Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Hunting

     The Brick is elk hunting in the Meeker area. With friends, our trailer and the dogs. I'm still staying at our friends' house while He goes hunting, as well. (She stays home with me, when she's not teaching.)

     Welcome to the interesting world of first hunting season.

The Brick and his daughters, in years gone by

      The Brick's been looking forward to this for ages. We had to wait A THIRD WEEK to get our trailer back. (Our poor friends.) Finally, we just went and picked it up on Friday; a few jobs were still left undone. So much for the 'I know you're living in this, I'll hurry' business. 
     We pulled out a number of boxes, stacked them in storage, then spent the night at 'home' before the Brick left Saturday morning, pulling the fifth-wheel. Unfortunately, Saturday was the first day of hunting season -- so he wasn't able to take advantage of it. But he arrived safely, and has been enjoying his newfound freedom. Today, he almost got his animal -- a cow elk jumped in front of the truck while he was going down the hill. Thankfully he missed it, but Charley and Ruby rolled down to the floor when he slammed on the brakes. (They're ok too, poor babies.) 
      I have work to do here -- which is why I didn't go. Appraisals, some appointments, and a talk on Wednesday morning for the Philip S. Miller library in Castle Rock. Here's the writeup:

It's that spooky time of year, so, fittingly, our October Life Long

 Learning will be about hauntings not far from us. 

Local author Cindy Brick will share stories she discovered

 while researching her 2018 book,

 Ghosts & Legends of Colorado's Front Range. (Arcadia Publishing)

There are a couple of stories about Douglas County! ​

And don't worry: we'll keep the lights on so it doesn't get too spooky. 

As always, please RSVP by registering here:  https://bit.ly/2nEQmJ8

Philip S. Miller Library

Douglas County Libraries

100 S. Wilcox St. 

Castle Rock, CO 80104

(303) 791-7323 

Should be fun. Meanwhile, the snow is completely gone and we're back to

 warmer temperatures. But it's supposed to come back this next weekend.

 Not soon enough to drive the animals down from the high country...

          but that's typical for fall here in Colorado.

Donna Freedman admits to some odd habits...just because she's old. (Or unwilling to do what everyone else does!)

Ghosts of the Irish Famine on Grosse Isle. Sad -- and true.

Fifteen historical screwups: so ridiculous, it's amazing.

Nine times you should NOT be cheap when you travel.  Not that I agree with all of these -- we've done several -- but they're items to consider.

How a couple paid off $130,000 in debt, in less than four years:
"We would not have borrowed as much. I think we had literally just signed up for our next loans and I learned I was getting paid, kind of out of nowhere, this windfall of $4,000 from a nonprofit. Rather than paying it back to take out less money, we bought tickets and went backpacking in Nicaragua for three weeks. And both of us were in graduate school in New Orleans at the same time. We ate out all the time and paid for everything with student loans. I was uncomfortable borrowing so much and knew at some level it was not good."

Did you realize that at least one of the buildings Pa Ingalls built...still exists? Sort of, anyways. A then-and-now look at DeSmet, SD...onetime home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

A Native American burial site discovered -- on the side of an Orange County freeway. They found it during construction.

"What I've learned from 150 millionaire interviews."  Advice gleaned from one of ESI Money's most popular feature.

Fifty budget hacks for 2019. Most of these you've heard before, but still...  (From Budget Boss)

Trader Joe's best shopping secrets -- from an insider.

Middle-class budgets -- four families compare budgets and living situations. Is yours similar?

Vinegar chicken with crushed-olive dressing. Lots of people talking about this one.

Ten famous people with strange quirks... like Ronald Reagan's penchant for touching people's earlobes.  (From Listverse)

How to thrift like a rockstar -- good advice from the Frugalwoods. This fits right in with:

Thoughts on prepping for whatever comes in the future. (From Hope and Thrift) And:

"What are the coolest things you've found in a thriftshop?"  (Thank you, Quora)

I'm just beginning to read a new blogger -- and those of you knitters will find her particularly fun:
           The Yarn Harlot.   Lots of patterns, color, yarns...with the personal stuff mixed in.

Funny (and bad) reviews of national parks. Is America this clueless??

The twitter comments about Disneyland are just as funny...

Should a Christian student be forced to recite a Muslim conversion prayer? This one's on the Supreme Court's docket for October.

Rich millenial cheapskates.

How to stay warm during power outages! Some of us are going to face this sometime this winter, no doubt. (From Just Plain Marie)

Thriving At Rock Bottom -- a three-part series by yours truly. (This link starts at Part I.)

Homemade garlic fries with sweet chili dipping sauce. A classic from Poor Girl Eats Well...who's been dealing with cancer.


Have a great week -- whatever it's doing in your neck of the woods.

You can own this amazing painting, thanks to 1st Dibs