A Year of Change

Ok, some of you have no clue who Blackberry Smoke is, but if you do, you’ll know what I’m talking about. What an amazing show! These guys have been around for about 25 years and are probably the best rock band, a lot of people don’t know about. Tonight, they’re playing at the Ogden Theater in Denver, and they’re so good, we thought about driving down for another show. The only tickets left though, are general admission, so sadly we’ll pass.

Lori knew a bunch of their music as I play the shit out of it in the truck. Melanie knew a couple songs from the radio, and I think Marty was a virgin. They all loved the show. Thanks to Gerry and Marci, who are big patrons of the Vilar, we had the best seats in the house. The seats are the ones they have for every show, all year long. It’s basically a box with four comfortable chairs, tons of leg room, and no more than ten feet from the band on stage. That makes it even better.

The opening band, Cousin Curtis, which was two guys, was also great. Blackberry smoke played a good two hours and was right up there with the Stones, in their own way. Marty and Melanie lucked out as James and Addy were supposed with us, but the show was rescheduled from March 28th to last night as the drummer passed away in early March. Great time, Rock On!

In other news, they’re still trying to get rid of Old Joe. But like a stubborn old man, he doesn’t want to seem to go. I think they’ll eventually kick him to the curb, but what a mess things are right now for the Dems. I think they’ll try to slide in Kamala, but she is even worse. All you can say is, wow!

Beautiful morning up here. It’s going to be super-hot in Denver the next three days. Our a/c guy, Oscar, showed up and switched out a capacitor for no charge and we’re back up and running, just in the nick of time.

Ty works today and so does Jag. I was running down to Denver but think I’ll wait until Tuesday when I get the oil changed on the truck. That’s it for today, have a great weekend, and God Bless.

Thank God it’s cool up here at night as I think we need our a/c serviced. It just wasn’t putting out as much cold air as normal. I texted Stacey, the owner of the company that installed it. Right now, we have the patio doors to the backyard and front windows open. That’ll cool things down fast.

Tonight at 7 we have the Blackberry Smoke concert. Jag texted he’s too busy to come up, so Marty and Melanie are going with us. Ty was going to go, if Jagger went, so he’s passing too. No big, we’ll have fun. Haven’t talked to Jagger much, he’s super busy with work. He might come up in a few days, according to Lori.

Fire season is here. How quickly we go from too much rain to fire season. This will be a tough weekend with the hot temps. Luckily it hasn’t been very windy lately.

Yesterday 195 Democrats voted against people having to provide identification to vote, hmmm. That should tell you all you need to know. Joe is still in it to win it! Those are his words, or should I say, his wife’s. What a mess.

6am now, guess I’ll go. Not much else going on. Make it a great day and God Bless.

Going to be hot this weekend, so they say. Not as hot up here as down in Denver, but still probably 90 or so. That’s fine with us, bring it on. Think I’ll put some ice cubes in the bird bath. It is in the 40’s up here right now, 36 in Leadville!

Lori works in Frisco today. She had another doctor appointment yesterday and is hopefully on the mend. I’m doing stuff around the house and working on the computer. I’m hoping to run down to Denver tomorrow to start the paperwork on one of my recent Colt acquisitions. If so, I’ll be there by 9 and be back up here by 11:30 at the latest.

I’ve been back on my program which really just means, eating right. I’m down to 206 pounds this morning which is a good weight for me. I’m headed towards 200, maybe even 195 to be in ultimate shape. Don’t want to be too skinny, ha.

Jag is coming up today! Ty is home tonight after work and we’re all going to the concert tomorrow night at the Vilar. We have Gerry and Marci’s box seats, which are the best seats in the house. Should be a fun show. Think I’ll get them some Asian steak from the meat market. They both love Asian food. I think it’s because it’s so salty.

That’s it. Enjoy summer. We’re looking for a milder than normal winter. The forecast has us right on the edge. I need to grab a Farers Almanac, as they’re the most accurate. Mom taught me that! God Bless.

This morning Lori saw the baby robin take a few flights between the nest and our front porch light. I’m not sure who is prouder, the mama bird or Lori! There are two fledglings in the nest so I’m not sure how Lori knows which bird took its first flight, but I guess moms know those kinds of things.

Lori is going to go into work for a bit today. She thinks she’s turning the corner. This has been a bad infection; unlike any she’s ever had. We have our suspicions of where she got it (annual physical at the doctors) but can’t be sure.

It was cool last night, almost cold. We had our comforter wrapped around us tight this morning at 5:30am. It’s in the mid 40’s up here this morning.

