Big Changes & Happy Anniversary!

Wow, what a busy, crazy couple of months! I received and accepted an offer on the house--finally! It was on the market 18 months! I was very grateful to sell, especially in this economy. So many people have taken enormous losses on their homes. I was lucky to get close to my asking price, and I walked away with the ability to follow some of my dreams, and achieve some of my goals.

So, I moved to Denver, right into the middle of EVERYTHING! There is a coffee house close to my apt, and a wine restaurant, several yoga studios, bookstores, ethnic restaurants, and a fencing--yes, sword-fighting--studio not far away. I'm renting for 6 months, in order to give myself a chance to evaluate Denver, to see if I want to invest in a life here. I didn't do that when I moved to COS, and I paid dearly for that mistake. It's already been a good, healthy change for me--emotionally, mentally and financially. You can't ask for more than that!

Let's catch up with the past two months. In August, Ranger & I were invited to participate in a cutting clinic at Barnes Ranch in Larkspur. The Barnes, Gerrie & Jeff, are very active in the Versatility Ranch Horse program in Colorado. Ranger was amazing, as usual, and Gerry invited us to ride on her 2009 team! What an honour! Check out Ranger with the cows:Beth came over to the house in August to help me with some projects before it sold, and we saw some neat insects. The moth was about 1" wide and emerald green, and spent most of the day on the screen door. The dragonfly was irridescent green. It was about 5" long--it was enormous! Look at the detail of the wings!Sara's first birthday was in August. Odie blew up a LOT of balloons, and the kids had a ball with them. I'm not sure my heart has recovered from the numerous POPS, every few minutes! Watching her grow up has been wonderful. Odie is due to give birth to Sara's brother in December; it's going to be a Merry Christmas!The sunrises and sunsets are something I'll miss about my house. These are the last few in Sept:Kalisha joined me on the deck to watch the sunset. She's 17 years of age, now.Fungi are always fun. This was growing in one of my potted plants. Pretty, isn't it?Have you ever seen a baby orca? This little one is in one of the San Juan pods. He or she won't be named (numbered, actually) for a year. Scientists wait to ensure that the calf has a good chance at survival before numbering it. They think he/she was born in June 2008.Flying has been fantastic. Here's the view from 2000' below another airplane; we were at FL370. No, this wasn't a close-call. Currently, ATC separates airplanes by 1000' in opposite directions. They were going to SFO, too, so were 2000' above, since they were going the same way:This is what it looks like when everything goes to hell. Yes, we landed safely (DUH!).The views from my office are always amazing. This is San Jose at dawn, with a sea of fog abutting the foothills in the Bay Area:Here's Chino at dawn last week. It seems to be the center of the universe, doesn't it?How about Missoula at dawn the first week of Sept? With fog against the mountains, and snow the night before!Here's another one of those weird mini-hurricanes. This one is near Santa Barbara the last week of August. I was flying with Andrew at the time. I was glad that something this special happened during this particular trip!I love sharing the joy of flying with people. Vivian is 89, and this was her first airplane ride, ever. She was thrilled to have a female pilot! We brought her to LAX. Notice the NORMAL display to the right of my yoke (steering wheel)--that's what it's supposed to look like!This little guy's backpack is almost as big as he is! He was a terrific big brother, wasn't he?OK, OK, to the anniversary! Seven years ago, on October 1st, Kay & Chuck drove me to Burns, Oregon, to adopt a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It was only a few weeks after 9/11, and I was worried about my job, but I wanted a horse so badly...a mustang, and I was tired of pushing my dream aside for everyone else's ideas of responsibility and common sense. I spent HOURS trying to make the biggest decision of my life. The horse I had originally chosen wouldn't look at me, and the people whose advice I trusted had all told me to choose a horse who also chose me. I was devastated, and didn't know what to do--there wasn't a back-up horse in my plans.

