Monday October 13 2008

Tonight - Wish I'd Looked Out a Little Sooner

for the Alpenglow

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James, Joe, Lynn signing the offer

Snow Left from Yesterday in Pinedale
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Debbie Walks the Dogs.
All you can see of them is their footprints.

Joe, Debbie and I were up early and back to town to sign our offer for the house. Got in there a little too early to see the bank President (he had appointments), so had some coffee, walked the dogs, and then went to see James first. We got all the paperwork signed and initialed. When we got to the bank for our 11:30 appointment we hit another glitch in the financial stuff, oh goody, and then all of us sat on hold on the phone with the broken, no that's BROKER, for an hour I'm sure, while they consulted and told us we couldn't get our account as collateral this way either. Anyway I've never seen a more patient man than the bank president and how good he has been to help us. I'll just make the long story short and say we have to fill out more forms and come back tomorrow. And the next day. Anyway in any scenario if the seller accepts our offer or even if we have to counter offer, the deal should be completed by October 28. We should know by 4 p.m. tomorrow whether they accept our offer.

We ate lunch at the Mexican restaurant, and it was pretty good. I was hungry today. We stopped back by James office to add and initial a clause the bank wanted, then got some gas and came home. Stopped at Boulder to check out the newly remodeled store. It is pretty nice. Before they started remodeling they used to have Schwan's ice cream and a little fresh vegetables, but the lady working there told me no they have never had either of those. Like I was the new person. We got some Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream to bring home which was chosen from the 5 cartons they had there at the time - she said they had more flavors yesterday. Got home and tried to figure out the forms for a while. You know how mathematically challenged I am. More about all that when we really get some progress or something good actually happens. I'm going to ask lots of questions so we don't have any surprises later.

We put some lasagna in the oven for dinner and had garlic bread and salad with it. Tomorrow we off early again to go to Jackson for chemo. Debbie is going to take her car and she will be driving. She wants to shop up there for a few things while I'm my treatment.

Sunday October 12 2008

I tried to tell her other dogs stay outside

all the time

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Snowy Day for Snoopy Rock

COLUMBUS DAY! No comment really, I admire their courage to make the journey, but at this point agree with the Native Americans that he is not much of a hero. The Indians have had nothing but misery and destruction of their cultures ever since.

Today was another quiet day. I spent the morning typing up my "house" notes, got 5 pages and it felt good to get that done and organized.

We had about 2 or 3 new inches of snow on the ground this morning and it has stayed most of the day - slowly fading away. We had dreary clouds and snow showers most of the day, and wind during the showers. It never got up to 35 today so pretty chilly. Dogs are denned up again. They know better than to want out.Tomorrow should be cold but better. Should have taken some pictures of the snowy day but I didn't.

I did add 5 more new photos of the South Fork house I lifted off the realty listing pages to go along with the others I had posted - was that yesterday? So scroll down and see a little more of the house and yard. I still don't have pictures of the bedrooms, so next time we go there I will photo the bedrooms for sure. They are really cute.

Tomorrow morning we go in to Pinedale again to make our offer. I will get another protime test at the clinic.

Joe's watched sports today. Debbie and I got some more laundry done, she made lunch, and is busy out in the kitchen now making a peach/apple cobbler and probably dinner. I think we're having ham slice with creamed peas and potatoes. That's what she wanted to make.

Saturday October 11 2008

We Saw This in Town Yesterday

Ya Got Me!?!

Today was pretty quiet. I stayed in bed until 10, so the day gets over with pretty quick that way. Debbie took my new pastels out and hung them in the barn. She swept up out there a little, but had to leave the piles of dirt because it was too windy to open the doors. We got some laundry done, and changed the sheets.

We had flurries, rain storms, and sometimes sunny weather, but the wind blew hard off and on most of the day. The forecast said it would blow from 35 to 55 mph and I'm pretty sure it did. The siding was protesting. The snow hasn't stuck - not for long anyway - but ithis storm has probably given us some good moisture. Tonight the stars are shining. Seems like even a little bit of northern lights. I read on my spaceweather.com that this was supposed to be likely but more in the northern latitudes.

