Cookie Exchange

So, we were sittin' here one night last week, and a car pulled up in the driveway. Now, you know this isn't a normal occurrence for us. We're loners. So, hubby answered the door, and ushered the man in, cuz it was cold out there. It was our neighbor a couple houses down, whom we've never met, giving us an invitation. Another invitation? Oh, I didn't blog about that other one yet did I? Geez, I'm no good at keeping up with this blog. OK, let me back up....

Let's see..... a few weeks ago someone pulled up. Hubby answered the door (as I am really shy, and don't like strangers). Leanne & someone, I cannot remember her name, gave him an invitation for Sam & I, as we were new to the neighborhood. The invitation was to a "Ladies Christmas Tea" at the Baptist church, with an ornament exchange. Now me, that's not my gig. It was real nice of them to invite us, but me....church....ladies tea. Yeah, not happenin'. So, anyway, that was our first invite in the new neighborhood.

So, to continue on....
The invitation we received was to a Cookie Exchange. Now that is right up my alley. Cookies. Christmas. I make hundreds of cookies every year & give them away in baskets as gifts. Cookie exchange. I can do that. Well, except for the whole not knowing anyone. But, I steeled myself to try! I was new here, I wanted to know my neighbors. I wanted to go.

But, oh no, it was this Saturday, the 10th. Ack. Five days, no car to get ingredients, and I don't even have a favorite or special cookie I always make. Well, not really. Oh, and I just realized that hubby had drill so I had the kids alone this weekend! Bah!

Well, I was determined to go. Why? I don't know. I guess because we are in this new neighborhood, and everyone seems sooooooo nice. I just wanted to be friendly & know my neighbors for once. Since I have no phone, I had hubby call them one day at work & ask if kids were gonna be there (thanks to my faceboook friend for the idea of calling). Yep. Kids OK. So, that was settled. Now, to decide what cookie to make with the ingredients I had.

Going through my cookie list this year, I decided on my Hershey's Kiss cookies. I've been making this recipe for years. It's never failed me. You can find the recipe here. The recipe has no eggs, which means you can eat the dough straight from the bowl....oh, yummy!

Of course, I couldn't stop there. I had to make a second type of cookie. So, I made a cappuccino fudge  brownie crinkle. I sort of took two recipes & made my own with this one. I figured any I didn't take would go to my Christmas cookie baskets. ;-)

As I was about to make my tray, I kind of freaked out. OK, not really, but I had to ask my facebook peeps how many cookies was I supposed to bring to a cookie exchange? I had no idea! The consensus was 6 dozen of one kind. Well, since I didn't know how big or small this party was going to be, I decided on 6 dozen (I had made 9) of my Hershey Kiss cookies, and two (I made 6) of my cappuccino ones, just to be safe. It wouldn't have been too little, and if it was too much, that would be alright I'm sure.

So, Saturday, Sam & I went on our merry way to the neighbors two houses down. The boy stayed home and played video games. He would not want to go. He's more socially awkward & shyer than I am. Don't know how possible that is, but it's true. Now, mind you, that's about a half mile walk, but we got there without getting too cold.

There were no cars when we walked up. We were the first ones there. How's that for awkward! The family was very nice. It was Mary & Bob, their son, daughter, & son-in-law (I think). When you're meeting a bunch of new people at one time, it's hard to keep track of who's who! LOL

Oh my, the spread she had laid out! She had breads, meats, cheeses, crackers, veggies, punches, and cookies galore! She's like me! Bake, bake, and bake!

After a few minutes, a few more people showed up. Let's see if I can remember who all was there.....Bill & Margie just down the road, a woman named Toni and her husband, a woman named Carolynn and her other half, and two others whom I cannot remember their names. As we were leaving Leanne and her 7yr old son from across the road stopped by also. Everyone brought lovely cookies. Yum, yum. Everyone remembered Sam from the Halloween party at the firehouse. I didn't go to that...was feeling angry that day, and not well.

I felt out of place a bit as all these people have known each other for years, but they were very nice, and included me in conversations, and such. It was nice. Sam was a bit bored as there were no other kids, but she had six dogs to pet & coo over. That made her happy. Oh, and I won a 'door prize' for finding the identical ornament on two different trees. Hehe. Too bad I looked like a fool not knowing how to spell squirrel correctly. Life has no spell check. But it is a real neat ceramic martini glass shaped candy/nut holder. And some homemade hot cocoa mix.

My cookies were loved. Yay! I had brought recipes for them, as my friends suggested and everyone took one. :-)

As we left, everyone gathered their loot. All kinds of different cookies. Peanut butter snowmen, cranberry rice crispy treats, thumbprint in blackberry & strawberry, nutmeg logs, shortbread, a couple different oatmeal ones, M&M, and sugar cookies. Well, shoot. I just remembered I didn't grab any off the sugar cookie plate! There was also two types of fudge & two types of brittle. I really didn't take much home. Two of each...except for the sugar cookies I forgot.

I wonder if I'll save any for my family?

It was nice to meet more of my neighbors. I actually wished there were more people to meet there. How odd is that?

Oh my....

Oh my, I have been very negligent in my blogging.

I'm so disappointed!

....in myself!!

It's kind of weird, I mean I have soooooooooo many things to talk about, and I love writing. But to sit down & commit seems to be a problem. Focus. Maybe focusing is a problem. So many....so many....where to start. Argh!

Perhaps I should make a list. I like lists. I have lists for EVERYTHING. I have a daily to-do list, a weekly to-do list. I have a menu list, a lunch list, and an inventory list. I make the kids write Christmas & Birthday lists. I have lists for groceries, for staples, and for 'wants. But, I do not have a blogging article list. Hmmmm....



I think I'll do that tonight. I bet once I make a list, written on paper, I'll start blogging more. I mean, there is so much to write about! We've been here five months. Five very short, very long months...if you know what I mean.


I have umpteen million pictures of wildlife, of projects, and of the land I haven't posted. I have stories to tell. Oh, do I have stories. Stories.

So, here I am, writing on my "To-Do List".....

