Sow's Ear

Yesterday I decided to go to Longmont so I could hit both Goodwill, which was having a 50% off Saturday, and Walmart.  Dixie had ended up staying all night and I was undecided about taking her along.  It was sunny here and NOAA was predicting a high of 60F degrees in Boulder.  I loaded her in the car and stopped to get my mail at the post office in Nederland.  By that time she was already panting, so I drove her all the way back to Eldora and dropped her at her house.  She didn't want to get out of the car and, as it turned out, it was more overcast in Boulder and Longmont than it was in the mountains and I think she would have been fine, but I had numerous stops to make, so it was a relief not to have to worry about her getting too hot.


I went to Goodwill first and found a little secretary that I think will meet many of my storage needs.  I got both pieces for a total of $15! It's a bit of a sow's ear, but I think with some filling, sanding and paint I can make it acceptable if not a "silk purse."  I couldn't get it in my car, so they gave me until Monday to pick it up.  After giving it some thought, I decided I'd unload everything out of my car this morning and drive back today to see if they could fit it in.  If not, I'd know that I'd have to rent a truck tomorrow.  I had decided that if I did have to rent a truck I would take advantage of the opportunity to try to get someone to help me load this black Naugahyde hide-a-bed into the truck for the return trip where I would drop it off at the Goodwill in Boulder.

I had discovered Friday when I did laundry that Dixie had thrown up in the car as well as throwing up in the cabin.  I'm sure she got too hot Thursday morning while she was curled up in the back seat where she loves to rest.  I had opened both back doors, but the wind had blown the west door shut.  To access the east door she had to clamber over my dirty laundry with just one hind leg.  She'd managed, but not before she got so overheated that she vomited in the car and then, after drinking a lot of water, again in the cabin.  I felt horrible for not paying more attention.  With temperatures rising I will have to start putting something in the west car doors to prevent them from blowing shut or just stop allowing her to rest there.  I have no shade.

I had purchased some upholstery cleaner yesterday so I could clean off the back seat.  The combination of unloading everything from the car, which I use as a second room, and shampooing the back seat, got me started and I decided to clean out the car, which I hadn't done in, well, too long.  I kind of use my car as a pickup truck.  I'd hauled kindling in it and just living here had left enough gravel on the floor on my side for a dish garden.  I don't have a vacuum and will take advantage of a car wash vacuum one of these days.  In the meantime, I used a whisk broom on the floors and seats and a damp cloth on the dash and other vinyl parts.  Couldn't let those guys in the back room at Goodwill see what a mess I'd let my car get in!  

I knew it was supposed to rain...

..so I just left my floor mats under the eave to wash while I was gone...

...outfitted with rocks to keep them from blowing away in case the wind came up.  Then I hopped in the car and drove to Longmont.  Thank goodness, Dixie had not shown up because I knew there wouldn't be room the car for anything but this secretary if they could even fit it in.


The man working the back room at Goodwill was able to fit the base in the back seat.  While he was wrangling the top into the front seat I asked, "What do you think?"  He said, "I try not to."  Back room humor.  He managed it.  I could just barely change gears.  I couldn't see anything but furniture in my rear view mirror and my right side mirror was obscured as well, but I made it back to Boulder from Longmont and up the canyon to the cabin without incident.  

Here are some pictures I took of the two pieces still in the car.  I'm not sure I can get them out by myself, and since it's rainy, this is the best place for them right now. 


This is the base.  It's on its side and the the legs are on the left.  Some kind of laminate.  Based on that hardware, would you say 1960s, 1970s?  Keep in mind, $7.50 for this piece and I get three big drawers for towels and sheets so I don't  have to unload everything off the top of the trunk every time I want something out of it.  No, the damage to the headliner on the car did not occur during this excursion.  That's left over from trying to get an unwieldy piece of metal lawn furniture into my car in Phoenix and that's not the worst of it.  Like I said, pickup truck.

Here's the rest of the base and what makes it a secretary...

 

...the hinges are on the left, pull the knob to let the desk down and it has the requisite cubbies inside.  It's apparent this got a lot of use based on the wear around the knob.

Now this is what originally caught my eye. I thought it was a separate piece for which I was willing to pay $15...

 ...a glass-front cabinet with two shelves, glass intact, that sets atop the other piece.  Not much character at this point, but I think I can give it some and it will provide more space to display porcelain.

So, now the fun part.  I plan on painting it and think, since I went whole hog with the dark charcoal brown paint on everything else intentionally to make it disappear, I need to paint this another color.  So there will be paint swatches to peruse and then, of course, there's new hardware. I think I'll even be surprised about how cute this may turn out.

