Early Autumn at the Cabin

Chukani left for the cabin last Thursday night, to spend a few days up there for my birthday. The weather was cool and we enjoyed the warmth of the crackling fireplace in the evenings.

We also took advantage of the the clear skies and new moon at night for some good star-gazing. The milky-way was so bright and sparkly! With a couple lawn chairs and blankets out in the front meadow, and all the lights off in the cabin it was a prime shooting-star viewpoint.

As you can see in these pics, the Aspens are in the process of turning from bright green to that beautifully glowing gold. We took an early morning walk with Keena and enjoyed the sunrise among the changing leaves. It was a very nice Birthday I have to say.

Notice the mountainside in the background, and you can see the patchwork of light green, gold and dark green as the trees welcome autumn.

We are expecting SNOW in the Denver metro area this week. Seriously!! If it happens, I'll definitely have my camera handy...

New Years at the Cabin

It all started eons ago... Chuck and Bill would head up to the cabin over New Year's each year.

Lots of snowmobiling, steaks on the grill, and plenty of movies (from Santa Claus even!) to watch.

You might think now that the guys have grown up, settled down, gotten married... they might want to start new traditions, like staying close to town. Or even shopping for those "day after Christmas" bargains. Nope! Not Chuck and Bill, no sir. Nowadays, they just drag their families up to the cabin with them, so everyone gets to ride the snowmobiles, eat steak, and watch movies!!

And that's just what we did. For 6 days and 5 nights, we braved the cold (it was 2 degrees F the day we arrived!) played in the snow, relaxed by the fire, ate some yummy steaks and all around had a wonderful time.

I sometimes tease Chuck that access to his family's cabin near Steamboat was one of the "perks" of marrying to him. lol. But I really enjoy the opportunity to spend time up there in the mountains. It's so much fun in all seasons.

Here are some snapshots from our week in the snow...



Keena loves loves loves being in the snow. She was out there as much as possible and loved every minute of it.

We have a nice long rope for her so she doesn't go wandering off, and she would run around in the snow, sniffing and digging and playing. She also loves to fetch snowballs, and I discovered if you make them with your bare hands she can actually sniff out the very snowball you threw, and bring it back to you. Well, most of it!

Chukani took her for a few long meandering walks, and she was so much fun to watch as she explored to the farthest reaches of her leash. True to her breed- a real snow dog. However, that's not to say that she didn't also enjoy the warm comforts of being inside. I found her up on our bed more than once when she was inside!

Here's a sunset photo I took on Tuesday evening (12/30 I think?!) it was so bright, and the photo just doesn't do it justice. Everything was all pink and gold glowing on the snow around me. I stood out there in the cold taking about 7 or 8 shots trying to capture it though! lol. And in the evenings when the sky was free of clouds, the milky way was so bright. There were so many twinkling stars it took my breath away.

Isn't she purty?!

Grilling steaks New Year's Eve... firing up the new charcoal grill for the first time. We have a gas grill up there, but it conked out because the temp was so low the gas wouldn't flow from the tank to the grill... yikes.

Do you think Bill used enough lighter fluid?! aww... just kiddin'. The briquettes were pre-soaked. And the steaks were de-lish. Ooh, and we had baked potatoes, caesar salad and garlic bread from the kitchen crew to round out the meal. Quite a change from the 'ol batchelor days, eh boys?! lol

It really was a fun trip. We had snow the first few days, and then some sunnier, warmer days that were just right for playing in the snow. Oh yea, there were some plumbing/well issues (the heater in the wellhouse went out and we had no water for the first night!) but other than that it was a pretty smooth trip.

I think Chukani are planning a couple weekend trips up next month, I can hardly wait! Wanna come with?? :)

Chukani hope your 2009 is blessed and full of joy!!

Merry Christmas to all

Maybelle had a great time Christmas eve, she snoozed under Pat's Christmas tree while we were all watching Miracle on 34th Street. I think the sparkly lights (and being so near the heater!) were exciting for her.

I don't have to work for the rest of the year! Yea!! I was able to leave work around 2:30 on Wesnesday. I came home and started dinner, we had porcupine meatballs in the crock pot. No- they're not really made of porcupine. Meatballs with rice in them... the rice cooks and sticks out so they look like a porcupine... sort of. Anyway, it was yummy. Chukani went to church with Pat for the Christmas eve service. Lots of carols to sing, and candlelight, it was really nice. We went to the later service this year, and it wasn't nearly as crowded as years past.

Christmas Eve was spent watching Christmas movies with Mom, then I prepped a breakfast strata before bed while Chuck played with Keena. We were all tucked in for our long winter's nap by midnight. No snow though... this was not going to be the year for a White Christmas in Denver. (Utah, I hear, was a different story!)