......make a blogging list!  

See ya soon. Hopefully.....

Holiday Mail for Heroes 2011

It's that time of year again. A time when I ask my fellow bloggers, readers, and facebookers to open your heart. I'm not asking alot. The only monetary contribution needed from you is postage. It's the Holiday Mail for Heroes program through the American Red Cross. All I ask, is that each one of you send two cards following this program, for our soldiers over-seas. Two.


These soldiers are spending the holiday (for many, it's not their first one) away from their friends and family. These Dads, Moms, Daughters, and Husbands will not at home for the holidays. War doesn't take Christmas off. A simple card can help ease the heartache for these young men & women who are serving their country for YOUR freedom. Two cards. It's not alot I'm asking for.

If you have children in school, it would be a wonderful project for the entire class! Contact their teacher. I did last year, and one school sent almost 200 cards. The other even more! (Here's my post from last year) Thank you very much everyone!

The following is from the American Red Cross website, and details the program.

Holiday Mail for Heroes Program
The holiday season is just around the corner and it’s time again to

start thinking about being part of the 2011 American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes. For a fifth year, American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are partnering to ensure all Americans have an opportunity to send a touch of home this holiday season to members of our U.S. military, veterans and their families, many of whom will be far away from home this holiday season.

Starting this fall and throughout the holiday season, the Red Cross is working with Pitney Bowes, a mail stream technology company, to collect and distribute holiday cards to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world.

The process is very simple and takes no time at all - All you need is a pen and piece of paper to share your appreciation for the sacrifices members of the U.S. Armed Forces make to protect our freedoms The Holiday Mail for Heroes mail box is open and ready to receive for your cards.

Please send all mail to:

Holiday Mail For Heroes

P.O. Box 5456

Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Sending a “touch of home” to American men and women who serve our country is the perfect way to express your appreciation and support during the holiday season.

Card Guidelines:
Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney
Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the
country.


Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:

• All cards being sent in for 2011 Holiday Mail For Heroes program should be postmarked no later than Friday, December 9, 2011.
• Ensure that all cards are signed.
• Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards
  addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this
  program.
• Only cards are being accepted. Do not send letters.
• Do not include email or home addresses on the cards, as the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
• Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos, as these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
• Participants should limit the number of cards they submit to 25 from
  any one person or 50 from any one class or group. If you are mailing a
  large quantity, please bundle the cards and place them in large mailing
  envelopes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will
  be removed from all cards before distribution.
• Please refrain from sending holiday cards with glitter. Many of
  these cards will be delivered to military and veterans medical
  facilities and the glitter could interfere with a patient's recovery.

The Military Families Ministry (MFM) also has their Stocking for Soldiers project. Blog post is here for those in Colorado & Pennsylvania.

Stockings for Soldiers

The Military Families Ministry (MFM) has launched their 2011 Christmas project. http://www.militaryfamiliesministry.com/Home.html

Stockings for the Troops

I talked to my husband, who is current Army, about this project. I asked him if this is something the troops like, or is it a fluff piece. Hubby said, "No no, the soldiers really appreciate this kind of stuff." I then asked him if I should do this, and he said that would be wonderful! So, in addition to making some myself, I wanted to be sure to pass the word to all my fellow Colorado peeps, and those in Pennsylvania who has a MFM chapter there as well. Hubby said, it's not on the list, but don't forget to include chewing tobacco....However, tobacco, alcohol, and adult material cannot be shipped. Sorry.

This is from the MFM's website....

Please join us in sending stockings to our deployed troops who will not  spend this special holiday with their families.

We are asking individuals to get their families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, churches, and other community groups involved in this effort.  There are thousands of men and women currently deployed, defending our freedom, who will spend Christmas in a foreign country--away from their family.  Help us love, support, and encourage them this holiday.

This is a great family project to reinforce the importance of giving to others, particularly those who sacrifice so much for us.

What can you do?

Make or buy a stocking - maximum size 18 inches (you can purchase stockings at Dollar Stores for $1.00 or kits at Michaels Craft Store for $4.99)

Fill it with the following items:

candy canes

hard candy (no chocolate)

hand & foot warmers (small packets)

lip balms

hand lotion - (small - unscented)

hot chocolate packets

Individually wrapped cookies (no homemade - they won't survive the shipping)

beef slim jims

small packs of trail mix, peanuts, pretzels, fruit snacks, etc

ramen soup packets

home-made or bought Christmas card with a personal message from you

Then, spread the word - ask everyone you know to make one stocking, get groups or clubs involved,  talk to your local schools and community organizations, they are looking for projects this time of year. Download our flyer and pass it around. 

Stockings should be stapled shut at the top and must be received by Nov. 15th to ensure prompt delivery.

Completed stockings must be shipped by November 23rd to ensure our troops receive them by Christmas.

MFM - Colorado drop off locations:

• High Plains Bank, 235 South Ash Street, Bennett
• Mountain View Fellowship Office, 1422 Monroe Street – Unit A, Strasburg
• Byers General Store, 568 North Hwy 36, Byers

MFM - Pennsylvania drop off locations:

• State College Alliance Church, Whitehall Road

Other items the military appreciates:

AA & AAA batteries

baby wipes

eye drops

bug spray

drink mixes - individual packages for water bottles

toilet paper

body wash

shampoo

deodorant

sun block

crackers

food bars

any type of non perishable food items
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Nylons
Oreos
Non-Melting Candy (no chocolate unless it’s M&M’s)
Razors
Playing cards, puzzles, word searches, hand held games
Coffee, in filters
Powdered creamer – any flavor

Thank you for reading, and I hope that you are encouraged to help those over-seas this holiday season. You don't have much time, so HURRY!!!! <3


Here are a few others around the US doing similar programs:

• Lamar, Colorado - http://www.lamarledger.com/ci_19233525?source=rss_viewed
• Denton, Texas - http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/opinion/editorials/stories/DRC_Editorial_1104.269cb3714.html
• Wilmington, Deleware - http://stockingsforsoldiers.org/
• American Red Cross - http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail

Leghorn no more.....

