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Are not suppose to be white? Umm… It was cloudy and rainy yesterday morning. Around noon, it started to snow. By dinner time, we had about 3 inches.
It has warmed up today, and a lot of it is melting. We are expecting low temps tonight, and will be covering things to hopefully prevent frost damage. On average, we are not free of frost danger until around May 15th.
We finished moving into my mom’s house. 90% of our stuff is in storage. The rest is in nooks and crannies in my mom’s house. Brandy is learning to live in the back yard, and we are getting use to living with mom. It’s a good thing that my mom is a good friend as well as my parent. As time passes, we will adjust. We are doing our best to leave a lot of the hurt behind us and work on the positive things.
One of the last things I did was dig up my garden. We brought it over to my mom’s and spent a day digging and transplanting. I shared the rest of the irises I didn’t plant with three friends.
This last week we have caught up on sleep, email, meetings and life in general. I cleaned house and did laundry. It hasn’t been easy, but we are taking those deep breaths. We are pausing and trying to smell the breeze that carries the hint of spring.
Today we went shopping in Pueblo for the first time in weeks. After we did our shopping, we ate lunch at Romero’s. Then we went to visit Dad. Over the last week or so, he declined rapidly. They moved him into hospice on Tuesday night. In some ways, it was a relief not to visit him at the mental unit. The hospice is very nice. It had a good feel to it and the staff was pleasant. A friend of our had been in hospice and that place had not been nice. It looked alright, but had an ick to it. This place did not. (phew!)
We went in to see Dad and then let Mom have time alone with him. We chatted with the nurse, and she talked about how he was doing. She said he was restless, which to them means that it won’t be long. This matches with what my mom felt. We were originally going to visit on Friday, but she had this feeling that it had to be today. I’m glad we went up. He didn’t wake when we were there, or when we talked to him. Mom has his wedding ring now. We said our goodbyes and headed home. We may go up on Friday.
Mom has made all the arrangements with the local funeral home where our cousin works. In her own way, she’s getting her ‘ducks in a row’. Dan and I are doing our best to keep things running smoothly. And it is the little things that help so much. A dear friend sent us a lovely package full of treats. 🙂 It even had twiglets in it! Others have sent good wishes, hugs and energies for an easy transition for Dad.
At least that’s what it feels like we’ve accomplished since we came home from Battlemoor. Lots of little jobs. Clean this area, cook dinners, work on the gardens or the Wendy House. One big improvement was storage. We ‘floored’ the loft over the kitchen and rearranged the storage. No more tubbies on the ground. Plus, we added coat hooks, hooks for the iron, etc. It makes life just a little more livable. I even had a Western Scrub Jay come check out RedTom’s food dish.
Some of the time has been spent with Morgan. Her 18th birthday was on the 10th. Wow has time passed. I made green chile and a carob mayonnaise cake. The recipe uses may instead of oil and eggs. Our friend Mark and his daughter Catherine came over for dinner and cake. It was a good evening. Thursday night we went to their house. Friday was chaos. It was Cold! I think we got to 41F! Fire in the wood stove and heavier clothes than I’ve worn in months. Brrrr!
Inside there was packing, laundry and trash. Morgan was getting ready to move out. Dan took her to do laundry and a few errands. Morgan left for Fowler, a room mate and a job on Friday night.
Yesterday, Dan worked on organizing his office (an ongoing project) and concealing the network wiring. We no longer look like we live in an IT closet!
While he did that, I cleaned Morgan’s room, moved sewing storage tubbies in and made the last loaf of Artisan’s bread. This is the first time I’ve tried it. Very nice. I’ll be playing with the recipe over the next few months.
Then it was time to tackle the Wendy House. Threw all the scatter rugs outside, and emptied the bathroom and Brandy’s area. Swept, mopped, dusted, etc. I wiped down everything in the bathroom as I replaced and reorganized it. I hosed down the rugs and Brandy’s bedding. Most of them were too doggied to throw in a washer. While I was doing that, I got bit by red ants. Ugh… It burns! It swells! It makes me feel horrid! I slathered on Benadryl and kept going. Vacuumed the bedroom and swept the main living area. It was so nice for it to be clean.
