Update on things here on the farm.

Just tossed the cat off my lap because I realized that I have not been very good at touching base with you.  Had the trip to Kansas and made it home in grand style, but life has rather gone down the crapper since.
On a good note, Evelyn is on track to get a job she really likes.  Should hear from her on that.
Went to Tia and Matt's wedding down on the Riverwalk.  That was great.  Unfortunately the pictures are stuck in my phone!
Amanda is now getting her teeth worked on and is she ever being a trooper about it!  Gonna be nice!
Garden was hailed out, but I have not turned the geese in on it yet because I may actually get a tomato.  Can't see any, but there is always that thing called a miracle.
Ripped the carpet out in the bedroom last month.  Then spent $3000 on brakes and transmission for the car, so new flooring was out.  But found some dollars so new flooring may be in this weekend.  Hooray!
About to wind up the online true/fiction/daydream that I had promised people I would do.  I am looking forward to putting that behind me and writing my next novel in the Chapter One... series.
Boyfriend is a wash, but you knew that would happen, huh?
Still working on my 500 mile walking goal for the year, but that is not looking too good either.
Meeting a guy from California today to deliver an oil painting that Sister Nancy had gotten from a family who lost their home in one of the fires.  It is by a local artist and it is important to all the principals that it go to a good home and this guy really qualifies.  This guy has driven out to pick this up.  First trip back to Colorado in 28 years, so I am going to take pictures and blog this one for you.
Oh, I almost forgot until I coughed.  I tripped in the back yard while loading the grill for the luncheon on Tuesday and wound up on the side walk and am now the proud owner of a knee the size of a soft ball and a cracked rib.  Honey, that slows me down!
Now, off to do stuff that has to be done for Lord only knows what reason.
Just wanted to say "hi" and let you know that I am still around!

 

Let me fill you in on my shenanigans then tomorrow it is back to Strong Street, Nickerson, Kansas

Icarus, the calico cat that seems to run the place here, just walked across  my modem, knocked my coffee cup on the floor and settled herself on top of the HP tower.  She is thinking about swatting that blinking light and if she does that she is going to hit the power button and I will be on hold for a while.  Let's hope that does not happen.  Just so you know I am keeping busy, I took the grand daughter and her beau to the Friday night Art Walk on Union. 
We first went to the library to see the Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt display.  We arrived simultaneously with the fire engine and the ambulance.  I do not know where the emergency was and no one inside seemed too alarmed.  We checked with the lady at the desk and she told us we were on our own for the art walk.  She suggested that we start over at the Cup and Cork, but since I knew what the "Cork" was and these kids are 15 or 16 years old, we skipped that part.  We were advised to just walk across the bridge and on up Union.  I opted to drive down there and leave the car in a central location and walk both ways.
Just wanted to see what that was about.  First it was cold.  We saw one group of carolers twice.  This very quickly lost all luster to the three of us.  We decided we were hungry and I wanted a greasy hamburger that would slam my aorta shut and get me out of my misery.  Where to go? 
I remembered Carl Jr's or Carl's Jr, or something like that and their advertisements that showed all kinds of stuff squirting out when the guy took a bite.  I figured some of that had to be grease, so off we went.  Bad choice.  I got a Bacon Cheeseburger, French fries, and a soda.  That was the driest thing I ever bit into.  Totally it consisted of a bun, hamburger patty, a piece of cheese, 2 pieces of tissue paper thin bacon that clung together for safety, two dried out onion rings that actually had at one time held an onion ring, and a stain on the bun that I later identified as barbeque sauce.  I squirted a couple packages of ketchup on it and did finally get it to drip.  Gross.  Even the French fries were not greasy.  The Dr. Pepper was pretty good.  Total cost for the three of us was $21 and some change.  I still have a fully functioning aorta, so if anyone knows where to get a greasy hamburger, please let me know.
Ah, I see Icarus has now gone over and settled herself in her box on top of the filing cabinet.  I see we are supposed to maybe by some miracle, get a little snow tonight.  Not thinking that is going to happen, but it is winter and it should.  I am going down and whip out a couple seed catchers a lady ordered and then I think I will work on my warp for the loom.  I will probably leave the computer asleep tomorrow since it is a busy day, but I fully intend to dredge up some memories about Nickerson, Kansas on Monday or Tuesday.  See you then.
 