Sheral called me this afternoon from Texas - blizzarding here and 80 degrees hot there. It was good to hear from her. Betty also called but I had to tell her we'd have to talk later,- just in case we would need the phone in an emergency - because when the power is off the phone goes to battery and doesn't last long

I was just getting ready to blog when about 2 or 3 this afternoon, the power went off and didn't come back on until about 7 or 8. Trees had blown down on the power lines somewhere out this way. People near Boulder still had power. The call back from the power company I got said 30 customers were affected by the outage. Joe got the wood stove going and it was toasty all afternoon. He pumped a couple buckets of water and carried them in. We had a nice chef's salad topped with leftover grilled T-bone and pepper jack cheese, along with bread and strawberries for dinner, so we did fine. At dusk we lit the candles and got out the battery lights. Debbie and I played a fun game of scrabble and before we finished that the power came back on.

I got some pictures of the South Fork house that Betty took onto the blog - see them below.

PHOTOS OF SOUTH FORK HOUSE

Kitchen - there is no pantry

Can see a little of the sky mural upper right.

I likely won't keep the pear painting.

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Looking at Front of Garage

See how the snow will slide off the roof

onto the driveway.
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The fence that is around the whole two acres.
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Another angle of the front and garage
shows front yard
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Back of the house showing sunroom wing.
It faces south and should gather a lot of heat
in the winter.
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Front shows yard and trees.

I always wanted aspen trees in my yard.
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Front of the House 2 South Fork Trail

.South Forty Subdivision

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From Sun room looking toward Kitchen and

Front Door. The door has leaded glass design.

There's a nice set of bookcases under the

windows on the left.

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From Living Room through Dining Room
to Sun room - Bedrooms and Kitchen are on the Right
See the little natural gas heater stove on left.

Sun room to Back Door with Garage Beyond

Deck is out these doors.

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Guest Bathroom

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Master Bathroom is Large
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From Dining Area toward Living Room.

See a bit of the leather sectional that

will be replaced and nice hutch in corner

which will hold big screen TV.
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Here are some pictures Betty took of the South Fork Trail house. It is on a corner lot at the intersection of South Fork Trail and Granite, off Tyler. Thanks for taking and sending the photos, Betty. I have neglected to take any, but will one of these days. Joe and I both like this one the best. It already has a mature yard and trees with a sprinkler system. It has two acres. A lot of it in the back has sagebrush but that is o.k. - less to take care of. There is a grass yard in front and a also some grass in back. There is a pole fence all around the whole place. It has a nice porch on the front. There is a bigger than most two car garage, a large fenced pen in back for the dogs with a dooggie door into the garage. It has a deck between the house and garage with outdoor furniture and a picnic table. We didn't get pictures of the bedrooms but they are roomy with very nice furniture, shades and curtains. Two large bathrooms and also a very large walk in closet. There are already three TVs and Dish network, kitchen appliances etc. and a cute little natural gas heating stove. There is radiant heating under all the tile and otherwise electric baseboard heat. The kitchen is cute with a cloud mural on the ceiling that my friend Lois did when they lived there. The cabinet storage is only adequate - I don't remember there being a good pantry, but we will manage fine. So wish us luck that the deal will all go through.

Friday October 10 2008

We caught them putting up the new
Wells Fargo Bank Sign on our old bank.

Cuzzins - Joslyn and Debbie

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Debbie at the Patio

The kind of day it was - the snow on the brush
looked like flowers.
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Boy is this month going fast. Today we went back to town, I got my protime and another test I needed. It took a while because my nurse called Judy at Jackson Oncology three times to consult with her. They think I should keep taking the coumadin for a while and make sure the clot in my neck is taken care of, so I guess unless I have a really good reason I'll take it for a while longer. They took the protime 2 ways, by drawing blood, and by sticking my finger which gives you the immediate result. I was exactly on the right level. They reduced the dose to 2 mg (from 5 mg). Debbie walked the dogs at the Museum while I was in the clinic.