Plus, while we were waiting for things to dry, I had a thought. Brandy would be warmer if her bed wasn’t on the floor. While trying to engineer this in my head, I was cruising Off Grid Quest, a website I visit. I came across one of the pallet stories and *POOF*! An idea was born. Dan went down to our local feed store which gives away pallets, and grabbed a load. A bit of circular saw work and Brandy had a bed platform. She was a bit uncertain at first, but it looks pretty good. We might fancy it up a bit, but for now, it works. We also have pallets for future projects and/or firewood.
Today is going to be low-key. I still feel like dreck from the ant bites and all the dust I ejected from the Wendy House. Dan mowed my parents yard and is finishing up the last of the office work. I’m going to make another batch of artisan’s bread and dinner with all of the veggies from the garden.
I swear that every time I think I have a moment to write, “POOF!” it’s gone. And of course, now that means I get to play catch up. Where to begin? Umm… Oh yeah… House guests. They were with us for a month. It meant that life was a little crowded. I guess I’ll list some highlights.
July:
Painted the north wall of the Wendy House. Plus, we did a few additions to the plumbing, cut down trees and added a bunch of stuff to the compost bins. We did a lot of yard work in the back as well. Trees trimmed, firewood stacked, stairs fixed, etc. I hope to have more pictures soon.
I got a new desk. I’ve been wanting something with drawers, and we found a gem. A roll top desk.
I did a lot of sewing as well. First off, I made Dan a Utility Kilt. 🙂 Then I made a bespoke tunic for a tournament prize for Battlemoor. I did a lot of embroidery work on the Viking style tunic. I finished an under tunic as well, all hand sewn. I’m still working on two apron dresses.
We had a LOT of rain as well. Some of it was so hard that it flooded the streets, and washed out alleys. On July 15th, we got over 2 inches of rain in less than an hour. Along with all the rain, we’ve had fog, mosquitos and lots of weeds! I think that we’ve hacked, chopped, mowed and composted enough for three bins.
August:
Dan and I have been working on a wiring job for the school district. Lots of ladder work for him, and running around for me.
Our company found a house and we cleaned house. 🙂 This was in preparation for Morgan finally arriving home. The Fuck up Fairy had done a number on that process, and were growing tired of delays. Daniel is also moving into an apartment in Pueblo, which means that the house will soon be back to it’s less crowded state.
On Sunday, we helped at a benefit concert for the Spanish Peaks Celtic Music Festival. Dan helped with sound and I helped where ever Barbara Yule needed me. The concert musician was Carlos Nunez. The music was wonderful. The venue was full, and everyone was happy. After the concert, we drove to Fowler to pick up Morgan. We saw 26 owls, a fox, a badger, frogs, and rabbits. Unfortunately, we hit two of the owls in spite of trying to avoid them. Morgan is very glad to be home, and we are happy too.
Last, but not least, we’ve been enjoying our new superintendent, Michael Moore. He is such a change from our last one. He likes getting things done and we are moving forward as a school district for the first time in ages! I attended the staff in-service day and it was wonderful. Laughter, good ideas, lots of sharing and in general, a feeling of hope and progress.
Yes, 700 pounds of building rubbled hauled to the dump. When we took the sheds down oh… 4 years ago, we piled stuff off to one side with great plans to recycle and reuse the corrugated roofing and other timbers. You can stop giggling. The pile has been great housing for Red Tom, and killed weeds. However, we realized that our expectations were a little off. There was just too much work to be done to reuse it. So, we cut it up and with the help of Daniel, hauled it to the dump. Our little pickup was so full, I swear the front tires were barely on the ground.
