Playing and Planning

I've been playing animal umpire the past few days, trying to "feed up" the skin-and-bones nursing female fox who is getting almost too comfortable around the cabin or is so hungry she's throwing caution to the winds and playing with fate around the dogs whose owners allow them to run loose...

She seems confident she can outrun all of the dogs and really plays with Dixie's head, seemingly aware that Dixie's missing hind leg leaves her at a disadvantage, walking to within a few feet of her, jogging away just fast enough to keep in front of her if Dixie tries to give chase.

Yesterday morning when I got up and pulled back the curtain on the west window the fox was was lying in the yard waiting for me to get up and provide food, which I did.  She was enjoying the fact that Dixie and her running mate Jimmy...

...were nowhere around.  Dixie's owners had left her with me until 10:30 p.m. Saturday night--I'd closed up shop and turned off all the lights but my reading light thinking they'd just decided to let her stay all night when they finally showed up to claim her.  I guess for that reason they decided to keep Dixie and Jimmy in yesterday even though it was a nice day.  So the only dog we had to contend with was Apollo who lives across the road to the east...

I'm surprised the fox doesn't have an ulcer, being in fight or flight mode at all times, but she seems to be an escape artist.  Apollo keeps her on her toes, sometimes coming around the north side of the cabin, sometimes the south, and I'll hear the skittering of nails and claws on the wooden deck, barking pulling away into the distance and shortly Apollo comes back, panting, tongue lolling.  I keep my fingers crossed and eventually the fox returns when she thinks the coast is clear, having worked off most of the calories I've fed her, ready to eat again.  So we go along.

I'm planning, if these winds quit, to complete a project I started last week.  When I was cleaning out the woodshed trying to dig out my summer tires, I came across a plastic bag in which I'd stored two generous lengths of oilcloth I'd bought last year at Goodwill for $1.99 each that I want to use on the picnic table and benches this summer...

Last year I used a plain beige and white check...

I managed to get the table and one bench covered before I left to spend the month of July with my brother and his family in Tacoma, thinking my sister and her husband were coming to Colorado, only to find out after I arrived in Tacoma that my brother-in-law was having a heart valve transplant and they wouldn't be coming.  I never got the other two benches covered and now the oilcloth I put on last summer looks like this...

...and this...

...the severe weather here in the mountains and the ultraviolet light are very damaging, and I really need something to cover the wood and prevent injury from splinters...

I got a square of oilcloth cut for the table top last week so can proceed as soon as the weather cooperates.  My thermometer is climbing toward 60F degrees, but with an overnight low of 30F degrees and wind gusts of up to 26 mph this morning, it has seemed chilly.  Perhaps I can get out this afternoon.

I actually did something rather thoughtful last fall when I stored the oilcloth.  I put the hummingbird feeders in the same sack! 

Thinking all the time.  With the quixotic weather we've had this spring, I'm not sure when the hummingbirds will return, but am looking forward to it.  In the spring it's their call based on the meadow flowers starting to bloom I suppose.  In the fall, we are cautioned at this altitude to put all of the hummingbird food away after Labor Day because we can get freak snowstorms that will freeze the birds in their sleep at night.  If we remove the food source, they are forced to move to lower altitudes to find food and, hopefully, won't get caught by a cold snap. 

It's hard to do because they are feeding at their most frenzied at that point getting ready for the long trek south and I feel terrible removing the feeders.  They line up like jets waiting for clearance to land.  I think I see five in this photo, counting that one in the distance...


Here there are four feeding, or trying to, simultaneously...

They can get pretty aggressive with each other.  Here's a more bucolic photo...

...something to look forward to.

What are you looking forward to this summer?  Teddee

Well, That Was Neat

When Dixie and I got back from our outing today, the fox was relaxing in the front yard waiting for our return just like a domestic pet.  Of course, I was so taken aback that I forgot to take any photos.  I drove about halfway in toward the cabin and she wasn't even afraid of the car.  I kept Dixie shut in the car and fed the fox, but the dog Apollo from across the road east came over after a bit, scared her away and ate one of the chicken drumsticks I'd put out for her.  She'd eaten one and I salvaged the other before he ate it.  I'll put it out later tonight after people have taken their dogs in.

I've found that raw eggs in the shell work great because the dogs don't know what to do with them. The fox carries them off, so I guess she's breaking into them and sucking the egg out just like she would if she got into a chicken house. 

I did get some photos earlier in the day.  We had this much snow overnight and although it was over 40F degrees this morning, the wind was really blowing and it was cold...

After I'd done my stint on the computer and Dixie and I had our breakfast...

...I'm calling this photo "My Skillet!"  I let her clean the scrambled eggs out of this pan or try to.  I'd run out of Pam so they really stuck and she'd finally given up and was just enjoying the heat from the stove...we piled in the car and went to Boulder and Lafayette.