Gary, one of the BLM wranglers, suggested that I go to the mare/foal pen and play with the babies while making my decision. I chose two cute bay colts, and there was one little black colt who wanted to come to meet me, but his mama wouldn't let him. I asked for the three of them to be brought in so I could see them more closely. The bay colts panicked; they were terrified to be so close to humans. The black colt stood in the chutes, nervous, but not too scared. He whinnied once to his mama, who had been turned back, then he turned to me. I reached between the bars and rubbed his neck, and Ranger looked into my eyes. That was it. I was lost in his gaze. I had found my horse. Here he is, 7 years later. Isn't he handsome? I'm so very, very awed and honoured that this wild horse has chosen to trust me. I once told Gary that Ranger was the best thing that had ever happened to me in my life, and I still hold to that assertion today. Happy Seventh Anniversary, Ranger!Of course, I can't leave Beau out. He's 21, now, and still as handsome as ever. People often comment about how wise his eyes are, that he has an old soul. Judge for yourself.I hope that someone or something is watching over you as well as my horses watch over me.

Don't forget to register to vote--this is probably the most important presidential election that you'll ever vote in. I encourage you to check out Barack Obama's website, read his plans for our country, and consider voting for him. www.mybarackobama.com We can't afford 4 more years of Bush/McCain politics, policies and agendas. Voter's registration in most states ends, for this election, within the next week---PLEASE make voting a priority, because it's YOUR life that your vote affects!

Two young men and a shovel

Wow, what a day! Kyle and Greg arrived this morning to undertake the task of rebuilding the retaining wall. The old wall, as you might remember, is below:

They had ALL of the rocks out within 1 1/2 hours!

It took 1 1/2 hours to lay the first layer of retaining wall.

From there, it was gravy! They had the entire wall COMPLETED in 4 1/2 hours, including breaks! GOOD JOB, GUYS!

Tomorrow, we'll add a rock row in front of the wall, and level sand behind it to reinforce the first row from critters and wash-outs. It will also help with continuity for the rest of the wall, which is still rock. The blocks will go as far as the new stairs, which will come down to basement level, and the rocks will continue out the other side of those stairs. We'll also back-fill behind the new wall with sand. We put a lot of rocks and all of the broken concrete from the shed behind the wall as filler. Now I don't have to pay to have it hauled! Double bonus!!!

Next, the deck!

Also, pretty good news. Although I do have a couple of tears in the rotater cuff tendons, they aren't bad enough for surgery at this time. I got a cortisone shot today, and should have relief in a few days. I will also be doing some physical therapy to help strengthen those muscles.

Remember, you can now leave comments without having to register--just choose the anonymous function (but PLEASE let me know who you are!! :-) ).

Sweet Lemonade and Stairs

It's been a busy week! I've been doing lots of home-improvement projects to add curb appeal to the house.

Today, while on the way to Lowe's, I saw that my favourite Lemonade Stand was open! Hooray!!!! Jenny is teaching her daughters about service, manners and money. They make the BEST lemonade I've ever tasted, and also offer cookies! Both little girls are darling--as you park, the youngest comes to the car to ask if you would like lemonade and a cookie. She also takes the money, and gives it to the older girl, who puts it into their cash register. Mom helps them figure out change, and pours the lemonade, but the girls do most of the interacting with customers. I'm not going to identify the girls or their location for their safety, but if you spot them, please stop and buy a glass of lemonade!
A huge challenge is improving the front steps/porch. As I've mentioned, it's a concrete lump. It's UGLY, UGLY, UGLY!!! I considered putting decking over the steps, but when I realized the amount of work involved, and the logistics of raising the stairs and porch by 3", I realized that it wasn't the best option. So, back to the think-tank...and I decided on tile. I'm planning to tile just the horizontal surfaces and the risers, leaving the left and right side painted. I've tried 5 or 6 samples of tile and slate, and finally opted for a textured ceramic tile that is just a shade darker than the house paint. I love the look of slate, but the colours clash with the stone facing, so tile it is! I will be purchasing the tile next week, but got started with prepping the steps today. I decided to paint the sides of the steps with left-over house paint, because it will blend pretty well with the new tile...and if not, I can tile it, too. I think that it already looks so much better--in fact, I almost painted the entire thing, but the old paint is peeling on the horizontal surfaces and I don't want to scrape it all off, and that colour will show dirt. Mastic and tile will solve that problem. The entire project is going to cost about $160.While at Lowe's, I priced decking materials. The walk-out basement walks out to sand and weeds under the main-floor deck. I think a nice 12' x 12' ground-level deck will add curb appeal and value. I already have 7 stringers, left over from the shed demolition, so I only need to buy 1 more. The entire cost of that project is going to be about $400, and I may be able to get some of the materials off of Craigslist. Would you want to walk out to this? Thought not...The last project will be rebuilding the stone wall. The stone wall is to the left side of the walk-out basement, and would be behind the new deck. After wrestling with several solutions, I think that I am going to use the same block system that Odie and I used for the front wall. It will extend to just past the deck stairs. I will add another set of stairs that will come down to the basement level, so I will transition the block wall to the stone wall at that point, behind the stairs. A small deck will link the two staircases at the middle level, and a small landing deck will extend off the stairs, probably joining the new basement deck.I think that, once the wall and deck are finished, I might buy a 100 gallon trough, and turn it into a small pond. Add a little seating, and perhaps a hammock, and I might not want to move! Have a good week, whatever projects might come your way, and remember to support your local Lemonade Stands!

