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Life around our house
Our hot tub is in hunker down mode for the winter, which means we crank it down to 80 and put it on the economy setting. Occasionally I need to top it off due to evaporation, so I was out there yesterday, holding the lid up and adding water.
Wait a minute, that looks like the other person, what’s her name. I could have sworn I did that chore. My poor memory is toast these days…
This is what eight inches of new snow in our driveway looks like. Jack and I will be venturing out shortly. The roads should be interesting…
Update: Steph questioned me whether that was really eight inches. Hummph! Women… So I trudged out into the middle and measured it. Ok, closer to seven, but I’m not changing my post title. ʘ‿ʘ
When deck rail snow, meets hot tub lid snow, it’s an interaction that spells winter…
Bus Driver Jim encounters the Twilight Zone.
![](<iframe loading="lazy" title="Twilight Vector" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://embedr.flickr.com/photos/6337581571" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>)
As Jack was warming up in the driveway this morning, I took these photos of a particularly stunning sunrise over the mountains.
It’s good to live here!
We have 70 trees on the property, not counting the big ones by the creek. A lot of them are pine trees, so they just drop their seeds in the form of manageable pine cones.
The others are leafy girls that are great to enjoy during the summer, but a pain to clean up after. A grass guru friend of mine says we have to get those leaves off the lawn, before the snow, to protect it. Apparently they produce a harmful acid as they decompose.
This particular girl always dumps her leaves first, every year!
And as to why I attach gender to things, I don’t know. Why do I call my truck Jack?
During the spring and summer, the snow melting off the Tetons provides us a babbling brook at the edge of our property. The water belongs to some farmer down stream, so all we can do is enjoy it, and maintain it.
In the fall it dries up, and this year left behind this cool moss!
Here’s a Video of the stream, shot in early July.
Steph noticed a plastic bag standing up straight in a cupboard. It turned out to be an onion we forgot to eat, that wanted to reproduce.
We threw it out after taking some quick photos, but now I wished we would have planted it out in Pipers big litter box, and then seen what the winter could do with it.
Our property is off the grid in a lot of ways. We have a well, a septic system, and an underground propane tank.
Unfortunately, we’re vulnerable to the loss of one critical service…
The well is amazing. It provides crystal clear Rocky Mountain spring water to our house, and our yard.
The sprinkler system that keeps our lawn green, and our trees getting taller, is hooked directly into the well.
Having a septic tank with a leach field means we don’t have to be hooked up to the city sewer system, not that they would come out this far anyway.
A full, five hundred gallon underground propane tank, provides more then enough heating energy to make it through the insanely cold Rocky Mountain winters. And, the fact that it’s owned, not rented, means we can shop around for the best price.
Electricity is provided to us via underground cables, as is our phone and internet service. It’s great, no utility lines to spoil our view of the Tetons!
Unfortunately, we are totally blindsided when the power goes off!
The well needs electricity to pump the water to us. Without water, we have no showers, drinking water, sprinkler, or septic system.
The propane heats the house with a Rinnai heater and a gas fireplace, both out of service without power.
Obviously the kitchen, refrigerator, and stove are down…
So much for being off the grid :-)
Summer fades into warm autumn afternoons with surprisingly bright yellow colors erupting from our variety of trees.
Soon, four feet of snow will be our constant companion. It’s called living in the Rockies…
An interesting light appeared in the corner of my office yesterday (9/11). I’m really into visual and numerical occurrences lately. I think they are the method by which spirits communicate with us.
I often awake at 4:44 and glance at the clock. Today I bought bread, a water, and a power bar at the store. The tab came to $4.44.
A couple of years ago I was awoke by three very loud knocks, somewhere in the house, at 4:44. Nobody was there. This number has numerological and spiritual significance, but I haven’t figured out yet, how it applies to me. I think my grand-father may be behind this whole thing.
The light looks like a hand, pointing at the painting of a smoking cowboy. I forgot that painting was back there, as it’s blocked by my TV. Very interesting, as smoking pretty much killed off my family.
I smoked, for a long time, before I shook Riley’s hand 15 years ago and agreed to quit if he never started. Best deal I ever made!
I tracked the light source down to the sunset bouncing off a mirror in the living room.
Our coffee pot has been driving us crazy lately, by leaking on the counter while pouring. It was just a design flaw by a Chinese manufacturer.
To fix it, I used some Sugru. It’s like modeling clay when you take it from its packet, and when exposed to air, it cures to a cool silicone thing.
By molding it under the pouring spout, it catches the coffee that was leaking, and redirects it back into the stream. Works perfectly!
Piper is not a lap cat. She will stretch out on the floor for a good back rub, but just doesn’t want to cuddle, on my lap anyway.
This afternoon she slid up on the couch for some Steph rub. Must be a female thing :-)
The finished puzzle:
It’s a good thing we don’t have much company! This is a hunker down Saturday and Steph’s using the dining room as a laundry/puzzle room.
And, I’m sure that laundry and puzzle are not used in the same sentence very often…
Later on, into the evening…
