Category: General (Page 47 of 64)

Most of us have some things we would like to do; ever since the movie of the same name these items have become known as a Bucket List. I had a chance to accomplish one of my goals this past Sunday.

My father had operated Caterpillar tractors in logging operations in northern California during the late ’30s and early ’40s. I grew up listening to his stories of “cat skinning” (as it was then known) of his time working in the woods.

Bear with me…this does go somewhere.

Last Sunday I had taken my motorcycle out for a ride. Going down a side road I spotted some crawler tractors that date to the ’30s. I went up to the house, introduced myself, and ended up speaking to a guy who had been collecting crawler tractors for several decades.

He gave me a tour of his collection, which includes gear going back to 1918. The collection included Caterpillar, Cletrac, and Oliver brands and numbered more than 3 dozen models. Toward the end of the tour I mentioned I had never actually run a dozer. He offered to let me run one of his D2 Caterpillars.

The D2 was Caterpillar’s first diesel tractor. Originally, Caterpillar produced crawler tractors for agricultural use. These were powered by gasoline engines. Later on, when the interstate system began to be built, Caterpillar changed over to diesel-powered construction equipment, the image most of us have of Caterpillar products today. The D2 series (1938 – 1957) bridged the two worlds by means of various accessories that could make the crawler suitable for bulldozing, running agricultural equipment, moving material, and running other equipment by means of hydraulic power.

I accepted his offer. We walked over to the Cat, went through the involved starting process, and I jumped into the driver’s seat. I raised the blade, put the Cat in gear, and off I went. (We were in a large open area in an old orchard, safe for novice drivers.)

A note on starting an old Cat. Electric starters were not up to the task of starting a diesel engine in those days so Caterpillar tractors had small gasoline-powered starting engines known as pony engines. You start this engine (rope wrapped around the flywheel then pull the rope to spin the pony) then, once the pony is running,  pull a couple of levers to have it spin over the main engine. The main engine turns until it has built up oil and fuel pressure. Turn on fuel to the main engine and hope it starts. Once the main engine does start you disengage the pony engine and shut it down. Starting the Cat thus takes 5 – 10 minutes and is a job in itself. (Later Cats had an electric start pony engine, and by the ’50s the pony was replaced with a heavy-duty electric starter.)

Steering is done by means of two hand operated levers. Pull back the right lever and the Cat turns right. Pull back the left and the Cat turns left. The trick is to learn how much the Cat responds to different amounts of lever travel.

Driving the dozer was a hoot. It didn’t take long for me to be able to turn, back up, raise and lower the blade, and get used to running the machine. I had not taken my camera with me so have no photos of this, but I was invited back to take pictures at a later date. I promised to give the guy copies of the photos I plan to take.

Here is a photo, from the web, of a D2 cat:

D2 Caterpillar tractor

So I had a chance to complete a Bucket List item, running a Caterpillar dozer. It was a good day.

Around the house, we took off the winter mulch from the flower beds, dug out some blooming dandelions, and sat by a fire in the fire pit. It feels like spring is here but, as it is only mid-March, I am anticipating some cold/bad weather before spring fully arrives. There is still snow on the slopes we pass on our daily commute.

Pam let KitCat out of her garage pen, so KitCat is now an outside cat here. The barn home Pam had originally planned is located outside of Glenwood in the higher elevations, where the weather is still too cold for relocation.  Rather than keep the poor kitten penned for another month, Pam decided to go with Plan B – forget the barn home and just let her out.  KitCat is staying around the house and garage and seems to like coming up to the deck and sitting under the fire pit. So far she is doing OK but seems frustrated the other cats (mainly the indoor/outdoor boys) will not play with her.

The Honda goes in for work on the airbag system, covered under warranty, this next Tuesday. The dealer will replace the airbag and some sensor hardware. Next weekend I plan to replace the passenger-front axle as it is making some noise indicating the flexible u-joint is worn out. At 357,000 miles this is not entirely unexpected but is still a pain.  The driver’s side axle appears to be OK, at least for now. Always something!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I’ll be renewing my passport this week.  Prices have gone up.

