Getting ready for new beginnings!

 Tomorrow when I wake up November will be behind me.  The bad memories can rest until next year.  It is not like shutting a door and moving on, it is just closing a door and living my life.  It all sounds good, doesn't it?  And I really wish it worked that way, but it doesn't.

I sometimes long for the days gone by when the only thing I had to worry about was whether I would be scared when my brother hid and jumped out at me in the darkened path on the way to the outhouse in the middle of the night!  Or whether one of us would drown in Vincents sandpit where we were cooling off on a hot summer day.  Or whether one of us would choke to death on a bone lodged in our throat from the big old Carp that momma caught in the Arkansas River when she seined for our supper.  Or whether that green Peach I stole off the tree by the chicken house was going to kill me for sure this time.

I remember the rabbit hutches and the babies that grew to be our supper.  I remember the nasty old Muscovy Ducks foraging for a scrap of something in the bottom of the mudholes behind the house where the kitchen sink drained out a pipe from the house.  I remember how the big red rooster used to seek me out and chase me out of the barnyard.  I remember my brother putting the baby kittens in a sack and throwing them in the river.  He wasn't being mean, he was doing as he was told.  Momma could hardly feed us, let alone a bunch of kittens.

Momma always said that people are like the seasons.  Babies are born like the Spring and are fresh and new and flourish, but when we get old we are like the Autumn.  We lose our leaves and and become skeletal like the barren tree against a cold dark sky.  

I have always accepted life in that manner.  I look around at my friend pool, and it is about dried up!  That young girl that used to race out the door and down the street to dance all night has ceased to exist.  The auburn hair is white now and the barefeet that used to fly across the floor are encased in a pair of orthopedic shoes.  The catfish that used to be fun to catch, dipped in corn meal and fried has been replaced by some sort of white, flaky stuff raised on a farm somewhere in a spring fed lake.  Most meals are steamed and fried is a thing of the past.

Fall is here and Winter is on the way!  That means I have to be careful not to slip and fall and wind up with a broken hip.  I have no desire whatsoever to jump in a snow drift or even throw a snowball at the mailman, or mailwoman as the case may be!  A trip out back with a bucket of water for the geese is about all the excitement this old broad can handle!

But I remember!  The kids today will never know the joy of walking home from school in knee deep snow.  They will never know the joy of a pair of galoshes with fur around the top that Santa Claus brought to replace the black ones that Jake grew out of and passed down to me.  They will never know the closeness of sleeping in a bed with 3 other kids.  They will never know what joy a Saturday night bath in a big aluminum tub was!  

The older I get, the fonder the memories become!  Momma always told me that someday my childhood would be something I would look back on and smile.  Something that would bring me joy.  And momma was right!

Momma was always right!

Momma said

 When I come to a place in my life where I am not sure which way I should go, it seems momma always pops up in my mind.  She always had the answer.  Whether she knew the question or not was usually a whole 'nother kettle of worms!  She passed before my husband, so I spent many years muddling through without her wisdom.  It is just a good thing that I lucked out and had a good, honest man in Kenny.  I do not know how I made it this far!

The one thing she did leave me with is something I will share with you.  When one of my friends or one of my husbands had disappointed me beyond belief and I expressed this to her that "I thought I knew him better than that", she said, "You never know anyone.  You know of them.  You know the part they let you see."  Those words have came back to haunt me more than once.  Sometimes it breaks my heart to know momma was always right, but she was.

I try to take tentative steps in my life and if nothing pops up in my path, I do pretty good.  I seem to have raised 6 kids who are pretty much responsible and successful and I think for the most part my life is pretty good.  I know one thing for sure, I took/take very good care of the geese !  I got the first 3 goslings when Bret was 8 years old.  He is 30 now and they are still alive.  

My plan was to sell this place when the geese were gone and travel around the country spending time with the kids and grandkids.  Not happening!  Like momma said "The best laid plans of mice and men ofttimes go astray."  I have a hard time typing because I have a cat that insists of laying on the keyboard.  I have a 2400 square foot house and this is the only place she can find to lay.

Fall is in the air and it will not be long before I am out there shoveling my way to the goose house so I can break the ice on the tank so they can drink. I buy 150 pounds of goose food a month which I unload and put in a barrel to feed them.   And I cannot even pet them!  They have never pecked me, but they are not conducive to physical contact.  Well, hell, neither is the cat!  When I try to pet her, she bites me.

So, it is 6 AM and the sun is going to pop up here pretty quick and start my day.  I guess it beats the alternative doesn't it? 

