3/16 and 3/17 Wednesday and Thursday

Louise called at about 5:30 last night to say that she was slammed with patients and would not get home in time to go owning so we decided to postpone that activity until the weekend.  It was very windy so we didn't go Spike hunting either.  We had a number of donation pickups this morning and more people came in to drop off.  We priced everything and sold most of it before the day was over.  We even had a few sales happen just as we were ready to close for the day.  We came home and I made a pot roast for dinner.  Louise was late again tonight as she had a hair appointment and then went back to the office to finish up some charts.

Today, Louise left for work and then was back in about 10 minutes.  I thought she had forgotten something, but she had seen a pup running down the middle of the road and brought it home.  We put it in a kennel and fed it while she called Animal Control.  It was a very cute puppy, but quite scared and very hungry - no collar for ID.  Animal Control said they would meet her in the hospital parking lot so we put the kennel in the back of her car and she was off again.  We had another busy drop off donation day again today with one of them coming at the end of the day so we will have to deal with it tomorrow morning.  We only had about 80 customers, but made $595.  Tomorrow is our last day of working.  I think we are picking Mike (Louise's husband) up at the airport tomorrow afternoon and then hopefully going out to dinner.  Louise just came home and said that the Animal Control Officer came right away and took him to the shelter.  She wishes she could give him a home, but she does not need a third dog!  She told a friend about him and he may be adopted by someone she knows, which would be a better situation.  Almost dinner time, so will say good-bye for now.  Happy St. Patrick's Day to all.  We are remembering our wonderful trip to the Emerald Island several years ago.

3/15/16 Tuesday

It was too cold and windy last night to go look for Spike so we stayed home.  This morning we started our last week of volunteering.  It was chilly and windy again this morning.  We had a slow day today.  A few small items came in on Saturday and a few more came in this morning so we priced everything and got it out onto the floor.  It was so slow that Rhonda let us go home early 1:30 and we had only made $198.  Tomorrow she and Dave will go out on two pick ups and hopefully bring back some larger items to sell.  Dave went for a nap when we got home and I did laundry and finished the book I was reading.  In a little while, we will feed the animals as Louise is going to come home early tonight so we can go out hunting for owls.  Someone told us of a place where they hang out in Monte Vista near the wildlife refuge.  We will look for Spike on our way home.  I am putting on some pix that Dave took of the sand dunes and the surrounding mountains as well as the creek we had to wade across to get the the dunes.

3/14/16 Monday

Happy Pi Day everyone!  This truly is Pi day as it rounds to 3.1416 - pretty cool.  We were going to go to Fort Garland today, Louise called and they don't open for the spring season until April 1 so we are out of luck.  We did have a few errands to run so we went into town.  We stopped at the sporting goods store and Louise picked up a used sand board so that she will have one the next time she goes to the dunes.  We really did have a great time sliding down.  Some people used snow boards and stood up to go down, but that really isn't my style at all.  I can see Alex and Dan trying that though.  Louise and I were both a little stiff this morning from the dune climbing, but it feels fine now.  We had lunch and a quiet afternoon.  Louise is going to cook tonight: Ginger shrimp.  After dinner, we will go for a walk and see if we can find Spike, the porcupine as we only have a week left to spot him.  We will also check on the beaver family and the muskrat on the way.  It is sunny, but very windy today.

3/13 Sunday

Today we went back to the Great Sand Dunes.  Dave decided not to climb the dunes as he just got over his bronchitis and didn't want to take any chances so he sat in the car and listened to a book on disc.  Louise and I waded across the stream, which was wider that the last time we were here, but not as deep (only about 3 inches).  We walked about a half mile to the base of the dunes and then climbed up and down - each one higher than the last.  At one point we stopped to watch a man slide down the dune on a wooden sand sled.  He offered Louise a ride and she accepted.  Then he insisted that I try it.  I thought it was going to be a bit scary, but it was actually great fun!  Louise decided to climb up the next dune, but I thought I had had enough of that tough climbing so stayed where I was and chatted with the man and his family.  They live in Colorado now, but had lived in Ledyard, CT!  He was retired from the Navy and his last port of call was Groton - small world.  We stopped at the brewery for lunch and then drove out to Kyle and Angel's new house to deliver a mirror (Art Deco) that we saw at the ReStore and thought they would like.  They loved the mirror and the house looks great.  They have painted and putted up all of the wall to wall carpet and put in hardwood floors - very nice.  We came home to rest our sore muscles.  I made meatball and/or kielbasa grinders for dinner and we watched another movie before bed.  The pix are all from the sand dunes.  Louise didn't want me to put the one of her wiping out at the bottom, but it really was funny so had to include it.