Saturday we lost another chicken. A second one. She was also one of our originals, Lemon Pepper.

Lemon, the day before she was stolen

We had gotten two chickens 2 1/2 years ago. Honey & Lemon.
Honey died a few weeks ago. We still don't know how. And now Lemon Pepper.

Lemon in July '11

We've seen a couple raccoon lately. Could very well be the culprit. We've also had a black cat hanging around lately, getting into the garbage, and had chased it out of the chicken run once. Also a possibility.

Lemon & Honey a couple days old

We didn't find lemon's body, but I will put a marker in our graveyard for her. She was stolen, and dragged over the fence. Feathers EVERYWHERE.

Almost a year old

It was sad. My daughter was with me when I discovered what happened. We followed the trail of feathers, but never found her. That might have been a good thing. My daughter wants to get another Sexlink (Honey) and Leghorn (Lemon) next spring to 'replace' the two we've lost. She has taken it well, but is very sad.



RIP Lemon. You will be missed.

Whazziss? : caterpillars

This is a section we call, "Whazziss"?


We have a number of trees in our yard where at first glance, we thought there were giant cob-webs in the branches.



After taking a closer look, we noticed they are more like cocoons for hundreds of Caterpillars. Hmmm.  I've never seen anything like it. These things are HUGE.



What is it?

Love Thy Neighbor

One thing I really like about living out here in BFE is the people. The main reason I moved form south Florida four years ago, was because of the rude people.  That and the heat, the concrete, the crime....need I go on?  I've lived most of my life in and around Ft. Lauderdale. In that area, you don't talk to strangers. I'm not talking what you tell your six year old, I mean it doesn't matter if you are six, sixteen, or sixty...you don't talk to anyone on the street, in a store, or at a stop light for fear you will get hurt or killed. You walk with your head down. You don't make eye contact. You don't introduce yourselves to the new neighbors for goodness sake! Sad isn't it? You expect everyone to be a stalker, a rapist or a killer. You know every time you do business you're gonna get screwed. When someone calls on the phone, family in the Midwest would start a conversation, "Who is this?". If you live in the Midwest, this is normal. If you life in south Florida, you'd say, "Who the hell is this, and don't ever call here again!" and hang up before even hearing who it is on the other line. It's a scary place to grow up really.

I didn't realize how paranoid of everyone I was until I moved out here, and had no reason to be.

Our second day here, we were outside, and this man comes walking down our driveway with a HUGE dog lopping behind him. Being a city girl, my first instinct was to put up my 'badass' persona, and find out what the heel he wants. Turns out he was just the guy who lives on the other side of our property line, beyond the creek-bed, and wanted to come down the road and introduce himself. Hubby was out with me, so he talked to him. I'm shy & paranoid, so I just sat back, watched the conversation and pet the dog. Paul gave us his phone number and told us if we needed anything to call.  Of course being jaded like I am, I figure he's just being nice and didn't mean it.

A couple days later, a guy and two boys came ambling down the road towards our house. Thankfully hubby was outside, because I just can't deal with new people like this. It freaks me out. They introduced themselves, spoke a little, and they went on their merry way on their walk. Turns out one of the boys is now in a few of my son's classes. The Conner's I think was their name. Cool.

As we drove these winding dirt roads to and from the towns and cities, be began to notice that everyone, I mean everyone, waves at each other on the road. Whether you are driving, walking, or whatever, you wave. Huh. People around here are...........nice.

As I'm out front doing stuff, I've had a couple people stop by and tell me, "Welcome to the neighborhood". I still freak out, and my first instinct is to be defensive, but I'm getting better.

I really started to find out how nice people around here were when I had the Dirctlink guy come out to see if we could get wireless internet. Big Jim was sorry that there wasn't a way, but was very conversational, and spoke about how he lived in the area for over 30 years. The conversation moved to our troubles, and one of which being our well.  The guy actually walked around with me, and checked out some stuff in the basement trying to figure out what was wrong with our water pressure. I mean, this guy was here like 45 minutes or more, AFTER he told us he couldn't service our home with internet. No way in Florida would anyone do that! They'd jump in there truck and goof off until the next appointment, not help someone with an unrelated matter!

Of course, lets not forget my truck breaking down. Oh boy, that was a day. My truck broke down on the way back from the bus stop, in the middle of nowhere. Hubby was off on a special assignment shuffling dignitaries around and couldn't come home. I knew NO ONE here to get a ride home with. It is twelve miles from the bus stop to home. A long walk that I wasn't looking forward to. Then of course, I had no way to get my truck home, nor to pick up my son from school (30 miles from home). About 15-20 minutes sitting there waiting for hubby to call me back to possibly find a tow truck for me, a woman who I've seen at the bus stop pulled over to ask what was wrong. She was soooooo nice. Not only did she flag down a guy who was also taking his son to school to give me a ride home (she couldn't as she had a Dr. appt.), but she volunteered to pick my son up from school that day AND take him & pick him up until my car was fixed. Debbie was a savior that day and really changed my outlook on people. She went a couple miles out of her way everyday for a week for me & my son. It was also great cuz her son is in the same grade as mine and in a few classes together. To make the whole disastrous truck breaking down thing even less stressful, later that evening when hubby got home, the guy, Bill, who gave me a ride, helped hubby tow my truck with his truck. How awesome is that?! It's also cool because even though his son is a grade below mine, they're in study hall together, and ride the bus. My boy is making some friends. I'm sure it has alot to do with the kindness of the kids out here as well.

Boy, do I really need to make these guys some thank you cookies!

One last thing that really makes me liking the people out here a helluva lot more than Florida is, when hubby was out working on the fuel pump, one of the bolts on the tank cover snapped.  Oddly, a while later a guy pulled into the driveway. He said he was neighbors with Bill and wanted to stop by to introduce himself. When the guy found out that he had a bolt break, he was like, "Come with me, we'll find someone with one". They went off to a couple houses, and Willie down the street had the right bolt. We didn't have to make a third trip into the city (a 3 hr jaunt, mind you) for another part!