We had lunch at the Brew Pub again and it was pretty tasty. Leftovers for the dogs. Then down to buy a big bag of dog food and I realized that I'd left my purse in the restaurant - I shouldn't even tell you that - but we drove right back and got it. Then back to the feed store. We also went browsing in Cozy Decor I think it's called, and that was fun - I'd never been in that shop before. Cute stuff. Then we went to the bank and talked to Howie. He gave us good - and welcome - information about getting a loan from there for a few months to avoid those taxes or penalties I told you about. What a relief. I took a lot of notes for Joe, and was very pleased with what I learned from Howie.

Next we found Joslyn waiting for us and the three of us "girls" went down to the Patio for pie and tea - Well, it turned out they were out of pie. So we shared a brownnie sundae and had a good visit. It was really nice to see Joslyn again. Walked the dogs on the bike trail, then bought a little bit of stuff from the store including a frozen pizza for an easy dinner. I always add a few more toppings with more cheese and it turned out pretty good. We got home just in time to get it in the oven and done by Joe's dinner time.

It snowed off and on all day, once came down like crazy for a while, but never really stuck to the roads. It's supposed to be worse tomorrow and Sunday. We were tired out by the time we got back home so it's early bedtime again.

Thurday October 9 2008

Temple Peak and a Spot of Fall Color

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Today was very cloudy and I agree with Gina ..... "Dreary". We got ourselves into town as early as possible. On the road by 9 or so and Joe went to the clinic for his regular protime test. Debbie and I went to James' office and then down to look at the South Fork house. We stuck the dogs in the "dog pen" and a neighbor chocolate lab came over to greet them. He barked fiercely, but was friendly and immediately showed them the hole in the back of their pen where they could get out. In he came and they got acquainted. Because of the hole I didn't leave them there for long and back in the car they went. We decided the rest of the existing fence could hold hog wire like the pen and if we put wire on it would give them a bigger yard to roam. The configuration of the pen is so that you can't just let them out the back door (the yard is entirely open to the street), you have to walk them from the back door and over to the pen and put them in through the gate. That won't be nice in the middle of the night especially in winter. But it will be easier to fix than I thought. There are horses at the house in back of us. They came right over to introduce themselves. There were more a little further away so we will have horses to watch through the sunroom windows.

James got the keys and joined us and opened the house. Debbie also likes the house and the lot. We looked around again for possible problems and he made an inventory of the furniture - to help with making the offer. There is a deck with outdoor furniture, and a picnic table in the yard. I've wanted a picnic table for years here in our back yard and never got one. The yard is landscaped without being manicured, and has mature trees and a sprinkling system. We will need to hire a young person to shovel snow in wibnter and mow the yard in summer - a foreign concept to Joe.

Debbie and I made notes of what we need in order to set up housekeeping. As I've said before, almost everything is there, and what we don't like we can gradually dispose of and get what we like. Seems like we all agree the big well-worn leather sectional should go in favor of a recliner or two and a sofa bed in the "living room". James went to pick up Joe at the clinic. When he got to the house he got most of his questions answered.

Before lunch we tried to see our accountant to find out how all this is going to affect our taxes. And because he was meeting with clients before and after lunch we ended up asking him the question on the phone, but did get the answer. Things do get complicated some times.

We went for lunch at the Chinese restaurant. Then back to James office to start the paperwork and talk about "money". James got the offer 90% filled out and explained things we'd need to do and what our other costs would be. We needed to think about a few things, so stopped for the day and came on home. We will think over all the decisions this weekend and hope to finish things up early next week. I've made lots of notes and will type them up tomorrow.

