Robin's Nest

 Well, here it is August and we have been back from the new house about 4 weeks and of course someone decided they needed to break in again. We came back here on the 14th and before the 14th of this month someone broke into the standalone garage. Second time for that garage and one time for the house is really discouraging. Our neighbor here said she would watch the dogs and cats here so we can go back and secure the other house again. I have decided we are going to put that house back on the market. I have to go to work when we live there just to keep up with the utilities. That makes me uncomfortable as I have to leave the family home alone while I work.  We have never had problems where we live here and never with our house in the Springs. Not saying it can't happen, just saying it hasn't. So, for me I guess it is better to rid myself of the house that is too big anyway and live where I rather not live. Even though I don't see the grandkids here very often I at least kno...

 I started this task over the weekend and just today finally built up enough steam to get to the finish line. Although I am not at the actual finish line, I am close enough to claim credit. I am happy to state that only items in secure containers went back into the pantry. I didn't take any before pictures I still have way too much stuff in here But part of using up what you have means finding it And trust me before the cleanout I could not have found an elephant hiding in that space. After the main shelves and floor were cleaned and organized a bit, I looked at the stuff hanging on the hooks on the back of the door. I am embarrassed to say there was a grocery bag with a calendar in it from 2024, unopened along with the items from that trip which dare I say, were also untouched. With that finding and the excitement of a calendar that is useless, but has pretty pictures, I was motivated to continue my task and finish this kitchen by noon tomorrow. As disappointed as I am that mice h...

 As much as I need to do things here, I am ready for a break. Breaks come with compromise and challenges that sitting still does not have. This week has been very busy and surprisingly a series of appointments kept the family close these last few days. First an appointment, nothing special as it was an annual physical. Labs had been drawn earlier and the results were shared. Triglycerides so high that the LDL calculation was impossible to do. That was an eye opener. Of course, new medication was ordered and diets discussed. There was mention of doing a new neuro-psych test just to see if there were any improvements since stopping the opioids and the chaos of life having been presumed to have slowed down a bit. Oh boy this PCP is totally clueless about our crazy lifestyle! I explained as best I could what our plans were but since we do not have a plan... I guess that speaks for itself. Time to formulate a plan. There were 3 appointments on Monday but that was the most significant on...

  I got up this morning to another cold and glooming Sunday. Maybe it will perk up and maybe the sun will shine. Maybe it will just be overcast and chilly the rest of the day. Either way I need to do laundry. I enjoy that part of homeschooling includes counting housework as coursework... I do not enjoy fighting with the students about doing their coursework 😅  Hopefully this Summer we will travel to La Junta to see the dinosaur footprints. There are some there that are said to be imprinted in stone. Should be a nice long trip. I will need to pick a cloudy cool day to go. :( just not today. Here it is Wednesday, it hit a 101 this afternoon so today was not a day to walk around out in the heat. It is late so I am going to go to bed and try again tomorrow. (spoiler alert: no footprints this week) Today while going to pick up a prescription, I realized, I spend way too much time away from the home. I am sure it is to avoid the work that needs to be done, but still.  Here it ...

The wind was pretty relentless yesterday. We have two swimming pools, only one set up of course, but that one was above ground and suffered at the will of the wind. I had to put water into the pool to try to offset the risk of it blowing over. This was not what I wanted to do but it will be okay. The pool itself is now four feet north of its original position. Once I had what I thought was enough water in it to keep it on the ground I started thinking perhaps I should actually take it down this tear and move it into the larger pool. the larger pool is 24' around and could easily fit the 20' pool inside of it. This would protect the smaller pool the rest of the season. My original thought was to empty clean and sell the smaller pool and replace the larger pools liner. Then I thought well this one is up already, and I could use it this season, get rid of it at the end of the season and hopefully, already having purchased and installed the liner into the older pool, drain the smal...

 T oday should have been a day to work on things here at the house... but it wasn't. We went to the zoo. It was hot! too hot for even the animals to come out of their shelters.  We were able to see a few animals but overall, the majority were not visible. somewhere is a picture of these two much younger here is the oldest in the stone kangaroo pouch watch out for the bears There was a baby bison some humans not sure what these were or these these were lions It was hot! Also, the oldest teen started to have an allergic reaction to something, so we left and headed home. DH had a small problem with a car, and the youngest bio-DD was able to go help him get home safely. Once we were home the oldest bio-DD called to ask if I could help them get to Michigan to see their dad as he is not doing well right now. They will head out tomorrow and I guess keep me posted. They are having a hard time with going and I understand. I just got off the phone with the oldest DD and she is really st...