Hubby was told, that around here, since it's so far to the city that if you need something, you ask a neighbor. If your neighbor doesn't have what you're looking for, he'll know someone who does. You save things around here. Parts, tools, equipment, etc. in case your neighbor needs something. If someone needs to borrow your chainsaw, you do, cuz next month, you may need to borrow their backhoe.  It's just a wonderful experience, and something that is just so foreign to me.

Kindness. Helpfulness. Courtesy.... Amazing!

RIP Honey Mustard

Honey & Lemon. 1 week old
April 2009

I went out to the chicken coop/run today to say hello to the girls, Jasper, and to fix the make-shift roof I made over part of the run that protects the chicks and bunny from the hot sun during the day. I was walking around, looking for eggs as usual, and I spotted Honey. Dead.

Honey. About 2 weeks ago.

I was so upset!  I know she was just a chicken. But she was the first chicken we got. We got her and Lemon as chicks in April of 2009. She was what started the whole Hobby Farm idea going in motion. It's been a sad day for me.

We don't know what happened. The birds are in an eight foot tall enclosed run connected to their coop (a shed). Although I know we have foxes and coyotes, I don't know how they would have gotten in, and back out. There were no holes dug under the fence.

The chicken coop.
The fenced run is in the back.

We're thinking it might have been a hawk. There is no top, and it's the likely conclusion. Although, since the bird was still there, and wasn't taken...I just don't know. I guess a feral cat or raccoon could have scaled the fence. She could have for all we know gotten bit by something poisonous. We're just too green here to figure it out, probably. I took some advice I read online, and have hung strings across the top with cd's hanging from it to deter the hawks. It looks like a disco tech now - hehe.

The chickens in their run.

Honey was a sweet bird. She was just over two years old. She was at the top of the pecking order. She was the boss. When you came in to the run, she'd follow you around everywhere, just to make sure your not messing with anything. You could pet her, and hold her. She was essentially a pet...not just a farm chicken.




She laid the hugest, heaviest brown eggs. You'd hear her caw at about 11am every morning announcing that she laid an egg. If she was hungry or thirsty, she'd let you know....she wouldn't stop calling until you came out and took care of her.

I found a good spot on a hill in the back 'yard' and burried her. I know, it's just a chicken. But she was our pet. This will be our pet graveyard. Sad day.

I will miss you very much!

RIP Honey Mustard

Trip to the big city....

So, today we were working on the truck (story later on that), and we needed a tool.  A wrench. That's it. A simple, 18mm open-end/boxed-end wrench. Unfortunately the closest tool store is Ace Hardware in Elizabeth...about 50 minutes away.  That'd be a good 2 1/2 trip today just to get a damn wrench. Well hell, they are expensive as hell anyway, and I did't want to go there. So, we decided that for 15 more minutes of driving (one way), we'd head to the big city and make an afternoon of it. We had pretty much lost the afternoon for fixing the car anyway having to go get a tool, so why not.

The nearest BIG city is Aurora. Big city means a city with a population of over 50,000. Now that's chump change from where I come from... The Ft. Lauderdale area. But around here, that's a BIG city. You figure, the nearest 'real' town here has a population of less than 500 people...that's Deer Trail. These towns don't have gas stations, grocery stores, or any other business' a city girl is used to. I'm used to fast food, Sam's Club, dollar stores, big chain stores, health food stores, and any other number of retailers just a hop skip & a jump away. This has been tough move on me and my girly retail therapy, I tell you!

So, after mapping out a route, we took off. My son wasn't all that happy, he's kind of tired of long road trips. He can't stay home by himself. He's old enough, and I trust him, but four to six hours alone, without a phone or a neighbor closer than a quarter mile away, I just don't feel comfortable. Maybe that's just the parinoid Florida girl in me, but that's how it is. So, he armed himself with a Star Wars book, and we were off.

An hour and ten minutes later, we were in the city. OMG OK, I've been to lots of cities in Colorado, but I swear I had closed my eyes and woke up back in South Florida. The roads, the traffic, the medians, the concrete, the people.....it was South Florida!  I know ya'll don't understand, but Colorado is VERY different from Florida. It's hard to explain....just take my word for it.

So anyway, we went to Harbor Freight to get the wrench (a wrench set), and picked up some other stuff while they were there.  I mean, it's an awesome store, and you can't beat the prices when they're having a sidewalk sale!! After a quick browse at the Dollar Tree in the same lot, we headed to Sam's Club for gas. You can't beat club gas prices. It was .20 cheaper a gallon than the gas station on the same corner. And of course, while your at Sam's, you just gotta get a big fat buttery salted pretzel and an Icee, right?! After my son and I got our indulgences, we walked around. I picked up a couple recipe magazines and a new vacuum, since mine died this week. If you have three dogs, a long haired cat, three kids (yes, I include hubby in there), and live off a dusty dirt road, you just cannot go without a vacuum! We headed off to Sprouts for some fruits & veggies. I've been going crazy with no produce in the house. I moved here too late to plant a garden, and the Wal-Mart I go to in Elizabeth doesn't really have a good selection. So it was a stop I just HAD to make while here, ya know. We got excited that there was a Halloween City next door....but it wasn't open. Poo! We then traveled to our last destination, the auto parts store to get another part for the truck. Throughout the entire city excursion I looked around, kept an eye out for stores so next time I come out here to go shopping, I have an idea of what is here. I was happy to see a Burlington Coat Factory. Haven't been to one of those since the Sawgrass mall. There was also a Toys R Us, which will be good to know come Black Friday.

