One Week In Longmont

Today marks one week since we arrived in Longmont. We rolled into town las Saturday shortly after noon. Weather wise we had sun each day until yesterday - though it tried to poke through the clouds over by Denver International Airport while we were there. We had snow Tursday night inbto Friday - per our local retired weather man we had 4.5" here. He also said we unusually got more snow than Boulder. This morning I woke up to heavy fog but the weather forcast says we should have sun by mid day. It is also cold this morning at 18º. I have enjoyed uppper 40º days until Friday. I have to say that for the past week, weather wise Longmont has been good to us.

On my part I have figured out my grocery shopping spots and my house cleaning chores and my cooking. Thursday night we had five guests joiun ujs for dinner. These arfe friends who Sharon met while she was consulting for the Boulder Valley School District. We had a great evening of good convefrsation and food. I made Tamal Azteca, which turned out great, and sangria, and in honor of the Yew Year - black eyed peas. Sharon made a jicima and orange salad and chocolate bread pudding. Our dinner was all vegetarian. The kitties both took to our guests and enjoyed the attention.

Friday afternoon Larry and Dave came in and we picked them up at Denver International Airfport. This was our first drive from Longmont to DIA and even though the roads were a little snowy in Longmont they we pretty clear on the expressway. It took us just under an hour to get there. With clear weather it should be around 45 minutes. If the ExpressToll web site will ever load I will know how much that trip cost. After we dropped the boys luggae off at the house we tried a Longmont Institution for lunch - Cheese Importers. Kind of a funky place but the sandwichs were good.

We went together to look at the townhouse that we saw in October and liked. We still like the plan and the location. The price though has gone up 5% to $420,000. I am not happy with that. If we move to Longmont I think I could be happy with it. Lots of space, a super master bedroom and deck, and a very functional kitchen and living area. Plus a 1,000 square foor basement for my workshop.

For dinner I made my first take on Colorado green chili and pork plus we had left over Tamal Azteca and jicima and orange salad. I think I did a pretty good job on the green chili. I used a recipe I found on The Food Lab. In placed of the traditional Hatch peppers I used a combination of poblano, anaheim, and jalapeno peppers plus some tomatillos.

Today Sharon and Larry are working out at Orange Theory in Boulder and Dave and I are reading and watching TV and blogging while we keep the cats company. The sun is trying to break through the fog. This is going to be a nice day.

 

Random Thoughts

Older homes have a narrative of the families who have lived in them and around them. Ours have a narritive going back to the 1920s when it was built. We know little of that narrative other tha. the 21 years we have lived here we know the Halquist family came before us and the Anderson family before them. Our 21 years here have been comfortable and the house has been filled with friends and family. We are still comfortable and content here.

Which brings me to thoughts on moving to Colorado. The cold last couple of winters here and my body's issues with that cold are what has prompted our looking into moving to Colorado. This is why we are renting a house for seven weeks in Longmont. If the weather is milder during those months and the sun is shining I may be more comfortable with my neuropathy. Sharon pointed out this week that we shouldn't make a move based on change for the sake of change and she is right. I have been excited about the possibility of change - a new modern home, a new city to explore, mountains to see, trout streams to stand in. But, we should look at what we might give up. Leaving friends behind, being 600 more miles from Kathy, Kevin, and Brady. For me that is somewhat offset by being 800 miles closer to John, Kristie, Avery, and Anika.

Today I used J&R Automotive in Glen Ellyn to replace sway bar links on Red. They have been in Glen Ellyn longer than we have and I have never used them for automobile service. I drove over there at about 7:15 this morning, dropped off the car, and walked home. They called shortly with an estimate and I had them replace all four sway bar links, front and back. Total cost $340. The same service from the Mazda dealer which I will no longer go to, $322 for the front and $522 for the rear. J&R was done by 9:30 and I walked back over there to get the car. Easy.

As I walked back and forth from J&R and our house I looked at all of the houses along the way. Some are in fantastic condition, some are not but, back to the first paragraph here, they all have a narrative. We will start a new narrative if we purchase a new home in Colorado.

