We’ve enjoyed seeing all the green lawns, new growth on the trees, and the plants in bloom down in Colorado Springs, but we’ve had to wait patiently to see any of that up here at our place.  This week has been pretty incredible as the Aspens have finally begun to leaf out.  It’s cool seeing a new patch of trees turning green, literally each day.

We feel like we can finally see the finish line.  It’s still off there in the distance a bit, and there are still a few more turns along the way, but we feel really confident that we’ll soon be able to sleep in our brand new king sized bed in our very own bedroom that doesn’t have wheels, just steps away from one of those fancy, flush toilet thingys.

We’re done building.  We finished the window project in the sewing room and the siding had been replaced on the outside wall.  We hauled off the last big trailer-load of materials to the dump, and the table saw and radial arm saw have been removed from the living room.  Most of the tools have been picked up and put away, and the dust is finally beginning to settle.  We have a little more sanding before the office, mudroom and sewing room will be ready for texture, but all of the time and effort we’ve been putting in on the rest of the house means the bedroom, upstairs, stairway, and living room have all been textured and are ready for paint.

I’m curious about something….  As we drive around, it appears that many auto makers are no longer installing turn signals in cars, because more often than not, they seem to make lane changes and turns with no visible warning, and one brand of automobile seems to have taken safety to a whole new level by limiting how fast they will go.

Without a doubt, the slowest vehicles we’ve encountered on our drives are Subaru’s and we can’t figure out why we almost always get behind one whenever we head out of town.  More curious is why they are soooo slow.  Do they not come equipped with a gas pedal?  Do they have a pre-set, top speed of just 25 mph?  Are they harder to drive than other cars?  Is there a Subaru club that takes turns sitting at the gas station waiting to pull out in front of us? Is it worth buying a heavy duty bumper for the truck to just gently nudge them into the ditch?

And finally, a bit of sad news.  In our very first post, we mentioned several people we had been working with as we began this journey.  Obviously, the realtor, the septic guy, and others were critical to the process, but one was probably more influential than any of the others, and he became our first new friend here.  I’ve mentioned before how we first visited the house on Saturday with the realtor, dismissed the idea as ridiculous, thought things over for a day, changed our flight, and came back up on Monday for a second look.  We stopped at the hardware store for a pad of paper and tape measure, where we met “Fred, the Ace Hardware guy”.  He was sitting outside smoking a cigarette and we chatted with him for quite some time.  He was friendly, engaging, and excited to share what he knew about the property and the area with us.  He told us how he had been wounded at the siege of Khe Sanh in 1968 as a 20 year old Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant before returning home to Wisconsin, where he worked in a local plant for several years.  He came out to Colorado in the 80’s, when his son graduated from the Air Force Academy and he fell in love with the area. He went home, quit his job, sold his house, and he’d been here ever since.  We enjoyed visiting with him at the store and he was a wealth of information and help over the past year as we faced challenges ranging from electrical issues to broken pipes, and we were sad when we learned our friend was planning to retire at the end of April so he could move away to live with his girlfriend.  I stopped in on his last day to say goodbye and BS for a few minutes and on Saturday, we learned he had passed away.  Thanks for everything, Fred.  You’ll be missed.