Both of my brothers retire in the next six weeks; both are then relocating.  Congratulations to them! Wish we were doing the same, but it will be some years yet.  Plans for the future are in the works [that will take time to come to fruition] for us.  In the meantime, it’s the weekday 8:00 – 5:00 grind and commute.

Happy Trails.

Yesterday Pam and I traveled to the annual Home Improvement Show at Two Rivers Convention Center in Grand Junction. We were open to building and decorating ideas we might incorporate into our house plan for The Lot. It was interesting and informative. And, both of us were eligible for the “Senior” admission discount!

One of the items we identified as potentially useful was this “rimless” sink, which appears to have no seams at all between the bowl and counter top.

Rimless sink caught our eye

Pam pointed out how easy it would be to clean around this with no rim to catch dirt and debris. The sink is available in many different styles and finishes. We’ve seen under-mount and vessel sinks, nothing quite like this fabricated fiberglass model.

We spoke to window manufacturers, tankless hot water heater vendors, solar vendors and strolled around the hall, looking at the latest local products. Most were aimed at renovation and not new construction, but we came home with several new ideas to consider. (All it takes is money!) One of them deals with home heating; we are now considering the advantages of zone rather than whole-house heating systems.

Zone heating systems are catching on

We spoke to a couple of solar system vendors and found there are many new products hitting the market, along with new technology. By the time we get ready to move on a power system we should have quite a few choices.

One company we saw specialized in refinishing tubs and showers. We got a kick out of their flagship refinished tub:

Bronco tub

Detail work was very good.

Bronco claw-foot tub foot was well done

The guys in the booth said they receive quite a few requests to sell this item, or one like it, to people from all over the state. (Other team colors on request, Packer fans!)

Great to get out-and-about on a pleasant afternoon, and we came away with ideas and some pricing information as well. At some point we will sit down and incorporate what we saw into a house plan. (Again, all it takes is money…)

On to other topics.

The weather has moderated and temps for next week are going to be approaching 60 degrees or higher, even a couple of above-freezing nights later in the week. The warmth feels good.  Sorry, folks who are dealing with colder-than-normal temps.  We’ve had our years like that out here too.

Our oldest cat, London, was sitting in the sun the other day so I decided to snap his photo.  “Lon” is eleven now, our oldest cat, and is moving a bit more slowly these days.

London the cat sitting in the sun

Artsy photo moment: I was walking (exercise prescribed by new diabetes regimen) and the sun was coming up behind cat tails that grow in the ditches and along the creek.

Cat tail plants along my walking route

In a few weeks I will move the RV trailer back onto our driveway and start getting it ready for the summer season.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I draw the line at color coordinating any bathroom around an obscenely orange Bronco tub. A person has to have some decorating standards.

Happy Trails.

Our youngest dog, Jo, had a birthday this past week; she is now 4 years old. Here she is with her birthday present, Mr. Snake.

Jo on her 4th birthday

That snake is kind of disturbing to me in some ways, but Jo seems to really like it. I have added a new photo gallery named Dogs to my Galleries page. It features photos of Blondie, Bru, and Jo from puppyhood to now.

Weather has been really strange. The snow we were expecting last week never materialized, although higher elevations received plenty. More snow is in the forecast but we won’t get much, perhaps an inch all told, but right now it is pretty nice for the 1st of March.

In fact, I started a fire in the fire pit this morning and enjoyed a cup of tea in front of it.

Tea by fire pit…nice way to start the day

Fire is just about the right size for a chilly morning

In other miscellaneous notes, we finished moving stuff from the old wicker sideboard into the new sideboard/dresser I mentioned in my last post. (Took a few minutes to throw out some dated items – who knew that junk was even in there…)  The wicker unit is now awaiting disposal; every spring the town brings in a large dumpster for clean-up days and the old sideboard will be put in it.

I wired up my old Bose 301 speakers in the garage, and they sound good. The mounts I fabricated are pretty dismal but they work OK.