This was the start to our crazy busy weekend. Once we finished at the dump, we headed to the grocery store. Our original intent was to grab a few needed items like toilet paper and dish soap and then head home. Well… we decided to have a celebratory picnic. We grabbed chicken, potato salad, drinks, and dessert. Then we headed up old La Veta pass. We sat in a huge meadow, watched the ants and birds and listened to the wind blow through the trees. It was a much needed bit of solace. On the way home, we grabbed sandstone for our garden.
After we unloaded the truck, we started to look around and figure out what was next. Dan decided to mow the back yard. He got 4 ft done when our mower died. Yes, our brand new mower. So, we loaded it in the truck, and headed to Pueblo. We dropped it off at Lowes and then grabbed flooring for the Wendy House. When we got home, we cut the law with the weed wacker.
Sunday, I cleared the living room space while Dan went over to mow my parents lawn. When he came home, we tried to put a shelf up. This originally was a wooden fireplace mantle. Forty minutes later, we realized it would not fit where we wanted it and moved it to the East wall.
Then it was time for the flooring. We are covering old cement that has cracks, oil stains and is a bit of a mess. A variety of interruptions made a hash of the day, our tempers and stamina. By 9pm, we were exhausted, but… we had 90% of the work done. To our frustration, we realized that the area of the old ramp was still spongy inspite of everything we’d done. The solution of course is to put another layer of flooring down. sigh… However, for the moment, we have a level floor. We built part of the plinth that matches the height of the one under the wardrobes. This has been needed because of the uneven nature of the foundation on the north and east walls.
By the time we flopped into bed, I think every muscle I have ached. We loaded and unloaded huge weights of material six times. Our poor pickup! Then we shuffled, moved and built until we couldn’t see straight. In spite of all of the delays, we got a lot accomplished.
Two weeks ago we had snow. Today it is 83, and even the breeze is a tad warm. My backyard looks like a jungle, and I will have to pull tons of weeds just to find the patio. 🙂 I plan to do lots of yard work tomorrow. (insert giggle)
Friday, I went to see the school lawyer. We had a good chat and worked out various contracts and other bits and pieces. Afterwards, I indulged in a bit of retail therapy. Yes, I went shopping at Joann’s. I bought a bunch of fat quarters for a prayer flag swap I’m hosting with my online quilting group, QuiltersCoven. (350 online crazy pagan quilters.) I think we have 10 or 12 people participating. There was linen on sale, but I didn’t have the cash for it. sigh…
Saturday, we were sort of stuck, as it was rainy and damp. 🙂 Dan suggested that we head up to Pueblo and get that linen I hadn’t got the day before. I’m terrible about buying stuff for me. In the end, we got $180 worth of linen and thread to match for about $88. Rust, teal, navy blue and cream colored linen.
Sunday was suppose to be a sleep in and catch up day. Projects for the Wendy House and other things. Instead, we drove out and ‘rescued’ my parents. The oil and check engine light had come on and Dad pulled over. When Dan checked, there was less than 1/4th of a quart of oil. Three quarts later, we got them home.
My parents were suppose to head up to Littleton on Monday. However, the Subaru needed to be checked by a mechanic, just to make sure there were no hidden issues. That meant I drove my mom up to Littleton. We left around 9am. Listened to Old Blind Dogs on the stereo, talked and had a good time. I visited with my sister and her family, and picked up about 1/3 of a cord of wood. They had just chopped down a tree, and I said I’d take it. I’ll pick the rest up on a future trip.
While I was gone, Dan did some work on the Wendy House. He built the sink base for the bathroom and opened up a vent between the bedroom and living room. He also cleaned up the back porch that we use for a shop. Now to re-clean the herb room where he piled all the stuff that doesn’t belong in the shop!
Today, I’m catching up on a three day absence from the computer. 🙂 It was kind of nice. While I was reading email, I had a bird fly in the door, around my desk three times and then out the window. Tonight I have a school board meeting and tomorrow I’m gardening!