We didn't get to sleep in much on Christmas morning... miss Keena started howling for her walk before 7am. So, we took her for a walk around the park. Brr, it was so cold! (Ironically, it was mugh warmer in the afternoon- over 50 degrees and bright blue sky as we drove over to cousin Nancy's for the Thompson Family Christmas Brunch.) But no- at 7am it was COLD outside. Makes me wonder why we walk her so early in the morning!

Brunch was lots of fun. Great food as always, and really nice to see family. We all live somewhat close, but it seems we don't see each other very often. I enjoyed catching up with Aunt Mildred for a bit, she's an awesome lady. Nancy is such a great hostess... always there to fill up a coffee cup and make sure you've had at least one helping of dessert. It's just not Christmas if we don't go to brunch at her house!

Christmas evening Chukani watched Prince Caspian, and just sorta chilled out. Food coma?!

I did talk to my parents in CA for an hour or so- the big news is what my bro and sis-in-law got my Mom for Christmas... Tickets to see Neil Diamond New Year's Eve! 8th row center... she is SOOO excited! Neil baby is her fave...I guess she actually cried when she opened the gift. Wow Todd and Randi- you really came up with an awesome gift for her! I am impressed! Turns out my dad was in on it too, he's already got a hotel room booked for after the show (it's in Fresno, CA) so she's all set for a fabulous concert to ring in the new year with her favorite singer of all time. I told her to call me on her cellphone when he sings September Morn. After hearing his music my entire childhood (believe me when I tell you Neil Diamond is Mom's FAVORITE!!) I think so many of his songs bring back childhood memories of Todd and I with mom... and Neil on the stereo.

Today I am going to see my friend Jen, she moved to New Mexico earlier this fall, but is back in town for the holidays to be with her family. I think we're going to Chipotle for lunch... yum!

Then tonight, Chukani and Pat are packing and getting ready to head to the cabin. We're going up with the Robbins's (Bill & Di, Alice, Bill & Donna and baby David too!) for our traditional New Year's Rockin' Eve at the Cabin! We'll be snowmobiling, roasting marshmallows, and frolicking the eskimo way all week... good times ahead!

Chukani hope your Christmas was blessed with love and joy- and we wish you the Happiest of New Years for 2009!

Well, well, well...

Okay Dear Reader, let's go back in time a bit, and I'll tell you a story. This past summer was not a good time to be a well on our property. Home or cabin in this case.

After several decades of hard work, the well in our back yard decided to call it quits. Now, we've been on city water for the 3 main uses of water in the house for a long time. (3 uses, you ask? why, drinking, cooking, and well... you know!) but the well water was very useful for keeping the plants, lawn and gardens alive in the long hot summer without increasing the water bill to astronomical levels. The well water was also very handy for things such as filling the wading pool, washing cars, power-washing the siding... you name it! We love our well.

So in the heat of the summer, we had a local well guy out to see what was going on. His name is Joe, we call him Joe the well guy. (No, not Joe the Plumber)

First he replaced the pump in the well...

Discussing the problem

But that didn't seem to fix the problem.

It was frustrating to say the least.

For a while, we just gave up on the well, and connected a hose to the spigot for the washing machine in the basement, ran that hose through the basement, up and out the window. Chuck split the water with a connecter so that some could be used in the back yard... and ran another hose all the way around to the front of the house so we could at least keep the front lawn alive.

Needless to say, we skipped the wading pool last summer! And I got stronger arm muscles carrying a 5 gallong watering can around to all my vegetables in the garden. Heck, we even started collecting rain water, run-off from the water going to our swamp cooler... any water would do.

Then, a few weeks later, Joe came back. He and Chuck decided that Joe would install a pump saver (a contraption designed to sense the well overheating/working too hard, and stop it before it burned itself out.) This might have been the very thing that caused the problem in the first place. And maybe the pump saver would save the day.

Now, you might be thinking- hey Nicole, how'd you get that big truck into your BACK YARD?! oh- that's a mighty good question reader... glad you're paying attention.

Turns out- Chuck removed a large section of the fence in the back yard each time, and Joe drove his truck into the back field from beside a neighbor's yard around the corner. yep. Crazy times.

The building you see in the background of the pic below is the garage. I took this pic standing just outside the back door on our side of the house.

Now we're getting somewhere!