************************************************************************
  This is the novel I have for sale. Do not be confused by the title. Chapter One simply means this is my first book. There may never be another, or there may be many more. I am very proud of this endeavor and guarantee you will enjoy the book in it's entirety. Just click that little BUY NOW button.     Lou Mercer

From the back cover

Chapter One...Loose Ends
Lou Mercer

Meg Parker led a simple life.  She was a widow of three years and lived on a chicken farm at the foot of the mighty Rockie Mountains.  Life was good and her little store on eBay made her extra spending money.  But snow and wildlife were not the only things lurking in the forest above her house.  Nor did it stay in the forest for long.

Marshall Purcell came home a wounded veteran from vietnam.  He still had his dreams, but they were of an incestuous past that threatened to consume him.

When Meg and Marshall met it seemed an inconsequential meeting, but it changed both their lives forever.  And change is not always a good thing.

This is adult fiction at its best without all the sex.  Well, maybe just a little bit. 

About the author.  Lou Mercer was born in Nickerson, Kansas. She came to Pueblo, Colorado in 1977 and is now a product of the majestic Rockie Mountains

Riverside Printing is my friendly printer!

When I decided that I really wanted to publish this book, I wanted to go local because Pueblo needs the money as bad as anyone else.  So I called several printing companies in search of one who did books and that included the "perfect binding" as opposed to the spiral.  I found one, took my info in the them and they promised a price.  Two days later I stopped in and the boss was still not in.  Couple more days and a couple more phone calls and still nothing.  After almost two weeks I renewed my quest.  And that is when I found Riverside Printing!

Here we are right on the corner of 9th and Elizabeth.  Riverside Printing. 

And here is Evelyn, who took my order, gave me a price and told   me all the little things I needed to know to make this book a reality!  Very nice lady.  I left my little flash drive with her and toddled on home, still raw from my first rejection.  Hopefully this one would want my money!

                                             

I was absolutely amazed when the phone rang that evening and Evelyn had a price for me!  I was astounded at the price, but then we discussed a larger quantity and the price began to fall.  My hat is off the that woman!  And then again when I ordered the books and said I would like a proof copy, I sat back to wait.  Soon I received a call for my original art work as it needed a bit of a tweek.  Emailed that over and sat back to wait.  Nothing on Friday, so I figured it would be another one of those deals.  Silly me!

The phone rang on Saturday afternoon.  Lady named Susie was at the golf course ready to tee off and had my proof in the car and if I would run by and pick it up she could get on with her game. I did not know that anyone in this town actually did business on Saturday!  So off I went and picked it up and the rest is history.   The pictures and barcode were perfect.  Inside looked good (I have since found a booboo, but that is my bad.) so we were good to go. 

I picked up 10 copies on Friday and those are already gone.  So I am waiting for Susie to crank up the presses and then I will launch the website and very soon you will have your copy in your hands!

One of my dreams has come true.

WHOOPS!!!



Class? Me? No, I don't think so.

Some one told me one time that I had class.  Well, did not so much tell me as mentioned it to someone else and I over heard it being said.  So now yesterday I had  hours alone with myself in the car and I had occasion to think about class.  There seems to be more than one kind of class, as near as I can tell.
If  an older woman walks by, dressed in a sedate outfit, maybe a hat, rings on her fingers and smiling sweetly, one might say "That is one classy lady." 
If a younger woman with an hour glass figure, short skirt and lots of bling sashays by, one might say "That is one classy broad!"
If we are entertained by an act that gives us pleasure, we say "That was a real class act!"
When some one responds well under pressure, they are said to have "class".
Well, I would like to tell you what I perceive as "class".  That would be saying and doing the correct thing at all times when in a public setting.  And what brought this on?  Well, SWM (Single White Male) that I see on a more regular basis than any other SM (Single Male) wrangled an invitation to Thanksgiving Dinner at some one's house.  Now, granted had I been cooking I would have probably invited him and he probably would have eaten with me, but I did not, so neither did he.
So, he talks to himself a lot and I am privy to his conversations.  "I will take a bottle of white wine, since that goes with poultry.  I will wear my black slacks, a white shirt, my camel hair jacket, the gray, I think.  The black loafers.  No tie.  What will you be taking?"
"The car."
"What will you be wearing?"
"My green fatigues, if they are clean.  The white and green tennies.  An obnoxious tee shirt and the corduroy coat.  I will snack on a bag of Clementines and tortilla chips with Black Olive Hummus!  And Willie and Charley will serenade me all the way."  Love that country stuff.
The man is over 6 feet tall and so he definitely has the height advantage going there. And  his nose always seems to look longer when he looks down it at me!  He listens to Classical music in his garage for crying out loud!  He knows the origin of every painting on his walls.  One is to be donated to the museum in St. Louis when he goes for his final dirt nap.  (There is another one.  He prefers to think of it as his demise.)
So, to make a long story short, I am here to tell you that class is here to stay.  I am the working class, the blue collar class, the common every day country western lovin' hick or hillbilly class.  My bumper sticker reads, "If it feels good, do it!"  When I wake up on the wrong side of the sod I will be cremated and my ashes thrown to the wind.  That way I do not have to lay in a dress on a satin bed and have anyone look down on me.   But I do want to clarify something before I leave.  I have a lot of classy friends. They know which fork to use and when to not cuss and all kinds of things.  And most importantly , I know they love me just like I am and that makes the whole class thing a matter of perception on the part of the beholder.  SWM considers me a unique individual.
"Gonna' take me to St. Louis?"
"Oh, hell no!"  :)