Animal update.  Fox feeding is ongoing at least twice a day.  Vixen actually came inside the cabin briefly this morning to grab a piece of chicken out of her bowl that I had set just inside the door.  I think that girl telepathizes.  I'll get the "itch" to check to see if she's out there and, sure enough, she's lying in the yard.  I notice that there's a U-Haul at the cabin where Apollo's owners live.  Maybe we won't have to contend with him for too much longer.  That would certainly take some stress out of everyday living.

That's my Sunday.  Teddee

One More Time

I really am not recycling the snow photos from earlier in the week.  This is what the sky looked like in the west at dusk last night...

It rained pretty intensely for a bit about 1 a.m. this morning and it was very overcast when I got up.  Dixie and Jimmy didn't show and I assumed they were being kept inside.  This enabled me finally to escape to Boulder to do laundry without having to worry either about taking Dixie along or leaving her behind.  It rained right down again, just briefly, while I was in the laundromat and it was generally cold and unpleasant in Boulder.  The Denver Post on line had reported it might be colder down than in the mountains and it felt it.  After I finished the laundry, which I'd allowed to accumulated to overwhelming levels as usual, I went to Noodles & Co. for chicken noodle soup and it really was as good as mine and hit the spot. 

I stopped at Office Depot to get ink cartridges for my Kodak printer and one of the clerks, who asked if she could assist, was nice enough to point out in a sale bin a Kodak Ink Multipack, containing two color cartridges and one black cartridge plus Design Gallery Software, whatever that is, for $20.00, originally $50.99!  She said she assumed they were no longer going to carry this item and that was why it was on sale.  Such a deal. 

I stopped in Nederland to get a broasted chicken, but they were out and I had to get chicken tenders.  When I got home, both Dixie and Vixen were waiting in the yard for me!  I don't know how long the fox had been hanging around, but she seems to be getting very comfortable with Dixie.  Dixie ran up to the car and greeted me lavishly when I opened the door and Vixen came right up to be fed.  It was all very Eden-like until Apollo barged in and chased Vixen away so I had to show him the broom.  I told him he was ruining the mood, I didn't want him chasing the fox and if he didn't quit I was going to string up a piece of wire just about 1.5 feet off the ground right along the east side of my property.  I finally got him to go home, fixed Vixen's bowl and stood out there with the broom spotting for her until she finished. 

It started to snow just as I arrived at the Nederland "city" limits and it's snowing right down still.  I took these right after I got the livestock fed...

The forecast was for up to three inches.  We'll see.  Teddee

What a Crazy Day

Dixie and Jimmy, who usually don't show up until 9:30 a.m. at the earliest, were on deck at 6:30 a.m. this morning. I had semi-planned to either go to Boulder and do laundry or to Longmont to get some things on my growing shopping list, but knew it would be too hot down there to take Dixie along.  I'd checked NOAA for the Boulder high and it was predicted to be 86F degrees.

If Dixie is by herself, I often won't even know she's here until I go outside for some reason.  But Jimmy is a barker so, even though I'd just turned my electric blanket, which had automatically turned off, back on and was snuggling in for a little more sleep, I was unable to ignore them for more than 15 minutes.  

Then, Jimmy, who is usually more than happy to be on his way after a quick hand-out, wouldn't leave.  He didn't want to stay in the cabin either, but if I closed the door, he'd start barking again.  If I'd open the door, he'd sit there on one hind leg, reminiscent of a snail's foot, looking expectant, but wouldn't come back inside.  Finally, I told him, in no uncertain terms, to go home and he did.  

Dixie, too, couldn't make up her mind whether she wanted to be in or out.  First she was in but couldn't seem to find a place where she was comfortable, then she was out, then she wanted in the car, then she clambered out over the dirty laundry spilling it all over the ground.

I kept expecting the fox, waiting on tenterhooks for Dixie to start that recognizable barking, to go out and get her back in the cabin so the fox could eat unmolested.


The vixen had eaten last night then returned, making that strange little squeaking noise at the partly opened door, with a male in tow.  I guess this was the same fox that had accompanied her here after that one big snow we got in February, but it was too dark that night for me to be sure this was the same fox.  At that time I thought the larger of the two was the female.  At any rate, Vixen seemed happy and proud to be showing her date this wonderful food source.  He was much more skittish than her, keeping my car between himself and me.

I was impressed by how different their features are.  He has these wonderfully large, dark Valentino eyes.


Even though she seemed to have made an effort to bring him along, Vixen was very competitive about the food and even started eating from my  hand.  I had stopped at the grocery store and got one of the $4.99 Cheap Chickens and between the three of us we almost polished it off.  I was forced to throw Valentino's chicken to him far from her in order for him to get any and it took him a bit to realize I wasn't throwing the chicken at him.

