I had mentioned that we had some soggy days toward the end of April. Here are a couple photos I took on the way to work (over a 2-week period) of storm systems breaking up:
Colorado River, April 26th
Roan Plateau, April 19th
Our commute is long but does give us an opportunity to view changing weather conditions. We can observe the weather and check on a couple of eagle nests as we drive back and forth as well.
Daughter Felicity is now out of France and heading for a cruise, departing from New Orleans and going to the Bahamas. After that, she will be back in Portland (Oregon) before heading to Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) where she will be trading some web site programming time for a place to stay. Quite the nomadic life.
Pam connected with son Toby to find out how his waiter job is progressing. (I know, Toby a waiter, boggles the mind.) Toby has also started part-time umpire duties for the summer ball season in South Bend.
I finished sealing the underside of The Box in an attempt to keep rodents from entering. A good cleaning and restocking and it will be ready to roll.
New tires were put on the Honda – all season Michelin Defenders – not cheap at $576.00 for the set of 4 but they do carry a 95,000 mile tread-life guarantee. I will check on their performance over time.
Temps hit 80 this past week but a cool-off is in the works, down to our normal average in the low 60s. OK by me; I have not yet put our swamp cooler into summer operating mode. That will be an after-work project for later this week.
All the normal spring tasks are getting done; lawn mowing, weed whacking, dandelion digging (I don’t like using a lot of chemicals with all the animals running around) and cleaning. Pam is going through “kid” boxes we took out of storage and I am cleaning the garage. Both of us are getting restless to get up to The Lot and get going on our summer projects, as well as starting to look at more properties that might suit as a retirement home.
We filled out the application to refinance this place and I will be going in this week to talk to the mortgage lady. It will be nice to secure a lower interest rate but it also means some costs to refinance. When we bought this place we qualified for a no-interest 2nd mortgage that will have to be paid off, which is where most of the re-finance cost will come in. We can afford the expense, but it will put a hit on our savings — worth it in the long run for the lower interest rate, but a short-time hit none the less.
Pam has a “spa day” set up for the dogs; they will be getting their summer “buzz cut” trims later this month. Blondie, with her short hair, always looks pretty much the same but Bru and Jo really benefit from a complete trim.
Our lilacs are beginning to bloom, tulips, peonies, flax, and iris are blooming, and other flowers are starting to show colors. The lawn is very green from the recent rains. It looks like our columbine will pop in the next week or two. The lilies are growing every day. It is pretty obvious we are transplanted Midwesterners!
Blue flax flowers on front lawn
Lilacs beginning to show colors
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
Day trips to potential retirement locales this month may include Durango, CO and Alamosa, CO. Watch this space.
Happy Trails.
Just noted (for Pam’s benefit): Princess Charli (the spare) — I was going with “Muffy”.
(You) can always “walk the sand dunes” in Alamosa! A wide-range of environments — semi-arid, high elevation croplands, mountains, sand dunes, the Rio Grande. An interesting combination of “rustic red-neck” and tourist in its 8-9,000 population.
Wisconsin — not nearly as “colorful” as Colorado, at the moment. Half-grown leaves in the south, beginning to bud in the north. ‘following the “tree pollen indexes” at the moment.
This week — “unstable atmosphere”. Summer-like popcorn T-storms predicted…
you guys always seem so productive!
love seeing the lilacs–they are one of my very favorite!! ours are just getting to budding–lots or rain this week
hopefully some moral hunting can be done soon
happy spa day to the pups and retirement shopping to you two!
Larry:
I’ve been to the sand dunes a few times; it is an interesting place. We will have to visit the Alamosa area a bit; always have been through but not spent any time there.
Pollen getting bad out here as well; Pam really feels it, me not so much. Lots of bugs out and I have to clean the windshield every night when we get home. Spring has arrived.
Tabitha:
We should have 3 varieties of lilacs; blue, dark blue, and white. The white was a Mother’s day gift to Pam a few years back and we hope it blooms for the first time this year.
We always enjoy the flowers of spring and with the recent above-average rain it should be a colorful few weeks.
Have you been seeing the progress on Pam’s FaceBook?Working around the rain–First and LAST time for General Contracting—-Should be a lean, mean fighting machine after a summer of building!! 😉
(Can one post pictures on this response form?)
Craig:
Yes, we have been following your Facebook page and also viewing the photos Diane has put up on your web page. We hope everything goes well!