How Beulah, Colorado was saved by the dairy farmers.

                                                                             This is a totem right in front of the volunteer fire station in beautiful Beulah, Colorado.  The sign on it reads "This tale might have been very short had it not been about a cow."  This is located across the street from the Beulah Post Office.  It is also located in front of the fire station and the man who carved this is in a small room behind the fire station.  These people make really good use of space, I'm here to tell you.

This is a full shot of the totem as it stands.  It is hard to see the little cottage on the top and the intricate work that went into that!  You are actually going to need to jump in the car and drive on out there and take a look.  Call me if you need directions!                                                                

The next picture shows a close up of the cow.  You can also see a few peas in the pod there, although I do not know what they symbolize.  I can also see a goose that seems to have laid some rather golden eggs.

Now, I lost my notes on this, but I am going to try to relate the story to you briefly as it was told to me. It seems several years back the beautiful mountain community of Beulah found itself in the throes of a drought.  There was no rain and no signs of rain.  The snow melt had already found it's way down the mountain and as you all know, water does not run uphill.

People were hauling water for drinking as best they could but how would you like to try to haul all your water you use everyday up the hill and try to store it?  Ah, to the rescue came the dairy farmers! They had the means to haul milk to market and the return trip could be carrying water!  Of course, they had to make a few extra trips, but that is how the dairy farmers saved the town of Beulah from extinction.  Seems like I recall reading about this after I had relocated to Colorado, so I know it was in the last 30 years. 

So this work was commissioned by folks in Beulah in honor of the dairy farmers.  This totem was created by John Clay who has made several of these totems around the Beulah area. John gave me a map of the locations of some of his art work in the area and if you are interested just leave me a note. 

I am sort of keeping my eyes open around his shop cause he has a big tree root back behind that he is starting to whittle away on and when it is finished it will be "The Dragon's Nest."  That is all I am going to tell you about that.  I plan on doing an update on John in the very near future and showing you pictures of his shop and the band aid box on the wall!

In the meantime, if you want to get a hold of John and have him carve up one of your dead trees, his number is 719-485-9605, and as always, just tell him Lou sent you!

          

John Clay's Proud Indian Chief who lives at the Beulah Inn.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      . 
This majestic wooden Indian stands proud and tall in the Beulah Inn, which is located in the quaint little town of Beulah, Colorado. Now, this Indian is the work of the local Artisan, John Clay. You will remember he is the man who carved the Dragon Tree on Pine Drive for Catherine Halcomb. I had been meaning to get back up to Beulah and meet with him again, but procrastination reigns supreme in my life and I had not gotten around to it.  I did make it up there to take this picture and have a little supper while I was
there, sort of the killing of two birds with one stone sort of thing.

                                                                                  I do not remember exactly what I ate, but I do seem to remember that it was pretty good fare and there was a really lot of it.  Course Bret and Amanda were with me and Bret especially liked the "lot of it" part.  He is 18 and eating is a very big part of his life.  I would say eating is to him what breathing is to you and I.  So back to the Indian fellow here.  We measured him and he stands  5'5" tall.  I'm a thinking that the black mask he wears tends to make him look a little mean, but course if he is only 5'5" tall he needs to look mean!           

John Clay goes to a lot of work to make his creations look real and this Indian is no exception.  I do not remember what the hours are at the Beulah Inn, but I  will look them up and post them on her.  Hey ! I  could like call the place.