I finally obtained a few Colt Single Action Army pistols yesterday, at the right price. I’ve been trying to get two of the three for over six months at the right deal. The third I just stumbled upon through my network of dealers and collectors. For those of you that don’t know, these are the guns of the Old West and are superb investments if you know what to look for and can buy them right. I’ve been a Colt collector for well over 10 years and have a dozen books explaining all the details of each generation of pistol (there are three generations) and other relative stuff. Some of my books cost hundreds of dollars! There are a few books out there that go for thousands of dollars! Luckily, I bought mine years ago at list price which must have been something like $29.95 to $49.95 depending on the book. If anyone is interested (Robert?) I have a fun list of 360 influential people that owned Colt SAA’s. This helps track some of the more influential guns in history. It includes everyone from obvious guys like Wyatt Earp to Billy the Kid, General George Patton, and to other people you might not think were Colt collectors like Mel Torme, the famous entertainer mom and dad’s generation used to listen to. It’s fun to read through the list and see where these important guns are now. Lots are in museums but others in private hands. Anyhow, I’m super excited to have found the three pistols I did at the right price. Someday the boys will be thrilled as these things beat the stock market many times over, and that’s saying something with the way the market is going. You just have to be educated as it’s easy to get burned if you don’t know what you’re doing. One of my fun hobby’s.

6:45 am now. I hope to get my office cleaned out today and do some more work in the basement. If Lori starts feeling crummy, she’ll just come home, but is giving it a go. She has two patients getting spinal cord stimulators today, so she wants to be there.

Looks like Joe is staying in, at least for now. I’m good with that, let’s go! He makes for good tv! Have a great day, less than a month and pre-season football will be here!

Make it a great day and God Bless.

Yesterday a lot of the day was spent taking care of a baby Robin fledgling that tried to fly, (or fell) from the nest out front that’s been there since we built the house. The mother bird would dive bomb Lori whenever she would be out front looking for it to make sure it was safe. Finally late in the day, when Lori saw a garter snake, she got out the ladder and put the baby bird back up in its nest. Then she put a comforter under where the nest is in case it falls out again. The mother bird is taking care of it now and it seems to be fine. It was just hoping around the driveway most of the day as it’s still too young to fly.

Great day up here, 80 degrees and super nice. More of the same today. Other than taking care of her birdie, Lori took it easy most of the day. She’s still trying to get better. It’s only day 3 of her antibiotics so we have a way to go.

Technically we’re both off all week but I’ll get some work done with the free time. I am going back to the hardware store to get some stuff for the yard.

Ty worked until around 8:30 last night, long day. It was just him and Molly up front and then the kitchen crew. They probably had close to 100 people, so they were busy. We drove down to check it out.

I’m still trying to kick what I think is allergies. I’m also on a Z-Pak, as I’ve had an earache and a bit of a sore throat for days. It’s always something, right.

Looks like a heat wave at the end of the week, 100 degrees in Denver which means the 90’s up here. All good though, summer is here.

7:30 now as I tried to sleep in. Make it a great day and God Bless.

We spent most of the day with Lori resting. She had a 101 degree fever last night before bed but seems to be fever free this morning. We did go out for some groceries, but that was about it. Our close friend, Ben, who had the July 4th party, wasn’t feeling well and ended up in the hospital! He’s still there as they found a freakin blood clot between his heart and lung! WTF! I told Lori he seemed a little out of sorts on July 4th. Ben and Eleni are the other couple that went with Lori, James, Addy and I on Lori’s birthday, to the Kentucky Derby Party.

Mom used to say, getting old is hell. While that’s true, I prefer to look at it as a privilege, as a lot of people don’t get to grow old! So there, glass half full.

Good news, my good buddy, Davy, is buying the house basically next door to us! He and Abby (his wife) moved from Vail to Santa Fe, and it just didn’t work. About two months ago, when we were talking, I told him, just go tell Abby we’re moving back to the Valley. Last night he said when he got off the phone with me then, he went and told Abby just what I said. Turns out, they’re buying the house two lots up from us! His uncle is one of the Supreme Court Justices. Jag and Ty went to school with a couple of his kids. Davy is also going hunting with James, Marty and I in October. It’ll be really great to have them as neighbors. He and I are super excited. Their family, Gorsuch, has been in the Valley since Vail was founded.

Ty came home last night. He’s basically assumed the role of front of the house manager at the restaurant. He directs the staff on what to do and they all come to him when they have a question. As I said, this is for the front of the house, not the kitchen of course. He works at 10 this morning as they’re doing that Sunday night thing during the summer. Tonight is fried chicken night! We might go as I love fried chicken!

