What can I say?
It's been over a month since I've written.
Why?
I'm not sure.
I came back from Texas and I've been busy?
I've been living life instead of writing about it?
It's been beautiful outside and I can't stand to be in?
I think the answer lies somewhere amongst all of these
What have I been up to?
1. I had put the word out at the dump that I was looking for a gate. I love my dump. Every Saturday I drive to the little dump/transfer station where I hand over my money and my trash. I had asked them to keep an eye out for some gates as Carlos needs a fence and I wanted a functional gate on the back deck. Not two weeks after putting that bug in the dump owner's ear, I pulled up to see the perfect little gate waiting for me. For TWO dollars!! (The mirror that matches my vanity also came from the dump. It's a treasure trove of cast offs.)
Is that a perfect fit or what?
It took a bit of searching for the hinges but with a little help (i.e. I held the hinges in place while someone else drilled the holes and screwed them in place.) I managed to get the gate installed. The latch part took about 4 trips to the True Value and lots of brainstorming. After 7 years of having a sideways fence piece held up with twist ties and closed with cinder blocks, I now have a functioning, opening, closing, latching gate.
A Carlos-proof latch.
2. I visited some fossils and dinosaurs. Love a good museum and the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park delivered. Tons of dinosaur bones, many from the Colorado area. Their signage could use a little work and the Houston Museum of Natural Science is bigger and better in the dinosaur department, but for an afternoon of entertainment- this worked. (Also, the difference is tiny town private museum and fourth largest city in the US and lots of funding.)
Also visited the redwood fossils near Florrisant, Co. Had no idea there used to be redwoods here...but the trunks are there to prove it. Sadly most of the fossils and trees had been carted off as curios, but a few remain and are now closely guarded. It was a beautiful day and the one mile trail around the tree trunks was a perfect way to kill an hour.
A huge redwood stump.
So sad that most of the forest was carted off as souvenirs.
3. For a few years now I've dreamed of an outdoor table. Nothing fancy but I KNEW I didn't want plastic or traditional outdoor stuff. My plan was to buy an inexpensive wood table at the local Caring and Sharing (or somewhere along those lines) and just stick it out in the yard, surrounded by an odd assortment of chairs. The budget was no more than $50 for the table and no more than $10 a chair. Knowing wood will not hold up for long unprotected under the Colorado sun I fully expect the life span to be maybe two years. I found the perfect table at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Buena Vista and it was $40. Even better, it came with not one but TWO leaves so there can be a party! My original thought was to put it on the side yard but one day it hit me. Out front it is level and exactly where the table needs to go. So it did. I found a few chairs at the Amish thrift store in Cañon City and Beverly is donating a few too in exchange for a "seat at the table" come summer dinners. The whole mess is going to be painted with chalk paint and it may or may not be sealed. No matter what it is going to look darling and be the perfect spot for summer breakfast lunch and dinner.
It's a start. The table will be almost navy.
Chairs will be shades of blues and greens.
Doesn't it look like the perfect summer dining spot?
I'll have to teach the deer not to poop in the dining room.
5. And mostly? I've been working. Love my job but it is going through a "transition period" to say the least. Doctors are changing and while the current doctor is out, no one seems to know who will be replacing him. There is no schedule beyond mid June which makes scheduling a challenge and overall there is a sense of confusion. Not a very comforting position to be in but I am confident it will all work out.
My little desk with no counter space.
We have been BUSY!
And some of my favorite patients:
Bailey (L) belongs to a doctor as does Wynn on the right.
They stay down in oncology most of the day.
Tucker (above) and Ringo (below)
are therapy dogs.
6. And last but not least, look what I got!
A fishing license!
The waders are on order. I'm going to learn how to fly fish for real. No. 58 is going to be completed!
So maybe for the summer posts will be once a month. Maybe there will be a hiatus. Maybe I will get back to weekly.
Who knows?
In the meantime...get out and live your life. Get off the computer and the phone. That's what I have been trying to do.