We knew we wanted to take in dinner while we were here. We don't get the option of calling for Chinese take-out, or pizza when I don't want to cook where we live. We can't run to Taco Bell or McDonalds if I'm too beat to cook either. We didn't have time to sit down & eat in a restaurant, but that's OK. We were trying to decide whether to go to Wing Stop or a NYC Style pizza joint. We used to eat at Wing Stop in FL. Hubby loved their cajun wings, and I loved their fries. I haven't eaten at one since we moved out here four years ago. They had Buffalo Wild Wings, and some other wings place in Greeley, but neither compared to Wing Stop. Of course NOTHING compares to Wings Plus in Coral Springs. Oooohhh....how I miss that place. Oh, sorry, I started to drool. Anyway, even though the wings sounded good, I chose the pizza place. I haven't had a NY style pizza in over four years. That's the kind they sell in Florida pizzeria's and I miss it soooooooooo much. All they have here in Colorado is Chicago style. While it's good, nothing beats a thin, greasy, more cheese than crust NY pizza! I was really hoping that since they were a NY pizzeria they'd also have garlic rolls. No dice. It's so strange, these people out here don't know what garlic rolls are! They have garlic bread.....it's not the same thing. :-(

We got a large pepperoni pie & took it on the road, back to our little rural area with dirt roads and no stores. It was late afternoon, and the thunderstorms were rolling in. That's the problem with going out...you don't want to be coming back in the rain. Not on these dirt roads! You gotta make the most out of your city trips, and make them quick.

We were gone almost six hours. Hard to believe; We didn't do much. You figure it was three hours drive round trip, then about two & a half hours driving around and shopping in the city. It was a good day though. Sure, we didn't get to fix the car...again, but we got some things we needed, and some damn good pizza at Anthony's!

The car....we'll work on some more tomorrow.

Whazziss? : Arachnid

Whazziss?

This is a section of the blog where I ask you, a question. As we go about our lives here in Deer Trail, we have run across some....odd things. Some are things we're just new to, some are wild birds & animals, some are things we've just never seen before, some are what look like mutant bugs.

It's an honest question too. I'd really like some feedback on letting me know what these things are.

So, when I post a "Whazziss?" post, what I'm really asking is, What in the world is this??!!

---

Our first "Whazziss", is this scorpion-looking, spider-looking bug. It was rather large, quite transparent, and creepy looking. It was in the little red wagon when we got home one day. I had a hard time getting a clear shot, but here it is. WHAT IS IT?

Is it Haunted? Cursed?

Some people believe in the supernatural. Some people think it's a bunch of horse poo. Some people really don't give a shit.....until everything starts happening and your world turns crazy.

And then you begin to wonder...

In the last six weeks we've been here, each day since we've moved into the house, something new has gone wrong. Not much has gone right. We had no water for a month, which meant no showers, laundry, dishes, etc.. The mice died, and they were doing so well. Our basement flooded and the carpet, walls & stuff got ruined. The hot water heater died. Hubby's new $750 computer died (only had a 3mo warranty).  We had an invasion of flies in the house (hundreds of them). Hubby rolled the car (story later on that). The truck died. The breakers trip. Pipes & valves keep breaking. Hubby got electrocuted (minimal),  The lawn mower broke. The vacuum died. Third car's broken (but usable).

Need I go on?

And just to top off all that crap, there's been alot of things happen that are just, "Are you kidding me?" We've had crazy rain (that's not normal here) that's scared the shit out of us driving on the roads. We're mere inches away from not being able to get broadband internet. Our neighbors can. We can't get cell service, unless you walk 300' to the road. We get brown-outs every day. Cant get to a store in under an hour, even to buy milk. Dogs keep escaping & gone for hours. The local school closed when we moved here, and now I have to shuffle the boy an hour away.

....Just little things. But they grate on you. They add up. They give you a sense of foreboding. I wake up every morning thinking, "What will happen today?"

None of these things are detrimental. I mean, we're happy there has been no serious injuries, or deaths, or explosions. No one's maimed, or has lost an eye....yet. Knock on wood. It could be alot worse. But when so many things happen just after you move into a new home....it gets you thinking. When you're in the bathroom and the lights flicker, and you swear you hear breathing, but no one's home, it makes your skin crawl. The house being haunted or cursed has crossed my mind...on many occasion. Mostly as a joke. Mostly. Is the house just bad luck? Or did we piss off the universe or something?

I know the house isn't haunted or cursed. Reality is, it's just life. Many of these things have been 'fixed', or will be fixed. Some items had/have to be replaced. Some, are just what they are.  But, damn!  Enough already.

At least I'm getting some good stories out of this, eh?!

Well, well, well. Well water...

Water. When you live in the city, you take it for granted. You have an account, you pay your bills, you have clean water. Sure, it sometimes may have a chlorine smell/taste to it, but it's safe. You may decide to drink bottled water cuz tap water just seems 'gross'. But.....there's water. Clean, usable water. I never knew how much I took municipal water for granted. If I wanted to take a shower, wash dishes, do laundry, or give my animals a drink, it was there. Now, being an owner of a well? Wow, it puts the whole water issue into perspective.

When we were going through the whole house purchasing 'thing', inspections were made. There were plumbing issues. It seems they didn't winterize the property until March, even though it had been on the market since October. January had been one of the coldest months out here, so I've heard. So, there was a split in a pipe between the well & the 1st shut-off valve in the basement wall. The 2nd shut-off valve, in the house, had also broken. Both due to freezing. Well, because of these two plumbing breaks, the well couldn't be tested. The company fixed those two breaks before we closed (thank goodness because it's $350 we didn't have to spend), but it was 2 days before closing, and there was no time left to have the well inspected. We decided we'd do the water testing ourselves, and hope for the best with the ground pipes. The inspector had done an air pressure test, and since it kept the psi, we were relatively sure there were no other pipe breaks.

Pressure tank & filters
& New hot water heater

When we moved in, there was water all over the laundry room. The laundry room not only houses the hot water heater, washer & dryer, it also is where well pump relay and pressure tank live. Do those things sound foreign to you? Well, I sure as hell didn't know what they were at the time! Anyway, it looked as though it might have been there from the plumbing 'fix', and was slowly evaporating. We put a fan on it, opened the window, and decided to give it a day or two.

