Finished

The last nail

The last drop of paint

Pictures up on the wall

The shower curtain hung with care

A spring weekend

After a succession of less-than-optimal-weather weekends, we were presented with a Saturday and Sunday that was warm and dry. To take advantage of the weather, before it decided to get windy cloud up and rain on our parade hike, we decided that Saturday wold be used to get the garden ready and Sunday would our play day. We hiked up to the rattlesnake canyon Arches. The second largest concentration of natural arches in the world. We would visit a geologic wonderland while traversing the spring desert alive with flowers!

The tools of the trade on Saturday., gloves, seeds and irrigation equipment. We were able to turn every square millimeter of garden space as well as add some homegrown compost. This year we are adding some new garden space, about four square meters worth of dirt.

More dirt tools. The ever present wheel barrow filled here with compost being added to the main raised beds. last year we nailed the irrigation on these big beds so this year I am just copying the old system. Unfortunately, not every garden space had optimum irrigation, so we are trying some new configurations in other spots.

Working on the sun flower and Hollyhock area.

On the steep climb above Polluck canyon a collared lizard stopped to let us do some wild life photography.
Two of the many arches to be seen in Rattlesnake Canyon.
The flowers are incredibly colorful this time of year.

A change of routine

Last week I had the chance to travel to DC and take in some National Geographic training and was able to visit Katie.

We visited the embassy open houses.

No visit to DC is complete without some time at the National Cathedral
Looking down the mall at the SOP, Seat of Power (more commonly known as the US Capitol)
Another DC landmark.

a milestone passed

Since the last post:

tile in

grouted

sealed

caulked

fixtures assembled

water turned on!!!

shelves installed

The new storage area with shelves in the background.

The bath/shower ready for the first bathing.

a weekend in the canyons

Last Saturday we took a quick trip up the Monument trail in the Colorado National Monument.

Collared Lizard sitting still for a photo shoot.

A whole family of sheep came down the hillside as we were walking up. Here a baby with his baby sitter look out on the world.

the projects continue

The past few weeks have been taken up with finishing up our not-so-little projects. The big items on our list is the bathroom remodel and putting electricity out to the green house.

We took the old bathtub and shower out. The colors behind the tub are for comparisons. The square above the colors is now a window.

Fran does anything in the house that requires skill and talent. Here she is starting the tile work. Notice the new window!

While Fran tiled, I painted the corner. You can see the green behind Fran. This used to be a shower but will now be a storage area. the shower will be part and parcel with the tub. Notice the skill and finesse in putting tile on the wall.

The last wall was just the perfect chair height. Fran is sitting in the tub, "buttering" each tile before sticking them on the wall. My part in all this was to cut the tile to her specifications.

Hopefully soon the tile will have grout, the faucet and control knobs will be connected and the construction materials will be out of our bathroom...more pictures to follow. Hopefully soon.

Who went this way before me?

Yesterday I wandered in Ironton for a few hours. I was following an old trail through the trees where there was a coating of new white snow on top of an old dirty snow layer. This clean white on top of old and dirty provided great contrast for this set of mountain lion tracks. It was very clear that this large feline had gone this way not too long ago. At this point there is only one way to go, so I followed the tracks for awhile, hoping that I wasn't going to surprise anyone.