Or does it?

Life is becoming a blur!

I let the doggie out early.  Early to me is 4:30 AM today.  Sometimes early is 2:00.  It all depends on what time I wake up and what the prospects are of falling back to sleep.  It just seems kind of futile to lay there and wait for sleep to come when my mind is racing and I know there is not any hope of the arms of the sleep goddess cradling me into the oblivion that I welcome.  Back to the point.

I let the doggie out and of course he wants me to walk around with him, because he is apparently afraid of the dark.  I am here to tell you that fall is in the air!  I know it is hard to imagine when the afternoon sun warms us up to 100+ degrees, but it is coming.  The trees have the gentle rustle that tells me the leaves are drying and soon they will be yellow and falling.  Where did the time go!

It seems it was last week that I was poking around to find the Crocus that grow by the car port.  I was unhooking the hoses when I used them so that if it froze I would not lose the hydrant.  I was going to have a yard sale!  What happened with that?  Course I was going to have one of those last year and did not make it.  I did not even get the things that keep your neck cool made for the migrant workers.  Were there any migrant workers?  Are tomatoes ready to be canned?  This year went by so fast!

Wait a minute!  My whole life has gone by like a blur!  I am now old.  At least I think I am old.  I do not feel old, but I look at the obituaries daily in hopes my name is there and find people way younger than me.  My great grandmother lived to be 104 and until the last month of her life she was puttering in Aunt Mabel's kitchen and had all her wits about her.  On that scenario I could be looking at another 30 years.  Ah, come on, God!  Give me a break here!  That is a lot of putting on of the night gown and a lot of brushing of the teeth and filling the gas tank about 720 more times.  Let's put this in perspective here!

I have been a good girl, most of the time.  I have not killed anyone and tried to be honest.  I help my fellow man and can count on one finger how many times I have been drunk in the last 45 years.  I have pretty well followed the 10 commandments.  I do not steal, cheat or bear false witness, and pay my tithe at the church most of the time.  I am way too old to be dying young.

I guess I might as well accept things as they are.  That means I have to get dressed again today.  I have to pick the grandson up from pre-school and then the good part will begin.  5 hours later I will deliver him to his daddy and I will be worn to a frazzle.  I guess when it is all said and done, life is good.

But I hate to think that it is fall already, but the signs are all there!

Have a good one, because we never know when it will be our last one.

And I remember when 9 below was nothing, or so it seemed.

I crawled out of the sack this morning and man it was cold.   I heard it was supposed to be -9, but I just checked and it is -2.  So I inched the furnace up just a hair and thought back to 65 years ago, when the best I could do was huddle around the wood stove in the front room and try to get just a little heat going.  It was mostly Jake's job to get up very early and get the fire going.  It just was easier for him to bank the fire and throw on another log through the night than it was to get up and build a whole new fire.  That way at least a little heat was going.  The stove was closest to the room where Dad, Jake, Josephine, Donna, Mary ande I slept.  Momma slept in the back bedroom with Dorothy and sometimes Mary.
Going to bed was never really anything to look forward to, if you know what I mean.  In the summer it was not so bad because we kind of spread out and slept wherever there was a flat place, but winter meant getting out the blankets and all of us piling on the one bed that was not occupied by dad.  It was a matter of survival back then.  Blankets were mostly the old wool things that came from the Army.  They were scratchy wool and if we were really lucky one side would have a sheet or something tacked on to it.  The idea of a sheet under us and one over us was unheard of at that time. If such a thing existed they would be on dad's bed.  Elbows were pillows.  Jake slept across the bottom of the bed wrapped in his own cocoon because he was a boy after all and could not sleep with his head near our heads.  I realize this is a weird way of thinking and would be considered scandalous today, but it was what it was back then in the "Grapes of Wrath" world of John Stienbeck.
Usually this sleeping arrangement worked pretty well, but there were times it failed.  Mary was not completely dependable when it came to sleeping the whole night without an "accident".  On those nights she was unceremoniously awoken and hauled off to mothers bed and we were left to sleep around the circle of wet  mattress where she had been previously.  We usually tried to put her on the edge of the bed because then her little bed wetting problem was not so catastrophic.  And another bad habit she had was chewing her toenails and the edge of the bed gave her better access to her chosen target. ( I often wonder if she ever gave up on that little habit.)  Mary was always Dad's favorite because she was little, quiet and very sweet.
Josephine eloped when she was 15 or so.  That freed up some bed space and we were very happy to have those few inches of mattress.  Now I have to go on record here as saying she eloped with a man who was 29 years old.  Today he would be tarred and feathered, but then it was fairly normal.  The legal age for a girl to get married back then was 13 in the state of Mississippi and not much older in most of the other states.  I think that is right.  And if a girl wanted to get married younger than that she needed one of her parents to sign for her.  We have definitely improved on that law!
Back in those days if a boy got in trouble with the law, he could join the service and they would drop the charges.  He had to be at least 16.  Jake changed his birth certificate and got in when he was 16.  He was in the service and back out before most of his classmates graduated.  He was sure handsome in his uniform.
I can remember walking home from school after a snow storm.  We had a friend named Jim Davis and mother made arrangements with him to walk in front of us and break a trail in the snow.  Had he not done that we would probably still be there.  I recall once it was so bad dad brought the horse to break the trail.  When they talk about record snow falls, I know what they are talking about.  We measured it in feet back then.
So this morning I set here in my warm little house and look outside at the snow on the ground and wish I could stay home, but no such luck.  But I have a car that goes in the snow very well and if I just use a little bit of common sense I can make it to town and back.  It is supposed to warm up today and being the heat seeking woman I am, I am looking forward to that.

