Blizzard!

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If I had waited just a bit, I could have written about yesterday. I woke up early thinking it was a little cold. Just a tad. Brandy was curled up deep in her blankets and when I looked outside it was snowing. Between the winds and the size of the flakes, it looked like I was in the middle of a snow globe. I went back to bed.

A few hours later, we all got up. I made breakfast and we ate it in the dining room. Out the windows, we were able to watch the wind slew the snow sideways, and the cars not cope well with the icy roads. Once breakfast was done, we moved into the guest house and fired up the wood stove. While the temperatures dropped to as low as 14, we were toasty warm. Morgan reigned from the bed while Dan used a tv tray. I had my desk, which faces the windows and let me watch the storm. That snow globe weather didn’t stop until nearly 6pm.

Rather than cook, we splurged. Yeah Taco Bell! 🙂 It’s funny when we go there, because one of the staff is a friend and she knows what I want before I speak most days. Okay, I’m not very adventurous, but at least it isn’t difficult to take the cheese out of what I want to eat. Dan and Morgan pigged out on chicken tenders while I had tacos. Then we came home, fed the wood stove and chatted, played on the computers until midnight and in general had a good time.

Today the sun is shining and the temps so far have hit 40F. That’s good, as we have to take Morgan back to college today. sigh… I’m just happy we had her for a week. She gets to take home transport this time. Her half brother Matt finished her bicycle at long last. Her commute has just dropped to 5 minutes. We head to La Junta later this afternoon. March Blizzard3

March Madness

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I could have entitled this post Yet one more snow storm… but I didn’t. On Mach 8th, we had more snow. 14 inches all total. Brandy was not a happy dog.

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Then on the 15th, Dan went to La Junta to pick up our daughter, Morgan. It is spring break for her. On Sunday, we drove to the Sand Dunes NP. We had a long drive over all, as we went all the way up to Crestone and to the Karma Thegsum Tashi Gomang  It had just started to snow when we headed up the road to the Stupa.  By the time we got up to it, it was snowing very hard, so instead of getting out and looking around, we headed back down the mountain. In less than 20 minutes, there had been over 2 inches of snowfall.

On our way back to the Sand Dunes, we saw over 100 Sand Hill Cranes. It was really neat. The rest of our animal count that day was two hawks flying and about 45 prong horn antelope.

The Sand Dunes also got a dusting of snow. The moisture made the walking easier. Morgan climbed up to the second highest dune and rolled down it twice. Plus she hiked about twice the distance that Dan and I did. I walked the creek bed of Medano Creek. It wasn’t very far down the dunes yet, and there was a lot of fire debris from the forest fire two years ago. Overall, we had a really good time and came home exhausted.

The rest of the week has been spent relaxing. Morgan has had naps with her naps. 🙂 I’ve been writing and doing hand crafts. I’ve been carving Nalbinding needles. They fit in with my Viking persona in the SCA. I may be good enough to actually show it off come time for Battlemoor.

Nalbinding needles.16Oh, and just in case Colorado thought that it might give us a week off, there is more snow due on Saturday. sigh..

 

 

Yet Another Blizzard

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Yes, it is snowing again. We’ve had a lot of snow since I wrote last. Probably 18 inches all total. Life in it’s own way has been crazy. We took my dad up to Colorado Springs for cancer testing. His bladder cancer is back and they will begin chemo in about two weeks. While we were at the hospital, Dan got some sort of stomach bug which has kicked his ass. Ugh.

He was nearly over it by the time we went up to the Colorado Association of School Board’s Winter Conference over Valentine’s Day. CASB’s conference was good and a fellow board member, David Tesitor went with me this year. Things in general with the school board are settling down. We just finished the superintendent’s evaluation. We work on her contract on Tuesday. I had been writing a separate blog about school board stuff, but simply couldn’t keep up with it. I’m working on writing more on my NaNoWriMo story which is a little more involved that I thought it would be.

On our way home, we stopped at IKEA. 🙂 We got new dishes, a kettle, a BIG cup for Morgan and some little bits and pieces. It was a good but tiring day.

Since we came home, it’s been running errands, general housekeeping stuff, electrical work at The Cowboy Connection for  Marianne Smithey and stacking a ton of wood. We bought a cord and I think we got closer to a cord and a half. 🙂

About that snow… I could just recycle the pictures. You’d never really know. However, here are the latest out our window.

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As predicted, it began to snow around 11am. My son Bryan and the two grandboys, Gavin and Talon were due to visit around 1pm. They made it just before it started to snow heavily. We had a good visit and I gave them some things that Dan and I just don’t use anymore. It saved me a trip to Dorcas Circle, and them a trip to the store. 🙂 Plus, he brought me an armload of firewood. Wheee!

