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

La Veta #24 Responding to Page

I had my third fire training on Saturday. Got my gear. My I.D. is #24.





Why do firemen wear red suspenders?

















Structural fire gear....but not the beer























Wildland fire gear w/radio.





So there you have the fall line of the fire fighting ensemble. It does make my butt and belly look big. Oh well. Maybe they are.

It's been pretty hot here. Some great T&L storms during the afternoons that last maybe 15 minutes. Sometimes there's even hail. Then the sun comes back and it's beautiful.

The front porch and entry have been framed and sheathed and really change the feel of the house.

Today started out a bit slow. Andy had house burnout this weekend (La Veta 24 responding to house burn-out) because he and Mike, our contractor, went full speed on the entry this past week and just killed themselves.

Toward the end of the day, Andy felt more back into the swing of things and began working on the house again. Waffles and I did a little backyard weeding and ball throwing.

At some point, Waffles began barking like a maniac and I looked up from my work to see her charging a brown bear that had come scavenging. Oh shit. She and the bear were nose to nose. I began yelling her name and she sort of backed off, but the three of us were less than six feet apart and I didn't know which one of us might end up as a rug in front of the fireplace. In the mean time, Andy stuck his head out of the entry window to see what was causing all this commotion. I think he was more unnerved than myself. All I could think about was protecting my dog who was trying to protect me. I wasn't scared for myself. I got Waffy into the R.V. and the bear took off across the street. And I then changed my pants.



Not more than a half an hour later, this little fawn came jetting down the street. I think it became separated from its mother because there were no adults to be seen and the poor thing didn't know where to turn next. It finally took off in the direction of the bear. Oh shit.

That's all I got for now. Lvoe, k

P.S. I'll be in CA on Tues. thru Mon. FYI

4th of July - La Veta/Cuchara Style

I went to 2 Fourth of July parades; one in Cuchara on the actual 4th and one here in La Veta on the 5th. The parade particpants throw candy to the crowd. The little kids get sooo excited! About 3000 people show up! No joke!

There are bands and the restaurants (all 2 of them) set up a huge BBQ!

My little pal, Stephanie

These next 3 photos are for Tina-K.

New members welcome!

And for my croshit buddies......

dog lovers.....

We're on the "A" list of invitees for social gatherings around town, if you can believe that! Most of you know Andy's adversion to venturing farther than a 25 foot perimeter of his home. We were invited to "Circle the Wagons RV Park" Fourth of July BBQ by Tom & Darlene Taylor. They are truly great people. They bought the RV park about the same time we bought our little house. We had our RV parked at their place for 6 months and became friends. They BBQ'd for the all their guests at their R.V. park.

The following day we met up with friends at the festivites in a La Veta park. La Veta does their thing the weekend following the fourth; it's the same sort of venue as Rods & Roses for you Carpies.

Last night we went to another BBQ at our next door neighbors, Pat & Cindy Campbell. We met 3 other couples and expanded our social circle! Lots of fun!!

True to the tradition, Andy had me working on my birthday. I demo'd the bathroom; pulled out cabinets, vanity, the jacuzzi tub and pedestal sink. Then I pulled the toilet, removed 3 layers of flooring, then reset the toilet. Andy prefers the toilet in the house to the r.v. accomodations. I have to agree the extra leg room is nice.

before

after

more leg room than first class!

The End

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

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