Stay safe out there!

It is all becoming a blur to me!

It seems it was only yesterday that I was poking in the soil to see signs of life in Mother Earth.  The next day we were in the middle of a stretch of 100 degree days.  This morning I am wondering if I should have unhooked the hoses last night so they would not freeze.  Oh, and some where during the intervening days I recall mowing and cutting weeds and cleaning the goose house and planting seeds and wondering where they went after they came up because the garden was shoulder high in weeds last time I looked.  Spring and Summer are a complete blur. 
I meant to take a vacation and go back to Kansas, but I must have forgotten, because it did not happen.  I meant to go on several hikes, like the Manitou Incline and up Tower Trail in Beulah to get seeds from the Sage plant, but I think it is too cold up there now.  I know it is pretty chilly when I go out in the mornings and I have that dew on my car windows.  Leaves are starting to fall in the yard and spiders are making their way in through the cracks.  Where did the summer go? 
I recall one of those pattern books with the  cute little sayings that can be embroidered in cross stitch.  I actually made several of them and God only knows where they went. I could use them now.  The first one was "When you are over the hill, you pick up speed."  That is the truth if I ever told it.  Seems like some where in the far recesses of my mind I was a kid and the days crept by as slow as molasses on a cold day.  I do not recall summer or winter affecting me as far as the creature comforts of warm and cold.  I do recall walking home from school behind my older brother and sister who broke a trail through the snow.  And I recall sleeping on the floor at school because we could not get through the snow.  It must have been very cold.  I remember those damned itchy wool blankets we slept under.  I recall jumping in the creek or horse tank or a mud puddle when it was summer, so I must have been hot. 
I remember the hayloft and how hot it was up there in the summer.  Sometimes if the hay was just a little damp the pile would start smoldering and the hay would have to be pitched out on the ground to save the barn.  I also remember how warm it was in the winter.  Course I also remember the mice and the cat. There was invariably a litter of kittens which would grow up to eat the baby mice.  Also spiders.  Damned spiders were every where.  Black Widows were the scariest.  We learned early to recognize the web of the Black Widow.  It was shiny and if I touched it with a stick it would crackle.  Sent chills through my bones.  And I could always see the Widow somewhere with her round marble body, shiny black.  Sometimes I could see her dead husband trapped in her web.  She killed him after they bred and that is why she was called a black widow.  There was one that lived behind the door into the chicken house.  Very scary.
(Why does everything always revert back to Nickerson, Kansas and my childhood?)
The other thing I cross stitched was one that said "Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most."  That was my mantra for many years until I decided that I had not really lost my mind, just sometimes I let it go on vacation without me!  I have been told that I should write my life story and I gave that a lot of thought, but that will not happen and here is why...
When I set down to start to write my mind wanders off.  I started to write about how fall is in the air and I had beautiful pictures in my mind, but then I started thinking about how the city fathers have now decided to remove those stupid bike lanes down on Fifth Street.  This started me thinking of how I learned to ride a bike in Nickerson, Kansas and that made me remember school there in the big two story brick building. 
I usually call this "digressing", but I guess if the truth be known, it is just the old adage "All roads lead home."  And I take great comfort in that.

If it is snowing, it must be spring!

This was last week.  Mid week I think when it snowed'

This was Saturday of last week when I hosted the 3rd Annual High Tea at our church.

