Kittens, Land Hunt, Tractor, and stuff….

Time to bring the blog up to date. I have a few different topics to catch up with, so let’s begin. (As usual, clicking on a photo will bring up a larger image.)

Kittens

The shelter Pam does the foster care for called the other day to let us know they had room in the “cat house” for the 6 kittens we have been fostering. Pam dropped them off at the shelter this past Wednesday. This was a good bunch, and I hope they get adopted quickly.

3 kittens from the last foster.

Pam had let the kittens out of the master bath into our adjoining bedroom. At night we put them back in the bathroom. The kittens sure enjoyed the additional space, and particularly enjoyed the water bed!

Kitten faces sure are cute.

We will miss this batch. They were very healthy, personable, and generally a lot of fun. In a couple weeks we will take the mother cat, Precious, in to get her spay operation, then we will put her up for adoption as well.

Land Hunt

The search continues. We looked at 4 or 5 properties the last trip over. Some were interesting, some less so. A couple lots had decent views but you had to look over a neighbor’s house to see them. This is not really what we are after.

One place had an old cabin on it. I found this place moderately interesting, but it had one unusual feature:

Grave on Longbow property

That’s right…a grave. We don’t know if human or animal. Colorado is trying to pass a law that says burials on private land must be registered with the state, then recorded on the land deed. That might be interesting!

The cabin looks like this:

Longbow Way cabin

The main problem with this place is the incredible amount of garbage lying around, including what looked like bits of a broken car windshield. There is a lean-to at the left of the cabin that is a complete tear-down, and another building that could serve as a garage with some work. Views were OK, nothing dramatic. Cabin is not habitable, and it is a better than even chance that it would have to be torn down as well. We decided it would take too much work for us to seriously consider this place, but if the price drops, it may be a possibility.

Tractor

Arriving home with the 8N

I have not taken any close-up photos yet of the tractor, (gee, what a disappointment!) though I have done some work on it. If anything, this poor old beast is in worse shape than I originally thought. For example, it has floorboards, and the right one is just hanging down from one bolt as the rear bracket is broken. I took a close look, and found that someone had tried to weld the bracket, but had only succeeded in welding the bracket to one of the bolts that holds it in place. It  took me about a half-hour with a grinder, Vice-Grips, and a socket just to remove the broken bracket. This tractor is going to take a long time to fix up.

I took the front tire that always goes flat in to be fixed, and two different shops refused to work on it due to rust around the tire valve. A new rim is on the list of parts to buy or get. Most parts are available from restoration shops, but that is an expensive way to go. The front rim, without a tire and tube, lists for around $122.00. Oh well. Pam says I am an expensive date.

Gossip

Our neighbor lady is breaking up with her boyfriend. Not amicably, either. We like her better than him, (it is her house and property) but are trying to stay out of this as much as possible. The only reason I mention it here is that it affects our privacy fence. We put enough up to get to the corner of a shed that he had put in her back yard. Well, yesterday he pulled the shed out of the yard! Now our back privacy fence covers only half the property line and we will need to add another 2 sections to fully “privatize” our back yard. And here I thought we were done with the construction phase.

Miscellaneous

Pam will be working a little more from home the next few weeks, as construction on a building across the alley from her office is going to enter the pile driving stage. Her office is below grade, so stands to take the brunt of dust, dirt, noise, and vibration this process will generate. Much, but not all, of Pam’s job involves checking college catalogs on-line, which she can do from home as well as from work. She has the blessing from her department head to take work home and avoid the construction hassle, at least  this part of it. She will have to go in for some tasks, but hopes in-office time will only be 2 days a week.

Like most places, we are setting record warm temperatures. No fires (yet) in our part of the state, but the fire danger is extreme. No rain in the forecast for at least the next 10 days. It is highly unlikely we will escape the summer without fires in the area.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day, and this will be the first one where Pam’s father and my dad are both gone, leaving us “fatherless” for the first time. This really brings the transitions of the generations home to us.

I need to mention Becky’s Blog. Becky is Pam’s  sister, and Becky has her own blog that we enjoy following. Keep it up, Becky! (http://www.becali-brownmandm.blogspot.com/)

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