Scouting Trips

I went scouting last weekend to look for deer and elk. I managed to see one decent mule deer buck and one that was too far to judge. I also saw a small herd of elk feed out of their bedding area. It wasn't as well as I would have liked to have done, but it was encouraging.

I plan to scout for ewes this Saturday near Berthoud Pass. I'll be hiking around above treeline in the 12,000 ft elevation range. I can't wait to get above the trees. I'll try to get some pictures of the hike.

On another note, Heather and the kids have been gone for 10 days now and won't be home for another 4. I will be glad to see them on Monday. I haven't got much more work done on the house. I have arrived home late almost every day, so work hasn't been a high priority. Also, it has rained almost every day in Leadville, so painting was out of the question. I have, however, worked some more on the garage door and am ready to install the springs. I will probably need to wait until David gets here next week to install them. I will also have the interior doors up this weekend and will clean the house up. Tonight I have to attend a community meeting here in town to update residents on the Town's street improvement and pedestrian path projects.

Before and After

The first photo is while we were covering the mint green and bright green trim. I don't have a true before picture for the exterior that shows the color and the entry door and window that had replaced the garage door.. I'm not sure my camera could have taken it. You know your house is ugly when several neighbors stop to applaud your painting efforts and appraisal values increase by 10% on your street.

Photos from LR toward hallway. The first picture already has new paint and floors have some work completed on them. Baseboards have not been installed yet and won't be until our funds are rebuilt.

Dining room from LR. The first picture already includes some new paint and the green windows had been covered with white. The lovely light fixture and solid door can be seen though.

As far as I'm concerned the kitchen was the most disgusting room in the place. Notice the nice yellow coating of grease and cigarette smoke on the ceiling. The entire house had the cigarette stains, but the kitchen had the added bonus of grease. The light fixture and choice of cabinet finsh was also a favorite. The new kitchen still needs to have the plywood countertop tiled, but that brings us back to the rebuilding of funds.


This is the Living Room. The first photo shows some of our moving in efforts, but you can get the idea.

We still have a lot of work to do, but we are getting there. I still have to finish up exterior painting, garage door exterior framing, baseboards, tile in the kitchen and bathroom. The basement is a whole other can of worms I don't want to think about right now. I've got too many elk, deer, bear, antelope and sheep to worry about right now. Maybe next spring I'll think about it, but then Turkeys will be on my mind. I just need to quit work.

On My Own

David and Gretel have been in for the last week. They did more work on the house than I could have ever expected them to do. They touched up a lot of paint inside the house, took down the wall w/window and door that had replaced the garage door, hung the back exterior door, repaired the front exterior door, installed window blinds and curtains and last but certainly not least, we painted the exterior of the house and covered up that awful mint green color. I'm sure there is more jobs they completed that I'm overlooking, but you should get the idea. It was great to come home from work and see the additional progress being made with the help.

BUT, the week had to come to an end, and today they started the long drive back to IL in our mini-van. The trip back includes Heather and the kids. They will visit back home for two weeks then David and Gretel will drive back with them, stay a couple days more, and fly out of Denver to return home. Therefore, I am on my own for a couple weeks. It will be a lonely couple weeks, but I plan to finish hanging the garage door, hang a couple interior doors and finish up the exterior trim painting on the side and back of the house. I'm also going to get some camping/scouting in for sheep and elk/deer. I've got more tags this year than I know what to do with and very little time to scout, so I have to get the house work out of the way and get in gear on the scouting. Hopefully these projects along with work will make the time go by quick.

I'll post some before and after house photos soon.

Scouting with Olivia

Olivia and I went on a scouting trip Saturday afternoon/evening. We didn't walk much, but instead used the binocs to look for elk and deer. I didn't get to look things over as much as I would have liked because I took it easy with Olivia, but we had a good trip anyway.

We saw a total of three cow elk, a calf, a few distant mule deer and a bear on the drive out. The bear was the first Olivia has seen. Too bad it was so late. The bear crossed in front of us, but Olivia did not see it until I stopped and it took off running through the aspen.

This area is the same area that Joe, Scott and Myself hunted in 2004. During that hunt we saw several elk but could not get an opportunity. We also saw quite a few good mule deer bucks, so I applied for that tag this year. I plan to do my best to put my tag on a mulie buck in that area. The area is really tough to draw for rifle season because it holds some great bucks. I'm really exited about a chance to shoot a mule deer with my bow. Maybe the elk won't know I'm hunting them too. I hope to have a bear tag in my pocket also, just in case.

I took several pictures of Olivia when she wasn't looking that turned out good. The other photos are just some I snapped while we were out there. The wild flowers are all over the place. One picture is Olivia with a muddy snow ball that she made. The patch of snow is in a low spot next to a waterhole that is shaded from the sun most of the day.