Well casing head

Now, since the well water hadn't been tested, and there was a good chance it could have anything from lead, to pesticides, bacteria, or nitrates in it. I didn't let anyone use the water for consumption until the tests were complete. We used bottle water for us & the animals, and for brushing our teeth.  I'm paranoid like that. ;-) Good thing, too. On the day after that horrible storm, our third day here, the mice babies that were thriving were getting very sick. I tested the water, and all seemed OK (nitrates, nitrites, lead, mercury, pesticides, chlorine, PH, etc). However, the bacteria test takes 48 hrs and wasn't done yet, and that's what we were thinking were making the mice sick. We were feeding them milk, but it didn't occur to us that washing the syringe with tap water would have been a problem. Live & learn.

The baby mice - healthy

On our fourth day, the bacteria test water turned blue. Positive for coliform. The water was iridescent under a black light. Positive with e. coli. Well, shit! Time to research our options. But of course, we didn't have internet. It was gonna have to wait. Ugh. Meanwhile, the baby mice started to die.

During the time of the water testing, we still had plumbing issues. The basement floor in the laundry room was mostly dry, but you could see it had some fresh too, which meant a leak somewhere. We didn't have alot of water pressure. It wasn't bad, but the shower wasn't strong enough to rinse my three feet of hair. Also, our hot water disappeared  Alot of stuff at once. We took it one at a time.

Water leak. After mopping, wrapping, and checking, I found that one of the water filters were leaking along the gasket. There are three filters that remove sediment & chemicals from the water. This is a good thing, especially since the water is orangy. They run parallel, not in series, which to this date, we don't understand. So, we removed the housings, put in new filters in two of them (the third was a different type and we didn't have a tool for it). We turned the one that was leaking off. Okee. So we thought....

Bacteria test kits

Water heater. I turned the house breaker off, and reset the inner breaker of the hot water heater. Hmmm...why did it trip? I turned the house breaker back on, and we had hot water again.  OK. However, the next day, I had to do the same thing again, and the next, and the next.... Hmmm.

Meanwhile we lost almost all water pressure. It was a trickle. We were going insane trying to figure it out. We knew nothing about well pumps and pressure tanks. Oi! We lived with it, what could we do? We were going to Greeley that weekend to work on the old house. We kept the internet there for a while, so I researched & researched. I learned alot about pumps, wells, and pressure tanks. I learned how to 'hopefully' get rid of bacteria, and what the cause could be. I learned how to adjust the water pressure on the pump relay (that didn't fix our problem), I learned how to test the pressure tank to see if it was broken (nope, it was fine). Troubleshooting came up with we must have a clog in our pipe somewhere. There is so much sediment, it's understandable. I mean, when I did the chlorine flushes, I had to run the water alot, and it was VERY orange at times. Yuk. Sometimes, it was grey. Ugh. And yes, that's with all three new filters in (we finally got the third changed, thinking it might be a clogged filter giving us no pressure - it wasn't). We were at a loss. Couldn't figure the damn thing out.

When we had gotten back from Greeley, after going to the store to get pool (chlorine) tabs, we set to work flushing the well to get rid of the bacteria. Unfortunately without water pressure in the house, it wasn't gonna work, as there was no way to 'flush' it out. Doh! Finally though, after 4 weeks, three chlorine flushes, and two more bacteria tests, our water is coliform & e. coli free (for now).

Old hot water heater

We also didn't have hot water again when we returned from the weekend. This time after resetting it, when I flipped the breaker, I went down to the laundry room and I heard a "ZZzzzttttt". Well that didn't sound good. I looked, and there was water leaking out of the control panels on the hot water heater. DEFINITELY not good. So, it seemed like the hot water heater had a leak inside it, and was shorting it out. Problem solved, but that means we needed a new hot water heater. Crap! We turned the hot water heater off, tried to shut the water valve to the hot water heater off to remove the thing, and it wouldn't budge. After alot of WD-40, a screwdriver & a wrench, we got the spigot valve to turn off....only to notice it leaks because it's so corroded. One more thing to replace. Anywho, after another week, $350, and alot of swearing, we got a brand new 55 gal hot water heater installed. Yay, hot water!

...but still no pressure. One day I went down to the laundry room & stared. We'd been without water for over 3 weeks.  We needed to wash dishes, do laundry, take a shower! So I stared. Twenty minutes later, with some deductive reasoning and I figured it out. Looking at the lines, I was trying to figure out where the clog must be. It had to be before the hot water heater becasue it took two days to finally fill up (drip, drip, drip into the tank). It had to be after the shut-off, cuz I could hear the pressure in the line when I shut it off & turned it on. What was between the two? Another broken valve and the......filters!  The filter line.  So, I turned off the filter that we turned on.  No water in the faucet. I turned it back on, a trickle. I turned on the filter that was leaking. BINGO - we had water. The filters ran in parallel. The filter that was leaking had a clear pipe. The filter line that didn't was clogged, ergo little pressure. I got soaked, but I took apart the housings, cleaned the o-rings & put 'em back together. No leak. Damn. The filters were nasty already, and they are 3 month filters....it had been only 3 weeks, but I changed them while I had them apart anyway.

The one filter line is still clogged, and the piping that runs to the downstairs bathroom is clogged somewhere too. We have plans to re-run those lines when we fix the broken hot water heater shut-off valve and the washer & dryer spigots that also leak...Labor Day weekend is plumbing weekend for us.

OMG, it was four weeks without water. It was hell. We learned how to survive, tho. We boought water for drinking. We collected rain water for the animals to drink. Hubby filled up water jugs at work for water to cook with & brush our teeth with. Hubby got to take showers at work. Me and the kids took showers every weekend when we went up to the old house. Our clothes & dishes were stacking up, but we did it. Thankfully we were able to fix it without having to call in a $500 plumber! We still have alot of issues, like alot sediment still in our water, but, they seem trivial to having no water at all! 

The reason it's called Deer Tales...

Every day since we moved here, we've seen deer in our yard. EVERY day. We have 6.2 acres, and well, I'm sure there are deer in the back lot quite a bit. But I'm talking close to the house. Either in the back yard just beyond the deck, or in the front by the driveway. I like to sit in the living room, sipping my coffee, watching the deer.

