Thursday, October 16, 2008

We've Been Here 5 Months!!

Andy had quite the "knee-jerk" reaction last Friday night at the La Veta Inn whilst we indulged in "happy hour" with our friends. When Captain Davis of the Naval Reserve entered, oh my god! Andy jumped up like someone had zapped him in the balls with a cattle prod! He said he saw the four stripes on the arm and it was a gut reaction. (Andy served in the Navy as a pilot and reached the rank of Lieutenant. A Captain in the Navy is one shot shy of Admiral). Captain Davis is also a respected veterinarian in the area (he treated Waffles when she lost her toenail). The Captain was returning from Trinidad, CO, where he had been speaking at a high school about naval careers, and stopped into the Inn on his way home. I, of course, had beers enough to ask for a photo. He is a very gracious and most interesting person.

This pic was taken as I was flying to California at the end of September. The yellow-orange colors are the aspens changing color. they were spectacular (and real!).









This is a shot of the western Spanish Peak. Again, the changing aspens are the yellow at the bottom of the photo. This is the view out my front door. Eat your hearts out.

We had about 2" of snow last Tuesday.
Locally, the snow melted in a matter of hours and it became sunny again. One pic shows the baseball field across the street with snow, the following is the west peak and baseball field after the snow melted.















The northern elevation of the house during the snow.














And, of course, Snow Dog.















We had our first fire in our fireplace, drank red wine, then got so wound up we went to the local pub for beer and burgers.















I went for a walk in the evening. Birdman Bob lives about 3 houses down from us. His hobby is birds of prey. Birdman was wounded in Viet Nam and had part of his head shot off. As a result, he has seizures. He has a pitbull named Duncan that is certified to detect when Bob is about to have a seizure. Not too long ago, Bob had a seizure and Duncan ran to the marshall's office and barked his head off (ooo...bad analogy). The Marshall recognized Duncan and went to Bob's assistance. All's well. Duncan must have watched Lassie reruns.












Homecoming is a big deal in La Veta. The kids take a whole week and decorate floats for their class and parade down Main Street. Not unlike the 4th of July parade.






































Things at the house are going great! We've been waiting on one window and it's now installed. This is me prepping for the window. Such the hambone.


The siding is going on and it makes all the difference in the world. The house looks like a real house. Not some "almost there" model. Hard to explain.















This is ol' Bobby's house, next door. He died a year ago. I wish he was still around to watch us fix up our place. He was 95: The house is in such disrepair that his family (who live in No.CO) has no choice but to tear it down. Very sad for them. Great people. You'll notice, tho, my kitchen window is maybe 12 feet from ol' Bobby's western elevation. Interesting view...none-just his exterior wall. I was thinking of doing a "tromph loleil" on the wall or the state flag of Colorado...but now i won't have to.






This is Glory, one of 2 Golden Retrievers that ol' Bobby's family owns. She is a beautiful dog. This photo is for Thuy.











Andy was having "one of those days" and cut through the cord of his saw... i left and went cruising with my dog.





After the day is done...







Andy soaks his sore fingers and ices his sore heal;











i drink.








Our estimated time of departure is November 10th which puts us in Carp on Nov. 12. But depending on the weather, could change without notice. The RV isn't the most desirable place to spend a below 0 winter and we're trying to set up a temporary camp in the house to be able to return in January or sooner. Stay tuned.

That's all i got for now. lvoe, k