Yesterday (March 29) I scheduled a high country drive to visit our lot at Sanderling Court. I wanted to see how much snow was left and use that as a gauge to determine when we could get started on the driveway extension project.
Quite a bit of snow has melted since my last visit but there is still more on the ground compared to last year at this time. Given the conditions I found I think we can plan to start the driveway work during the last week of April.
Drive extension will go along this hillside about half-way up the slope.
The saddle still had a significant amount of snow and it is deeper than it looks.
End of March snow in the saddle.
The winter view across South Park was quite nice.
Late winter view across South Park from Pavilion Point
The most noticeable sign of Spring was the livestock released into our open range. What are they finding to eat this time of year?
Cattle on Link Road near our lot.
It was a very pleasant visit overall and I was glad to see the snow retreating. Now we can start making definite plans and schedules for late April.
In about-the-house news, last week I took up a maintenance job I had not done before: replacing the filter elements in the swamp cooler. Supposedly this should be done annually or semiannually but I had not changed the filters in the 8 years we have been here. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
Basically one must remove the filter holders, remove the old filters, and install the new ones. Shouldn’t be such a job. Right.
I couldn’t find filters in the size our unit takes. The filter material is shaved aspen held together by a fine nylon netting. I found filters the correct width and had to cut them to length.
Given the amount of time since the last maintenance, I had to scrape and wire bush the holders to clean them (no surprise). Not fun, but I used my shop vac to help clean up the debris. Here’s a photo of one frame being cleaned:
Cleaning the swamp cooler filter holders
Once the old filter was removed and the frame was clean, I installed the new filter material. Repeat 3 more times for the other 3 holders. By #4 I was getting pretty good at it.
Installing new filter material
Installing the filter material holders in the filter frame
I hope it will be months before we need to use the swamp cooler and with this maintenance it should be ready for Summer cooling season.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
At about the same time our storage shed is being built in Colorado Springs for our mountain property, my brother Craig and his wife Dianne are having their storage shed built in Bloomer, Wisconsin for their lake property. Interesting — both my brother and I are at approximately the same stage in life where second home property projects occupy our time (and money). Where our interests differ is Craig and Dianne have two married children and four grandchildren. We have zero married children and zero grandchildren. Each is as it should be.
Happy Trails.
Wow – lots to catch up on with all you’ve been doing and planning. That shed is very cute.
I don’t envy you home maintenance. I looked at my old blog today to see what I was up to last year at this time. Painting and repairs – ugh. Makes me sick to think of it.
Glad you two have the energy to go for it!
I look forward to your stage…only I want a second home where it’s warm!! This winter about did me in!
ummm
what’s a swamp cooler? 🙂
Tabitha:
A swamp cooler is a type of air conditioner. Air is drawn through wet filters, the water evaporates and cools the air, and the cool air is pushed into the house by a blower. The hotter and drier it is the better this works. Swamp coolers are common throughout the south-west.
Eventually the filters get full of lime and other mineral and need to be replaced.