Miscellaneous Ramblings

This is an at-home weekend so there’s not a lot of activity to report on. I’ve decided to post a few comments and photos that cover various topics that haven’t fit into past posts.

First, it continues to be a wetter than normal year for Colorado. The plants are loving it. New growth on the pine trees at Sanderling is spectacular, especially for this generally arid state:

New growth evident on pine trees

Pine cone production is way up

Flowers and other plants have also benefitted; we have seen more wildflowers (quantity) than we can remember. The colors are also very bright:

Bright wildflowers dot the countryside

Parrot’s Beak is a cheery white landscape accent

In our travels we have seen a newer poppy plant, more watermelon in color than red. These seem to be gaining in popularity and are often found near the red variety.

“Watermelon” poppies along a rock wall

The above photo was taken in Silver Plume when we were looking at houses. Another photo from the same trip  features a sign that seemed a little out of place for the town:

Silver Plume has a tea room?

In my last post I mentioned I had won some landscape blocks in an auction. Supposedly there were about 120 blocks. I counted them as I unloaded the trailer; I actually have 166 blocks! This puts the cost at about 20 cents each. About half of them are currently stacked up near our back porch, awaiting transport to The Lot. The rest are still in the back of the truck.

Landscape blocks are awaiting transport to The Lot

There is progress on the cistern trailer; I welded a broken bracket, finished painting the frame, added the first 2 (of 8) tie-down points, added the needed cross-frame supports, painted the spare tire and fixed its mount, and began painting the fenders. Still to be done: paint the decking and install it and finish painting the fenders and re-install them. I hope to finish these tasks in the next few days, but it’s raining gently at the moment so painting may be out for today. My goal is to have the trailer ready to roll by next weekend – the next trip to The Lot.

Cistern trailer under construction

In geriatric medical news, Pam’s bursitis is still bothering her hip but she has a bit more mobility, a good thing. She recently received a TENS machine she ordered and she’ll see if that helps reduce the discomfort.  My blood sugar level average has dropped a few more points and is currently about 102 – 104 for the 14 and 30 day averages, a good sign my diabetes is under control. (70 – 130 is considered normal.) Getting old is not much fun.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I have some odds-and-ends myself, so this week you’ll be getting “Pam’s Ten Cents Worth.”  First, a shout-out to Roz and Phil Hill in Shropshire, England; she occasionally checks in on this blog, and I check in on hers (umpteenthings.wordpress.com) for the latest “poultry raising” news.  She’s a hoot! Her hubby Phil is much like Fields, always working on some project with “reclaimed” materials (I’m not allowed to call it junk anymore). Hi Roz!

This week, I contacted a realtor in Vallecito Lake to ask some preliminary questions about the area – snow load, internet connectivity, that sort of thing.  The listings for this real estate company are consistently the properties we seem to be drawn to; it may be a good match.  Our downpayment funds aren’t going to be available until 2016, so we have time to ponder the possibilities.  Fields and I both think the Vallecito Lake area (17-20 miles from Durango, CO) could very well be our retirement location. (Mentally, I’m living there already some days.)

Bursitis update: Having completed the initial phase of treatment (meds and cold packs), I am now on to gentle exercise (an “Aging Backwards” DVD series), a herbal supplement (Turmeric), and the TENS machine (interacts with the muscles and nervous system to control pain).  Healing is a slow and ponderous thing at this point in life. (Dealing with pain may be why my stance resembles Grandma Ida, sister Becky.)

I ordered new guitar books – Gord’s Gold  and Best of James Taylor – and amazed myself that I could already play a few of the songs.  Musically, I’m pretty much stuck in the “Golden Age” of folk and early rock.  Why didn’t I start guitar playing in high school?  Guess I had too many guitar players at-the-ready then (flashback to Bro Lar and that amplifier in the garage).  Still playing and singing for myself, the sometimes discordant practice sessions don’t sit too well with Fields. (I’ll never be the level of his cousin Louise…)

Happy Trails.

(and…I can now play the Roy Rogers’ “Happy Trails” song too! I downloaded it from the internet.)