3rd Day - Property Scouting / Attempted Deck Repair

Song:  One More Rainy Day

Group:  Deep Purple

Today...

I took my sister to look at the outside of a prime home for sale 

just a few miles away from my home...

and in my community.

It is an absolutely beautiful piece of property 

and an even more beautiful home.

I hope she gets it...

for it has everything she had been looking for.

We then drove to the community center where my sister asked some questions

about the POA...

and she took a short tour of the facility.

Our community center is such a great place for our mountain community.

It is now open 24/7...

including the swimming pool (which is kept heated to 82 F year round)...

the Finnish saunas...

the exercise room...

the library...

pool table and ping pong table...

and the shower facilities.

I then went to the Post Office in Cripple Creek after filling up there...

to pick up an extra large package.

Sometimes...

during storms...

the wind briefly gusts up and disturbs the deck carpeting.

I had bought these extra long carpet tacks to hopefully keep the carpet in place.

But...

today was also a bit windy.

After attempting to stretch out the carpet...

and then tack it down...

Once I had begun hammering in the tacks...

I realized that the tacks simply won't be able to do the job.

They had gone in too easily...

which means that they will come out too easily.

I will have to get far more aggressive with my tacking measures.

My sister helped me lay back the carpet...

but I won't be tacking it down with what I have available...

as you can see on the left side of the overlying carpet 

that when the wind blew back the carpets...

while most of the staples had pulled up from the deck...

some had held and the carpet itself had ripped.

And so...

I will have to get carpet transition strips...

which will prevent the wind from getting under the carpets

and lifting them off the deck.

And so...

with a week of intermittent snow or rain coming (just a few hours a day)...

hopefully they won't be accompanied by high winds.

I will be ordering heavy duty equipment before I re-attempt to tack down the carpets.

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Later this evening...

I will be making roast beef...

and then making beef Yakisoba for myself and my sister.

And with the leftovers...

I will make beef Tataki. 

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Late morning tomorrow...

I will be taking my sister to Peak View restaurant

for their live entertainment as my sister tries their food.

My Sister's Second Day

 

Song:  Pretty World

Group:  Sergio Mendez and Brasil 66'

I had started out the day by making Salmon Ochazuke 

for my sister and myself for a late morning meal.

I cannot impress this upon you enough...

this brand of Kimchi is the absolute best.

It is light on garlic...

but heavy on flavor with a lot of red pepper in the liquid surrounding 

the whole Napa cabbage.

I don't know how Kimchi can be made any better than this.

After our meal...

we relaxed for a while.

Then in the early afternoon...

I took my sister to Safeway for grocery shopping.

My sister wanted to make Beef Stew for us...

so I just had her pick up whatever ingredients she needed...

and I did some shopping at the same time.

My sister feeling all gangster  :)

These are the coolers I always have in the back of the car for when I go shopping.

We only filled up the smaller cooler and a couple of bags with groceries.

We were leaving the shopping parking lot here.

On our way home.

After a while...

I took my sister to Don Juan's Cocina.

They have the tastiest salsas there.

My sister and I shared the 6 taco combo.

They were so delicious.

I will take my elder sister and her husband there when they visit.

On the way home...

I drove to some properties my sister is interested in seeing later next week.

We didn't drive all the way to the properties...

but we got an idea as to the general areas.

We are going to take it easy for the next couple of days.

On Monday...

we are expecting some light snow.

There are some things I must accomplish before then.

I will probably work on those tomorrow.

My Younger Sister's First Day

 

Song:  Drops Of Jupiter

Group:  Train

My younger sister arrived very early this morning (3 am) after a 21 hour drive.

She rested most of the day...

but earlier today...

I took her to a late lunch at Maggie's.

Yesterday...

I had gone to Maggie's for lunch as I waited for my sister to arrive...

and I had ordered a taco salad and a BLT.

They were so delicious...

I just ordered the same thing today at Maggie's.

My sister ordered a taco salad as well.

The taco meat was just so nicely spiced...

and I had put sour cream and salsa on mine as the dressing.

The BLT had a good amount of smoked bacon.

Both were just so delicious.

I am thinking of taking my sister to Don Juan's Cocina sometime while she is here as well.

I want her to try their 6 taco combo plate (she and I will share).

Other places I will take her are...

 the Yellow Mountain Tea House...

Peak View...

A good Sushi place...

and perhaps other places...

but...

it depends on her schedule.

She is expecting a call from her realtor.

My sister wants to view some properties for sale around the area.

Although the sunset wasn't spectacular...

we still went out onto the third deck to take some photos.

A view out one of the rear loft windows.

Bandi lying on the bed my sister is using in the loft.

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 I will be posting every so often...

as my sister and I visit various places.

Bandi's Spring Forest Walk

 

Song:  Willow's Song

Cover:  Folked 69

As I was taking Bandi out to her forest bathroom...

it seemed like a nice day to walk around the property.

I sometimes rest underneath the shade of this tree as I look at the clouds.

Bandi and I headed down the property to begin our walk.

The property keeps going down to a draw.

We didn't walk all the way to the left of the property...

as I had already taken Bandi there to use the bathroom...

so we just continued down.

On our way down...

we stopped off at Serenity Rock.

You can see the draw to the left.

As we continued walking next to the draw...

you can see a path through the Pine trees and then into a grove of Aspen trees.

In Autumn...

this is a beautiful walk...

as I am surrounded by a sea of luminescent yellows of the Aspens.

The property extends farther to the right...

but I decided to head back up and towards the road.

There are no fences up here.

I could hike to the North through the forests...

until I reached Mueller State Park...

should I wish to

(I won't though :)

There are thousands of acres of open mountainous forested lands all around.

We were nearing the top here.

Bandi thoroughly enjoyed our little forest walk.

As the sun was setting...

Bandi just rested on the third floor balcony and took in the views...

and the cool mountain breeze.

This is one of Bandi's favorite spots to just lie down and enjoy herself.

Even on days of inclement weather...

I will often open up the third deck door...

and Bandi will just lie down in front of the screen door for hours

as she takes in the views and breathes in the fresh air.

_______

My younger sister will be here late tomorrow night.

She is driving...

so she plans to leave sometime tonight.

I will show her around some...

but she primarily wants to see more properties.

She plans to stay for a couple of weeks.

And then...

a week or so later...

my elder sister and her husband plan to arrive for their visit.

They too...

will be driving.