Garage speaker mounts are suspended from ceiling

Getting the wires run from the amplifier to the speakers was the worst part of the job as I had to crawl along the rafters way out to the walls to get the wires in the right place. It was great having music going while I did my weekly auto check (oil levels, washer fluid, coolant, tire pressure) on both the Honda and the F-150, well worth the effort.

The well permit came from the state, so once the snow clears we can get started on getting a well drilled. This should happen late April or early May if the weather cooperates.  Every property development direction is dependent on the depth and production of the well.

I bought new batteries for the RV. Cabellas had them on sale at 25% off, saving $50.00 per battery. (The RV takes two.) These are high-end batteries of the AGM type. Sealed, no maintenance needed, vibration resistant and designed for continuous duty rather than just starting power. I hope they do a good job as I was getting tired of getting up in the middle of cold nights to start the generator needed to keep the old batteries charged and thus keep the furnace running. I’ll see how these new batteries work when we take the RV back to the lot later this spring.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

By age, the dogs aren’t pups any more.  But, Jo has the Spaniel mentality of a young pup.  She probably always will.

Happy Trails.

The weather continues to be a top story. Our sympathies to all our Midwest and East Coast friends who are suffering through this height of winter with all the cold and snow.

We are expecting snow from the latest storm that is going to blow in later today. While 3 – 5 inches of powder is in the forecast, the big issue, as in many other places, is the possibility of freezing rain. Our daily high temps are supposed to get slightly above freezing which means the morning and evening commutes will probably be on very slick roads. We are already planning to delay Monday’s morning commute (or maybe Snow Day!) based on expected conditions. We have to take into account that our destination is around 700 feet higher in elevation than we where we live; this climate zone change is enough to create different conditions at either end of the drive. All I can do is keep the car prepared and hope for the best.

We found a replacement for the old wicker sideboard; Pam had been looking for about a year for a unit of the right size. The wicker unit has seen better days; 15 years of service with cats and dogs around the house have taken their toll. The Habitat for Humanity store had a dresser Pam liked so we bought it and brought it home this past Friday. Pam will clean it with furniture soap (after a few minor repairs) before it goes into service as sideboard storage, and she will have another furniture update completed.

New sideboard

Curved front dresser was made in Italy

We continue to listen to old cassette tapes including artists George Winston (solo piano) and Simon and Garfunkle’s Concert in the Park. I dug out my old Bose 301 Mk III speakers and put them up in my garage but am waiting on speaker cable to hook them into the garage stereo system. The garage system does have an existing pair of bookshelf speakers; with the addition of the old Bose units it should sound pretty good. Wiring the speakers will be a next weekend’s project.

The Honda rolled over 355,000 miles last week. I don’t know how many more miles it has left in it; lately there has been an occasional  clunk coming from the front on left-hand turns and the SRS warning light (Side Restraint System)  has come on a couple times indicating a sensor or wiring problem may be developing. We really don’t want to take on a new car payment but may not have much of a choice.

KitKat is now (almost) a garage cat; Pam moved the cat pen out to the garage to get KitKat used to garage sights, sounds, smells, and other cats. I don’t think KitKat was pleased at this move but it will give her a lot more activity to observe and perhaps she will be less bored than she was in the house.

I don’t post a lot about politics as there are many forums for those discussions, but will say I am already tired of speculation about the 2016 elections. It looks to me that big money will determine who the candidates will be from both parties — not who has the best ideas. I did see this bit about Wisconsin’s Scott Walker (courtesy Pam’s sister Becky):

Scott Walker button

For those not in on the joke, Wisconsin residents Gein and Dahmer were both cannibals and are somewhat infamous criminals in Wisconsin circles. The comparison to Walker is unflattering to say the least (and I am greatly amused by it).

Colorado has it’s own cannibal story centered around a guy by the name of Alferd Packer. While not convicted of cannibalism, only murder (the conviction was later overturned), everyone, including Alferd, acknowledged he ate his companions in order to survive being trapped in the mountains by a winter storm.  The student cafeteria on the CU Boulder campus is named after him.

