by 
Our balmy early January weather was interrupted by snow that crept onto the plains in the wee hours of the 24th and continued most of the day, though at times the flakes were minute. There was a time about midday, when the flakes were large and showy, silently drifting down onto the snow-covered ground. The flakes were building up on the trees, too, especially the pines and junipers, giving them a most pleasing aspect. No artificial Christmas tree ever looked better. The snow had a good moisture content and amounted to about of a quarter of an inch, which is not nothing in this part of the world.
Needless to say I skipped the Bluff and outside work, generally. I wasn’t idle, though. There were indoor things to do, and I managed to do some of them. The kitchen sink had started to drip so I gave it the vinegar treatment and got it continent again. My showerhead was gummed up with mineral deposit, so it, too, got the vinegar treatment. I even straightened up the hall linen closet, for good measure. Then there was the matter of the mancave that hadn’t been dusted and vacuumed in, well, a lot longer than is generally recommended.
Earlier in the month, I collected leaves and filled up the compost bin Kari procured for that purpose. It was down on the south end, and I mostly cleaned up all the leaves on the south end, though there has been some accumulation since, but that won’t take much to clean up. We decided the first bin worked so well, it would be nice to have one on the north end, not only to have the additional capacity, but also to be closer to the source on the north end. Some try to get a certain number of steps in each day, but I try to limit my steps where I can. Different strokes, I guess.
There’s a new Fetch in town. When Jill finished school and before she got her own apartment, she used to run errands for us, which was very handy, so we nicknamed her Fetch. Now that Rebecca is mobile, I think she’s going to be handy for, say, pizza pickup, and similar things. One Friday evening she got the opportunity to run her first errand, which was, well, pizza pickup. Never too early to start training them right.
Something savaged a couple of the agaves I transplanted at the Bluff. One best specimen I planted in the butterfly garden, while three more lessor ones I put in a sort of cactus garden the yucca was trying to takeover. I thinned out the yucca and some other undesirable growth before planting the agave. Whatever it was that sampled two of those, chewed off the leaves, which, admittedly, were on the sorry side. The objective appeared to be to get to the succulent base of a leaf and dine on that. Most of the leaves were inedible, even for an ungulate. The roots weren’t damaged other than where the leaf was torn off and the plant might just produce new leaves. I think these agaves are pretty tough customers and can overcome some mistreatment. Time will tell. My guess the critter that dined on some of the leaves was a deer. The leaves not being in the best shape, it didn’t have as robust a defense as healthy leaves. I’m hoping the other two agaves, the one in the butterfly garden and the third one in the cactus garden, will escape predation. Their leaves are formidable and may just dissuade any attacker.
Some time ago, the attic stairs in the shop malfunctioned, and, since that was the second time they had, I came up with a workaround, not wanting to go to the time and expense to repair the stairs once again. The problem is the springs attached to the swing arms are too strong. Over time and use, the springs will bend the arms inward until the springs hop over their retainers and will no longer support the ladder. I installed a deadbolt-type mechanism which required getting up on a ladder to support the weight of the attic ladder and throw the bolt. Chris and I were the only ones who could manage that process and wasn’t convenient for us. Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and spring for replacement arms. When I called the manufacturer of my attic ladder, I learned that they no longer had parts for my model. Bummer. I began searching around for a replacement and someone to install it. My search turned up an Amarillo heating and A/C company that I got my furnace and A/C from. I did not know they installed attic stairs, but they did, and, in fact, they installed a new one the next day after I called. It only took a couple of hours, and the new ladder is a big improvement. It does not use springs but pistons, sort of like what supports car hoods on most new models, though much heftier. The ladder itself is aluminum and thus much lighter. It’s a snap to pull down and raise back up. Why, I believe an adult female could manage it without any problem. Wasn’t cheap, of course.
Besides the snow we had last week, which was much welcomed, we’ve been having colder temperatures. Not like those we had in December, but cold enough. And wind. Lots of wind, and when it isn’t what we would usually consider windy, it is enough to make temps in 30s and 40s, not to mention teens and 20s, unpleasant. Well, it’s January. What are you going to do. Grin and bear it, I suppose. Not much else you can do. Won’t be long before we’ll be bellyaching about the heat.