Bright Lights, Big City

Made a quick trip to CA last week to visit friends and my cats. It was a fine trip with lots of laughs and good meals! Thanks, everyone, for my wonderful stay! And I have to say I'm becoming a better flyer (Ha! Ha! Larry Homan!!). We hit a lot of turbulence at some point and I didn't even flinch!!

I arrived in La Veta last evening. Waffles greeted me with a disgusting muddy doggie saliva soaked tennis ball and Andy greeted me with open arms. They show love so differently...
Before I left we wrapped the house with a waterproof membrane and began installing the windows and flashing.



Andy wanted to take some pictures of me flashing....so I did...










I'm now getting back into the rhythm of La Veta. Tomorrow Andy and I will go to breakfast at one of two great breakfast places.


Main Street Diner
















or Sammie's





Then Waffles and I will go to the Post Office,





and to Charlie's Market for groceries.


The steam locomotive comes in from Alamosa around noon, dropping off tourists.




La Veta Liquors is on our stop if Andy needs Tanqueray and I want good beer.





Andy and I go to happy hour Friday's at the La Veta Inn (which is next door to Ricky Tims' Quilt Gallery - how we discovered La Veta)


















and visit with our favorite bartender, Karen,





and good friends such as C.J and Wayne.



Here are some
"before" pics of the east elevation of the house.















"After" shot with the new windows. They bay window is the kitchen.

Well, that's all I got. Lvoe, k

Windows!!!!

We've had a lot of rain the past 2 days and some fantastic T&L episodes! Yesterday was an all day soaker!

Thursday we got 7 windows in!!! Hurray! It's looking like a real house! The white stuff is weather wrap. The entire house has to be wrapped before placing doors and windows. We're doing one side at a time. It's like a big present!!!

This doe and her triplet fawns visit regularly. The deer are so common here that Waffles doesn't look twice at them.

The Stonewall Century Cycle race is this weekend so La Veta is packed with cycling tourists. Stonewall is this small town about 40 minutes north on Hwy. 12. The cyclists ride on Hwy. 12 but I don't know the particulars such as how far they go and why would you want to ride in the cold rain on a slick hwy. Sounds like something Andy would do. Our ideas of fun clash at times....

I haven't been out on any more fires, which is a good thing. That may change in a few days after all the lightning strikes in this last storm. It takes a day or two for a smoldering strike to get it's act together and become a real fire.

Waffles has a "new" name...."Manny" for Manny Ramirez, the newly aquired left fielder for the L.A. Dodgers. Andy has been hitting her ball with a wooden stake (we pulled it out of some vampire we found stashed in the attic) and bounces it off of the "green monster" (yes I know that's in Fenway Park) but in reality it's our garage wall. He does the play by play as he's hitting and she's "fielding". Andy being Andy.....

Well, that's all I got for now. Lvoe, k

Never a Dull Moment

August 7, 2008: Some have commented I don't update the blog often enough. Consider it a reflection of life in La Veta...everything is a little slower.
I could write about laundry or trying to get the dumpster people to show up, but I don't think it would hold interest for too long.

















However, yesterday a doe with nursing triplet fawns wandered into our yard! The fawns still had their spots, so they were very young. A doe usually births twins, sometimes triplets, but it's unusual for all three to survive as a doe has only 2 teats. So I guess the deer in La Veta are livin' large since they're healthy enough to feed three babies!





These two deer wandered into the backyard earlier in the day. I took these through the window in the RV only because that's where I happened to be at the time. The deer here are fearless. They'll stare you down and start toward you if you interfere with their feedings! Even Waffles is no threat to them.
















Waffy and I had another bear encounter last night. We were out walking in the beautiful warm evening when I looked over my shoulder and Oh Shit! a black bear in the field across the street. Waffy was off leash so I grabbed her nape and hurried her toward home. She didn't see the bear or else that would have been another blog.

Day before yesterday the La Veta Fire Protection District (that would be the fire dept.) was called to assist another fire protection district on a 4 acre brush fire in Trinidad. Just as we got there, they radio'd for us to "stand down" or "thanks, but we don't need you now". Rats!! There were 4 of us from the LVFPD who responded. I almost didn't get to go because I could only find one of my boots. I think a neighborhood dog took off with the mate (or Andy hid it). Anyhoo, upon presenting myself at the station dressed in my Wildfire gear and flip-flops, Rich, the asst. chief, found an extra pair of boots that were a men's 9.5. I take a woman's 9, but with extra socks, I made out just fine. We got to approach the fire line after the blaze was extinguished and I met other fellow volunteer firefighters from other counties. And to top it off, we got a free Whopper!!! HOO-HAA!

Did I say things were slow around here?!!!

That's all I got for now. I'll do better. lvoe,k