Home Improvement

This was the view at breakfast Sunday morning:

This has been a busy home improvement week. The house is for sale, and I want it SOLD! So, I've been cleaning a lot, and planning small, inexpensive curb-appeal projects that I hope will pay off.

One of those projects is the front steps. The genius builder/contractor, Lynn Spears, put in concrete steps. Do you think they bothered to cure the concrete correctly? No, the quality is on par with the stone wall that Odie and I had to re-build. Someone painted the steps red, to match the front door...but the lovely Colorado weather chipped most of the paint off and the concrete is crumbling underneath, so when I bought the house, it looked like a sacrifical altar. I painted it gray, hoping that it would improve the look. It did, but now the gray paint is chipping. No matter what you do, you can't hide an elephant in a closet....isn't this UGLY???

So, I will be heading to Home Depot to rent a masonry drill. My plan is to put decking over the concrete, so that I will have nice, wooden stairs and a porch. The side of the glob of concrete will be painted the same colour as the house (and hopefully it stays painted until someone buys it!).

Thank you, HGTV, for Curb Appeal and Sell This House! You have great ideas!

Another upcoming HI project is to build a ground-level deck under the existing deck, so that the walk-out basement offers the opportunity to walk out to something nicer than weeds and sand. I have a lot of 14' leftover lumber from the shed that was torn down two years ago, so that will be a project within the budget. I already have half-cask planters down there, filled with tomatoes, peppers and flowers, but you can't enjoy the space at all. I'm hoping that a quick deck will change that!

I am also refinishing the cedar chest. Many of you have seen it--ugly, brown painted thing that I bought at an estate sale 13 years ago. The owner painted it, then applied wood-grained contact paper to "protect the wood." I had every intention of refinishing it in a more timely manner...but time gets away from you, doesn't it? I stripped it twice last week, sanded it for hours and hours (even bought a sander!), and am finally applying several polyurethane coats. It turned out to be red cedar and is beautiful. The metal scrollwork and fittings are copper, and they just GLOW! Photos coming soon!

While in Palmdale, I met the most amazing man--our van driver! His name is Ernie Batz, and he is the original Flying Dutchman, whom you may know from The Grand Old Opry or many radio shows. He plays the accordian, and these days he drives for the hotel twice a week, and plays at retirement homes 3 or 4 times a week because they like the old songs, and so many never get visitors. His philosophy is that, if you slow down, you'll get old. He has a CD (The Flying Dutchman, Trip to Las Vegas), available at http://www.cdbaby.com/ for $14.99. I bought it, and listened to it, and it sure made me smile! I even downloaded it to the Ipod. C'mon--how could you NOT smile when you hear polka music? He's a delightful gentleman, and I hope you'll consider buying his CD. If you don't care for polka music, consider donating it to a retirement home where it will certainly be enjoyed! Since it's on the Ipod, I'm going to do that.

Lastly, I had to include photos of our wonderful mechanics, who will go to any length to get rid of me! My airplane had several mechanical problems yesterday, including overheating windshields. For those who don't know, airliner windshields are always heated. We can't risk the glass becoming fogged or iced up, and that will occur at any time of year. Windshield heat prevents that. When it's really hot, though, they can overheat when the airplane is parked at the gate and not moving. It's a no-go item. Turning the switches off will allow the window to cool, but it can take an hour or more. Hoppy and Mike came to the rescue and saved the day, while Rob fixed the other mechanical problems. Thus, I was able to leave SLC, and leave them in peace and quiet! Thanks, guys!

