Politics

The first hurdle is done.  We gave our presentation at the County Planning Commission and they voted for it to continue.  We will now give our presentation to the County Commissioners on March 1.  We need everyone to root for us.  It was good to have one dissenter in the room so we can address his concerns in the next presentation.  It is important to let people know that, as this is a conditional use, a potential vacation home rental has to address the neighbors concerns.
On a more fun note.  I found 2 antlers on our hike Monday.  One was found in the yard across the street, the other was from last year.  You can tell the old ones as they look dry and have had mice or squirrels chewing on them.
We have been having such nice weather.  The snow is melting and then freezing so the ice remains.

cold, cold, cold

Wow, is it cold here in Silver City.  We are so grateful that seasons change and we can rest assured that it will get warmer someday.  The Black Hills were beautiful with the frost heavy in the trees.  All the green pine trees were white, and white on one side in some areas.
I have been working a lot in Rapid City.  The Black Hills Stock Show is going on.  I had fun yesterday evening working the camera for the dog trials.  It was fun to see the collies working the sheep.  We had a Border Collie and she was so smart.   Of course our current dog Gus is pretty smart too but he is still young.  Makes me want to get a few sheep for Gus to try and work with.
Wiring is getting done in the kitchen.  We need to incorporate rewiring the old parts of the house while wiring the kitchen.  Luckily I have patience as everything takes longer than expected.
I have been diligently working on our ordinance amendment.  We are planning on handing it to the P & Z office on friday.  The Planning Commission meeting presentation is set for Feb. 14.  It is actually fun finding facts and material to include in the power point presentation.
In the meantime summer vacation reservations are starting to come in and things are looking well for our cabin rentals.

Happy Trails Weather

What a beautiful day 48 degrees F. in Silver City.  We took a break from Happy Trails and did a 2 hour hike.  If you know us you will figure out that we just start out into the woods and look for a peak to climb.  It was a steep climb heading south west.  Gus (the dog) was in heaven, you could see his smile as walked with us.  We found some old mountain lion tracks, we always seem to find tracks in the snow in winter no matter where we hike.
The beams are in place and supported where Tally took out a wall in our house.  After that was set we took off on our hike.  We needed to get outside and get a break from the construction project.
The woods had a warm moist smell, reminding us of spring.  The snow was wet and a bit slippery.

winter

I have tried twice to add a new posting.  Each time I have written quite a bit only to be called away to help Tally.  Both times I have not been able to recover my musings.   I will try to keep this short and post it before having to help.

It is so cold outside.  We are doing a bit of remodeling in our house - the house that always comes last.  I will hopefully have a dream kitchen.  It is hard to get desk work done with Tally calling me to help with construction so often.  I willingly run to help as the sooner it gets done the sooner I can be using it.

As it is the beginning of the year I am starting to get summer reservation requests.  It is fun to take a clean calendar and start filling in the blanks.  I only request a few dates to ourselves.  I always make it a point to tell guests that arrive on the 4th of July that they may be letting themselves into their cabin.  The parade in Belle Fourche is irresistible and a yearly event for us and our extended family.

The fire trucks and the water fights on a hot 4th of July.

Happy Trails is pretty much buttoned down for the winter.  We have some guests arriving next week.

It is always different in the winter as everyone tends to stay more indoors, the Black Hills are beautiful in the snow.  

April 22, 2010

April showers bring May flowers and we are definitely into the April showers.  The Soffit is 90% done, 2 trim boards and some caulking will finish it off.  We used all our split firewood so we have taken a bit of time to split and stack some to start it drying for next winter.
The crocus are wonderfully abundant.  They are so fun to spot in the woods and the clusters have so many blooms.  We got our bee hive on Monday and have the location picked out.  It is definitely out of the way so don't worry about bees.  We will get bees in 2 weeks.
Tally is biding his time to get onto his spring projects, it takes so long for the ground to dry out enough for him to finish the landscaping at the Boxcar Cabin.  In the meantime I have decided to utilize him for a jump start on the deep spring cleaning.
I bought tomato plants and will have to baby them in the house for 4 weeks when the final danger of frost is over.  I knew it was a bad idea but I could not resist.  When things start to turn green outside it is hard to not want to start gardening.  Unfortunately I must wait.
Cabin days are filling up nicely.  It is nice to hear guests tell their cabin search story.  One woman recently told me she is returning to the Black Hills and, after staying in cabins near the highway last year, extensively researched cabins for something quiet and away from highway noise.  She chose us.  What a treat.  

spring is in the air

Can't believe I haven't written since February. The glaciers are finally almost gone and there is a hint of green in the grass. No sign of buds in the trees. There is a symphony of sound from the birds. The ground is still frozen and the heaving has begun. I am so anxious to start the garden.
We decided to try our hand at bees this spring. We will locate them in a quiet out of the way spot and in future years we hope to have honey for our guests.
Nothing much has been happening on the cabins except for rentals. It has been nice to get the occasional winter guest. The ground is too wet and muddy around the Boxcar Cabin to do any work on the exterior.
We took advantage of the time and cold weather last week to relocate my laundry area so we can work on the small room and bathroom in our house, we can work on our place in the summer when the cabins are rented. We will now take a break on that and finish the soffit of the garage. Tally is feeling a bit overwhelmed by the projects left for us to do but we plug away on them and have a feeling of accomplishment when something gets finished.

2/6/09

Wonderful snow we have. We had guests leave the Log Cabin this morning. They were thrilled to finally be staying in the Black Hills and have it snow.

Tally and I x-country skied this morning for a few hours. We follow our hiking trails. For novices we don't do too bad. It is harder to ski down a hill than hike it. I fell twice before I played it safe and side stepped down. Tally just took off his skis and walked. I think we are improving in this Silver City winter wonderland.

We have not been doing anything on the cabins lately. We have been working our second job almost every day at the Civic Center in Rapid City. The Black Hills Stock Show is going on, both of us have been doing camera work and spotlight work for the rodeo. It is a good change of pace for us. Tally has also been doing some finish trim work for his sister. Family obligations are infringing on Happy Trails projects. Luckily he has one window left and then we can evaluate priorities for Happy Trails.

The chickens are happy and laying eggs. Please do not buy eggs for your visit here. I have plenty for guests. They are fun to watch out my desk window.