A Necessary Facelift and Our Grandote Experience

Written on 8-3-25.

    Shane and crew just left after doing the final part of this very long house project.  The last piece ended up being the hole where our vent used to be in our master bedroom, the one for the old swamp cooler.  Now, I am sitting under our mini-split AC, and I am enjoying the view of a filled in, orange peel-textured, white ceiling.  This room is the only room with that kind of texture, and it’s only on the ceiling, but we just kept it that way after the bathroom remodel.  Maybe five years from now, we will have it retextured to match the rest of the house, but until then we will be the only ones who will know or notice.  I know we would like to have the garage retextured eventually, too, but let’s enjoy a break for now.

It was a long journey, but it was worth it.  All of the doors are sanded, lacquered, smooth, and shiny.  We have new white trim throughout the house.  All of the house now has the Santa Fe/skip trowel texture (except for the master bedroom’s ceiling), and they look exceptional.  We have new paint with a semi-gloss look for a bit of extra brightness, and the best part of it all is the...

Looking Forward to Blue Lake and Grandote

Written on 7-21-25.

        I played with Herman (not his real name) on Thursday last week, and I didn’t play so well.  I shot a 44, 47 for a 91.  I hoped to break 90, but the last hole ended those hopes.

I did have two spectacular pars on holes 6 and 12.  On #6, I hit the green with a beautiful tee shot with my 5-iron/wood.  On #12, I missed way left.  The pin was on the back, and I was in the grass bunker even with the hole.  I made a brilliant pitch to about five feet, and made the heavily breaking putt for that par.  

I did feel like I had more energy toward the end of the round, but I still made short game errors on those last couple of holes to miss my goal.  In other words, more energy still resulted in making unforced errors.  

I am still always trying to get my golf ball on the green in regulation (or one over regulation) and then one- or two-putting after that.  Most of the time, it works out for either a par or a bogey, but it didn’t on those two holes.

A week from today, A, B, Eric, and I are going to camp at Blue Lake outside of La Veta.  Eric and I will play golf on Tuesday at the Grandote Golf Course there.  I am very much looking forward to that.

Okay, I am going to go.  Shane and crew are back after lunch, and I don’t want to be in the house.  They are nearly done, but they have more cleaning to do and a few touch-ups.  I am so ready for this project to be done.  Amanda and Belinda are nearly home after their weekend in Albuquerque, too.

Until next time…

The Yellow Ball Tournament Experience-Part 2

Written on 7-20-25.

   I did pretty well on my “yellow ball” holes.  I earned two pars, one bogey, and two double bogeys.  Not bad for my first time.

On my last hole, hole #13, we hadn’t lost a yellow ball yet, but I lost focus.  My tee shot went low and left and headed for the little creek.  When we got up there, thankfully Greg spotted it stuck on some rocks with the cold water rushing over it.  Phew!  

Now, we just had to get it out.  I debated taking off my shoes and socks, and we were all working on a solution (Chuck had a ball retriever) when Greg simply got down on his stomach, reached in, and snagged it out.  Phew again!  

I was still far away (215 yards), so I...

The Yellow Ball Tournament Experience-Part 1

Written on 7-15-26.

       Greg asked me to play with him in the Yellow Ball Tournament at Hillcrest.  I didn’t know who else would be on our team, but I had an idea Marc would probably be one of them.  I was right.  He and another guy, Chuck, made up our foursome.

It was a tough tournament for four reasons.  First, this was my first time playing with this format, so I didn’t have the benefit of experience.  Second, I had not played at Hillcrest yet this season, so I was “Hillcrest Rusty.”  Third, when I played the yellow ball it was on some of the most difficult holes (I will explain later), and the last reason is because I was the A player.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I was the A player, a 16.6 handicap.

Until next time…

Written on 7-16-25.

We did decently well.  Our team score ended up...

New Windows, a New Birdie, and a Special Gesture

Written on 7-14-25.

     We bought some paintings.  We saw two mountain scenes that had gorgeous greens, blues, and creamy whites with even brighter whites for the snow.  I thought they would look wonderful with the new creamy white paint on our walls, and they do.  B doesn’t like them as much as I do, because they aren’t reflective of a true mountain scene in the world somewhere; he just used his imagination to paint them.  We got the certificates of authenticity in an e-mail a few days after the purchase.  Hopefully, they will grow on Belinda.  I know she doesn’t hate them.

Danielle did...