See when I took this picture I was in hopes that I could read the hours and days and would not have to actually take note.  To make a long story short, in these hot old days, a little spin up to Beulah is just the ticket for getting in a power vacation and killing a couple hour.  We need to kind of support our neighbors West of here so they will remain there so we can go see the.  i know some singer bought a house up them .  Michael Martin Murphy or John Michael Murphy.  Something like that.  Hey, I just report the parts I remember and you are probably figuring out that there is not a whole lot of facts in any of my reporting.  If I wanted to actually work at this and do it right, I would be working for the New York Time or somebody like that for a big wage and not setting up nights for nothing but the glory!

Ah, Once more I have digressed, but I have got something to hit the publish button for, and after all, that is the name of the game!

Beulah, Colorado still awaits in the beautiful Rocky Mountains!

Oh, there is my friend Jan!  I have not been up to see her in the lovely city of Beulah for 2 months!  I miss her! The last time I was up there she told Michael Martin Murphy or some one like that has bought a place up there and spent the whole day just hanging out there. I was so jealous!

See, here is what happens in life and it happens all too often, life gets in the way!  I think I am going to do this or that and the next thing I know, I am off doing something that was not in the plan at all.  Like today.  I woke up this morning on the right side of the sod, which is the up side, and thought "Oh, what a beautiful day!"  Now that is as far as the thinking process got me.  I need to go do chores.  Then I will stop by the garden and pull some weeds. Need to put a new something on the duck house door to hold it shut.  Then the sink is full of dishes, bed needs made, emails need answered and on and on. Life has gotten in the way.

See that lovely lady up there?  That is Jan Miller who owns the Stompin' Grounds Coffee House in Beulah.  She is my friend, but I can not seem to find the time to drive the 20 miles up there and see her. I know if I would just jump in the car and drive up there she would be so happy to see me and I would have a wonderful adventure in the picturesque town of Beulah, but I continue to let life get in the way.

Well, never mind!  Today is Thursday and she is closed on Thursday.  Open everyday but Thursday 7:30-2:00. Then she is open Saturday night from 5-8 for Pizza, Calzones, salad and desserts.  So Saturday I am not going to let life get in my way.  I am going to load up the boy and girl and go to Beulah for lunch with my dear friend, Jan!  Maybe I will see you there!

The DragonTree in Beulah, Colorado, up close and personal!!

 We were on our way to the park in Buelah.  Just cruising along headed uphill on Highway 78 when this Dragon jumped up right in front of us!  Renate almost ran off the road. I, of course grabbed for my camera, but alas, it was not to be found in this car.

So, being a woman possessed, I decided to go back up with camera in hand on Monday. I had told some of the chatters in my chat room about this, and of course, they thought I was nuts. One of them got online and found Bishop's Castle, but there was nothing online about a DragonTree in Beulah!

Need to give you a little history here.  One of these fellows is a firm believer  that if it is not on Google, it does not exist. Very faithful fellow. I told him I was sure I would know before Google, but he had no faith; hence the trip to Beulah in 105 degree heat. I took a friend with me because he is really tall and I thought he could get better pictures. And he was very sucessful as you can see. Just a shame that I can't get the pictures the size I want or where I want, but that is not his fault! Well, I guess it is my fault, but ....

                                                                                                                                        

 

This is the base of the tree and it is indeed a tree.I spoke with the  man who did this.  His name is John Clay and he does this kind of work on commission.  This one was made for Catherine Halcomb.  Pine Drive used to be a divided road and this tree was in the middle of it.  He said you can still see the old road bed. So Catherine contracted with him and he gathered up his tools and went and created this work of Art!

I will be meeting with Mr. Clay hopefully next week.  He is going to give me all the details of who, what, when and where.  I am very excited about the City of Beulah and I am going to post a lot of pictures and give you a full report on the happenings.  I know they have an Beulah Art show at some point in time and we will be there, front row seats!! And being in the  mountains, the beautiful Rocky Mountains, it will be cool and clean this summer.  What a respite!

If you have some carving you would like done, just give John Clay a call at 719-485-9605. Oh, and be sure and tell him Lou sent you!

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures and don't forget to stop and see Jan, my BFF at the Stompin' Grounds Coffee Shop!

And my words of wisdom for today Keep your eyes open so you do not miss the Dragons in your life!!