I gave the boys two books I’ve had for them which they were so excited about. 🙂 Who knew that Peter Rabbit and Goodnight Moon would bring such smiles. They devoured two apples and half a dozen gingersnaps while I made potato soup for dinner. When they said goodbye, Talon told me “I love you to the Moon and back.” Pretty good for a three year old. 🙂

 

A Snowy Tuesday

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It’s been a while since I felt like writing. On January 18th, after some of the most bitter temperatures in a while, I headed to Cheyenne. It had been 39 Very Long Days since I’d seen Dan. I swear that the travel fairies were with me as I literally flew up I-25. It is usually a 4.5 hour trip and I made it in just under 4 hours. 🙂 It was so good to be together again.

We had a computer client in Denver on Saturday. When we got back, we packed up all of Dan’s stuff and came home on Sunday afternoon. He will continue to look for work, but that will be done from here, instead of Cheyenne. Neither one of us liked being apart.

This last week has been hectic. Meetings, rearranging the house once more to accommodate the offices to the front porch where it is warm, and dinner with my parents. In that Dan missed Christmas dinner, he got to pick what he wanted for dinner. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans with bacon. Mom made oatmeal cookies with butterscotch chips for dessert.

Friday we had a Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival meeting. We are planning for the 9th Festival. It looks like it will be very good.

 

On Sunday we had a birthday party with a group we are a part of called Mach30. It was fun.  Monday was interesting. Dan got an offer to build some electrical parts for a local WISP. It is exciting and should actually net us some income. We had a school district meeting as well that lasted until nearly 8pm.

Today we were suppose to go visit Morgan in La Junta. It was going to be a quick trip as I had yet another school board meeting tonight. Well, we woke up to about 4 inches of snow with more falling. Right now I think we have had about 6-7 inches. The wind has settled down, but the snow is still falling. We stayed home and I canceled the meeting. My parents didn’t go to Pueblo either. They got about 25 miles up the road and turned back. About 30 minutes ago I took some pictures. We are snugged up in the Guest house keeping warm by the woodstove. 🙂

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Before I forget…

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We did have a white Christmas. It was lovely. I spent the day with my parents, Daniel and his SO Angela and Morgan. We had a lovely dinner, but missed Dan. He of course is still in Cheyenne.

A few days later, once the snow had melted, I had a young buck in my front yard eating berries. I stood next to our truck and tried to take pictures, as our tomcat, Redtom, was stalking the deer. I startled the deer, which in turn saw the cat. They startled each other and both ran. A few minutes later, the buck came back to eat berries and Redtom kept his back to the buck with the “That was NOT a mouse!” look on his face.

New Year’s was interesting. I spent most of the time trying to calm down Brandy, our dog, who did not care for the fireworks. She was upset until at least 4am. Yawwwwn… I ate dinner with my parents and Mom sent Brandy a bag full of ham scraps and bones. It helped. 🙂

I am hoping that 2013 will be a good year.

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Of being cold and having colds

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Or how I hacked my way through most of December so far.

I went up to Cheyenne on December 5th. Time with Dan, the grandboys and running around Cheyenne. It was fun. Right up until they shared their cold. First with Dan, who was sick the entire time I was up there, and then with me. I’ll blame Dan as well for my cold. I came back to Walsenburg on the 10th and was miserable. And no, not just because Dan stayed in Cheyenne. I had the cold. Ugh.

I managed the board meeting on Tuesday, and then crawled in bed until yesterday. Ugh.

I came home to 4 inches of snow on the 10th. That was the first moisture since early October. It is still far too dry, and if we are lucky, we are suppose to have snow tonight. In the mean time, the wind is cold. Brrrr!

Life in general has been a bit up in the air. We realized in July that our business was about to expire. No clients. No one wanting their computer repaired. The reason is that the most common computer down here is the smart phone. They don’t repair them, they just toss and replace them. So, we’ve had no work. this has caused a rather radical change in our thinking and plans. We started and  to look around and realized that we would have to move. We began to look around. Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Denver and even Loveland. Nothing. Or, at least nothing that would last. Then my oldest son asked us to come up to Cheyenne for a weekend. We did and were surprised at how much Cheyenne had “grown up. Dan decided that come October, that he’d start looking for work up there. That’s why we’ve been running up and down I-25.

While Dan has been in Cheyenne, I’ve been slowly sorting and packing up the house. Dan is still looking for work. He’s had a few good interviews and we are hoping that the last one he had will be “the one’. We hope in the new year to be up in Cheyenne. I’ll keep you posted.

Battlemoor III, Plums and too much going on

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August ran us over and we crashed in the Middle Ages. Aka… Battlemoor III. I barely got all of my sewing done in time to head out on a Wednesday to camp. Originally, Dan was not going to stay the whole time. He’d planned to work and then come out in the evenings. Serendipity swung her mighty fairy dust wand and Poof! Things changed. Dan got off of work a little late and didn’t have to go back on Thursday. He got his class work done and realized he might actually have a chance to take some time off. Not like we needed it or anything.

Wednesday as we sat up camp after sundown, we got to know a few of our fellow campers in Artisan’s Lane. Then we slept for the first time in ages with no real schedule for us in the morning. Ahhhhh!

We woke at dawn and started getting ready for the day. I worked on the potters wheels and the pottery tent. Dan started running errands. Then he discovered that there was no ice truck this year. So, he started running ice in from First Choice, our local grocery store. At least two trips a day. He gave free ice to the Troll gate, Chirgeons, the watch and to the parties.

