Some people dream of a white Christmas. Well, we have a white Solstice! Happy Solstice Blessings!!! At the beginning of the week we got a bunch of snow. Around 10 inches. Wednesday was beautiful and sunny. It started snowing at some point in the night and now we have nearly 18 inches. We had to get chains for the truck, just so we could drive. At least there is no wind as there was with the first storm. I’m just hoping it melts quickly as we are suppose to head to Denver for Xmas with my sister and family. The pictures are of the back yard, Brandy, Dan and the front yard. The bobcat driver is our neighbor Joe. He plows the alley for us so that we can park.
Blizzard
This morning at 10am, it started snowing. By noon, when we went to fix my mom’s computer, there was about 3 inches and it was slick. At 2pm, we went to Jacque’s house to pick up firewood. We saw the drive, braked and slid right past by at least 200ft. Damn!
We got the firewood and came home. Then it was back to the office for a bit. By 6pm, there was probably 6 inches in some places and drifts up to 10 inches. It took us 35 minutes to drive 10 blocks. Worse yet, every time we slowed down, we lost momentum and that meant we had to circle around again to try and roll onto our street. In the end, we’ve parked about half a block away in a neighbors driveway. No way else to do it. This is one hell of a storm.
I’m really glad we’ve moved into the Wendy House. Small space to heat and very cozy.
My busy week!
I have been trying to get into the swing of being the school board president. Aieeee!!! Lots of meetings. Tuesday Dawn and I went to a meeting at Trinidad State Junior College. TSJC. I wrote about it here. It was neat to meet the Lt. Gov and to see Felix again. Felix Lopez is on the Southeast Workforce Investment Board with Dan and so we see him at meetings.
I also went with Dan to the Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium Winter Meeting. That was up in Colorado Springs. Three days of Workforce info. Lots of good stuff to think about, process and put into use. One big thing they are starting is the Virtual Workforce Office. They are putting them in public libraries where there are no workforce offices. This is really interesting and the possibilities are expanding.
Next week is not slowing down, and so I am spending the weekend getting over the last of my ‘cold’. I had an asthma attack that settled in my lungs. I sound like I’m breathing through a sponge. ugh. Of course, the weather deities are having fun. Woke up to about 6 inches of snow this morning. Brrrr!
Rapture Day?
Or so some people thought it would be. As it stands at the moment, there have been no mass ascensions to heaven. I have the feeling that we will see the same thing happen in December when so many believe the end of the world will arrive because of the Mayan Calendar stops then. I’m not sure who I feel sorry for. Those who get disappointed because the Rapture didn’t arrive as promised, or those people who’s lives were damaged by people close to them who believed in the doomsday scenario in the first place.
Meanwhile in Walsenburg, the mornings are still cold and the afternoons warm and windy. It’s always windy here. We still have snow on the Spanish Peaks. It has been dry enough that I am going to pull the weeds out of the garden area and plant seeds. I had planned to do it earlier, but it has been such a cold May, that I didn’t want to loose everything to frost or snow.
It’s graduation week. La Veta and John Mall did their thing today. Gardner graduates on Wednesday. Morgan has her dress and she looks so grown up! She got a bespoke dress from Shanghai off a website. It fits her perfectly.
We’ve gotten the main room of the Wendy house (aka the guest house) set up as a combination sewing area and work station.All the damp weather has made the front porch ‘move’ again. So, we decided to get the weight off of it. We are cleaning up the Wendy House to move into while we do some major reconstruction on the main house. I don’t want to try and breathe when we open up the floor to do the plumbing. Too many critters and dirt for my lungs. It would be a different matter if there was a real crawl space, but there isn’t. Whatever was there has been filled in by the hill moving south. I am looking forward to running water and a totally functional bathroom!!!!
Next will be relief of the dirt away from the garage wall. That will be a major undertaking unless we can get the city to help us as it is their alley which is rolling into the garage. I want to get my umbrella clothesline up too. It was my Grandma Pauline’s. I know where I plan to ‘plant’ it, we just have to get a sleeve for the end of the pole. I figure that with all the lovely sun, that it’s a shame to feed quarters to the dryers at the laundromat. 🙂
Here are some pictures of the new workspace in the Wendy House, and Morgan in her new dress.
Think Big Conference!
Dan and I went to a Think Big Conference sponsored by the Colorado Workforce and department of Labor and Employment this week. Monday through Friday. It was really good. The worst part was some technical hiccups with power point presentations. The best was the speaker on the last day. Robert Wendover spoke about the generations and the Millennial Mind. I thought it was going to be a bomb, because the guy looked like a total nerd. “How can that guy in his 50’s talk about people in their 20’s” I thought. Well, he did it very well. I was surprised. Happily surprised.
I got to see my sister and her husband too. She works for the DOL&E. She was running an information booth. We got to visit for about an hour which was good.
