The bear again.

As I looked out the window, the bear was walking by.  

Gun? or camera?

Camera won.  

Checking the feeders, a humming bird was checking them, too.

Lovely evening in the mountains,

Still and quiet.

Peaceful.

Our new and improved wider driveway was made for for a long, heavy load such as this...

From the back porch, this long load made it around to the front without hitting a tree, a rock or the cabin.  Success!

Check the load.  Tied securely?

Latch that trailer?

Be careful.  Have a good time.  Hurry home.  I love you.

Load 'em up and move 'em out!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Note to self:

 Mora celebrates a fiesta the last weekend of July.    

A normally quiet, depressed town came to life today, the day that I decided to make a trash run with a 'quick' trip to the post office, grocery store and the dollar store.  Ha!  

Traffic was backed up for a mile and the grocery store was closed.

We did miss the parade, but the holiday atmosphere was unmistakeable.  So, when was the last time that you saw a booth that offered ring toss?  Dime pitch? ( inflation on the penny toss). There were knives, t-shirts, hats, jewelry, food, campers, trailers, families, motorcycles, pedestrians and horses.

They were headed to the rodeo grounds.  It was a big event.  A some point there was a queen crowned, but we missed that, too. 👑

Happy to be back home, I had a surprise visit from an Amarillo friend who was visiting a neighbor here.  It was so good to see Shirley Karr!

A calm and quiet evening with these guys from Dallas who go 4 Wheeling every year.  They stopped to spend the night and take Mickey with them to Pagosa Springs

And then, another thunderstorm.

Cloudy & Cool with warming trends.

This afternoon, 57 degrees with thunderstorms with sleet.  We were at the camper with the weedeater and cleaning supplies when it hit.  The camper needed a good cleaning as it had doubled as a moving van and actually worked quite well.  All the boxes that are labelled to store are the last things to come in.  Not willing to wait for the storage building, they can be disguised in the attic room for now.  

A pot of bean soup for dinner!  In our efforts to clean out the freezer, we have grilled lots since our arrival.  A pot of soup sounded good and warms the house.

Join us?

Warming inside with soup and outside with a fire in the chimenea.

Finishing Touches

Well, for now.  At least until a little rain settles the base.  Then, we will order washed gravel and spread it.

What a job, but we can see the end in sight!  

Having no rain for several days, my flowers were thirsty.  This handy gadget makes watering much more energy efficient.  A shut off valve saves water and my energy!

The energy saving watering allows my energy to channel to moving rocks.  Uh, yeah I know that there is some inconsistency in size, but one has to use the readily available resources.

To give perspective to the turn out at the tree house, the truck is parked there.

Hmmm... I guess that I should consider remedial rock size consistency.

Crissy, this one's for you!  Your project is looking good.

Add a perfect rain to help settle the driveway.  A few more of these showers are just what we need.

Beautiful evening for dessert and coffee on the front deck.

Come join us!

Man and Machine

Mickey has mastered the machine and is now putting finishing touches on the road base material (aka gravel).  We need a slow gentle rain to prepare for the crushed rock.

The fire ban has been lifted here, so we moved and expanded our fire pit area.  It can also double as additional parking.

Smooth and ready for crushed rock.

Late afternoon clouds gather.

The bobcat is put away for the night.

The rain missed us.  Maybe tomorrow.

It's All In A Day's Work!

Scoop.

Move.

Dump.

Raise.

Lower to smooth.

Repeat.

Would you like a tour?

Starting at the front gate.

To the right is the pad for future use.

Left takes you to the back.

By way of the new fire pit area.

Along side the back patio.

And to the back door.

Around by the hot tub.

Pass the new parking area.

Down to the original parking area.

Tomorrow another three loads of base material will arrive to be spread.

We are thankful for the use of the bobcat.

What a beautiful evening in the mountains!