We had leftover chili and strawberry shortcake for dinner. Debbie and I watched a movie she brought with her - The Bucket List. I hadn't seen it yet and liked it a lot. We were tired and went to bed early, but after a good nap I got up and decided to write the blog. I'm watching the three first Star Wars episodes. Got all Nanny's movies packed up to take back to her in the morning.

Yes..... we have to go back again in the morning and I will get my next protime test. I'm about to tell them that I don't want to take the coumadin. Debbie and I will go this time and get several chores done. We're sure doing a lot of driving lately.

The Wind River mountains are supposed to get 1 to 3 FEET of snow in the next three days, but when I let the dogs out just now it looked like that the moon is shining. The weather is predicted to be bad all weekend. I told Debbie not to worry about the storm. It should be better again next week. We got only some small sprinkles today.

Wednesday October 8 2008

Continental Divide

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Debbie Looks for Fish. Big Sandy River

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Road To Big Sandy Openings

Doe - We Saw a Whole Herd of Deer

AAAAAAAAAAhmmm

Big Sandy River

Some With Color, Some Not

Dutch Joe Creek

MOM!! There's Something Down There!!

Picnic Panorama

Yesterday I went in to Pinedale and got my protime test for the coumadin - got stuck again. But she was able to get it on the first try. Ran out to pick up four new pieces of my new artwork - pastels - from the frame shop, and was really pleased with the way Ruth had framed them. We'll hang them out in the barn show. Then walked the dogs and went to the Mixed Media painting meeting. I took the horse and rider portrait commission to finish, but didn't feel quite like doing that one, so started a 9x12 oil painting of cows in a field and was able to finish it. I actually was quite pleased with it. It's pretty impressionistic but good enough I took it right to Ruth after the meeting to have it framed.

We had Mexican food for lunch at Rendezvous Pointe where we were holding our meeting - salad bar, chicken enchiladas, beans, tortilla soup..... AND peas and carrots - I skipped that. We got a good outline plan for our show coming up in November. It was good to see everyone again, and especially nice to see Gina there since we haven't seen each other most of the summer.

Walked the dogs again. Shopped for groceries at Ridley's and drove on home. Well about the time I got home Paige from Oncology called and said my blood was too thin, so to stop taking the coumadin temporarily and get another test on Friday. She asked me a lot of questions about how I was doing and cautioned me about bleeding etc. and if I started bleeding to go right to the clinic and get a Vitamin K shot. So far everything seems o.k. but I'll be on guard.

Debbie had arrived at the ranch about noon, so she had leftovers ready for dinner when I got home, and helped me put away the groceries. We talked until about 9 and then went to bed.

TODAY: This morning Jim came over to bring the pickup load of wood he gave to Joe. They unloaded it onto the wood pile in back. And we had the nicest visit with him. Thank you for being so thoughtful to bring the wood, Jim.

On the spur of the moment we drove up to Big Sandy Openings and had a picnic by the river this afternoon, since the weather is supposed to bring us snow by tomorrow night. It was a little breezy, therefore cool, but we were dressed warm and were in the shelter of a small grove of trees so it was just great – had the best view in the world. Most of the leaves had fallen off the trees up there, some color was left near the bottom of the hill and alongside Leckies. Pooped the dogs out. We might go up to Muddy Canyon in a day or so as the colors are still good there.

Tomorrow Joe goes in to town for his protime and we're going to meet with James to get the offer on the house the way we all want it. Hopefully we can take Debbie to the South Fork Trail house to see it inside. We will check it out and make lists to see what we might need to buy to move in, but even pans, dishes and linens are there. We can get started with what’s there and discard a couple of things later and buy what we need/want. Not much "moving" from this house to the new one will be involved, it comes furnished with almost everything. Debbie, Curtis and Beverly will be here to help, but even then I'm hoping there will not be much to do.

So tonight Debbie's got the BBQ grill going and we're going to have T-bones, baked potatoes and salad for dinner.