Of course this conference started with temps in the 70’s and finished yesterday with it snowing as we left! BRRRRrrrrr!!! Colorado in the spring! Damn!!! Today of course it is cold and damp. We might get a high of 60. sigh.
Today is a kick back and take it easy day. I was so glad to sleep in my own bed last night! Oh, and tea. Our box of tea came yesterday. We’ve been out for a week. Akkkk!!! Which reminds me, I need more tea.
May Spring Weather at Last!!!
Well, we did have typical Colorado May weather on May 1st. Snow! It was very cold wet snow. The early part of the week wasn’t much better. While warm during the day, the nights were still very cold. And Windy!
Thursday we went to Denver. While the sun was shining and the weather was warmer, the wind was still chilly. Yesterday was warm and today it is a balmy 73 degrees!!! Springlike May weather at last! Who knows, at this rate I may be able to plant my garden by May 15th!
This year I plan to plant pumpkins, squash, onions, beets, salad greens and lots of marigolds. I’ve been avoiding working in the garden plot because of the wild violets. I’m allergic to them. sigh… However, they have about run their course and I can pull them up without needing an oxygen mask. 🙂
We have three small trees to chop down as well in the front yard. Suckers from an elm that went wild. I’d like to put a few apple trees out front, but that will have to wait a bit. Our front porch project may start sooner than we expected. The stairwell is beginning to crack more. So, we have almost totally evacuated the two front porch rooms. Business stuff moved to the back porch and the ‘Wendy House’ aka the guest house. My sewing room also moved out there. Weird. First time in 33 years that my sewing machine hasn’t been under the same roof with me. It does give me more space, but I need to finish up the organization of it. Dan has a shelf unit to build for me.
Part of the reason for the move was that I have been talking to one of the local SCA’ers and said I’d be available for costume work. With computer work as slow as it is, I’m back to sewing for cash. I’m also grateful that our local yarn shop, Edla’s Yarns, sells some basic sewing supplies. I needed zips for a couple of outfits and luckily she had some! Otherwise it would have meant a trip to Pueblo for a $2 item. So, while Dan goes to the Fox Theater to run the lights for the El Fandango show this afternoon, I’ll be cutting and sewing. Wheee!!!
April Showers bring May?????
On April 4th, we had snow. A good sloppy 6-8 inches of the stuff.
Well, today has been sort of dark and cloudy after a rather warm 70’s kind of spring day. It’s about 45 out right now and while the weather forecast says a 50% chance of rain, they forgot to mention the 100% chance of SNOW!!! Not a lot, but once again those big flat flakes. It’s coming in waves as it cascades over the Trincheras and the Spanish Peaks.
This may be one of those years where the first of May sees snow on the ground. Aieee!!!
I think I’ll go have a cup of tea.
Snow, snow, snow, snow….
Lather, rinse, repeat. Gads. I woke up yesterday to 8 more inches of snow. Luckily, I did find the snow shovel. It was right where I said it would be. It was hanging on the wall in the garage. Oh well. I’ve had my revenge in that Dan has been shoveling snow with a 12 inch wide shovel for most of the winter.
I did shovel the walks and brought in firewood. I spent the rest of the day watching movies and knitting. I made Morgan a pair of socks, and they fit really well. I think I have enough yarn for a second pair. So, I may knit some more today.
Dan is having some fun and some frustration in DC. I got the Cliff notes version last night. Poor dear is just not use to the bureaucratic bullshit on that level. He had one really good workshop and then the frustrating one. We then got sidetracked about the weather. It is suppose to snow like crazy tomorrow, which means I can’t drive up to get him if the weather is bad. So we are trying to decide if he should stay in a hotel for the night, whether he will even get to Colorado Springs, etc.
Here are some pictures from yesterday.
A wet but relative warm day
At least in comparison to the rest of the week! It’s 43 degrees and the 6-8 inches of snow we got last night is melting so fast that the streets are flooding. We still have no water, but we hope to have that solved soon. Just have to wait until it thaws.
These are a series of pics out the front and back door. If you look carefully, you can see the river of snowmelt running in front of the truck. There are snow plumes coming off the Spanish Peaks and a lot of snow in the back yard. We watched the city plow the slush and water out of the way for probably an hour. At least we will have a clear spot to park my Dad’s truck. We are borrowing it to take Dan to Colorado Springs in the very early am. He is flying to DC for a Workforce Conference.
Frozen!!!
The last two days and nights have been bitterly cold. -22 last night. We have about 3 inches of snow from the storm, but it is the cold that is really annoying.Our pipes froze last night. I’m just glad we have firewood.
We are working on thawing the pipes and staying warm. Morgan didn’t go to school yesterday or today as it was just too cold to be out on the roads. She has a 26 mile one way trip to school.
I had planned to do lots of cooking/baking today, but with no water, I’m stuck. Here’s hoping the pipes thaw soon.