Monday

That morning I started my day with a soak in the Apple Pool where I chatted with Sheila (from Louisville, outside of Boulder.)  She has a restaurant with a great name: Gastronaut's. (FYI Louisville experienced a really bad wildfire the very end of December, 2021, which I'm pretty sure we saw on the national news.)

Back at the house I was starting the trail work when a deer snuck up behind me, within just a few feet.  Not sure who was more startled when I turned around.  Earlier that morning, while I was waiting for the microwave to heat my water for 'coffee' there were two does with their fawns just outside the back gate.  Always fun to see the youngsters frolicking.

   Doug came by while I was working on the check berm, and approved.  I found lots of perfect rocks to build the berm about 10 feet long before packing them with the gravel dirt from the nearby pile, and then started filling in the gully.  We got quite a bit of rain that afternoon, so I could see where I needed to tweak it, but basically it held great.

In the evening we watched a documentary Suzanne had recommended, "Inside the Mind of the Cat".  It was enjoyable, though we took exception with some of the "scientific" studies.

Here are a few of the bumper stickers I "collected" that day:

It's Only A Phase

I'm not the only one here from Arizona

Though I don't want to meet one...

Some good advice for some folks...

Tuesday -

In the morning, just as the sun was just about to throw its shaft of sunshine onto the Apple Pool, a guy (Dabo) got in.  I was putting my phone away (in the interest of being considerate) but he said he didn't care, which is when I got this great shot:

After my soak I continued with more trail reconstruction.  Doug came by, approved of yesterday's work (especially since it survived the heavy rains), and showed me an additional erosion spot on the other side of the Welcome Center that he'll "let" me fix when I finish my current project.  Also got a handy short shovel (I had been using a stick to loosen gravel dirt.)

In the afternoon, when Terry ran to town, I did some laundry and listened to my latest audio book: The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted, by Robert Hillman while I was 'on duty' with Hilda.  (Mostly I've just been feeding her at all three meals, which takes at least an hour - so that frees up Terry considerably.)

Once Terry got back I had planned to do more trail work, but she convinced I should take a late afternoon soak instead (it was a beautiful day, and for a change didn't rain.)  I enjoying chatting with Nick & Dee (their off-grid place in mountains above Saguache sounds wonderful.)   Dabo joined us, and in the course of our conversation (he lives "outside" of Taos) I discovered that not only does he know Dan, but he was the one who introducted Dan and Tim.

There was a snake enjoying the sunshine just outside the back door, and Shadow seemed to be "enjoying" watching it through the door's glass.  (We were keeping him inside in the interest of protecting the snake.)  But the moment that I picked up my phone to get the shot Shadow decided it was time to walk away. 

  My idea for a better way to serve the powdered Tylenol to HIlda worked great.

Because Terry was gone all afternoon she was unble to whip up dessert (though dinner was incredible turkey meatballs, cooked with peaches and served over arugula.  So we had to "settle" for this store-bought ice cream.

Being dove of  course they were tasty. But imagine how much better they tasted after we noticed the serving size is a carton.

They truly do seem to be a guilt-free indulgence

 since I only had 2, and not the entire carton of 14!

Wednesday

After my usual early morning soak I 'hit the trail' again, and it's coming along great.  I figure I'll only need one more session before it will be (basically) done, with maybe a little cosmetic tweaking here and there.