October is Fire Prevention Month

The Fire Chief says the number of structure fires are down, but we need to improve our awareness of other dangers.  He will tell us how next week.

These photos were taken at the fire station down the street.

You Go Broncos

lead bronco of beautiful herd in front of Mile High Stadium

gift of Pat Bowlen and family

Tuesday (November 1st) is Election Day 2011

Tuesday, November 1st is Election Day.

If voting by mail, be sure to drop off your ballot at the appropriate place.   It is TOO LATE to mail it in.

If voting in person, be sure to get to the polls.

This is our democracy.  It is important that we make the best possible choices even if we don't like the alternatives all that much.

If you are underemployed or unemployed, be sure to voice your opinions.  The Preamble to our  Constitution says "We the People" NOT "We the RICH and POWERFUL People" or "We the People WITH GOOD JOBS."  Check out our Constitution in its original writing.  Or view an easier-to-read version.  Hit the left arrow to return to this blog.

Business owners need to voice their opinions, too.  How can businesses survive when approximately 20% of their customers base is unemployed or underemployed and have no money to spend for their products and services?

If you are no longer eligible to vote, contact your Election Commission and find out why.  Do everything in your power to fix the problem(s).  Ask for help if you can't fix it yourself.  There are more elections coming up...

To REMAIN FREE, our country is depending upon all of us voicing our opinions.  Get in the habit of voting.

Snowstorm - October 26, 2011

Our power and phone lines as well as our crabapples are still okay - so far.  All photos were taken at 11 am.

front patio

yard art - looks like a mushroom today

buggy wheel in backyard

phone line lying on shed

cat ladder to roof - cats are hibernating on the bed today

power line to left - crabapples before brooming 

power line to left - crabapples after brooming

I walked the yard in my cowgirl boots searching for any damage from the snowstorm or animal tracks.  Saw neither - just lots of snow.

Keeping Colorado Wild - Coyotes

Coyotes are extremely adaptable and live in many of our neighborhoods.  They hunt from sundown to sunup.  For the most part, they stay out of sight.  Usually they are fearful of humans and avoid us; but when they lose their fearfulness, problems occur.

If coyotes can make a better living and feel comfortable in our neighborhoods, they will abandon the wilds and hang around our houses and outbuildings and become obnoxious or worse.  When they are here, they may rummage through garbage, eat leftover pet and bird food, injure or kill our pets and approach humans.

The bad news is that research has shown that there is no way to make a coyote fearful of humans again once it has lost its fear.

The good news is that there are ways for adults and older children to reinforce fear of humans in coyotes.  The video below demonstrates many.

We in Colorado want our wildlife wild - not extinct.  Please help.

photo provided by Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife

photo provided by Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife

photo provided by Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife

Click here to see a great coyote video.  Hit the left arrow to return.  The video is called "Being Coyote Wise - Living with Urban Coyotes."  It is provided by the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife.

Danger - Heavy Snow Forecasted with Leaves Still on Trees

Heavy snow forecasted tonight (10/25/11).  Beautiful trees still with leaves are at risk.

A member of the Golden Garden Club alerted us at our monthly meeting yesterday: local TV channels in the Front Range are forecasting over five inches of snow on the overnight.  Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but many trees (like our crabapples in the backyard) still have somewhat green leaves still attached.  

If the meteorologists are correct, we will wake up tomorrow morning with tree limbs bowed or broken by the heavy snow.   And the morning commute will be long and difficult. 

For the trees, we have been most successful in knocking the snow down with a broom.  Be sure to stand to the side of the branch you are working on so you don't get a face full of snow or a snapped branch to the head.  

Water Touched by Autumn

Along Bear Creek near Morrison.

Deer at Red Rocks Park

Test shot for the zoom feature of my pocket camera.

Help Keep Colorado Beautiful

Fishing styrofoam out of the water.

I bet the person who carelessly tossed that take-home container to the wind didn't think it would end up spoiling the first shot below.  He or she probably didn't even think.  

Notice how much better the bottom photo is when the trash is gone.