Owl Pictures

I finally got the camera to unload.  The photos are of one of the beavers, the crane quilt, a long earned owl being camouflaged on a log, the cute little saw-whet owl, the burrowing owl, and the great horned owl, as well as the golden eagle.

3/11 and 12 Friday and Saturday

Thursday night we went looking for Spike, but he was hiding on us.  On the other hand when we got back to the house, we saw the beavers in the second pond and I got a nice close up of one of them chewing on a branch.  I heard a noise in the pond behind me and looked over to see a muskrat swimming towards shore.  I tried to get his picture, but there were some tall reeds between us and the camera would only focus on the reeds.

Friday was busier than I could have hoped.  Someone brought in a nice wicker chair, which sold in the morning and then a wicker basket organizer for a kitchen or bath came in and was sold in less than 10 minutes.  We sold another two toilets and some doors along with various hardware items and we ended up making $500 for the day.  I guess the little things do add up.  After dinner, Louise and I walked down the road to look for Spike again.  We didn't see him, but the moon and stars were beautiful!  When we came back, we watched a movie and went to bed.

Today was a great day!  We went to the recycling center and then headed to Monte Vista for the craft fair.  It was held in an indoor arena and was jam packed with vendors selling homemade jams, jewelry, clothing, soaps, salves, photography as well as the usual booths of "so-so" purchased items.  There were several raffle booths for quilts and I took a chance on all of them.  I hope I win the crane quilt as it was lovely.  I will include a pic I took of it.  The best part of the event was that a conservation group from New Mexico had an area where they were displaying some of their rescue raptors.  My favorites were the owls: long-eared, saw-whet (such a cute little face), great horned and barred.  They also had a golden eagle.  Apparently, most of the birds are injured because they are looking for rodents close to the road and a hit by cars.  We walked down to the Mountain view for lunch (there were some food trucks parked near the arena, but the prices were high and they featured ribs and spicy foods).  We then drove into town and walked around a bit before going to the theatre to attend a lecture on owls.  It was interesting to see the different types of owls that are found out here.  Some are also found on the east coast, but many were unique to this area of the country.  The slides were great and the presenters had stories about most of the owls.  One of the presenters had an app on her phone that allowed her to play the various calls - I learned that not all of the owls say, "Whoo".  Some of them sound quite eerie.  On the way back to Alamosa, we stopped at the store for a rotisserie chicken and some broccoli, which we had for dinner.  We were all tired from the walking we did in the arena so we went to bed early.

I just tried to put some of the photos on, but the machine was not cooperating so I will try again tomorrow.

3/9 and 10 Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday was such a busy day!  Dave, Mike and Rhonda were on the road all day picking up donations and making deliveries.  Their first delivery was to a woman who bought the nice tables and chairs that came in the day before.  They brought back the table that the new one was replacing and we sold it before they could unload it off the cart.  They went out again to deliver a washing machine and pick one up and also to pick up a flat top electric stove.  While they were gone we sold a freezer, the last saddle, some garden chairs, a sleeper sofa and assorted smaller items.  They were late coming back so it is a good thing I had a crockpot full of meatballs and sauce cooking all day.  Louise came home about quarter after six so got to eat with us.  She said she saw Spike (the porcupine) on the way home so we may go to look for him tonight.

Today was slow compared to yesterday, but we did sell the washing machine and stove that they brought in last night.  This morning Dave and Rhonda went to San Luis to pick up five toilets from one lady and we sold one already.  We had a new volunteer today.  She is doing 80 hours of community service so she will be in again tomorrow.  We got home earlier tonight so I made some banana bread and will make chicken for dinner.  There hasn't been much to take a picture of, but hopefully we will see Spike tonight and this weekend we will go to Monte Vista.  They are having their crane festival this weekend.  We have already seen the cranes, but will go to the craft fair and Louise wants to attend a lecture on owls.  I don't know what else we will do this weekend, but there are plenty of beautiful places to visit.