{"id":4108,"date":"2016-04-09T11:25:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-09T17:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/?p=4108"},"modified":"2016-04-09T11:25:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-09T17:25:52","slug":"spring-arriving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/spring-arriving\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Arriving"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have tulips blooming in our yard. I guess this means spring has arrived! I will be mowing the lawn later today, weather permitting, as there is a 40 percent chance of rain in the forecast. Could\u00a0use the rain\u00a0– already.<\/p>\n

There are a few topics today including some tech news, house hunt, and a bit longer comment by Pam.<\/p>\n

Pam is trying out a new style of computer mouse, generically known as a “vertical mouse.” Evoluent is a leader in this style of mouse which is supposed to reduce strain in your mouse hand and arm. Initial impressions are good; we will see how it works once the novelty wears off. The unit pictured is a “small” mouse which fits ladies’ smaller hands. The company also offers a “Large” version, a wireless version, and a Macintosh version\u00a0of it’s mouse. (My hand in the photos, not Pam’s.)<\/p>\n

\"Vertical<\/a>

Vertical Mouse – side view<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Vertical<\/a>

Vertical Mouse – top view<\/p><\/div>\n

I installed additional memory in the Mac, upgrading from 8gb to 16gb and the computer seems to be responding a little snappier than in the past.<\/p>\n

House Hunt.<\/p>\n

Not a lot new as we don’t plan a trip this weekend to drive-by potential properties. I do, however, have a few more photos from a couple properties we have driven by in past trips.<\/p>\n

This first is on Knight Road and features a newer, ranch-style home. Drawbacks are few trees and no views, but it does have a large garage. We do not really care for the “zero-scaping” (no lawn) approach to landscaping; we really prefer grass and trees!<\/p>\n

\"Knight<\/a>

Knight Road home<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Knight<\/a>

Knight Road garage<\/p><\/div>\n

Pam says we are not buying a property based on the garage, but along with three\u00a0bedrooms and two baths, a substantial garage would be very nice to have.<\/p>\n

Another “fixer-upper” we looked at is an older four-square farmhouse in Eckert (on the\u00a0way to the Grand Mesa) that has been added onto. Advantages are large trees in the front yard, a couple of outbuildings, and an irrigation ditch that runs through the front yard. Can you say “pond potential?” But the place would require a lot of work, emphasis on a lot of work.<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/a>

Old farmhouse on 5 acres<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Out<\/a>

Out buildings on farmhouse lot<\/p><\/div>\n

Yes, that is an old tractor tire that needs to go away, as well as the old mobile home sitting behind the shed. As I said, a lot of work\u2026but it represents the “buy and fix up” approach we have been considering. I am at least a couple years from retirement so buying a not-ready-for-prime-time property is something we have considered. We could use the time to fix up a place and spread the costs out, but I’m\u00a0not sure that we want to take on such a project. Still, we may request to see the inside of this place, although we know it probably has steep stairs in the original structure which would not be a plus for us. But\u20265 acres, trees, irrigation water\u2026could be worse.<\/p>\n

Pam’s Two Cents Worth (or maybe Ten Cents):<\/p>\n

Why are we looking at larger homes (1,500 square feet +) you\u00a0may ask? \u00a0(Well, I guess you did ask.) No, we are definitely\u00a0not hoping the children will return. \u00a0Besides a place\u00a0to store stuff (some of it is said children’s stuff), a requirement which will hopefully decrease as the years roll on, I would like\u00a0space to foster animals. \u00a0It’s amazing to me how much room crates and carriers take up. \u00a0Also, when fostering a mom cat and litter, privacy is necessary so the mom cat doesn’t freak out with activity coming and going – each is\u00a0very\u00a0protective of her\u00a0litter. \u00a0Hence, a dedicated room. I see myself getting back into fostering (likely on a more limited basis than in the past) when I have more time to do so, and I’d like to have room for all the fostering accoutrements.<\/p>\n

Add to that a space for cat boxes, cat feeding station, and dog beds for the current pets. \u00a0Pets take up a lot of room. \u00a0I look at the houses we consider with more attention to how the pets will fit into the floor plan than I ever did. \u00a0(Fields, of course, looks at the garage and\/or outbuildings with attention to how all his machines will fit into those spaces. Unlike animals that eventually “age out,” Fields’ machines are always with us.)<\/p>\n

Finally, I am responsible for a small colony of feral cats, currently living in the garage. \u00a0Several are the moms of past litters I rescued from the streets of De Beque, one is a stray that attached himself to us in our previous residence. These animals are aging, and live in the half-world between tame and wild; it would not be fair to leave them behind when we move and expect them to survive in their declining years. They need to relocate with us.<\/p>\n

Bees – am I still allergic? Don’t know. \u00a0I have grown flowers for years, but I stay clear of the bees. \u00a0Just last year I purchased an Epi-pen to have up at Sanderling, in case I should get stung up there. \u00a0(Medical response is more than three minutes away in the mountains.) So, regarding the house in the orchard, bees are just one of the (many) considerations. \u00a0Fields didn’t like the orchard location because there was no mountain view – he is hung up on having another “view.” Sanderling, apparently, is not enough?<\/p>\n

First floor bedroom\/bathroom\/laundry room for our geriatric\u00a0years,\u00a0space for animals (indoor and outdoor), enough outbuildings,\u00a0a pond, a view, some character, all at a price we can afford\u2026 \u00a0Can you\u00a0see why it’s taking us so long\u00a0to find a retirement location, with\u00a0all these considerations in the mix?<\/p>\n

Happy Trails.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have tulips blooming in our yard. I guess this means spring has arrived! I will be mowing the lawn later today, weather permitting, as there is a 40 percent chance of rain in the forecast. Could\u00a0use the rain\u00a0– already. There are a few topics today including some tech news, house hunt, and a bit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4108"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4139,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions\/4139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}