Graduation!!!

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Yeah! We were just a little pumped. 🙂 Up early, on the road by 8:15am and in La Junta by 9:30am. All dressed up and just waiting to see Morgan graduate. 🙂 Nearly three hours later, we watched our girl get her diploma. Associates of Science degree. Lots of pics, lunch, and then the packing.

Yes, she was so twiterpatted, that she didn’t get packed. LOL! We helped, and by 6:30pm we were finally on the road. It was late when we got home, and we left most of the stuff in the truck overnight. The pizza left over from the night before disappeared as if by magic. 🙂 Starving college students, who knew?

Now our living room looks like a bomb hit it. Girl stuff everywhere. Boxes, bags and bedding. All with a girl in the middle. 🙂 It won’t be like that for long though. She’s off to California with her friend for a few months.

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Front Range Open Source Hardware Symposium

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Thursday we left Walsenburg around 10am and headed to Boulder for the front Range Open Source Hardware Symposium. Originally, we were just going to attend. Congressman Jared Polis was going to be there and some of the companies that do Open Source Hardware (OSHW), like SparkFun. This is the point where chaos stepped in and twirled us in a waltz. Dan got an email asking us if we wanted to attend as presenters, and showcasing the Ground Sphere receiving station that we’ve been working on for months with Southern Stars and Mach 30. So, we went as representatives of Mach 30.

Panic ensued, but we managed to pull enough stuff together to show. We managed the drive in plenty of time, found our hotel, relaxed for 10 minutes, and then headed out for a late lunch before setting up at the event. We found the place, The Studio, ahead of time, which was a good thing. Downtown Boulder had some interesting construction going on, and it was right in front of the turn off for The Studio. At 5:30pm, we returned and set up. We met Alicia Gibb, the executive director of the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA), got set up and began to chat with people.

It was a small crowd, maybe 50 of of at the peak, with nine other presenters besides us all from Colorado’s Front Range. (ok, Walsenburg isn’t exactly front range, but it’s close. ) Nathan Seidle of Sparkfun, Jeff Moe of Aleph Objects (Lolzbot), Michael Ossman of Great Scott Gadgets, Ryan Edwards of Sparky’s Widgets, Eric Schweikart of Modular Robotics, along with people from Denver and Loveland Maker Spaces. (can I find all the business cards? No! Awgh!!!)

Dan took part in the roundtable discussion with Jared Polis. Questions were asked about What part should government take in the OS movement. Sort of a help or hinderance viewpoint question. Another one was how could Colorado help with the growth of the OS movement and what the benefits could be. This morphed into a discussion of the benefits of OS versus patenting. Last, a brief bit on how the companies present had helped the economy.

Interestingly enough, the most correct answer for most of these questions was Advocacy, Education, and Don’t get in the way of progress. Very much a “let people invent!”, and don’t stagnate. As Nathan said on his TED talk, that people have to innovate. Otherwise, they are unfit. Business moves too fast for patent law, especially as it only pertains to US patents. The TED talk is well worth the watch.

I had a lot of fun talking with the people there. The ground plane that I made got a lot of attention, as did the whole project that is Ground Sphere. I even managed to talk about Dan’s part of the project without messing up too badly. 🙂 Guess you could say I earned a few geek creds. And best of all, as with any symposium or conference, you get to see all the gadgets that everyone makes. I got lots of ideas. Oh, and Nathan gave us a lab coat with the Sparkfun logo on it and the word GEEK over the pocket. We gifted it to Mark Thompson, our STEM teacher. 🙂

We helped take things down and were back at the hotel by 10pm. It had been a great evening, and I’m looking forward to the next one. We got lots of invites to hacker/maker/creator spaces, and we will be taking them up on the invitations.

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Second Winters

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Yeah, sort of like second breakfasts in Lord of the Rings.

2ndwinter

Why? Well… um… You saw the pics in the Albuquerque trip post. That snow left us with 4 inches. It was all gone by Tuesday, and it even warmed up a bit. Wednesday wasn’t bad either. A little cool in the morning. Hot by noon. I even hung out some of my laundry.

