Life on the High Plains

 There are perks to getting up early in the morning before the sun rises to go out and feed the horses. The barn is to the east of our house and on the walk out there I am quite often greeted with an amazing view. I try to always remember to stick my iPhone in my pocket so I can snap a photo of God's work.   Every day is a new day and a fresh beginning. I suppose it all comes to an end on Sunday though with the end of Daylight Savings Time.  I vote for keeping DST year round.  I really hate it when it's dark at 5:00 p.m.  Just makes me want to go to bed. Oh well, spring is right around the corner, right? Linking with Skywatch Friday

Eight months ago we decided to replace all the windows in our house.  Due to the global building craze we've been waiting eight months for the windows to be manufactured, delivered and installed.  Tomorrow is the big day--installation day! Our house is in total disarray.  All the window coverings are down and furniture has been pushed into the middle of the room.  We live in the boondocks and the nearest neighbors are a quarter of a mile away so having no window coverings is not big deal. There's stuff piled everywhere.  I want to replace some blinds during this whole process too.  I probably should have ordered those eight months ago too.  Also, since I'm a clean freak this might be the perfect opportunity to do some spring or rather fall cleaning in each room also.  Irv loves it when I get into the cleaning mode. This is my dining room furniture, or more correctly this was my parent's dining room furniture that they had before I was born.  ...

Winter is almost here so it was time to shut down the sprinklers for the year.  And while he was at it, Irv decided to change the water filter in our well also. I decided to tag along and watch the process just in case I ever have to do it myself.  I doubt I could even move the cover off the well head.  For you city folk who have never had to maintain a well, changing the water filter is something that has to be done monthly or the water gets very stinky.  Of course it was several years after we moved out here before we realized this is a chore that needs to be done regularly. First step is to climb down into that tiny little hole.  Okay, going down might be okay, but getting out might be a different story.  I better not gain another ounce if I ever want to fit down there. Then you have to turn one lever this way and another one the other way then use this special tool to undo the case that holds the filter.   Put a chunk of chlorine at the bottom...

 After 17 years it was finally time to replace our roadside mail box.  When you have to patch holes in it with duct tape to keep the precipitation out, then it's time. We chose a different style this time so the first step was to make the 4x4 a little shorter.  Irv handed me the Sawzall and suggested I give it a try.  The thing was too way to heavy for me to handle so it pretty much got handed right back to Irv. Here's the old one and Irv's stuff laying out in the road. I thought the new one was much larger than the old one, but as you can see it's only slightly larger.  The Amazon delivery person and the mailman always do whatever they can to avoid coming to the door including stuffing packages that are too large into the mailbox.  I hope this new one is a little more accommodating for them. I ordered a decal from Etsy with the horses and our address and it made the box look so nice.  Of course I had to blur out our address to keep the stalkers away....

 Recently we traveled to Albuquerque for a family wedding.  We stayed for several days and actually had the opportunity to do a little touristing around the city prior to the wedding. Each day while we were there we had to find ways to entertain ourselves for several hours.  The first stop was the Albuquerque Biopark Zoo or Rio Grande Zoo as it was named when I was growing up in Albuquerque. They have a baby hippo.  This was a surprise baby this year because mom had been on birth control.  It sure is cute. Irv and I's first date 40+ years ago was to this zoo.  Our first kiss was in the giraffe house.  We went to recreate that moment, but the giraffe house is no longer accessible to the public.  We had to settle for the giraffe yard. Who doesn't love the elephants? This majestic peacock might get turned into a painting. They had a reptile house with all kinds of creepy crawly things.  God was very creative when he came up with some of these cr...

It's been a few weeks since I participated in Skywatch Friday.  I'm back home from Yellowstone now and I don't have fantastic views to share as often anymore. A couple weeks ago we decided to play tourist in our own home town of Colorado Springs.  The cog railway that goes to the top of Pikes Peak had been closed for three years during renovation and had recently reopened.  We wanted to check it out. The new railway cars are beautiful and shiny.  The train starts are the base of Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs. So thankful to live in a state that requires masks for many indoor activities!  The rail cars are brand new and arrived from Switzerland earlier this year. Each way up and down the mountain takes about an hour.  We knew to prepare for completely different weather at the top of a 14,000 foot peak...it's always windy and much colder than at the start of the trip. Amazing views of the front range of the Rockies from up there.  We saw lots of big horn...

Since getting vaccinated earlier this year I think we've become a little lackadaisical about the fact that a worldwide epidemic is still going on.  This week it got a little too close to home. My daughter contracted Covid from her workplace.  Fortunately, she was one of the smart ones her got herself vaccinated way back when it first became available to healthcare workers.  Unfortunately, she works for an irresponsible employer in the medical field who doesn't believe in the vaccine or the pandemic.  At her workplace she was exposed to people who had the illness and she got a breakthrough case of Covid. Since Irv and I had been with her a few days before she tested positive we got ourselves tested right away.  I have to commend our county for providing very easily accessible testing sites.  Preregister online then drive to your preferred location. We got results within 24 hours and luckily Irv, myself and our grandson all tested negative.  Woohoo!...