There are of course, also deer across the road in the neighbor's property, and also ones we see while driving. I know, I know....everyone wants to tell me how they look sweet, but I'll hate them when I have a garden. Or how they'll eat your favorite landscaping plants. Yes, I know. But we like the deer. We like the nature. The gardens on the lot have fencing to keep out the deer. The trees have chicken wire to not be eaten. If there are plants I decide to landscape with that the deer are bothering, I'll spray them with anti-deer stuff. *shrug* I'll deal with it. But for now, we like the deer.

Every day, either early morning, or early evening the deer come around. There are a couple families. Usually a lone doe or buck are chomping away at the grass (who wouldn't like that?!), but sometimes a family of four with a white spotted fawn nibbles its way near the swing. They seem to be quite OK with humans.

My daughter and I were out in the front yard doing something, and I hadn't realized that three deer were eating some grass on the other side of the driveway. They kept their eyes on us, but weren't intimidated. Now the dogs....that's another issue. The dogs are always barking at them, and they run away. I hate that. :-(

Besides deer we've seen a fox mosey on through the yard. I'm not keen on the fox as my cat loves to go lay in the sunshine, and sleep under the stars. The fox is also a predator to my chickens and bunny, which thankfully are locking in a coop/run at the moment. But so far, we haven't been bothered by him, and I've only seen him once. We had some sort of animal "bark" for an hour or so the other night. We didn't get a good look at it, though my guess is it was a fox calling her young.  But I'm no expert.

We enjoy the deer. My daughter likes to hike in the back looking for deer tracks. No, I haven't fed them. I know better.  But I can't say I'm not tempted. I'm just an animal lover at heart. :)

I guess they don't call it Deer Trail for nuthin!

Day Two...and I Wanted to Give Up.

Day two. Tuesday, July 12th. We got up early to return the truck. On our agenda for the day was also driving up to Greeley to pick up the gold car, the girl, who was staying at her grandparents while we moved, the chickens, and to just come "home" to relax. You'd think that would be simple, right?

The truck was due at 11am. So not knowing the new "neighborhood", we used the GPS to get us to Aurora. It was supposedly 50 miles give or take. We left at 9:30. Plenty of time. Ha! The GPS has this 'thing' where it wants to take you out of your way. In this case, by more than 40 miles. On dirt roads where at times 15 is the max (or your going in the ditch), this can be time consuming. We told the GPS no tolls.  Guess what.  It took us on a toll road, and by the time we realized it was coming up, there was no turn around. Colorado has toll roads where you don't get a choice to pay in cash. It goes by your license plate picture. Ummm...we had two vehicles and one was a rental truck. We still haven't gotten the "bill" from Penske about that toll that I'm sure they'll jack up to $20 or more in processing fees. Anywho, we finally got to the city and had 20 minutes to get the truck delivered, but we had to fill the tank up first. No biggie, find a gas station. There's one! We pull in.  Diesel is out of order. OK, there's sure to be more stations on the way to the drop off. Another one! Woops, they don't sell diesel. Another....another....another. By the 5th gas station we were freakin cuz we didn't want to have to spend $100 on a late truck. Seven minutes 'till 11, we finally found a gas station that sold diesel.  $125 later (ugh), we pulled out & had to back track a couple blocks to drop off the truck. 11am on the nose we ran (literally ran) to the door. We got the bill settled, and all was OK, but damn were we stressing. Big time!

Time to go up to Greeley to pick up the girl, the chickens and the gold car. Stress over. Grab some take out and try to relax. The girl was staying at the grandparents while we moved. It was for the best. THANK YOU Len & Leanne for keeping her during the move. An hour mission at the house turned into four, of course. I had to stop at the store for some things, since there are no stores close to the new house. Loading the chickens didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped (the dog crates didn't fit in the back seats) so we ended up putting them in boxes. LOL So, by late afternoon, we were off. In less than two hours we'd be home sweet home.

It was a full double rainbow. The pic doesn't do it justice.

We were getting a little nervous because of the rain. But, we figured if it was raining when we got to the city of Bennett (last city with a major grocery store and a restaurant before home), we'd just wait it out. We didn't want a repeat, and end up driving on the dirt roads in the rain. No way. When we got to Bennett it was blue skies, and clear to the south east. Cool. Almost home!

Just as we crossed out of Byers (one of the towns outside the area we live) onto the dirt road, BAM!  Rain.  OK, it wasn't too bad. We did this yesterday. We thought we were good enough to drive the dirt roads in the rain. Wrong!  About 5-10 miles in, it hit.  The rain became unrelenting. The roads were slippery. We couldn't see but 100' ahead of us. The roads were flooding. What were we supposed to do? When you're on the highway or city streets and it gets too much for you to handle, you pull off onto the shoulder, or into the nearest parkinglot and wait it out. Not out here. There was nowhere to pull off. On both sides of the road is a 2-3' ditch (for water run-off), so that was out of the question. Just stop? I mean, there's no one on the roads. Nope, you'd sink. So we just kept at it. Slowly. Oh shit, what was that ahead? The road had a flow of water across it. Now, I KNOW you are not supposed to drive across it. Never drive over running water going across the road. But we didn't have a choice.

We were stopped, trying to decide what to do, and we knew if we didn't go soon, the tires would be packed with mud. So, we crossed it, at an angle. We were OK. We ended up passing two more of these road floods on our way home that evening. (Later, when hubby had talked to the fire dept. about it, they told us we made the right choice. If we would have stayed there, the car would have either sunk to 1/2 the tire or slid off the road). The rain got worse. It started to hail. I couldn't see beyond my hood. We passed a car in the ditch...but we couldn't stop. We really wanted to stop to make sure they were OK, but we couldn't, we'd be stuck too.