I had a lot of fun working with the pottery and the fiber tent. It was the first time I’d thrown on a potter’s wheel in about 8 years. I didn’t do to bad, but I realize I will have to build up my hand strength for next year. I made a couple of hand built pieces as well. One was a small rose. It was about the only piece of mine that made it through the firing. We did do a kiln fire and realized that we need better air control next year. At least there was enough pottery to award some to the king and queen. 🙂

I got a lucet this year and learned how to make cord. 🙂 Dan bought me presents too. A torque, shears, a small knife, shoes, hair pins, a shuttle and the lucet. 🙂 I’ll post pictures below.

I think that camping with the Artisan’s Lane group was the best thing we did. I really enjoyed the company and the way it all worked. We all pitched in with cooking and cleaning up.

Once we got home, we were thrown into the craziness of ‘life’. I picked 50 pounds of plums off of my mom’s tree. Since then I have made plum jelly, syrup, jam, butter and chutney. Oh and cake and cobbler. Yummm!

We also have been to visit Morgan at least two times. Once on her 16th birthday. We took her out to eat, gave her a prezzie Dan picked up for her at Battlemoor III and gave her some money. She is really adjusting to college well. While she may be the youngest person on campus, she is on par with many of her fellow students mentally. For others, she is the adult supervision. LOL!

Wednesday, it rained almost all day long and oh was it COLD! I pulled blankets out of boxes and threw quilts on the bed. Today we got a clear glimpse of the Spanish Peaks. There was snow on the tops and the Trincheras were white! Brrrr!!!!

Last night we drove to Pueblo and had dinner at Bingo Burger. 🙂 It was Dan’s birthday treat to himself. We went to Barnes and Nobel for a while and then came home. Tomorrow we are heading out to pick her up, and then we are going to Pueblo. She and Dan need new glasses. Maybe, just maybe we will eat at Bingo Burger again. 🙂

Oh, and week after next is the Spanish Peaks Celtic Music Festival!

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Akkkk! Where did May Go?

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I’ve been so busy, that I haven’t had time to post. At least not on this blog. May has been chock o block with meetings. The school board stuff has been running me in circles. For those activities, go to my other blog, Untapped Potential.

Our weather has been weird for May. Hot, cold, windy, cold! We even had a few days when it rained in town, but snowed up in the mountains.

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Work has been slow, so I’ve been vacuuming my parent’s house. Mom is 75, so I see no problem with this. Plus it means I get to visit with her at least once a week.

A friend of mine posted a neat website. All about INFJ’s. 🙂 Yeah, me. Visit it here, here and here. After reading that last page… no wonder I’m a good hugger! I love the posters too. They are a riot.

The rest of this month will be taken up with three graduations, negotiations and a trip with my parents to Las Vegas, N.M.  We’re going down to Charlie’s bakery. Best tortillas in the world. 🙂

Oh, last but not least, a friend of mine is illustrating my story, Fairy Light!

Don’t blink! The weather may change!

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This has been a weird spring. Hot in March. No real snow when it is usually our snowiest month. Now April is being weird. Last week was warm. Then there was the wind. Oh My! I swear that on Saturday my laundry was going to end up in Kansas. Or, at least at my friend Jacque’s house. Geeze!

Sunday started out okay. There was a heavy dusting of snow, but the sun came out and melted it. It was sunny, but not too warm by mid day. I was suppose to go walking with Jacque at 1pm. We didn’t go because it kept getting darker and colder just while we were on the phone. Instead, I went out and worked on the gardens. I picked up trash, dug out trees starts and thistles, and began to work on the front garden. I have this big chunk of rail road tie that I want to use as part of a garden bed frame. The front yard slopes and I want to stop the erosion that is going on there. So, I started digging the trench needed to put the tie in place. Lots of weeds and rocks. Ugh! I realized I couldn’t move the tie by myself, so I weeded the area by the bulls head. There are ants right there and I needed to weed when they weren’t out. Otherwise I’d have been dancing. I even found the irises! Wheeee!!! By this point it had started to rain, so I went inside.

It rained. It snowed. It snained. (both at the same time) It got colder. In fact, it got cold enough for us to have a fire last night. We had one Saturday night too! I hoped for warmer weather today. So far, no luck. At least the clouds have broken up a bit and let enough sunshine in to warm the Wendy House up to about 68. After my walk today, I’d best pick up some kindling to add to the wood pile. Brrrr!

Renovations and Aprils showers.

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Last week it was in the 70’s and 80’s. We moved furniture, oiled floors, figured out where to put the business bits and pieces. We even sorted out and threw a few things away!

Monday was cool. Cloudy. And by 2am this morning, we had 3 inches of snow. By 8am, nearly 8 inches of snow. At 3pm, we have over 11 inches of snow and it is barely 36 degrees! Brrrr!!!! Instead of writing today, I have been busy keeping warm!

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The pictures are of the back yard, the newly reorganized interior of the main house and the front yard.