By 3pm, the clouds had rolled in and the rain started. I dragged the clothes in and hauled in firewood. It kept raining. By 5pm, we had snain. Yes, snowy rain. By 7pm, it was snow. We woke up to 4 inches of new snow and about 21F temps. Brrr!

Of course, by Thursday afternoon, most of the snow had melted, and the mud was awesome!

Today of course we had a high of about 73! Next few days are suppose to be in the high 60’s with rain. 70’s again by Tuesday. This weather is just crazy!

Today I did some sewing, and learned how to pick and place parts on circuit boards. Apparently from what Dan says, I’m pretty fast. Did 9 boards in the time he could have done 3 or 4. 🙂 Tomorrow we are doing my parent’s yard work, shopping in Pueblo and then working on the Wendy House closet! Whee! Pics when we are done.

A Trip to Albuquerque

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Yes, we ran away from home. Not because we had to go somewhere, like a conference, or a job, but because we wanted to go somewhere. April 12th is the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space. People celebrate Yuri’s Night, with space oriented parties across the world. Friends of ours at Quelab, a maker space in Albuquerque were having a party. So, we realized a few truths… We had the money, time and desire to go. So, we did! It also gave us a chance to wear summer clothes, as the temps were suppose to be in the mid 70’s.

We left Friday afternoon and arrived in Albuquerque around 7pm. The drive had been easy, and as per our habit, I read aloud from our book of choice while Dan drove. Right now we are reading one of the Emberverse Series, The Scourge of God. It makes the time pass when we aren’t watching the scenery, and we get to share a good book.

Our hotel was in the Old Town area. A little noisy, but not bad. We called Greg, and asked him for a restaurant recommendation. We wanted something organic, local, etc. He said the Flying Star Cafe was a good choice. As it was a five minute drive, we went. Heaven! Droolable! And oh, the desserts! Plus, they have this drink, Red Stuff. Cranberry juice, red zinger tea and mint. Divine!

Saturday, we got up and went hunting for breakfast. This time, we went to the Grove Cafe & Market. Once again, great food, atmosphere and a delight. We waddled off to Old Town to do some shopping. After getting a little lost, we found the parking lot and headed out. What we didn’t realize was that it was also Albuquerque’s 308th birthday. There were booths, music, dancers and lots of people. This was a treat. We window shopped, took pictures and had fun. I got two Talavera bowls and two skeins of handspun Churro wool.

We headed off to Quelab around 1:30pm, met with Greg, toured Quelab and met some of the makers. Around dinnertime, we headed for another suggested eatery. The Two Fools Tavern. Suggested because Dan was wearing his Celtic Music Festival teeshirt. Once again, the food and beer was excellent.

The Yuri’s Night party started at 7pm. Low key, but nice. We got to meet more of the Quelab Makers, and Dan showed off the ground sphere receiver he made. We were there until about 9pm. On our way back to the hotel, we passed the Flying Star. Well, almost passed it. We stopped in and had dessert. Yum!

Sunday, we got up, packed and were headed home by about 9am. It was 75 degrees. We stopped in Las Vegas, NM, for lunch at Charlie’s Spic & Span Bakery. More good food, as well as fresh tortillas (6 dozen)and bakery treats for my parents. It was 66 degrees in Las Vegas.

By the time we stopped in Raton for gas, it was about 53 degrees. Do you see a trend? Well, it was raining on top of Raton Pass. Snowing by the time we were just north of Trinidad. Really snowing hard by the time we got home.

We ran a few errands, stopped by my parents to help them with their taxes and then headed home for the night. It was 40 degrees inside the Wendy House when I lit the fire in the wood stove. BRRRR!

After dinner, it started snowing harder. We woke up this morning to about 8 inches of snow. Ice beneath. So, today I’m staying next to the wood stove and playing on the computer. It was a great weekend away. I know the slide show is a bit long, but there were so many good pictures!

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April Snow Showers

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Or, how I woke up to snow yet again.

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Early this morning, I heard what I thought was rain, but wasn’t surprised to see a dusting of snow. It melted. By 9:30am, it had clouded over more and begun to snow, just a little. I started a fire in the wood stove, and when I looked up around 10am, it was really groppeling. You know, that whole sounds like rain, but looks like snow. By 10:30am, it had turned to big flakes. Now, two hours later, we have 2 maybe 3 inches of snow and the wind keeps picking it up and making little blizzards. BRRRR!