I hadn't planned to go down because I didn't think Goodwill was having a 50% off sale today--I hadn't received my usual e-mail--and I had promised myself no more thrifting this month, but I wasn't in the mood to be kept prisoner in the cabin because of the winds, so put Dixie in the car and headed down. 

Rock climbing is a big sport here and anytime the weather permits, there will be climbers all over the rocks in the canyon.  Today I pulled over and took some photos.

I couldn't see anything in my viewfinder, so was interested to see what I'd managed to capture.  I played around with the contrast and color on the computer and can't get anything better than this.  Next time I'll spend more time and make better use of my 5x magnification.

I first went to Savers in Boulder because I have another filled punch card for 30% off, but found absolutely nothing.  I didn't even stop at the Boulder Goodwill, thinking there wasn't a sale, and drove east, not really knowing what my destination was, but ended up turning south to Lafayette and the Goodwill there.  I discovered just as I was leaving, having only found one top, that everything was 50% off.  No big signs in the windows of any of their stores, just little signs on top of the racks.  I wonder what has prompted the change?  At any rate, since I'm having so much trouble finding a market for my small decor items, I'm now in the market for furniture with doors and drawers for the cabin to replace some of the things that are here now.  I can't fit anything very big in my car.  I had seen and rejected this piece because it was $30. 

After I realized things were half off, I returned to the back of the store and got it.  I haven't decided exactly where it will go--since it has a place for a rod, probably replace the shelf over the wash stand-- but wherever it ends up, those drawers will come in handy.

Now I need a really skinny chest with fairly deep drawers for sheets and towels to go between the end of the bunk and the hide-a-bed I'm keeping.

Do you have storage challenges?  Teddee

Finally, Real Rain

We finally got a real rain last night.  I don't know how much we received.  I need to get a rain gauge.  But it was the first measurable rain we've had in some time.  After an the initial rainfall around bedtime, it rained off and on much of the night I think.  Now we're having sunshine, but 70 mph winds and snow showers! 

I tried to use the camera setting to capture motion, but these don't really do justice to the lashing tree branches...and dog ears...blowing violently in the wind...

Jimmy usually just comes in, gets his hug and goes on his way, leaving Dixie behind.  Today the weather was so extreme he actually returned and came back in the cabin for a bit.

I think Dixie and I are going to go to Boulder just to get out of this.  I'm getting a lot of blow-back smoke from the wood stove because of the wind, which is supposed to continue on through tonight and tomorrow.

Since I've lived here I've read two funny comments about the winds in the Nederland weekly, the Mountain-Ear.  In one letter to the editor, a resident responding to concerns from some old-timers that Nederland's improvements were going to turn it into another Aspen, said there was little chance of that unless someone could design a giant wind screen to plant on the Continental Divide.  More recently, candidates for Nederland's City Council were being interviewed about how to keep the young people from moving away and one candidate said they left because of the wind!  I can see that.

Teddee

Spring Tease

The skies have looked like this off and on for the last several days...

...and the barometer must be way down because it's very quiet and just feels as if something needs to happen, but we'll get just a few moments of gusty winds and a few drops of rain and then it ends.

Even though we've had some really hot daytime temperatures, those aren't consistent either and NOAA predicts a low of 30F degrees tomorrow night, a low of 32F degrees Saturday night and 35F degrees Sunday night with a slight chance of snow off and on through the weekend.  The plants seem to know it's not spring yet, with just a few green sprigs showing...

These are wild iris...

I thought I had smothered everything winter before last when I had my firewood off-loaded in this area.  I had put a tarp underneath the wood and folded it over the top of the wood pile and only later realized this was not only unnecessary because of the low humidity here, but actually captured water under the wood.  We had such a late spring, with snow until Memorial Day, so I didn't get the last of the wood moved until mid-June.  When I finally moved the tarp, I had a bare "crop circle."  But it actually encouraged the growth of these iris.  This is what the meadow should look like later this spring...

The photo above was taken the beginning of June a year ago.  I don't know, since we stopped having snow so early this year, whether these will bloom at the same time this year.

Another sign of spring...a lactating, and ravenous, vixen...

She is so hungry she's willing to risk body and soul for calories.  Last night I fed her five chicken drumsticks and two raw eggs!  I think she was stowing some of the food because she would run off with it, but I could see she wasn't crossing the road south toward the creek and the den, and she'd be right back.  You can see the meaty end of a drumstick protruding from the side of her mouth below...

She's been coming around earlier and earlier in the day when the dogs are still around, so yesterday I finally shut Dixie in the cabin to allow the fox to come and get the food I was putting out.  I thought after the third piece of chicken she'd probably had her fill and let Dixie out, but the fox came back, appearing in the neighbor's yard to the west.  I just held Dixie's collar and told her she could learn not to chase the fox and explained that the fox was nursing and was very hungry and she needed to let her eat.  Dixie didn't even pull against her collar after that and I was able to hold her with my left hand and snap the shutter with my right.  Almost a lion and lamb moment.