So, this morning I thought he might come back with her.  I think either Vixen or the two of them might have come to be fed while Jimmy was still here, because I heard some barking, but didn't see any sign of foxes when I went out to check.  

It wasn't until about 3:30 p.m. that I looked out and saw Vixen solo.  I had put out her kibble and gone to the woodshed to get an egg out of the cooler when here came Apollo, the black bulldozer, full speed ahead, around the south side of the cabin, seemingly even more motivated to kill the fox because his owner has put him on a diet and I've not been giving him hand-outs.  We'd been blessedly free of him for the most part the last couple of days.  Vixen kept ahead of him, leading him through the cabin yards and up the mountain to the north, with me yelling at him and calling him at least one foul name, only realizing I'd done it after it was out and wondering what my neighbors, if they heard me, must think about their quiet, reclusive neighbor's language.


When I came back in, Dixie had thrown up, something she's never done, about a half gallon of water in which I stepped with my bare foot.  I don't know what that was all about, and I'm still waiting, kibble and egg in hand, for Vixen to return.


While all this was going on I was:  1) Trying for the second time to get through by phone to the manager of one of my storage units in Phoenix to alert her that I'd lost my debit card a couple of weeks ago and that I'd provided my new number on line after receiving a snail mail letter indicating my payment had been rejected; 2) Making my third call to the Boulder Housing Authority, for which I had completed forms in March for possible senior housing, to try to determine why they had sent me the 17 pages of forms again, asking me complete them once more and attend a second meeting next week--during my first two calls I'd been told in recorded messages that the most recent packet of information had been sent to me by a woman who was now working part time and I should call another employee and then when I called her number I was told she was on vacation for a week; 3) Making a follow-up phone call to an e-mail I'd sent to the ecology center in Nederland yesterday, to which I'd  received no response, inquiring whether, with a 29 F degree low being predicted and a high chance of rain/snow, I should perhaps wait to put out my hummingbird feeders.  In the last case the young lady I spoke with was very encouraging about going ahead and putting out the feeders indicating, "They're here!"  I said I knew they were here, that was why I was calling, but I'd had locals tell me they'd found hummingbirds frozen in place in late fall so was she sure this was sound advice during equally changeable spring weather?  Would she please check? 4) Phoning the Denver office of Fish and Game or whatever it's called in Colorado with the same question and getting another young girl on the line who was equally enthusiastic about putting the feeders out, concurring the hummingbirds "might die" in the severe weather, but acting as if that was just the way it sometimes went. Both young women urged me to bring my sticky, dripping hummingbird feeders inside at night to discourage bears!  Right.  I finally nabbed my neighbor and he suggested that since the only thing blooming at this altitude right now is dandelions, by refraining from putting the feeders out, the birds would probably at least go down to Nederland and that might save their lives if the weather gets really bad over the weekend.  I think it was the first sensible thing that happened all day.


I'm getting too accustomed to being retired.  I felt as if I were back at work.  Teddee

What a Difference a Day Makes

By yesterday afternoon, this was all that was left of the previous day's snow...

I took these this morning, but with our overnight low, things hadn't changed that much from late yesterday afternoon.  So, it's all clear for right now.  

In fact, there isn't a cloud in the sky, the sun is shining brightly and temps should be in the low 60F degrees today.  NOAA has revised the high for tomorrow down to 66F degrees from 69F degrees, however, and a 40%-50% chance of rain/snow is being predicted for Friday and Saturday.  With a low of 29F degrees predicted for Saturday night, plain old snow is on the menu again.


I heard my first hummingbird this morning!  I've e-mailed the ecology center in Nederland to find out, based on the above weather forecast, whether I should wait to put my feeders out.  I expect the answer to be "yes," but it's tempting.


I'd been waiting for the fox and she just came to be fed.  She's starting to look a little better, I think...

Hmm! Hmm!  Kibble and egg...

Gotta clean my face...

Resting...

You can see what a chunk something has taken out of her tail about midway up.  I wonder if the fur will ever grow back?   I think the ear split is old.


I put Dixie in the cabin while the fox is here and I praise Dixie to high heaven when she comes on command to leave the fox alone and come in.  She seems to be getting it.  I tell her she's my best girl to go against her nature.  We haven't seen nearly as much of Apollo.  He came one day last week with a blue harness on and a plastic-encased note attached, "Please don't feed me. Thx."  So, he's not getting any hand-outs and I'm trying to bring the fox's food back in as soon as she's finished so he doesn't get that.  He was really packing on the weight.  Was the original Apollo Creed a heavyweight?


Teddee