This is a vast contrast to yesterday.  Mom and I went to Pueblo and did the shopping. Dad had surgery on Tuesday, and just didn’t feel up to shopping. No surprise here. sigh… So, we had a ladies day out. 🙂  It was a nice relaxed day and very warm! The funny part of the day was when the young cashier at Joann’s offered me a Senior Citizen coupon for a sale on next Wednesday. I’m only 54! sigh… I giggled rather than get offended. I don’t dye my hair, so I guess to her I looked old enough. The high point of the day of course, was dinner at Romero’s. yum.

I’m planning to spend the rest of my day watching the snow fall, writing and maybe embroidering a bit. Oh, and going to lunch at George’s!

 

 

That itch…

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To clean. Yes, Spring Clean. It’s almost warm enough. Nearly 68F if you don’t derate it for the wind… 🙂 I want to be cleaning. To dust, sort, shake out, sweep and wash windows. (don’t faint!)

However, Dan is writing the last paper for his class. I have a crazy week to get ready for and my allergies are… impressive. Achoooo!

Instead of working on some grand project, I’ve been nibbling at things. I did a clean and organize on the main house. Swept floors, tidied up my desk, etc. Did a little of that in the Wendy House. What I’m waiting for though is next weekend. We are planning to build the closet. When this is done, a whole domino of events can take place.

  • move, sort and shuffle clothes. (winter to summer wardrobe)
  • put floor in WH
  • move big dresser into the living area of the WH
  • rearrange ‘office area’ in WH bedroom.
  • Clean WH. (yes, that includes washing windows!)

And that doesn’t count other things like making raised beds, moving the compost pile (yet again!) and other bits. Now to just get through the next few days.

Switching Centuries

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Last week was a small bit of hell. There is an event in late winter which we had planned to attend. This is Corazon de Leon III. It’s held in La Veta and put on by our own shire. Shire Villaleon. I wanted to make some new clothes for the event, as it is a Winter event. A nice balance to Battlemoor, held at the end of August.

I bought the fabric in November, and figured that I’d have PLENTY of time to make two hats, a tunic and a new overdress. Silly me. Life in it’s own way got busy. So, on February 1st, I put my foot down. I was going to SEW! Keep in mind that my sewing studio is unheated. If you go back through my posts, you’ll notice something… Every one of them from November on has the word SNOW in the title. Can you see my problem? It was too cold most days to sit on the front porch and sew.

I also forgot to mention something. On February 19th, when we were up in Denver for the CASB Legislative conference, I slipped and broke my nose. Yes, big goose egg on my head, slight concussion and of course, the obligatory Black Eyes from hell. I managed one day at the conference before the bruises bloomed, but that was it.

It also put my behind schedule, because I just didn’t feel good enough to use a little tiny needle…

March 1st. Of course, there was snow. I managed though to plan out Dan’s hat.

March 2nd. Sewed, ripped, sewed, ripped the hat. Finally realized I needed fur. Rabbit fur. We had to order it. Fast.

March 6th. Cut out my dress and Dan’s tunic. Did a little sewing.

March 8th. It snowed, but I actually got some stuff done. Worked on the viking coat a little and did the last minute drafts for the tunic pattern. Keep in mind, that unlike most modern sewing patterns, medieval patterns are sketched and measured onto the fabric.

March 10th. Meetings. Awgh! Sewing like a crazy person. I used the machine on the major straight seams. All the flat feld seams and hems done by hand. 

March 13th. Dan’s hat is done, as is his tunic and the main portion of my apron dress.

March 14th. While with my parents in Colorado Springs, I’m sewing like crazy. Dad is suppose to be in hospital for bladder surgery, but instead we ended up in ER. They thought he had a stroke. Craziness ensues. Dad ends up spending the night in hospital, and we go home. Only good thing… I finished my hat.

March 15th. Corazon. Well, we managed to be there for about 3 hours. sigh… At least we got to see some friends and wear our new clothes for a few hours. Later that day we went up and got my Dad. No stroke, but not sure what happened. A very rough weekend.

Here are the pictures of the clothes and some of Corazon. This coming week, I’ll be doing some adjustments to the apron dress.