I also, finally, got the last of the wood moved yesterday.  Here's the last load.  I said, "Hurrah!"

Today I got the recyclable trash taken to the dump and made this eggplant and cheese dish in the slow cooker. 

It has a good flavor, but is too soupy, so with cooler temps arriving again perhaps I'll get a good fire going in the wood stove tomorrow, put this in a shallow casserole dish and bake it the oven for a bit.

If you're still waiting for spring, how are you passing the time?  Teddee

Summer Tires Revealed

Yesterday I tackled the woodshed and without too much effort uncovered the two summer tires I had saved from Sears last fall...

I do love these tidy plastic bags in which used tires are returned these days.  In the process I tidied up the woodshed and gathered up two bags of recyclables...

I put the bagged recyclables in my car with the intention of taking them to the dump, but the weather changed and we actually had a little rain, probably not measurable but better than nothing.  By the time it was over it was past 4 p.m., closing time for the dump, so I took the smelly bags out of the car and put them back in the woodshed to prevent wild animals from tearing them open during the night.

This morning I loaded the bags back into the car, along with the water jugs, and a tote bag containing some reading materials to mail to my brother convalescing from knee surgery...

...and Dixie...

...and off we went on our errands.  Got the materials I'd printed off the internet mailed to my brother separately from two books sent book rate.  Nederland has some very nice new federal and municipal buildings.  This is the post office...

Then we drove to the dump.  Closed on Wednesdays!  Why Wednesdays?  I guess because they're open on Saturdays.  Drove back to Caribou Canyon Road.  Good news.  The road crew had been working on the road and had almost all of the washboard ironed out...

I think they must have wet it down first.  I don't think we had this much rain...

I saw the piece of heavy equipment they were using on the trip up to the spring, but it was gone by the time I came back.  It was a huge roller and appeared to also have a blade under the roller.  Anyway, it did the trick so I didn't have to worry about stressing my temporary bumper fix.

On the way home, I stopped at the library.  Here's the new library.  It opened just a year ago January...

The stonemasons were working on this monument sign a couple of days early last winter when it was so bitterly cold and the wind was blowing so hard.  I felt so sorry for them and their fingers.  They've recently installed lights and I expect some landscaping may be coming.

I had run out of library books a couple of days ago but was just finishing a used paperback I'd purchased at a little thrift store in Longmont earlier in the week.  It is called Black Sand by William J. Caunitz, published in 1989.  That name was familiar and I see he was a former New York City detective and also wrote One Police Plaza.  I remember reading that.  I couldn't find any of his books at the library and see from the internet that he died of pulmonary fibrosis in 1996 at the age of 63.  So unfortunate that his voice was stilled.  I enjoyed this book and it made me realize he wrote a distinct style of cop novel that no one else is quite pulling off these days. 

I just checked out Jimmy Buffett's A Salty Piece of Land and Alex Berenson's The Ghost War.  Those should keep me occupied for a few days and I'll try to remember to let you know how I enjoyed them.

Closing out with a photo I took earlier in the week.  I may have to use this one on my Halloween cards this year.  Those are clouds even though it looks like smoke.  Don't even think smoke!

 Is the weather dry where you are?  Teddee

Thank You Gorilla Glue and Walmart

About seven years ago when I was still living in the desert heat of Phoenix, Arizona, a piece of trim that went around my left front wheel well started coming loose.  I glued it back on with Gorilla Glue and used a binder clip to keep it in place until it dried.  It wasn't pretty but it held tight.

About two weeks ago I noticed the only thing holding my front bumper on was this piece of trim...

I could see what appeared to be a hole for a bolt and I could feel there was a matching hole above, but I kept putting off doing anything further figuring I'd have to get down on back on the ground to see what needed to be done. 

I think the road I take to the spring may be at least partly responsible for shaking anything loose that can be shaken loose...

Washboard almost all the way.  You can't drive slowly enough to prevent it from rattling your teeth.

Today I had to go to Longmont.  I had a shopping list I'd been adding to for about two weeks and I prefer either of the Longmont Walmarts over the one in Erie.  I got an early start.  I knew it would be too hot down below to leave Dixie in the car and I wanted to be gone before she got here so I didn't have to drive off an leave her.  As I was driving down the canyon and hoping the glue held, the bumper didn't fall off and cause me to either drive over it or drive off the road, down a steep cliff and into Boulder Creek, I decided I'd take it the automotive center at Walmart and see if they could put the car up on the lift and at least provide a temporary fix.  Turns out the newest Walmart in Longmont has no automotive center, so after I'd done my shopping, I drove to the one north of town which does have an automotive center. 