Anyway, life and work go on. March is not that far away and we hope real spring arrives on time and with appropriate weather. I finished updating my web pages, added a few files to the videos page, added a few photos to some galleries, and generally  tinkered with the site. Now entering year #5, keeping this going has been fun and quite a learning experience.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I don’t know who signed me up for a monthly “Bark Box” delivery, thanks whomever, the dogs and I are enjoying our third one.  Look up Bark Box on-line, great idea, wish I’d thought of it.  I think they need to develop a Purr Parcel (Purr Package?) as well.

Happy Trails.

The cassette deck I won on e-bay arrived and was added to the rehabbed stereo system. Nice to hear some of those old tapes again, some going back to live radio days of the late ’70s. I have a Gordon Lightfoot recording going as I compose this post. The deck is a low-end Nakamichi, and for those who might recognize the name, “low-end” in this case is still a pretty good deck. Nakamichi was considered the gold standard of decks in the mid to late ’80s.

Nakamichi cassette deck

I spent some time reorganizing my web site pages. I started using “stylesheets,” also known as Cascading Style Sheets or CSS, to style certain elements that are common to all pages. Among these are the background image I use and the navigation links (links to other pages) that are present at the top and bottom of my  pages. I removed the code that generated a date and time message on each page. The results of these changes are pages that are more uniform in appearance and pages that load faster. Additionally, new pages take less time to create as the coding is simplified. I moved 3 galleries from sub-pages and put them on the main Galleries page and this process was simplified by the use of stylesheets.

Professionals who use stylesheets can create really stunning web pages. My stuff is very basic, but still useful in the 45 pages (mostly linked from the Galleries page) that now make up the site. CSS has been around for a while but is becoming more fully supported in modern web browsers, so I thought it was time to look into this technology and apply what I could. Going forward I will continue to develop more knowledge and apply what seems appropriate for my site.

(Just switched to a Moody Blues recording. What a hoot.)

Weather continues warm but there is a chance of rain/snow coming in a few days. Our tulips are sprouting new leaves and grass is greening up. Trees are budding out. I fear a hard frost will stunt a lot of growth that should be happening in early spring, not in mid-February. Pam worked on a corner of the lot yesterday, cleaning up a spot where I didn’t rake last fall. We also trimmed a tree growing in the neighbor’s empty (adjoining) lot; it had branches that were overhanging our lot over the parking spot we use for the RV.  Just general clean-up, but rare to be able to do this time of year.

And, one final photo from last week’s visit to the Sanderling mountain land:

South Park from Jer’s bench on Sanderling

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I think I’ll buy a ukelele (a tenor one, not soprano).  Also, Westminster Dog Show on TV this week.

Happy Trails.

As I write this it is 66 degrees outside; normal for this time of year is 42. For the first time I can remember, in February, we have had a night or two when the temps stayed above freezing. This makes the weather the big story in this part of the country. Orchard owners are concerned the warm temps will encourage their fruit trees to bloom early, which brings the chance a “normal” frost could damage or wipe out an entire crop. The rest of us are just enjoying the moderate temperatures! This week is supposed to see a cooling trend with temps in the mid to upper 50s, closer to average but still above norms.

I drove up to check on the mountain lot yesterday. There is snow on the ground but not as much as one might expect for this time of year. Many areas, exposed to the southern sky, are bare but the driveway and lower parts of the lot are still covered in white.

The Lot – February 7th

Lower end of drive

I didn’t bother to try and open the gate but walked up into the lot to check on the shed and the circle drive. My bench was clear so I sat on it for a while and smelled the pine scent; it was warm enough to start bringing that out. Time well spent!

I have just a few other notes to round out this post. Pam is out shopping right now;  I picked up a flu bug that is causing abdominal cramps that have taken away much of my energy. There may be a sick day or two in the immediate future.

My mother, now in her upper 80s, had an episode that kept her overnight in the hospital. She was having shortness of breath and, given her history of heart problems, thought it best to get checked. A new medication was prescribed and Mom is now back home and says she feels OK.