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They said it would…

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Snow that is. Yesterday started out sunny and warm. Around noon, the clouds rolled in and it began to rain. Not much at first. In fact, it was just enough to show us where all the leaks from the damage caused by the wind storms. I worked on my clothes for the SCA event next weekend and moved various buckets and cups to catch the drips.

While I was cooking dinner, the sound changed. The gentle pitter patter of rain drops turned hard. We looked out the window and sleet was falling fast. By the time we ate dinner 40 minutes later, there was an inch of slushy snow on the ground. Brrr!

I headed off to the Wendy House and the wood stove. Dan stayed inside and worked on the satellite receiver that has been eating his life. ugh. When he came to bed, we had about 5 inches.

This morning, we woke to nearly 8 inches of snow. Wow! It is a wet heavy snow, which means we will net about 1/2 an inch of water. Yes, 1/2 an inch out of all that snow. The general formula is 12 inches of snow equals 1 inch of water. Or, in other words, the 18 inches of rain that Boulder and areas north of us got last summer equals 18 FEET of snow.

I took some pictures. Brandy was a bit twitterpatted by a large raven that was nearby.

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Wind Whistling

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… through my ears, the walls and every crack it can find. We’ve had a lot of wind this year. The last really nasty gusts, 83mph, ripped our weather station off the roof. It still isn’t fixed, so now I check our local weather station. (63F and 20mph gusts right now) Our dog, Brandy, hates the wind. You’d think a coyote/Shepard mix wouldn’t mind. Wrong! So, we woke this morning to her whining and wanting IN!

WendyHouseWork10

Life is still hectic. While the last two weeks was busy with meetings and oddball schedules, the next two are travel heavy.

First off, I’m going to Denver tomorrow with my friend Jolene. We are going to IKEA to get stuff for her Pre-School class. Wednesday, after lunch with friends, Dan and I are off to Denver for a CASB Legislative Conference. It’s at the Brown Palace Hotel. Very swanky. 🙂 A pull out the high heels and leave the cowboy boots at home kind of thing. The last day of the conference is spent at the Capitol, meeting legislators.

When we get home, if the weather will allow, we will be doing more work on the Wendy House. Closets and maybe book shelves. That will open up the area and get our clothes out of the ‘dust zone’. 🙂

We’ve also been slowly whittling down our electric bill by using LED lights. Our next step may be solar and DC powered lights. We figured out how to replace the AC bulbs with DC LED lights, and not have to totally rewire. (thank you Scott!)

I’ve also got just under three weeks to get ready for Corazon. I bought a new book last night, Great Book of Celtic Patterns, by Lora S, Irish. Lots of very nice patterns to use with my Viking persona, Unna Farulfsdottir.

Dratted Cold Continues

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We did have a few warm weeks. However, Ground Hog’s day saw us plunge back into arctic weather. Snow and COLD. It was -22 Wednesday night. it would have been alright except for the wind rattling the trees and plunging us into wind chill cold. Speaking of wind, we had one tremendous wind storm just over a week ago. Just before it ripped the weather station off of the house, it registered 83mph.

It’s been busy since I posted last. Lots of school board meetings, stacking firewood, trips to Pueblo for all sorts of things, stacking more firewood, trips to Denver, moving more firewood, working on organizing the crafts area, taking care of my parents and their house, working on knitting and nalbinding needles, and trying to stay warm!

I have to admit that I am so glad that we have our little woodstove. It is our sanity saver even if it seems like all I do some times is move, stack, restack and move more firewood. 🙂

We are getting ready to build the closet in the Wendy House. Two weeks ago while it was still warm, we built a small cover for the plumbing and I bricked in part of the patio area next to the Wendy House. The cover worked pretty well, until two nights ago. It was too cold for any plumbing. At least we use Pex, and that is pretty sturdy.

I’m hoping to get the craft area fixed up this week if it is warm enough. I want to finish up a few projects and get going on some that have been burning my brain. 🙂 We have Corazon in about a month, and I want some things done so that we have warm gear! 🙂 I did get my socks done. I only did the first one in August, and didn’t do anything else for nearly 6 months.

Well, off to finish dinner. Italian onion soup. 🙂