Life on the High Plains

A couple months ago we contracted for a completed bathroom update and it's not an inexpensive update.  It's costing the same as our complete kitchen remodel seven years ago. Everything was to be gutted--shower, floors, vanity, garden tub, etc.  They guaranteed us it would be finished in five days.  The problem is that they only sent one guy. I didn't capture any before photos, but here it is after demolition. The guy shows up between 11ish and sometimes as late as 1:00ish.  He only works between 4 and 6 hours per day. This was 8:30 p.m. on the final day.  He wanted to pull an overnighter to get it finished.  Nope, I don't think that's going to happen so he had to come back today.  Told us he'd be here at 10:30 and pulled into the driveway at 1:00.  The problem is that he starts a new job on Monday and we aren't going to be able to stay home next week anyway. Contractors who can't manage their time and have no respect for their customers can drive ...

It's been busy around our house lately.  Here's a few highlights. I have a friend that I used to work with at YL that now lives in Denver.  We've been friends for 25 years and we get together at least twice a year to catch up.  This time it was at the Denver Center for the Perfor ming Arts to see The Book of Mormon.  It was fantastic especially if you're in need of a good laugh.  We didn't get home until after midnight, but it was well worth it. The next night we had tickets for Dwight Yoakum at the brand new Ford Amphitheater.  It was a delayed start because of a rain storm in the area.  After the storm ended we went and got into line, but it was probably another 45 minutes until they let us through the gate because of a "shelter in place" order due to possible lightning.  They kept telling everyone to go back to their cars and wait it out, but we never saw any hint of lightning in the area. The rain shower really cooled things down.  I had ...

 Happy Mother's Day Mom!  I've missed you each and every day for the past 22 years  What I would give for just one more day with you.  Love you!

A couple months ago we planned our camping trips for the season.  The first time out with our RV we always go to the local state park because invariably something will have broken on the trailer during its winter storage.  In Colorado if you wait until March for camping reservations at our state parks you have to take what is left.  The only time until October that we could get four nights together was in early May.  It can be very iffy--beautiful weather or snow and cold. The campground is only about 30 minutes from our house.  We arrived in late afternoon. After setting up we had to get the Dutch oven on the coals.  My dad was a Forest Service Ranger and he passed onto me the skill of cooking over coals. The sun started to set over Cheyenne Mountain and we still had a couple hours to go--it starts getting cold in the Rockies when the sun goes away. My specialties are beef stew and peach cobbler in the Dutch oven.  When the stew was nearly done I put ...