And now we come to this week.  I have been out cutting trees that are in places they do not belong.  Oh, I bet your first thought was "You should wear a shirt."  I already thought of that and can you imagine what these arms would look like had I NOT worn a shirt?  All I can say is, "I must be a tad bit suicidal!

But isn't Springtime in the Rockies wonderful?  Just never know what to expect.  Last night the furnace ran most of the night.  Today the air conditioner beat a steady rhythm and now I am starting to open windows to let a little cool air in before the furnace kicks on!  Where else can we enjoy all four seasons every day?

On a good note, the onions are up.  So are the potatoes and Zucchini!  One little Basil plant is struggling for survival.  3 tomato plants are looking poorly in the garden; one is flourishing and 2 more in the trash can are actually blooming.  The broccoli, peppers, watermelons, cauliflower and cucumbers are sprouting in the tiny greenhouse under my deck chair.  The house next door is vacant for a while and I been running the geese over there to eat weeds on the back acre.  They are very happy.  I am very happy, but Big R is a little pissy because I am not buying grain this month.  Happy pocket book!

I walked over to Jackie's the other morning and took a short walk yesterday so I am hoping that this will help me with my health problems.  Probably going to have to walk more than that, but I seen 2 big dogs and they scared me.    I do not want to get eaten by strange dogs. 

I have had several people tell me that they miss my regular writing on this blog, so I am going to try to do better in that department.  See, I have been getting lazy and sometimes sleeping in until 6 or so and then my day has taken flight by that time.  I think of brilliant things to write about when I am laying in bed at night, but then I doze off and my genius is lost!  I now have a clipboard by the bed and hopefully I can begin to function once more as a productive member of society. 

Take my hand and walk with me for the best is yet to be!  (or something like that)

Saurkraut time? Oh, yeah!

Fall is in the air and I kicked the furnace on last night.  This morning I am setting here freezing with shoes, flannel pajamas, and a sweater.  Course a hot cup of coffee rounds out the picture.  I used to have a cigarette and an ashtray, but those days are long gone.  So what am I planning for today?  Going to be a busy one!

First I am off to breakfast with Kay and Frank who are getting ready to leave soon for the balmy breezes in Southern Texas.  As soon as breakfast is over I am headed for the produce stand up the road.  I think I am good on green chile's, but I will check that.  My goal for today is to find the good white cabbage and dig the crock out of the tin shed.  Yep!  You guessed it!  It is time to make sauerkraut!  I shall tote my cabbage home and begin the process.

I will wash and scald the 5 gallon crock.  Then I will dig out the mandolin that I inherited from Sherman.   With everything now in place I will begin by cutting each head in 6-8 wedges, depending on the size of the head, and begin the slicing process.  I want the slices uniform and very thin.  I have a big white plastic Tupperware container and when there is about 6 inches of cabbage in it I will sprinkle it with a heaping tablespoon of canning salt.  Next comes the tedious part.  I take my fist and work and mash the salt into the cabbage, bruising it and causing it to release juice.  When I have worked it enough that it starts to be a tad bit soupy (no way to tell you, just got to feel it) I will put it in the crock.

Now, I don't know it you have ever done this, but after a while my knuckles begin to get very tender and by the time the crock is half full I begin to wonder what in the hell I was thinking, so I take a break.  And then I remember what this is all about.  I love sauerkraut!  I do not love the stuff at the store in cans.  I do not love the stuff at the store in the refrigerated part either.  I love sauerkraut that is made with cabbage and salt and covered with a clean cheese cloth that is weighted down with a brick in my basement.

Oh, trust me, in about 2 weeks this big old house is going to stink to high heaven of rotten cabbage.  I will have to check it daily and remove anything that looks like it does not belong there, but in about 2 - 3 months, I will have the best sauerkraut in the world!  It is a lot of work, but worth every minute of it.  My knuckles will heal in due time and by then it will have stopped "working" and it will be time to process it.  This entails bagging it in my "seal a meal" bags and freezing it for future use.

I do not ever remember mother or anyone else making saurekraut, but somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind, I know what has to be done.  When Bret and Shelley were little I was fixing lunch for them and I made hot dogs.  I asked if they wanted the hotdogs cooked in with the saurkraut.  When Shelley asked what saurekraut was, Bret replied, "It is rotten cabbage."  As I recall that was the end of the discussion, but they did eat it.

