winter. Felicity is employed by an internet-based training company and can work wherever she has an internet connection.

As for Pam and myself, we continued two long-term projects. The first was to further develop our recreational property (The Lot) located in central Colorado. The work consists of removing dead and down trees, salvaging what we can for firewood and hauling the rest to a “burn pit” for disposal. While we finished a few areas this year, a late spring shortened the working season and we didn’t clear as much as I would have liked. Still we enjoy the activity; it gets us out of town and into the high country (working with Big Boy Toys) most summer weekends.

Salvaged firewood, August 2016

The second project, still in progress, is a search for a retirement home. We had decided to try to find a home that has a bit of acreage, a few trees, and relatively short commute to the nearest town with services. Various properties have been viewed in multiple markets, but we are still looking for “the one.” We didn’t think the search would take so long!

The summer was a good one for recreational activities. I rode a few ATV trails and attended a Colorado-based motorcycle rally.

My ATV at the Magnolia Mill on the Wheeler Lake Trail

Motorcycle club members at the top of Pike’s Peak. I am at upper right.

Pam took on another litter of foster cats (#26): 4 kittens and mom cat Juliana.

Mom cat Juliana (left) with one of her 4 kittens, Ernst.

Juliana and all the kittens were adopted though our local animal shelter.

Combined with all the regular around-the-house work, we kept a busy schedule, if not a particularly exciting one.

Goals for 2017 are not exotic. We plan to continue cleaning up The Lot and looking for a retirement home. (I hope to locate a brush chipper to help with the lot cleanup, another “Big Boy Toy” to add to the mix.) A trip to the Midwest to visit family may materialize, but that’s more of an idea than a plan at this point. Otherwise we’ll just keep plugging along, starting to strategize more intensively for retirement and staying active for another year.

We wish everyone a Happy New Year.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I look at 2016 and I see — disappointment.  Disappointment in the national election results, disappointment in various health diagnoses for ourselves and friends/relatives, disappointment in the retirement house hunt.  I evaluated my 15,000th incoming [transfer] transcript at the community college, a disappointing benchmark (more deserving of sympathy than recognition).

2017 strikes me as having the potential to be both a pivotal and volatile year, personally and nationally. I find my resolutions for the next 365 days to be: 1) our household’s financial survival during the Trumpies take-over, and 2) some attempt at mental balance and inner calm to sail through the obstacles (health, pets, family, money, work, retirement planning) that are  likely to present themselves.

(My resolution of several years ago to “drink more wine” was an easier resolution to accomplish.  Mental balance?  Inner calm?  Good luck.)

Happy Trails.

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.