Category: SA Times

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Much of this week was spent in the cool Sangre de Christo mountains of New Mexico.  It started raining shortly after we arrived at the Shewberts’ cabin Tuesday and rained most of the afternoon.  No sooner had we arrived than Phyllis got a call from her sister telling her that her husband was unresponsive.  Gary and Phyllis left almost immediately and drove to Angel Fire where Phyllis’s sister and brother-in-law have their cabin.  The rest of the time we were there they travelled back and forth between their cabin in Red River and the hospital in Santa Fe where the brother-in-law had been taken.  We left Friday and the last we heard their brother-in-law’s condition was deteriorating.  Continue reading “Mountain cool” →

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Kari baked a cake, added baloons and celebration-specific paper plates and napkins to turn our Friday night get together into a retirement party.  Mixed emotions, as when your 15-year old daughter comes home at 3 a.m.  with a Gideon bible under her arm, are funny things.  It feels like I’m going on vacation, which we are since we’re headed to Red River next week, but I keep remembering that, no, living pay check to pay check is over.  Now it’s no paycheck, which is scary.  On the bright side, the days of working all day in the office only to go out into nearly the hotest part of the day for a couple hours before dinner to try and keep up with the work around SA are over, too. Continue reading “The road away” →

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This week the first shades of purple began appearing on the gayfeather. Since I haven’t mowed the north end there is quite a bit of it outside of the front yard so it should put on quite a show over the next few weeks. Other than cutting them back in winter before their seeds scatter everywhere, the gayfeather requires no other maintenance, not even water. Even in dry times like we have now it grows pretty and green, then puts on a purple show in late summer. It isn’t aggressive about seeding itself. I don’t see it in the nurseries but for my money it is hard to beat as an ornamental plant.

Continue reading “Gayfeather time” →

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There was a lot of rain that fell on the panhandle last week, but not much of it on SA.  Just by coincidence a small shower came along right after the men had finished installing gutters on the shop and above the garage back door at 1911.  Rain and even a heavy dew will run off the roof on to the back step and splash on the door.  Over time that has caused damage to the door and door frame.  The damage was repaired and a nice coat of paint put on it when I had the house painted recently.  I’m hoping the gutter will prevent the problem from recurring, or at least retard until I reach the point where I don’t give a damn anymore.  As for the shop, it also has a step on the north side and would be prone to the same problem.  The test shower showed that the gutters worked nicely. Continue reading “Testing new gutters” →

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It rained four nights in a row this week.  Unfortunately it totaled up to maybe half an inch.  Maybe.  Each day after rain during the night the sun came out long enough to make what little moisture there was just a pleasant memory, but the mornings were cool and the air fresh and clean.  One evening there were two huge areas of rain showing on the radar with just a little space between them, just enough to fit Amarillo in.  Another evening just about dusk clouds looking like the forces of doom rolled in low and fast.  Later there was almost constant lightening lighting up the horizon and flashing across the sky.  The rain came on strong but fizzled after a couple of minutes.  This weather pattern has had some entertainment value but mostly it’s just been frustrating. Continue reading “Rain and more rain” →