I asked a young technician if he could put a bolt in the bumper.  He said he wasn't sure they could do that, but his older co-worker told him to go ahead.  Here they are making the fix...

Turns out the bumper was originally affixed with two small plastic pieces that snapped together.  The bottom was missing.  This was one still affixed to the top and they had to pry it out...

The bolt doesn't keep the bumper as tight as it should be so I may have to take it to a body shop for a true fix, but at least I know the bumper is not going to fall off.  The best part was that they didn't charge me a thing!  Talk about customer service.  I may just have to go back and see if they can match the two summer tires I managed to wrest from Sears after they a) told me the other two were too worn to put back on, and b) kept the two good ones  "by mistake" resulting in my having to call back and have them dig them out of the recycle pile and hold them for me until I could drive back up there and get them.  Only part of a very, very bad experience at the Longmont Sears Auto Center last fall.

So tomorrow I have to clean out the woodshed because that's where those two tires are stored.  I'm fairly certain we aren't going to have any more major snows--it had to have been in the 80s in Longmont today--so I can get these snow tires off before I put any more wear on them. 

Are you spring cleaning?  Teddee

Spring Cleaning

I spent most of the day cleaning, but I can't really see much difference.  Several years ago my sister and went together and split the cost for four of these really large plastic storage containers...

...in which we had been storing extra bedding in case more members of the family came out on vacation and needed blankets and sleeping bags for their tents.  She and her husband had also left some clothing here.  After Christmas I decided I would use the boxes, which fit under the bunk, to store my craft materials.  I bagged up all the blankets and clothing and stored them in my car, which I use as another room, this one-room cabin being a bit small.  This didn't work.  Not only was it a nuisance to have all those bags of bedding and clothing in my car trunk and inside my car, but once the craft materials were shoved under the bunk, it was too much trouble to get them out whenever I needed them, so I quit crafting.  

Today I dragged all of the storage boxes out from under the bunk, removed the craft materials...

...which I had carefully sorted and stored in individual containers last winter.  Then I dragged all of the bags out of the car, sorted through the contents, put the bedding and my sister's and her husband's clothing back in the large containers and put everything else back in the bags and put them in the woodshed.  There were some table cloths (I remember my mother using this one for Sunday dinner back on the farm in Missouri when I was quite young)...

...and even odder rugs that looked like they were crocheted, but in really unusual colors.  One was a flirty black with bright green and peppermint pink touches.  I felt like doing the can-can....

It was as if everyone had brought to the cabin all of the things they didn't want but couldn't bring themselves to give away.  I'll let my sister decide when she comes out in July if she feels sentimental about any of these items.  If she does, she can take them home with her.  Otherwise, they're going to Goodwill.

I also took the plastic storage container that serves as my toolbox out to the woodshed, rigged up a different cover to hide the white and wild-colored print on the hide-a-bed that my sister brought out here and prefers to sleep on.  I've been trying to get the other hide-a-bed, a black Naugahyde beauty, to Goodwill for two years but can't seem to find anyone willing to haul it to Boulder even for pay.

In order to do all the above, I had to move a lot of things out on the deck...

I can't decide if these cat curtain rod holders are cute or creepy.  People driving by kept slowing down thinking I was having a yard sale...hmmm...they might have something.  I wish I could count on the weather, particularly wind, lack of, so I could actually plan one.  Perhaps in September.  By that time I should have everything done to the cabin I want to do and I can sell all the leftover decor items.  If I recall, we had some very nice weather last September.

I thought around 3 p.m. we were going to have rain...
 

The wind came up so I quit working and got everything under cover then Dixie and I went to the spring and got water.  If this is spring run-off then I may be forced to buy water this summer...

I also stopped and picked up a big bag of pine cones for kindling.  My brother had questioned several months ago why I wasn't using pine cones and I told him I had seen hardly any last fall.  Well, the side ditches over in Caribou Canyon where the spring is located, are now filled with them...

...so I'll take a sack for pine cones each time I get water.  This should cut down on the need for those pricey fire starters that have just gone up a $1 to $13 a box.

So now the boxes of craft materials have supplanted the plastic tool box bin on the couch, a couple of piles of books and magazines (already sorted once to get rid of the chaff), which I'd secreted away in one of the plastic bins under the bunk, have now reappeared to join a couple of other piles of same that had accumulated since Christmas. 

Out of all this effort, I do have two bags of clothing and miscellaneous in the car to take to Goodwill or Savers, I removed one of the heavy jute rugs my sister brought out here that sheds and had started raveling along the edge, moved furniture and swept thoroughly, so made some progress.

I'll sign off with a photo I just took of the western sky...

Have a wonderful evening...Teddee