Everyone has been sending well wishes to Lori and is sorry we had to cancel our trip. In a weird way, I’m actually kind of relieved. Don’t know why, just a feeling. I have to tell you, right now is about the most beautiful time there is to be in the mountains. 75 to 80 degrees every day and the high 40’s at night. Gorgeous outside right now with blue sky and cool temps.

Jag and Ava are doing well. She heads back to New York tonight for about 3 more weeks. He’s done with his summer graduate class and of course was tops in his class. He has 3 more weeks of work too and then will be done around August 3rd.

That’s it, time to go. Have a great Sunday and enjoy life! God Bless.

Yesterday evening we had to cancel our trip. We were at the doctor at 8:30 in the morning as Lori has a bad UTI. They gave her some prescriptions, but by 6pm, they weren’t kicking in yet, and she was actually feeling worse. Being the trooper she is, she didn’t let on just how bad she was feeling. As soon as I found out, (she now had a fever at 6pm), how much pain she was in, I jumped on the phone and began cancelling things.

Other than having to pack and then unpack, we’re no worse for wear. Everything was refunded and all the points from United and Marriott are back in our accounts. We have about 800,00 United points and 700,000 Marriott points to use down the road.

Lori felt horrible and is still apologizing but if you know me, I move on from things in about 5 minutes. I’m lucky in that I don’t dwell on things that happen as to me, as I see it as just part of life. If we were meant to go, we’d be on a plane. We’re not, so we we’re meant to, it’s as simple as that.

I slept in until 7 and as tired as I am, I would have had a hard time getting up at 4 to get to Denver and the airport. If Lori gets better (she’s back at the doctor today for something stronger), we might hop on a plane and go to Coeur D’Alene Idaho for a few days next week and hang out on the lake. We’re planning on going up at the end of the month, but might move that up, we’ll see.

Everyone feels so bad for us, but again, it’s not like anyone died. I feel bad for Addy who was planning on grabbing Lori for some girl time in Madrid. I’ll see James in around ten days.

Today it’s beautiful up here! Our new neighbor is having a BBQ tonight, but first, you guessed it, we’re off to the gym! Have a great day, God Bless.

Going to be a busy day. We both have lots to do to get ready to leave the house around 5:45am tomorrow. First though, on to yesterday.

We had a nice day hanging around the house until around 4pm. That’s when we headed to Ben and Eleni’s for the BBQ. We knew about ten people there as the rest were friends of Ben’s. We’d met some before at other parties and all were nice. Thae party lasted until around 8, and we were home and in bed before 10. We didn’t see any fireworks up here at the ranch, but that’s ok. Good to see a few people we hadn’t seen in a while.

It’s sunny with blue skies outside. I have all the doors open to cool things down. Jag and Ava might come up today, not sure. Ty will stop by sometime this afternoon to see us before we go.

With all the rain we’ve been getting, mosquitos are starting to show up. Luckily, they don’t seem to like me. They love Lori!

Almost 7am so time to get moving. have a great day and weekend. Be well, stay safe and God Bless.

Happy Birthday to the USA! Guess it’s birthday 248 today! Hope everyone has fun plans for the day. Ty is off today and tomorrow. Jag has his final today and then is done with his graduate class and school for the summer. School for him starts up sometime around August 23rd, I think.

We’re headed to Ben and Eleni’s today around 4:30 for a BBQ. Not sure what’s going on before then. We did get a free desk and chair yesterday. It must have cost over $5K when new. It’s super heavy and in the garage now as Jag wants it. Ty and I towed it up the street on furniture dollies with the truck. At one point, it fell off on one side, but outside of a scrape or two on the bottom, it’s fine.

Lori is outside watering her hanging baskets right now. We’ll probably go to the gym. Then we’ll do some stuff around the house getting ready for our trip.

That’s it, have a great 4th and God Bless.

July 3rd, lots of fireworks and celebrations today and tonight. Not sure when they started having all these events the day before the 4th. It’s also kind of the last workday of the week as most people take Friday off.

Looks like Ol Joe is about done. Now the Dems, who by the way rallied around him a few days ago, are now calling for him to go away. Jill though, seems to want to ride this thing out, thinking time will make people forget what we all know. Next up will probably be Kamala. God help us as she’s even worse than Joe.

Lori is in Vail today. Nice and cool outside this morning. Allergies are in full bloom with all the moisture this summer. Jag has his final any time after midnight tonight which is when the portal for his class opens up. I told him to knock it out in the morning and then head up here to get out of town. He needs to see if he can drop his car off early. Ava arrives tonight. Glad they’re able to spend the weekend together.

7am now so time to go. Have a great day and God Bless.