The last of foster kitten batch #25, KitKat, had a visit with the vet this past Friday for her spay operation. She is recovering nicely — but still is not any friendlier. Adoption is out; Pam has found a barn home for her (this placement is still some weeks away, waiting for consistent warmer temps) and I hope KitKat adapts to an outdoor life.  Pam will likely move the cat pen out into the garage in a few weeks, to give KitKat a taste of what is to come.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

In addition to a quick check of the Sanderling property, Fields was sent on a mission yesterday to drive by several homes currently for sale in Como and Fairplay.  I’m trying to wrap my mind around what kind of house makes sense to build up there.  There are plenty of log homes in the area – prow shaped and rectangular.  There are numerous unimaginative square cabins of the tarpaper roof variety (with the seemingly mandatory junk around the structure).  I think what we build will need to fall somewhere in the middle price-wise, and will have to rely on interesting architectural details and creative landscaping to stand out from the rest (while still blending in with the surrounding woods).  A bit tricky, that.

Happy Trails.

Little has gone on or “happened” this past week so this post is just going to be a collection of comments and short updates.

The weather is a little warmer but still in the 20s at night, making the mornings frosty. Only 1 day in the coming week has a small (20 percent) possibility of snow so the mild conditions look to continue for several days.

7-day forecast

Our local grocery store, City Market, has a loyalty card program that earns us “fuel points” on our purchases. We redeemed some this last week (points are good for a month) and paid $1.20 per gallon for regular after our $.70 cent discount. I took my extra fuel cans along and pumped 33.4 gallons total, saving us a bit over $23.00. Fuel prices will go up again, but we sure enjoy the current low prices. The 33 gallons will last us about two weeks as we are not running the truck or many of my toys.

Sanderling Update: We filled out the well permit application and mailed it off to the state, including our docket permit, warranty deed, and check for $100.00. It will be 6 – 8 weeks before we hear back.

I had dental work done this past week, a root canal and fitting for a crown. It will be 3 weeks before the crown is in and I finish this particular episode. I am not a big fan of dentists, but have two more teeth to work on before I can get an “all is well” so I’ll be back for more work later this year.

A CD player was added to our rehabbed stereo system so we can now move away from playing CDs on the computer. Player came from a Habitat for Humanity store in Grand Junction. I was also looking for a good cassette deck – we still have a couple dozen tapes in our collection – but did not find any so I am bidding on one from eBay. I hope to win it this week.

Daughter Felicity is currently in Malta (an island in the Mediterranean between Italy and Africa) but will begin a house-sit in England shortly. After that she takes the train to France for another house-sit.  Felic returns to the States in May to interview for an extended (5 month) house-sit back in the USA in the Portland, Oregon, area for next winter. Then she’s looking at cruising to Alaska.  That girl does get around.

The Honda turned over 352,000 miles. I had replaced the thermostat a few weeks ago and the check engine light no longer comes on, a good thing. One of these days  that car is just going to drop dead, but until then we keep on truckin’ with it.

My glucose levels are now averaging around 107. 70 – 130 is considered “normal” by the American Diabetes Association. Considering I started with a daily high of 338 in early December I am satisfied with the results so far. I did find that, for me, anything below about 90 results in trembling hands…not good…so I am getting closer to establishing the lower end of the levels that seem best for me.

14 day average glucose level

Pam is over a winter cold and is progressing on her guitar. We dug out a few of my early chord and song books; it is handy to have the chord charts handy when trying to learn a new song. It’s surprising how many books of this type we had kept over the years. Pam also finds lyrics and chords to almost any song we can think of on the internet.

We don’t have much going on right now so I may skip next week’s post unless something of note crops up.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

January – it has always been the month to “get through,” ever since childhood.  The high desert doesn’t feature the gray snow and ice buildup found in the Midwest, and I no longer walk the mile to school (and mile back) wearing pants under my skirt.  Still, a long and somewhat boring month.

Jer is missing his mountains; yesterday I located him on the driveway chopping firewood into kindling.

For some reason I am missing beaches, even with only a week’s exposure to the Florida panhandle last October.  I browse through real estate listings from that area to keep me dreaming.