Proud Coloradoans at heart want to keep their environment beautiful.  Please recycle and put trash in its proper place. 

see trash at upper end of small pond?

hubby fishes it out to take home

trash free and beautiful

Staycation

A couple of months ago, we decided we wanted a get-away without the travel.  We wanted a staycation - a stay-at-home vacation spot - right in own own back yard.

At first we looked at Airstreams.  The older ones needed lots of work - more time, energy and money than we wanted to invest, and the newer ones were very, very spendy.  With their silver skin we thought upkeep might be like polishing the silverware drawer.

Then we remembered Hal and Helga who lived near Canon City.  They parked their two-door Prowler Travel Trailer in full view of the Wet Mountains and commuted from Denver as often as they could.  Over the years, they built a large great room complete with wood stove and giant windows.   It was like living outside in the winter with tremendous views while staying warm and cozy.  And they had lots of room for entertaining while being compact, too.

We loved their setup immediately, but we have such busy lives that we didn't want to travel that far on a regular basis.  And we didn't need everything they had.

A couple of months ago, I found an old Prowler Travel Trailer in Longmont, and on my next free day went to see it.  It needed some TLC.  The awning arms didn't work, and I negotiated with the dealership to fix that at my price.  The required safety inspection found a propane leak that was fixed on their nickel, too.

We were to pick the travel trailer up in September, but that got pushed back to early October.  When that date arrived it was raining and spitting snow in Denver - no time to practice our travel-trailer driving.  In addition, the ground on the north side of our property was too soft for parking it.

By last Saturday, all issues were resolved, and we were off to the dealership.  We paid our money (one must pay cash for old travel trailers) and purchased a towing ball that fit the trailer.  We hooked it up with some gerry rigging as the height of the ball on the truck was considerably higher than the receiver on the trailer fully extended.

Finally we were ready to head home, and we took least traveled roads.  At Our Place we taught ourselves a thing or two about placing the critter where we wanted it.  Then my hubby secured it.

Leveling comes later.

More on our staycation adventures...

Reading to a Child

This beautiful statue is behind the Public Library in Golden near Clear Creek.  I had to take an over-the-shoulder shot because of the sun.

Tie Down the Yard, Small Cats and Dogs

Places in Colorado and times can be very, very windy.   Just ask the neighbor on Indiana who lost his giant Colorado blue spruce a couple of years ago.  Luckily, it missed the house.

Late last week, wind gusts were clocked at 63 mph at Denver International Airport, and it was just as windy at The Place.  The neighbor's trashcan separated, and the lid ended up in our yard.  And one of our weeding buckets returned the favor.   A large cottonwood lost several big branches near the library.

According to a recent Denver Post article, "This is just the beginning of a wind-plagued winter."

Apparently it is a double-dip La Nina.  If so, it will be the second year in a row as last year was pretty windy, too.  Meteorologists say that cooler-than-normal sea-surface temperatures across the equatorial central and eastern Pacific foster stronger than normal west-to-east jet stream over the Rockies.

What to do?  Move anything that can be blown around to the garage, shed or protected area.  That includes empty flower pots, weeding tubs, cloth patio covers and light furniture.  Make sure covers on grtills and AC units are secure.

Otherwise you will be running down the road chasing something of yours or retrieving it from a neighbor's yard.  We still have some pots from an abandoned nursery across the ditch that blew in a couple of years ago.

Front Door

Nothing says western like the front door.

Visitors cannot see mine from the road as a large Colorado Blue Spruce stands guard and a row of lilacs rim the private front patio.

Out of camera range and to the right of the door is a great place to enjoy morning coffee.  Click here to see the wicker love seat from a posting on Colorado Cowgirl Crafts.

The shoes peeking out at the lower right of the photo are ceramic planters.

Herding Steers while Sitting in the Truck

Click on herd meets robotic drover to theme of Rawhide.  Great video!

Hit back arrow when done.

Cowgirls in Training

Every cowgirl needs to start somewhere, and these are learning the care of their mounts from Ally Harmon (www.harmonyequestrianservices.weebly.com).

Big sis helping little sis

More helping

Ally telling young riders to keep head up

Middle sis mounting horse with help of Ally 

Off on first ride

Ally holding organic bug spray while big sis looks on

Adjusting stirrups

Coming back

Youngest rider and teacher - one on one

Youngest rider getting on horse with help from Ally