A Chilly, Cloudy Day In Sitges is Still A Day In Sitges

We woke to rain and found ourselve more sluggardly than even our normal. There is little incentive to venture out to chilly and wet, but we did eventually. The high point of the day was taking the Mon-Bus to the Aeroport Barcelona to meet Sharon. She had a difficult time getting here starting with a three hour delay getting out of Chicago. That meant she missed the 10:00AM flight from Paris to Barcelon and was finally on the 3:25 which got her to Barcelona around 5:30. We made it back to the piso around 6:45 and then went to Yamluna for cava and dinner. It is good to have her join us.

 

 

 

When Will It End?

Cold and more cold. Spring officially arrived last week and it snowed. We had a hint of spring the next two days and then it turned colder again. I saw my gold fish when the ice melted and no longer covered the top of the pond, but then yesterday morning and this morning there was a new layer of ice on the pond. Yes, it was thin, but still ICE.

We are now expecting snow tonight and the temperature dropping to 16° and then warming all the way to 29° on Tuesday then slowly warming to the 40s and perhaps as high as the 60s on Sunday. Can you see how I am tired of this? Update March 26, 2014. The pond has been ice covered for three days now and yesterday morning we woke to one inch of snow. It is now 11:00am in Glen Ellyn and the temperature is a balmy 25°.

Cat pictures of the day. Every morning Shelby has to lick water from the shower by pushing his head around the corner of the shower curtain. He usually manages to get both his head and his tail wet which he then shares with us but rubbing up against us. He also has to be on the sink when we are using. LC will sit on the edge of the sink occasionally, and will drink from the water glass placed on the sink for them, but she is much nicer about the whole bathroom water issue. Other cat owners will understand the cat/human bathroom interactions. You are never alone in the bathroom with a cat or a toddler.

Shelby in the tub

Shelby behaving

Brady and Kathy visited last weekend. Kathy was here for the Shamrock Shuffle walk/run. We got to spend some time with Brady while Kathy was in the city. We had a nice, though sort visit.

Sun through the snow

Sometimes snow can be pretty. One of our last snows came down wet and clung to the trees. Then after the snow the sky cleared and the sun and blue sky was beautiful against the snow. Our official snow totals this year indicate just over 80 inches of snow for the season. this is the second or third most snow since Chicago record keeping started in 1885. This has also been one of the coldest winters on record. Brrrr.

I smoked ribs today - this first time using the smoker since last fall. There is still snow on the patio but I can get to the grills and smoker. If I've done this right, this You Tube video shows you my secrets. I haven't done anything like this, except for some short ukulele and kazoo videos. This is a long one and was a learning experience! All done with my iPad.

 

Polar Vortexing!

For the second time this winter we are being hit with the effects of he polar vortex. This morning Sharon flew off to Denver, Colorado where it is tankfully warmer than here! Last time the vortex did its thing she was scheduled to fly to Cleveland and her flight was cancelled. This time her flight was a go - except for the fact that the toilet froze before they got off the ground and they had to change planes.

It was -1 degrees when we left the house today at 5:00am. Even though the sun was shining through most of the day, the temperature dropped during the day and now at 9:00pm, the tempertature here in Glen Ellyn is down to -8. We are supposed to get down to -18 by morning. Yikes!

I spent the day inside except for the trip to O'Hare and one trip out to bring in the garbage and recycling bins and to get the mail. And, I was thankful that I put plastic film up on the inside of windows and put up the last storm window yeterday. The house is chilly, but there are few drafts. I was thankful that Shelby wanted to cuddle on my lap when I was on the computer and watching TV. He knows how to keep warm and keep me warm. I can take this time to pull of income taxes together and other paperwork tasks. I need to finish laminate in the basement but it is even too cold down there at 60 degrees.

Bring on warmer weather!!!

 

Welcome Home!

Last night we arrived home from our trip to find a driveway full of snow and two very hungry kitties. Our cat sitter must have mistaken when we would arrive home and left our kitties a day early. They forgave us though and we are not being punished.