Ft. Taylor Beach

Happy Trails.

Last weekend we had snow, but this past week has been warm – 47 degrees yesterday and forecast of 45 for today – so it feels more like spring than mid-winter.

The front yard is free of snow, as are the roads and sidewalks. A few small patches remain in very shaded areas, but that is also very “thaw-ish” in nature.

I was able to take the ATV out for a ride yesterday. The roads are muddy (mostly dirt, after all) but I had no problems getting around even on the off-road trails. Below is a photo of me at one stop along the way:

ATV ride, January 17

In other news, we had taken our two foster kittens to the Rifle Animal Shelter where they had their spay/neuter operations. Good news is all were adopted in less than a week. (A neighbor had picked up a stray kitten, Pam included it in the group, and it was adopted too.) We are always glad when the animals spend very little time in shelters.

Sanderling Project Update: Our docket receipt came back from the water court so now I can go ahead and submit the well drilling application to the state. It generally takes the state about 6 – 8 weeks to process these applications so we don’t expect to hear from them for some time.

For several months we had been seeing, and hearing, a red-headed woodpecker working away on a neighbor’s tree. I decided to get a few minutes of video of this activity: (Run time = 2:40.)

[cincopa AQKALNshyvig]

My glucose levels have dropped into the 120 range with a 14-day average of 126. My doctor had aimed at an average of 150 so I am doing well in that regard. The American Diabetes Association indicates a level of 70 – 130 before a meal is the target people like me should aim for, so I am doing well by that standard. My average levels should fall a few more points in the following weeks as my most recent tests (3 or 4) have all yielded sub-120 numbers. Progress, I guess.

Life goes on. Tax preparation is coming up in a few weeks, withholding statements should be out soon. Pam still has KitKat, the third foster kitten, in the cat room until it’s time to find a barn home for her in the (actual) Spring. With the modulated weather, the dogs spend more time outside and the 3 indoor-outdoor cats (Sunny, Soot, and Antonio) are also frequently outside  to stretch their legs and soak up some sunlight.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Aren’t we a regular bunch of bird watchers!  We like birds, here and in the high country.  We listen to the woodpeckers in the winter, watch the [nesting] birds in our cottonwood tree in the spring and summer, enjoy the hummingbirds and bluebirds in the high country.  I positively identified a robin flying around the neighborhood this week – kinda early for them. All good.

Happy Trails.

Snow: We woke up to new snow this morning, guess the weatherman was wrong this time. Forecast was for rain with snow above 7,000 feet and we are at 5,000 feet. We just hope the roads are cleared up a bit before tomorrow’s commute. We didn’t get a lot, less than 2 inches, but there are still flakes in the air and 30 – 40 percent chance of more to come in the next couple of days.

Cats: A couple of our inside cats are more likely to sit in my lap than others. Cirrus and Soot are used to being lap cats and like to settle in while I watch TV. Here is Soot on my lap during one such event:

Soot the cat on Jerry’s lap

The cats know when Pam is going to get their dinner ready:

Cats congregating for dinner

Dinner sure tastes good

Other Things:  All the holiday lights are down and packed away until next year. It is kind of sad to say this final goodbye to Christmas 2014.

Football playoffs are on and both our favorite college teams, Oregon and Wisconsin, had good seasons. The final college game between Oregon and Ohio State — for the national championship — should be a good one. On the professional football side, the Broncos may or may not move on…game is later today and we’ll be watching.

Pam is progressing on her guitar…even played a whole song yesterday!  As part of the renewed effort to have music in the house, I picked up a pair of small “book shelf” speakers (Klipsch B-10) and connected them to the stereo system. The system has been non-functional for quite a while, as the cats liked to claw up the speakers when they were sitting on the floor (rest of system is on our armoire) so I had to move the previous speakers to the garage. The new speakers fit into the armoire’s top shelf and are safe from the cats. While not the same sound as my old Bose 301s, the sound is not bad and it’s nice to have the house system functional again. (The system includes a turntable – vinyl is coming back!) Next I’ll pick up an adapter and put the TV on the stereo system; the TV’s built in speakers leave something to be desired in terms of sound quality.

