My first few days in the mountains

I arrived at my summer retreat safely. I didn't notice my two trailer tires that are about to blow until about 7 miles from my lot. I slowly limped along the last few miles with no incident. And now I have to figure out how to deal with the situation before I have to hitch up and head into town in a few weeks.

I stopped at a storage facility on HWY 60 and rented a storage unit where I will be leaving my motorcycle while I'm in the area. Riding my bike on the 5 1/2 miles of dirt, gravel and washboard roads back to my lot isn't appealing to me. So, I will just hop in my truck and zip over to my 10'X10' "garage" when I want to go for a ride.

The weather is beautiful - not too hot during the day, a little chilly during the night and early mornings with a little rain and wind most afternoons. My dogs are doing well. Annie is adjusting to life living in the trailer, exploring the new terrain, and meeting lots of new people and dogs.

Since I've been here I've been pretty busy.

Here's the container and patio, complete with the patio furniture I found on Craig's List. The ladder is to access the viewing deck (container roof). The plan is to go up on top in the evenings to watch the sunset. So far everyday I've been here the sunset has been obscured by clouds. Well, maybe tonight.




Here's a view from the roof, looking north toward the driveway and Marlene's half.


Looking west toward Carol's lot and Pete's lot.



Looking Southeast toward Ted and Mary Ellen's new mansion.



Looking East toward Taylor's cabin.



Looking south toward Greens Peak ( 10,133') and Baldy Peak (11,403').





I got my Cowgirl Cabin set up. I left the cowhide rug I was originally going to use in the Cowgirl Cabin back at my house in Sun City in my Cowgirl Living Room. So, I'm using this rug. Maybe someday I'll find another cowhide for the cabin. I still have lots to do to finish up, like a curtain across the middle of the container to separate the front cabin part from the back storage area. And maybe insulation and more curtains on the walls.


I borrowed this sharp little hammer from my neighbor/friend Ted to punch holes near the bottom of the barrel.


Then I spent two hours loping, then burning branches from some of the Junipers on my lot. My efforts filled the barrel half full with ashes. And I'm exhausted!!
(the picture is a little crooked)

My house gets two more new doors.

One last project before heading to "The Cool" for the summer. I was replacing the security door when all of a sudden I decided a new front door would be nice, too.


Here's a picture of the new door I purchased on sale, with an additional 10% discount because of a small dent in the metal door. After the door is painted the dent isn't even noticeable.


Here's the new security door. I purchased it on Craig's List. A little sanding, painting and new knobs and I have a beautiful new security door.


Here's Fido, my front porch watch dogue.


Yesterday I had an answer to MY add on Craig's List and sold my old security door. = )

With doors

No yellow paint yet, but we have doors.

My latest project

Needing a little more storage space, I purchased this nifty little 4X7 aluminum storage shed, on line, that needed to be put together. It took about 150 tiny screws and bolts and nuts. I had a few left over, but everything fit together. The whole shed had to be completely square for all the parts to fit together properly. On some of the roof sections there were 5 layers of aluminum parts with 5 little screw holes all lined up. A few of them needed a little extra manipulating to get the screws in, but alas, all ended well. I still have to install the doors and the plywood floor. I'm thinking of putting in some pails of water in the shed and making a sauna. It was 103 degrees here today, and probably 120 in the shed.

Like I said.......

There's Yellow and there's YELLOW




And I thought my house was bright!! HHAHAHAHAHA!!