So we kept going. My daughter was in the car ahead of me with the hubby. She was so scared she was crying. Hubby had to 'yell' over the sound of the rain, to tell her, "It'll be alright", and calm her down. I, in the car behind them was scared shitless. The car was fishtailing, sliding, and the defogger wasn't working. I had to have the window down to help with the fogging window. I was getting pelted with cherry tomato size hail. I had to keep wiping the windshield with one hand while I had a death-grip on the wheel with the other. I couldn't see hubby in front of me. I couldn't see the sides of the road. The roads twist & turn, and I didn't know if I was gonna be able to follow it through this. Thankfully in this direction (unlike coming north from Kiowa) the hills aren't very steep. We could keep traction enough not to slide backwards.  I was panicked, but I kept at it. I wanted to pull off, but I couldn't. I didn't cry....surprisingly. The hail subsided, the rain let up a little and I could see about a car length or two ahead of me. Another two miles and we'd be home. Getting home alive and have a couple beers sounded really good right about now. OMG - is that the blue roof I see? Woot! We made it. We're alive.
Deep breath...

We walked up to the door. My step son Jonathan, and my son had stayed at the house while we were gone all day. Jonathan comes up, and says, "We have a little problem".  I swear I was about to collapse as it was. A problem? I couldn't handle much more. So, we followed him into the basement. The basement which had our couches, wood furniture, TV, consoles and other electronics, our boxes of books, and other stuff. The basement was going to be our 'Family Room' and office. Was.

We got down there, and there was water pouring from the windows. It was coming in from the wall. Three quarters of the basement was flooded with over an inch of water, on top of what was soaked into the carpet & foam padding. Assessing the problem, I could see water pouring in from the casement windows, so I went outside and started baling water. But it was too much. The gutters were packed with pine needles, and water was washing down from the roof, against the house.

After the carpet had been removed.

The earth had eroded away, and there was no slope to keep the rain from pooling against the house. It was flooding through the sides of the casement. I went inside and emptied plastic containers & took them outside to try to catch some of the water off the roof. We didn't have a ladder, so we couldn't empty the gutters right then. We did what we could, but it was a lost cause. The rain was coming down in sheets. It had started to hail again. Going downstairs, we tried to catch the water coming in through the windows.

Where the dirt was washing in.

We tried to mop up the water as it flooded, but it was coming in from behind the wall, between the wood panels, and the cement wall. Sand was flooding in as well. To this day we still haven't taken off the panels for fear of seeing that the basement foundation wall has a crack in it (most logical explanation). We moved all our stuff to the south end of the basement where there were no windows. The door on that side (walk-out basement) wasn't leaking. Whew.

The water-logged carpet, removed.

The carpet on the North, east & west sides of the basement were ruined. Two days later when I finally removed the carpet & padding, it was still soaked. The wood walls, drywall, tack strips, and carpeting all need to be replaced...but that will have to wait.

After giving up with the basement, I went upstairs to find that the sliding glass door to the workout room was leaking in. This is where the boys dumped all the misc. boxes & stuff from the truck. It was packed, wall to wall with things. That's when I broke down & cried. I just couldn't take anymore. I moved boxes out of the way of the water, but I was beat. I was depressed. I was done. I wanted to leave. I hated this house. I couldn't believe such bad luck. What in the world did I do to deserve all this shit coming down on me? When the rain finally stopped, I was too deflated to do anything. I was even too punked out to update facebook on the horrors of the day. Now that's bad!

Since this, we have heard from numerous people that this was a freak rainstorm. "Never in eight years have I seen such..." Other people had some minor casement window flooding. Some debris flooded into their land, etc. Although it's good to know this kind of thing was mostly preventable had the gutters not been packed, and that this was not a usual occurrence, but damn!  On our first whole day here. It just set a real bad tone for the place, ya know. If it had been six months, or a year, it wouldn't have been so traumatic.

(Video was taken on the 12th, but uploaded to facebook -hence the date, on the 16th when I could get data signal)


Just breathe...

Moving Day(s)

Moving.  Have you ever moved? Of course you have. 99% of people have moved at least once in their adult life, haven't they? Some of us have moved tens of times throughout their lives. This move though, seemed tougher than any other....even the ones out of state! 

On July 9th, 10th & 11th we loaded this bad boy up......twice.

Yup. We have so much crap that we needed a 26 footer, and had to make 2 trips. This is after I had the donation truck come to the house FOUR times as I packed. Wow. When you live in a house (not a rental), and you have lots of storage space, you seem to accumulate stuff. Lots of stuff!

We had a few great helpers, Alex Beale, my step-son, Jonathan (who was here on vacation), and our boy Sebastian. Without them, I don't know how we would have gotten all that stuff to the new place. Thank you SO MUCH guys for all your help!

After loading the first load, the boys took the truck down to the new house. It's about a 100 mile trip (one way). They stayed there the night guzzling beer and playing on computers after a long hard day. Thank goodness they had electricity, huh?! On Saturday they unloaded and came back for load number two. Needless to say everyone was too beat to unload, so we stayed the night in Greeley and took the truck, the kids, and ALL the animals except the chickens down to the new house on Sunday.

I had three dogs, a giant bunny, a hamster and a cat all the the car with me. Of course the cat escaped his carrier and insisted on laying in my lap the whole trip. Fun. It was OK until he decided he wanted to be at my feet. Ummm....no.  

Now, if I haven't explained, there are 30 miles of dirt roads on the way to the house. Let me rephrase that. Thirty miles of winding, hilly, dirt roads. No way around it. Dirt. Dry, rocky, clay dirt. Ever drive on this stuff? Ever drive on this stuff in the rain? Ooooh boy. I've never really driven on dirt roads except for a little path here or there, so this was really new to me. Add in the fact that it poured on the way there. Hubby had the boys in the truck. The truck fared a little better than me in the Saturn on those wet, slippery roads because of the traction. OK, I'll admit it, I was a little nervous. Honestly though, looking back, I think I was too naive to be scared. I have since learned what can happen on these roads, and I now respect them.

Moving makes a mess!

After a long, wet, two hour drive, we got to the house.  Errr....home. We unloaded and were done. Whew!  Ahhhh.....after all that, all I wanted was pizza, a Mike's, and a long shower.  Ummm....well, since we're nowhere near a pizza place...strike that. Ah, forget it. We just grabbed something quick out of the freezer and crashed!

That was day one at the new house.