Unfortunately... installing the pump saver didn't seem to fix the problem. After a day or so, the water would work for a minute or two at full pressure, but then slow to a trickle and eventually stop. I think I tried to water my rose bushes about 17 times that night, and only got it half-way done.

grr.

parched roses

So, Joe the well guy came back yet again, with more solutions up his sleeve. Testing the pumpsaver proved it was working fine, and not the issue. However, in testing the new parts, he was able to determine that the old wiring from the house to the well pump had aged and probably cracked, and there was a short causing the problems. So- this time he brought over a crew and more big machines, and dug a nice deep ditch from the well-head to the basement and ran some purty new wiring.

Can we keep it?
And here's the well-head in the middle of our back yard... don't mind the tree roots they had to cut through to get down deep enough. We wanted to make sure the wiring was significantly below the frost line each winter, so it wouldnt get damaged by the cold weather.


After a couple months of "roughing it" in the garden... Yeah, success at last!

Water, AND a pot of gold!

We love Joe the Well Guy!!!

And every time we watered the lawn for the rest of the hot season we marveled at how much we'd taken it for granted for so long. The electricity bill to run the well is so much easier on our monthly budget than paying the water rates. phew!

Hmm... But lest you think my story is finished... there is still more to share.

The cabin well must have been jealous of all the attention we were paying to the well at the house. So it decided to act out too.

Now, well water at home may be a nice convenience, but well water at the cabin is all that stands between you and this situation:

Mm-hmm. It really happened.

Did you know you can rent a "honey - hut" for a weekend? They even deliver and pick up. It's just like being at your very own state fair, or concert... without the crowds!

All I can say is, thank heaven it happened in the summer and not winter. I would NOT have wanted to trudge through 6 feet of snow in the middle of the night, just to "powder my nose"!

I think Chuck must have paid a lot of attention in his times with Joe the well guy, because he chose to pretty much live in the well house at the cabin over several weekend (and weekday) visits.

The well house, a nice spot in the summer!

Turns out the heavy clay soil up there had really clogged everything so that nothing but a trickle was passing through. The pump couldn't get enough water to recover between uses, so the storage tank didn't fill, and the water pressure was lacking. The pump would then need to be re-primed anytime you needed to use water. And the situation was only getting worse.

So, Chuck-the-well-guy pulled all the piping out of the well by hand, replaced it, and installed a new pump.

And here's my favorite pic of all... Chuck was in the well house for an ENTIRE DAY over Labor Day Weekend. (Notice the sack lunch, he didnt take a break the whole day.)

My hero!

I know everyone in the cabin was THRILLED when we had running water again. It was the best part of the long holiday weekend for me, that's for sure.

Well, my story is nearly finished.

If there's anything else I would ask of you, dear reader, it would be this: When you next flush, remember this little tale of woe and hope, and be grateful that your flusher is there when you need it!

Frolic and play the Eskimo way...

Yea! It's snowy at the cabin!!

Since we'd heard the mountains got lots of snow recently, Chuck and I took Friday off from work last week and took ourselves and Keena up to the cabin. Her first real snow... and of course she loved it, as any Siberian Husky would.

Brr- it was just above 20 degrees when we arrived Friday midday, and lightly snowing. See the "jack frost fingers" hanging over the eaves:

We really enjoyed the quiet time together, and Keena was such a good pup. While eating a leisurely breakfast this morning, Chuck and I both agreed that this was the best behaved she's been so far at the cabin. Partly because she's more used to it there, knows the routine and what's expected of her... and I'm sure it's also partly because she gets so much of our attention up there. We're with her all the time except for when she's sleeping in her crate at night, and when she's outside on the lead. With all the snow to play in, she mostly wanted to be outside during the day, and when she did come inside, she was so tuckered out from frolicking in the snow she just crashed out on the carpet. Yesterday afternoon she even napped with me on the couch after our walk, the first time she's been mellow enough to do that. It was very relaxing.

Here's a picture of Rabbit Ears Pass, from our view walking along the upper road near the cabin. If you look closely at the top right side- you'll see the rock formation making the "rabbit ears" as the snowy clouds drift by.



And here's a pic of a man and his dog:

It was about 40 degrees Saturday, and a bit warmer today before we left. The sun finally came out, and I bet the snow melts in the next day or two. But it was lovely to have a winter landscape for a bit! It's still Autumn here in Denver, we haven't had a metro snowfall yet, although I've heard we might get one soon enough.

I've really been enjoying the fall colors on the trees as I drive to and from work... and on our afternoon walks with Keena. It's good to stop once in a while and notice the changing seasons, time seems to travel so fast, and I tend to get to caught up in worrying about tomorrow and not just letting God be in charge and paying more attention to the "now." The snowfall this weekend made me realize just how close winter is, and how much I need to slow down and focus on today more so I don't miss out on all the amazing things around me right now.