We started the process of getting a well permit for the Sanderling property. In Colorado all water belongs to the state; this means we first have to get permission from the state to legally pump water out of the ground. It turns out the lot is in Water District 1 so we had to send a form to the Water Court, along with $5.00, to get a “docket receipt” that enables us to use water from a well for household purposes. We sent this in a few days ago and probably won’t hear back for a while, but the first step has been taken.

Next step, to be taken after we get the water court docket receipt, is to file a well permit application ($100.00) with the state. A permit will let us drill a well, and the docket receipt will let us pump water from it. Two forms, two different agencies, two different fees, just to get a well drilled.

The well will cost around $10,000.00 and will be, we expect, about 300 feet deep. I spoke to a Fairplay well drilling company and we’ll start looking at potential well sites in March or April. More on this endeavor in a couple months.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Woo hoo, aren’t y’all thrilled to hear of my progress playing the guitar?  The song in question has two chords, both chords use three fingers, and are close to each other on the neck of the guitar.  Callouses have started to form on the fingers of my left hand.  My right thumb started bleeding when the skin cracked; guess I’ll need to get with the program and use that dang guitar pick for strumming.

Happy Trails.

Happy New Year to all looking in on this blog. A new year has begun; let us all hope it turns out to be a good one. Sadly, world peace is probably too much to hope for.

It’s been a quiet change-of-year for the most part. The high desert has some snow on the ground but temps are supposed to get into the lower 40s this next week so what snow we have will probably melt, at least in those places that get sunlight. Average high for this time of year is about 37 degrees.

Christmas decorations are mostly down and packed away. I have a few lights on the garage and lilac bushes to take down yet; after that Christmas is really over. Pam goes back to work after a 12 day break and she is not looking forward to it.

The foster kittens are doing well, growing and having a good time in the cat room when Pam lets them out of their pen. Our larger cats generally leave the kittens alone, although Sunny likes to sleep on top of the kitten cage. This month spay/neuter surgeries will be scheduled, then two of the three should be ready for a local shelter and adoption.

I’ve updated a few of my Galleries as well as the text of a few pages; this keeps me busy on days (like today) when there is little to do, or that I want to do, outside. My thanks to Larry and Tabitha for their frequent comments on these posts.

2015 House Project: We are looking into “panelized” home kits. These are neither pre-fab or modular homes but are made out of insulated panels. Generally provided as a shell, it is up to the home owner to provide doors, windows, interior finishes, roofing, electrical wiring, and plumbing. The advantage is lower material cost, fast build times, and all interior walls, steps, and decking are included in the purchase price.

One of the kits we are looking at is this ranch-style house plan:

Potential ranch kit

Link to floor plan and more details is at http://valubuild.com/manufactured-home-models-ranches/ranch-rap-28×56.html

Going forward, we have decided to have a well drilled at Sanderling before we make any other construction commitments; we hope to see adequate water flow but, if not, our plans will have to change accordingly. Nothing is going to happen for a few months yet, but I did download the well permit and will be filling it out and getting it back to the state in the new year.

E-mail contact with the Solargon company (a Colorado-based modular home manufacturer I had mentioned in a previous post) was disappointing.  Not as much value-for-money as we were expecting, less included in the housebuilding kit than we had thought, expensive and inconvenient shipping arrangements needed, and rather pricey overall.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

In the new year, I plan to drink more wine (white), read more books, practice the guitar, renew my passport — and maybe [help] build a house?  (Regarding the guitar, I will continue to practice chords in private, as Jer  says, “You need to tune that guitar!” when the issue is my fingering, not the guitar. I’m not very good at guitar chords – one week into it – and some of the sounds are “buzzing and plunking” discordant.)

I recently joined Facebook (I know, what took me so long).  Mainly I want to view the family photos I have been informed I’ve been missing.  And it’s true, there are quite a few family photos on Facebook.  Also a lot of other junk, however…

Happy Trails.