I hope that you have a good week, and if anyone wants to get rid of you, I hope that they are as handsome as these guys! :-)

Spiders and Slides

Hi everyone! I changed the options for comments; you no longer have to register to leave one. Just choose the "anonymous" option. I'd love to hear from you, so please say HI! I also added the photos from Midsummer's night to the Norway blog--please check those out!

Remember the baby spiders that I spotted before I left for New York? There are about a million more, all with webs between every nook and cranny on my deck. That tiny little speck is shown against a 2 x 4! Here he is with macro-zoom! Wow!Last week, Barack Obama's plane made an emergency landing with the tail slide deployed. Well, guess what happened at Lincoln, NE airport this week? The fueler pulled the wrong handle and...ooops....!
I visited Kacey's accident site last Sunday. This was what I saw when I got home. It made me feel better, as though Kacey is saying "It's OK. I'm OK." We miss you, Kacey.

Good Day, Bad Day...

One of my dearest friends, Joe, and his new bride Carlyle, celebrated their wedding reception today. The weather cooperated, the backyard and house were beautiful, the catering was outstanding, and the company was fabulous! Joe had invited Kevin Cassidy from KMGI (where we all met), whom I hadn't seen in probably 12 years--he looks just the same! OK, so here's the posed photos...And here's the normal, everyday, Joe's-got-a-grape-in-his-eye photo... :-)Does Carlyle know what she's in for???? :-)

That fabulous Colorado wind had to make an appearance, and decimated the tent over the bar! It ended up in the neighbor's yard. You should have heard people screaming..."OH MY GOD, SAVE THE VODKA!"

It was a lovely wedding reception. Joe and Carlyle are off to Paris for their honeymoon.

It ended up being a bittersweet day, because as one "life" began, I learned that another had ended. Kacey Day, my friends/mentors Kay & Chuck Day's grandson, died on Sunday, June 29, here in Colorado. I met Kacey 7 years ago, around the time I got Ranger. Kay & Chuck were my Wild Horse Mentors, and took me into their family. Kacey was 13 when I met him. He grew up into a fine, handsome young man, the kind you would call "strapping" years ago...he had a beautiful heart. He joined the Army, spent time in Iraq (Thank You, Kacey!), and had recently come home to be based at Ft. Carson. He died in a car accident early in the morning. He was only 20 years of age.

Tomorrow, I will go to the accident site to leave some flowers and a card. My heart goes out to Kay, Chuck, Kacey's brother Brandon, nephew Kyle, niece Krysta and his parents, as well as the rest of the family.

The funeral will be in Camas, WA, on Monday. If you have a moment on Monday, around 1pm Pacific Time, please take a moment to honour Kacey. He was, and always will be, very loved.

We will miss you, Kacey!

Back to Real Life...

Ah, vacation...isn't it nice? Too bad it has to end, but bills have to be paid!

Fortunately for me, real life is punctuated by a lot of fun, and a lot of cool stuff.

Last weekend, Beth, Jeannie, Donna and I took the horses to Garden of the Gods. That's Kissing Camels on the top right of the big rock! It was a beautiful ride--sunny, but not too hot. There were quite a few people hiking, and a few other horseback riders on the trails. Ranger really enjoyed himself...he likes to look at scenery, believe it or not! His head swivels as much as mine does when the scenery is lovely. I've noticed that most other horses move along without looking left, right, or up, but not Ranger!
We spotted a red prickly pear cactus--usually they sport yellow flowers, so this was a rarity.
You may remember, from a few blogs back, that my newest orchid was preparing to bloom. It did! Isn't it beautiful? It is a fragrant orchid, with a rich yet delicate scent that fills the house. I saw orchids in almost every home in Norway, in the windows, so again I'll assert that they aren't as hard to grow as "experts" claim--try one, but get it from a nursery rather than a grocery store. It will be in better health, and better climatized, so you'll have a better chance at success.
On my way home from work yesterday, I spotted this magnificent buck in full velvet. If I'm counting right, he's at least a 5-point (5 points on each antler; if you look closely, the big buds on the end are split). He lives about a mile from my house! I can't wait to see him with the other bucks, once they shed their velvet in a few weeks!I'm off to Joe and Carlyle's wedding reception in Erie, CO. That's up near Boulder. They were married in a quiet ceremony last month, and opted against the chaos of a wedding/reception on the same day. It's sunny and warm today, so should be a perfect day to celebrate a new life together!