Especially moments like this!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well. I've spent the last hour or so uploading a bunch of pictures from my camera (I had misplaced it for while, but it was under the couch cushion at the cabin!) so I have lots more to share from the last few months while I was "off the reservation"... so stay tuned!

Here's one last photo I just have to share... in contrast to all the snowy pics above. This is the flower bed in front of Pat's side of the duplex, I was so thrilled at how well it turned out this summer.

Enjoy!

Vacation's OVER

Well howdy folks! Seems I took my summer vacation mindset a bit too literally! It's been over 3 months since I was last here... sorry 'bout that!!!

I have nothing but poor excuses and lame reasons for my absence, so I won't bore you with them. Suffice it to say I sincerely apologize for getting you all so excited about the new blog, only to leave you all guessing.

How was our summer vacation? wonderful- thanks for asking! I have more pictures to share, here's one more from our fun week in the woods:


Now it's fall already, and we're busy as ever.

Chuck is busy at work, we've finished harvesting the last veggies from our garden, Keena is getting so big it's amazing. And I just accepted another position at my work, I'll be changing departments this month.

More about all that later- I mostly just wanted to apologize for the blackout, and let you know we're alive and well!!

ok- it's nearly 8:30, so I need to get this posted and online! someone out there made me promise to update my blog more frequently- so I am hereby committing to a minimum of once a week, and hopefully more often! :)

Take care, and check back soon, I'll have more pictures and stories to share!

Summer Vacation, phase 1

Yea, Summer vacation is here! Chuck and I both have the whole week off from work, so we decided to head up to the cabin (near Steamboat Springs, Colo) for a week of fun in the mountains.

We arrived at the cabin Saturday afternoon and got right to work setting up house for the week. I filled the hummingbird feeders, Chuck opened all the windows to let the fresh air in, and lit the torches on the deck to start convincing the mosquitos that they didnt want to hang out right outside the door. Keena was really tired from the drive up the mountain (she didn't settle down and sleep very well, too many exciting things to see out the car window I suppose) so she sacked out for the afternoon... she really knows what a vacation is all about!

As you can see in the photo below, the wildflowers and grasses have grown quite tall in our absence, and it was pretty much a jungle getting from the truck door to the deck stairs.

Sunday morning Chuck decided the front "yard" needed to be mowed in an attempt to keep things under control. I doused him liberally with bug spray and put some gatorade in the fridge to chill for later, and sent him out the door. It took him about 3 hours in total to get the front and sides mowed down, and he didn't even make it to the driveway! Here's an action shot, and then a photo of the yard after all his hard work was done.

Phew! So much for relaxing on this vacation. As we ate lunch, we made a list of all the little maintenance chores we'd like to get done this week... and it wasn't too long before the list got longer and longer. I think it will be worth the effort to spruce up things, and it'll be easier to enjoy the cabin during the winter months.

Uncle Jim and cousin Travis are planning to come up and repaint the siding later this summer, so Chuck and I are going to scrape, sand and prime the exterior this week. Chuck also wants to reinforce the deck a bit. The heavy winter snowfall (It slides off the roof and onto the deck all winter long) has caused some problems with the railing in the last couple years, and if you look carefully in the above pic, you'll see some bowing in the length of the deck.

The weekend wasn't all hard work and no play, there were plenty of naps and relaxing on the couch, and we got to see the beautiful full moon rise over the crest of the mountain Saturday night.

We also took Keena on long walks in the early evening. She is really excited to smell all the new smells up here! It's so green and lush right now, just lovely everywhere you look with the wildflowers, blue sky and bright green aspens. I took the camera with me on our walks, so you can see just what I'm talking about...

Keena rested in her playpen during the day. She is pretty well house-trained at this point, but I don't think Chuck is comfortable with giving her the run of the house quite yet. From the looks of it- she's not lacking in the toy department, that's for sure. She loves the little stuffed hedgehog the most I think, and takes it to bed with her every night. We bought a bigger version of the hedgehog for when she's grown out of the smaller one. I think she's growing so fast, she's gonna need it sooner than I originally thought!

We came back into town today just for the afternoon. Keena has puppy class again tonight, and we didn't want her to miss out. Tonight she learned to "stay"- which I think was worth the drive!! I also wanted to take my friend Jen out for her birthday (Happy B-day Jen!!) so we met up this afternoon and got pedicures and then met Chuck for sushi later on. yum! Tomorrow we'll head back up the hill, this time Pat is joining us for a few days. I can hardly wait to be back in my favorite spot in the cabin...

So take care all, and I'll see you next week. The cabin is calling me...!