We found this interesting 1939 radio at a local used furniture store. It's an amazing piece of industrial sculpture.
Our neighbors' pole barn just behind our backyard fence has been gradually knocked down by the windy weather we have had since Dec. 31st. Not much remains of the barn.
Maddie the cat sleeps on our bed every night. In the morning, she can sleep in whenever she wants - what a life!
Hope that the rabbit doesn't do this in the summer. Going to fix our fence before we plant flowers in May.
Note the rabbits hiding by the hedge!
Just after sunrise, the view out the patio door.
I made this spice rack. It's been quite a while since I made something nice out of wood. It still needs some finishing, but I'm pleased with the dimensions. Finally we can see most of our spices!
Our beloved cat sleeps next to the fireplace on her blanket. Nice and warm! Kevin and Sally are reflected in the fireplace glass (it's a gas fireplace).
We had a big snowstorm last night. As soon as it was light enough to see, I went out to take photos and then carefully knocked the snow off the trees. Only a few branches cracked from the weight - I was very careful to tap them gently.
Amazingly, 5 days later the snow was just a memory - it was all melted. The last picture is a section of the November 1 photo with enhanced contrast so you can see visual proof of the branches broken by the snowfall.
We had carpet removed and hardwood put down in two rooms. A big improvement.
After the big hailstorm on July 13th, an army of roofing companies descended upon our neighborhood trying to convince homeowners to get new roofs. Once a homeowner agreed, a roofing company would put an advertising sign on the lawn.
Curious how many were successful with their high pressure sales pitch, I began taking photos of the roofing company signs. At least 20 different companies! As of late September roofs are still being installed. See the photo collage below.
We needed a short relaxation break within a reasonable driving distance. So we decided to explore the Laramie, Wyoming area which is about 72 miles from Fort Collins. My first visit ever, I was astonished at what we found and how our 48 hour trip kept revealing interesting sights.
A soaring ultra modern chapel. This is the United Methodist church at 12th and Harney. A maintenance man invited us inside to look!
Laramie has an interesting downtown shopping district. We looked in windows and ate at a Thai restaurant.
We saw a poster in a coffee shop for "vertical dance". So we went to that! Incredible athletic dancing suspended from ropes to the accompaniment of aboriginal instruments and storytelling. Wow.
Just west of Laramie is the Snowy Range. Lots of snow keeps the wildflowers happy, even in late August.
On the way home, we even saw a hungry little moose near Cameron Pass. Great weekend roadtrip!
Maddie has a nice wide window sill to watch the front yard. The backyard has rabbits to watch!
In midsummer the CSU flower trial gardens are an impressive sight!
Afternoon thunderstorms build over the foothills and approach the subdivision. Lightning crackles and crashes of thunder says it's time to go indoors.
Sally made an excellent surf-n-turf meal one night. Shrimp and steak! Kevin had some of his favorite beverages (Sally detests them both): root beer and grapefruit juice!
The strangest thing that's happened so far was unraveling the mystery of the unpleasant bathroom smell in the master bath. We noticed an odd smell even when we were viewing the house prior to buying.
After we moved in we spent 6 weeks trying to determine the source of the smell. It was very intermittent, but troubling and noxious at times. Several different plumbers, numerous visits by the gas utility company, and creative smelling techniques led to various theories, but no solutions.
Eventually, plumber number 2 determined that the main natural gas line into the house had been punctured when the house was built. The workers installing the original shelves in the walkin closet shot a nail into the Gastite tubing that was concealed inside the wall.
It had been leaking gas into the interior bathroom wall ever since! Amazing that the house never had a fiery explosion. Or we could have drilled a hole to hang a picture and drilled into the gas line.
Lesson to builders, if you use flexible tubing for gas, please don't run it though an interior wall without some metal shielding.
Using the actual shelf support/nails/tubing, I made a picture to illustrate what had happened. You can see that the hole punctures the metal tubing - the flashlight lights up the inside of the tube.
Maddie has adapted well to the new house. Patches of sun to sleep in... a basement to explore ... stairs to run up and down... closets with high shelves... even visiting the backyard (on a leash).
We often go for late day walks on the nice paths and quiet streets of our subdivision.
A nice feature of the new house was drip irrigation already installed in 10 large clay pots. Just needed some flowers!
Sally created some great arrangements. Some of the plants are edible!
On July 13th, we had an exciting hailstorm, with some of the biggest hail I've ever experienced.
I also made a short video of some of the furious weather action. Click here to watch it. (opens in a new browser window)
Within a few miles of the house, we have lots of city-preserved open space areas with hiking and biking paths. On a walk yesterday, we saw a prairie rattlesnake on a path, 100 feet from the trailhead.
It's the first rattlesnake Kevin has seen in 27+ years of living in Colorado. Apparently they are very common in Fort Collins plains areas, the climate and terrain being very agreeable to them. Signs give warnings to stay on the path.
Later, I returned to the scene and photographed a tape measure where the snake was. The last photo is a digital overlay, you can see that the snake probably measures 36 inches or so. Twenty inches on the tape leaves lots of snake still unmeasured!
Directly under the rainbow...
Photo made on July 21. During the past few weeks, we've had afternoon storms almost every day. This brief shower presented us with a great rainbow!