Now, those of you who know me, know how many people live in my house and of all those people, only one eats saurekraut and that is me!  I may be considered an eccentric old woman going to all this work, but the way I got it figured is this:  I am only going around once.  Just once.  I am going to dance naked when I feel like it, howl at the moon, and eat what I want, which at this time of year is sauerkraut!  So if you want to smell rotten cabbage, come on over!  If not then don't, but it is Fall here in Pueblo, Colorado and Spring is a long way in the future, so I am going to be a little squirrley and put away my food for the Winter!

Fall colors and the animals are staying close.

Isn't this beautiful?  It is a house up on the corner by Lagree's.  The homeowners really gave some thought to the planting of these trees; red, yellow, green, red, yellow, green.  There is no rhyme nor reason to what happens in my yard at any time of year.  Guess I am a sort of "early morning dig a hole and stick something in it and hope it lives" kind of girl.   I admire this yard.

So, since it is cold tonight, I decide to just watch a little television.  I remember when Kenny used to say he was going to watch a little television, I would tease him because he always fell asleep.  I told him it must be a damn little television because it was hid behind his eyelids.  Sure miss him.  Anyway, I sat down to watch television in my 2400 square foot house and see how everything manages to fit into 2 square feet, most of which is on my lap.

On the left is Elvira wedged between my hip and the chair arm of the recliner.  I like to call it "my recliner", but we know better than that, don't we?  Daisy has her head between my knees and looks at me with sad eyes trying to figure out how to dislodge Elvira and get onto my lap.  Icarus is down on the fuzzy rug acting like she does not care.  I have no idea where my other foot went!  It must be some where!

OK, you guys can have the recliner and I will just stand here and look busy.  So this is how I spend most evenings.  When I am up here on the computer, the Daisy dog is under the desk at my feet and the Elvira is in the dog bed under the buffet.  Icarus is usually on my lap, but tonight she is still down in the big recliner.  I am going to post this and as soon as that is done I will turn off the computer and they will all three run into my bedroom.  Icarus gets her treat on my dresser and the dogs grab thiers and Elvira goes under the bed and Daisy eats hers on the rug.  I hop in bed and it is off to dream land for all of us!  Yes, life is good!

 

 

 

Where did summer go?

Good Lord Almighty, we were in the middle of a heat wave and now I am freezing to death.  I can not decide if I should turn on the cooler or the heater.  I have to make saurkraut and freeze peppers, but I haven't even got my fill of fresh corn on the cob, which is well past its peak.  Doesn't matter though.

That is what it looked like last year and I am pretty sure that will happen again this year.  Makes me cold just to look at that.  I have a step daughter who just loves the snow and cold temperatures.  I have often thought of slapping her silly, but I think someone already has!  Give me the good old summertime any day.  See, I have my own theory on this stuff.  I can shuck out of my clothes very quickly and I can shovel a lot of sweat in the time it akes to shovel the sidewalk! 
Oh, and that one about "We need the moisture." always makes me want to scream,  "Rain is moisture and I don't have to shovel it!"  And I don't slide around in the rain.
Well, I guess it does not make any difference.  I might as well bite the bullet and go to the market.  Since there is only me to contend with now days, I guess 25 pounds of kraut will hold me and one bushel of Pueblo Chiles.  Already have the okra pickled, chopped and some breaded ready to fry.  Did not do corn because that is just more than I have time and room for.  Did make a bunch of tamales. 
I have soap made ahead for my winter sales.  I do need to make all the lotions and body and face butter.  I feel like a little ant trying to get things put up and done so I can stay home this winter and not have to go out in the elements.  I realize that every time I step out the door I am getting one trip closer to a broken hip.  (Seems that is all us old people have to look forward to.)  So the plan for this winter is to stay close to the house and list a lot on eBay.  Course I have to mail packages, but that is just a 3 mile run to the post office in the drug store.  I will do that and work on my next book.
So, with winter just around the corner I bid you adieu from Colorful Colorado where the temperature is right now at 45 degrees and shooting for 87 degrees.  Gonna be here quicker than you think!
 

 

In the meantime, those of you who are confused by the title of my book "Chapter One...Loose Ends" are missing a good read.  When I started writing this book, I had no title in mind, so I called it simply "Chapter One"  meaning the beginning.  As I wrote the book took on a life of it's own and chose it's own title with the help  of my editor, Jeanne Gardner.  So do not be confused and think this is only one chapter.  It is the whole enchilada and is divided into Installments. 

 

So hit the little buy button there and I will ship you your very own copy.  And send me a note telling me how you want the inscription to read and I will autograph it for you!