I am fried. Brain dead. Zombified. Tired. The last few weeks have been plain crazy. Between lots of meetings, temper tantrums, weather, a Superintendent Search, three graduation ceremonies, Ludlow, oh, and trying to work on the house, I’m toast. It’s also cold! We had a really intense rain/hail storm yesterday, and today is cloudy and cold. (55F) I’m waiting to see if we get more rain.
Last week we had a board meeting in Gardner that was a long and rather hectic event. Then there was the high school graduation and the Ludlow Centennial event. This week we had yet another long board meeting. This was a rehash of some of the previous meeting and work on the superintendent search. Wednesday was Gardner 8th grade graduation at 1pm, and Peakveiw’s 8th grade promotion ceremony at 6pm. It made for a very long day.
I also did some gardening work. Well overdue! I planted everything that had been living in the house because of the bad weather. I have Russian sage, raspberry canes, flowers, herbs and of course, my garden guru, RedTom.
This evening we have a retirement party for 5 or 6 teachers. Friday, I meet with the school lawyer to discuss contracts. After that, I’m curling up with a cup of tea, my book and only answering the phone if there is an emergency! I’ve got to recharge my mental batteries as there is yet another school board meeting on Tuesday!
Here are the gardening pictures. Also included are pics of Dan’s office which he finally cleaned and the sock I’m knitting for Morgan.
It’s so quiet at the moment, I can hear the sound of snowflakes shushing across the roof. Yes, SNOWFLAKES. Third Winters anyone?
The week was busy. With Morgan home, we did a lot of things together. Ate out, watched ALL the Harry Potter movies, played on our computers and watched Morgan sleep. Amazing how much a college student sleeps! 🙂
On Saturday, it was 75! We did lots of gardening. Mowed the lawn, pulled weeds, moved rocks, moved more rocks, picked up trash and repotted a bunch of plants. We crawled into bed smelling of aspercreme and groaning like we were 90.
Sunday, we knew it was suppose to be cold. It’s why we didn’t plant anything outside. We made bacon cinnamon rolls for breakfast. yum!
As the day wore on, it got colder and colder. Then the thunder and rain began. Soon after, the snow. Yes, snow. In May! Have I mentioned that Colorado is menopausal this year? By mid afternoon, it was really snowing.
Morgan packed for her trip to California. Around 5:30pm, we left for Pueblo. As we drove north, the snow slacked off, which was fine. However, the winds made up for it. We had dinner at Chili’s and then met Ashleigh and her parents at the bus stop. We chatted and made sure the girls got on the bus for California. Then the drive home. Ugh! You know how in sci-fi movies they have the star fields that move towards you? Well, that’s what it was like all the way home.
This morning, we woke up to 8 inches of snow in our yard. It’s still snowing. It’s suppose to snow tomorrow too. Can we have our warmer weather back? I know we need the moisture, but how about rain? I’d like to plant out my rhubarb and raspberry canes before July.
I have lots of pictures, but I’m going to divide them into separate posts.
Oh yeah… The sky. We’ve had a couple of short rain showers, but for the most part, we’ve had lovely sunny weather. Dan says it is because I’m working on coats for Battlemoor. 🙂 All the sun has allowed us to finally mow our weeds out front. They were hip tall on me! Maybe next week we will attack the back yard. Right now, our dog plays hide and seek in the weeds.
Also over the last few weeks, Dan has worked for the school district as a contractor. Since we only have the one truck, sometimes it means we have to shuffle schedules. It’s been a long week. A really long week.
Monday: Teacher inservice breakfast meet and greet.
Tuesday: Take Mom to Dorcas and a school board meeting. Also first day of school
Wednesday: Cleaned parents house, did laundry. School district IT interviews in the evening.
Thursday: Did not feel well.
Friday: Ran errands in Pueblo and got the oil changed on the truck.
Saturday: Breakfast with parents, did yard work for parents.
Along with all of that, I’ve taken Dan to work, run my own errands, worked on SCA clothing for Battlemoor, and tried to keep up with all the “Regular” stuff.
Tomorrow, we take Morgan back to college.
I am so ready for our vacation in 9 days!!!