An Update

First, no I haven’t fallen off a cliff, been eaten by a mountain lion or come down with bird flu. And, second, I didn’t know so many people were actually interested in what goes on around the old homestead. So, I’ll try to be more on the ball in the future. Actually, I’ve just been extremely busy lately.

My sister Deb & her husband Paul stopped by on their way through to California. It was a short stay, but it was really nice to see them. They managed to get a small moving van up the mountain with little problem. Their daughter is moving out to the coast and they are the delivery service for her life’s accumulation of goodies.

We had Rachel again for three days. She was a hoot as usual. We had so much fun with her. She was dancing a jig and, not being the shy type, decided to let us put the camera on her; I will try to upload that soon. We laughed till we cried. She insisted I let her take a chicken home. But I told her she could have two and keep them at Aunt Denise’s farm and come to take care of them; she liked that idea. So I guess one could say I’m a chicken boarder.

I acquired 6 new young laying hens, bartering plucking services for them. Plucked 8 and got 6, not bad. They are Arauconas so the eggs are green, pretty cool. And, I may have a hook up with the local feed store guy to barter plucking for feed, hope that works out. He has some turkeys he will be wanting to do soon and I can always use some free feed since I’ve had to keep them penned up lately.

We made a trip into Sam’s to stock up on basics for winter, its 60 miles from us, so we made it a day. We replaced the tires on the truck; the old ones are too worn to make the climb this winter. We also picked up some kitchen staples. Among other things, 50 lbs of popcorn for those cold winter nights in front of the fire. I’ve been burning the woodstove lately trying to take the chill out of the night air. We were supposed to have snow last night, but it must have been a little too warm. Thank goodness as we have had about 2-3 inches of rain. That would make for a lot of snow. The high country was in a winter snow advisory, I’m sure they have a foot or two by now. It’s a damp 35 degrees here as I sit and type, but a cozy 71 inside, thanks to the wood burner. As I look out the window this morning, I see a dusting on the top of our mountain, down to about 8,000 feet.

My parents came to visit for a week, they left this morning. Words can’t express how much I enjoyed their visit. We met them in town and Josh drove the truck home while I rode with them, guiding the way up to the house. They laughed in disbelief at the roads, deciding their own country roads were actually in great shape comparatively. It took a good 30 min to get up to the house from town, but we made it with all luggage and auto parts intact. They fell in love with the house and our great views.

We stayed up and laughed and talked till late at night, reminiscing about old times. We also went up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, went out to eat, did some sight seeing, visited my sister Melissa who lives just 40 min from me, puttered around and hit a good “free stuff” garage sale. Mom was amazed at how people just give stuff away here. I got some great stuff for free, including a nice drop leaf table, a rotisserie, 3 sheet sets, 3 boxes of candles, a large popcorn can full of screws, nails and random shop items, and some other random stuff. Dad fixed the kids shower. Finally, after 4 months, they have their shower working. Dad is one of those rare people who can fix anything…and I mean anything. Turns out there were a couple pieces missing from someone trying to repair it previously. It works like a charm and I am so thankful.

We had yet to see a skunk till my parents' visit. Of course, Hershey our lab had to chase it into the garage and corner it there. I was pretty much the largest skunk I’ve ever seen with extremely active spray glands. Why is it that I was nominated to remove it from the premises? First I had to figure out where the heck it was, pretty hard to determine between the watering eyes, burning throat and runny nose. Of course it was dark out as well and rather hard to see. I finally figured out it was between several leftover wardrobe boxes that had been filled with packing paper and stuck in the garage. I grabbed a push broom and tried to poke the boxes near it, expecting it to run out and be on its merry way, but it wasn’t that easy. It decided the garage was a safer place than trying to out run the dog. Several minutes of pushing, with a box between me and it, and I finally managed to push it out of the garage. Almost a week later and the garage still reeks. I burned all 7 wardrobe boxes and various other items in an attempt to get rid of the smell, but with the dampness, it is still pretty strong. A friend who works for a cleaning chemical distributor is giving us some concrete wash specifically for skunk spray and such. Sure hope that does the trick.

The rest of the time has been spent on work, trying to play catch up from the days of having company. I’m behind, but expect to catch up this week. That’s a nice thing about working out of the house, I can work when I want and the office is just a flight of steps away.

I want to say thanks to all who have e-mailed and called wondering if things are okay with us. I’ve just put out so much during the past weeks that by the time I start to wind down I can’t think straight anymore. Mom asked if I ever stop or idle my engines. I think I will consider it when the kids are grown and gone, but till then, I plan to go full bore!


Mom & Dad's visit. Josh, Em & Hershey saying goodbye.