 

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

I am awaiting the words of a groundhog?

Now this sounds like something an intelligent woman would do, doesn't it?  Let me see, if he sees his shadow he will run back into his hole and I will know that there will be 6 more weeks of winter.  Correct?  I got news for all of you, there will be six more weeks of winter whether or not some burrowing animal in Pennysylvania sees his shadow or not.  I live in Colorado and I know when it is winter here.  Winter does not even start till about now.    Right now it is 23 degrees and that is pretty wintery to me. 
Oh, I see by the news scroll that feeds across the top of the screen that he did see his shadow so there will be six more weeks of winter.  Glad he clarified that for me.  Know what would really impress me?  If he learned how to spell Punxsuatawney.  I was not even close, but the spell checker was.  Amazing isn't it?
Now there are signs the "old wifes" can read that will tell you all kinds of things if you know an old wife any where.  Like if the Caterpillar has lots of hair and it is very long, it is going to be a very cold winter. And if they build thier cocoon high when cocoon time is here, it will be a very wet season.  Oh, and there was that one that if the inch worm got on your foot and walked across it, you were going to get a new pair of shoes.  Course we never knew just when those shoes would show up, but they usually did at some point in time and it was all thanks to that worm.
If you spill salt you have to immediately grab a pinch of it and throw it across your left shoulder or you would have bad luck.  Oh and better see who was standing behind you or you  might have worse luck!  A broken mirror was sure to bring you 7 years of bad luck.  Bad luck usually started about the time your mom saw the broken mirror.  Never walk under a ladder cause that was bad luck.  And a black cat crossed your path you better change your course and damn quick!  So remember that inch worms are good luck and black cats are not. 
What I would like to know is who is going to teach this to the next generation?  I have forgotten most of the stuff and the generations coming up never listened so the knowledge is just gone.  I am sure some where out there that some one has written all this down and a ground hog in Pennsylvania is not the only guage of winter we have, but it is fun to watch. 
And hopefully on February 21, I will be able to give you a lesson on Shrove Tuesday and the great Pancake Day Race.  Going to be a great year so stick with me!

Sponsored Links

FREE Sweets & Treats Recipes for Your Sweetheart at CHEFS Catalog - Browse Now

FREE Valentines Day Dinner Recipes at CHEFS Catalog - Browse Recipes Now

I am just as serious as a heart attack!

Here I am having a visit with my geese.  There are 13 of those feathery fowl now.  This summer I did away with the pond and bought a really big stock tank.  My thoughts along that line were that it would be much easier to keep clean.  It is definitely easier.  And they love the thing.  Course I had to build them a dirt berm into it and a platform to give them footing to get out.  And in the digging process I screwed up my foot and neglected to go to the doctor so when I do get around to that I will probably have to have it amputated.  That is alright.  Easy come easy go.
So I had reason to be on the Southside a  week or so ago and happened upon a house which is currently being put on the market.  Full basement, 2 bedrooms up and 2 down.  Laundry down.  Patio. Storage shed with electric and cement floor in the back yard.  2 Car attached garage.  And neighbors.  Located on a cul de sac, so low traffic.  3 blocks from my friends Kay and Frank.  And the price is right.  I could sell this place and buy that one and put enough in the bank to live on for probably the rest of my life.
Now, I am thinking about this very seriously.  Yard work would be minimal.  Kitchen is a bit dated, but so am I.  The appliances are all new.  So is the furnace.  Only draw back is no outside fowl are allowed in the city.  Imagine the neighbors when I pull up with my stock tank and 13 honking geese!   If I could get lucky and find someone to buy this place that would take the geese and promise to never sell them, or eat them, or let the fox eat them, I would be headed for town in a New York minute. (That means really fast!)
Winter is coming on and I am sure at some point it is going to snow.  The pond will freeze.  The geese will run out of feed and all kinds of problems happen out doors.  I do not like winter.  Pueblo is not as bad as Hutchinson used to be.  We are kind of in a hole here and severe anything is just not the norm.  But if I was in town, I could just stay in the house.  Well, I still have to shovel the walk.  Except there I would have to shovel the driveway, my sidewalk and the one in front of the house. Here I just mash it down.  Cities have rules.  I forgot that.
So maybe I will just wait a little longer until I am really old and I can go into the Assisted living.  Hmmm.  Wonder if they will let me bring the 2 dogs, cat, 2 looms, machine quilter, embroidery machine, ebay crap.....
Guess I am going to be cursed with living forever!