Darn it is cold here! This winter has been one of the coldest in a long time. Last night Sharon said that if our winters were going to continue to be this uncomfortable, we should consider moving. But where?

I'm off to a fast start with blog entries so far this year. I'm on number five and we are not even done with January.

I just came inside after a short session with the snow blower. It is too cold to do the whole driveway at one time. I've got perhaps 1/3 of it done and my fingers were so frigid in my really good gloves that I had to come inside for some warming. I guess my fingers have recovered because I am typing.

I read online today that 24% of Americans didn't read a book this past year. Or is it 25% did read books? Whichever it is, it is a sad number. Read more books! I do most of my book reading on my iPad now after making the transition a couple of years ago. I'm on my third book this year. I've finished up the series on the life of a Roman Legionary by R.W. Peake and have started on an AI series by William Hertling. There is a big difference between historical fiction and science fiction, but I do enjoy both genres.

Enough, back to blowing snow!

 

The Polar Vortex Chill Eases and Lessons Learned

Today we are above 0°! In fact, our thermometer indicates 15°. It is hard to imaging that on Monday we were down around -15° all day. It is now 30°s warmer and it is still darn cold!

This "polar vortex" hit us hard, practically shutting down the airports, making the roads a slippery mess, causing ice to form on the inside of some of our windows, and making our house darn uncomfortable! Sharon and I have pretty much been hunkered down since our ill fated trip to O'Hare on Monday. Sharon has been working at her computer helping clients in Ohio and Alaska. It is warmer in our house than at the office in Ohio and warmer outside in Alaska than it is here.

A few things I learned. When it is -15° outside, I should not let our furnace follow normal programming at night. Usually in the winter our thermostat drops us to 60° or 62° at night and then brings the furnace on in the morning to raise the house temperature to 68°. On Monday it was so cold outside that it took a good eight hours to get us up to 68°. On Tuesday night I let the temperature drop to 64° overnight and we recovered very quickly.

Also, windows that leak air normally seem to leak a lot more when it is so cold outside. I sealed the edges of a kitchen window and door with painter's tape to cut down on drafts. It did make a difference. Also, we normally leave one storm window off of our kitchen windows - this was a bad choice this year.

We have had a constant stream of birds and squirrels to and from our feeder in the back yard. We have seen cardinals, chickadees, nut hatches, downy woodpeckers, sparrows, and red and gray squirrels. Sharon observed a squirrel running up the maple tree with a tortilla we placed out side. The squirrel was attacked by a blue jay and the jay took the tortilla when the squirrel dropped it.

Rush Limbaugh says the Polar Vortex is something that the liberal media invented to explain away global warming. Lots of people have been saying the cold shows that global warming is not happening. Do they forget the difference between local or regional and global? Global weather is not indicated by the weather around you at this moment.

 

The Chill of January

January and February are generally the coldest and snowiest months here in the Chicago area and so far this January is living up to that standard. This past week we have seen first a 12 inch snow and then after a short break, another eight inches. On top of that, the bottom has dropped out of Canada and Arctic air is flowing in. As I write this the temperature in Glen Ellyn is -15F. That is with sunny skies! It was about the same when we left the house at 4:30 this morning.
What were we doing leaving the house at 4:30 AM on such a cold day? Sharon was attempting to get to Cleveland. American Airlines sent her a text before we left the house that indicated the flight was on time. About 10 minutes from O'Hare Sharon received another text that indicated her flight was cancelled. We went to the terminal and Sharon trudged in with her bag and briefcase to see what she could do. They told her the soonest she could leave for Cleveland was at 4:30Pm on Wednesday. I was waiting at the curb when she returned and we headed home.
The roads were in terrible shape except for the tollway. With all the snow that we have seen plus super low temperatures, the snow plows could not keep up and salt was not working to melt the snow and ice. We were happy to get home and stay home.
Sharon is working from home and I am piddling. Did a little house pick up, took a nap, read some, and now I'm blogging. I should do something productive like singing, or ukulele practice, or piano practice, or even finishing putting laminate in the laundry room!