Yesterday, Jack and I played Carcassonne, a game by the author of Settlers of Catan which involves laying tiles. The game setup and play is easy, except for the end scoring of the placement of farmers. This review of the game discusses the issue.
Fall Flower
Smoke’s dining room
Smoke has a new stall, except that it isn’t new and isn’t even a stall. The barn we built seven or eight years ago has two very large stalls, which are open on the south side. Gates shut off the stalls when the horses are eating their concentrated feed, and are chained open the rest of the day so the horses can shelter at will. When I have two horses at home, they each get fed in their own stall. With three horses, one has to eat outside the barn. Smoke has panic attacks, and will break out of small enclosures when he feels trapped, so he has always been the outside horse. (When there are only two horses, I don’t have to shut the stall Smoke is in.)
Smoke, who is a very old 27 now, has grown noticeably frailer over the past year. I really hated the idea of feeding him out in the open this winter, when the weather might be very severe. About a week ago, I had a brainstorm. When we brought the property, the only existing outbuilding was an old shack with a small enclosed room and an adjacent stall. The previous owner had stored junk in this building, and we continued the tradition. However, since we had whittled down the junk over the years, I thought there might be room to build a small corral inside to make it safe for Smoke to eat in there. When he wasn’t eating, we could shut it off with a gate, since it would be too easy for a horse to trap another horse in there. Jack was dubious when I proposed the idea, but said he would think about it.
This morning, I had asked Jack to help me by doing some nailing out at the barn. Instead, he started taking things apart in the old shed. We cleared the area, raked it up, and used chain link panels to block off two sides of a corral, with the third side being the wall of the building. The fouth side is the opening to the barn. I raked and shoveled to clear the ground of many years of debris. I then went over the area thoroughly with a strong magnet to make sure we had picked up all the metal. To finish, we placed a gate across the opening to the “new” stall, which will be closed except when Smoke is using the stall to eat.
All three horses came over at one point or another to see what we were doing. Smoke watched us the longest, almost as if he knew we were doing it for him.
Fountain at Fox Run
Check engine light
Last week, I was driving my Suburu when the check engine light came on. Since the auto shop we use is close to Jack’s work, he took it in for me on Monday. I kept my fingers crossed that the repair wouldn’t be too expensive.
The result? I didn’t fasten the gas cap securely the last time I filled the tank, causing a sensor to detect that the vacuum that should have been there wasn’t. The shop charged us $0 for this information. So, if your check engine light comes on in your Suburu, check your gas cap. It can’t hurt.
Fox Run Park
For years I’ve been driving by the entrances to Fox Run Park, which is about five miles due east of where I live, thinking that I ought to check it out one day. I stopped this afternoon, and found a little gem of a park. In this photo, Pikes Peak is framed by trees across an expanse of ornamental water. Along the trail I walked, the trees have been thinned so that the woods seem spacious with very little understory. Since the main species is Ponderosa pine, there is a very faint smell of vanilla, unlike the strong pine scents of the forests I remember from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Cottonwood Creek
Sunday, while my mother was at Mass, I took a walk along Cottonwood Creek. This shot points to where I imagine Pikes Peak would be if it weren’t for the clouds.
Good morning
Miscellaneous updates
Our wood stove sold today at my friend’s yard sale. Early on, a woman stopped while taking her kids to school and bought a lead rope. Evidently she had a discussion with her husband and came back and bought the stove about noon. Her husband came by after work to pick it up with his truck. I saw the look of dismay on his face when he tested lifting it, and volunteered to haul it in my trailer (which it was in at the time) since I knew approximately where they live. This was my only real goal for the sale, so I am quite happy.
Lily and Rags haven’t quite reached the little hearts and rainbows floating over their heads stage yet, but I expect to see it soon. They were eating from the same hay feeder when I looked out at them this morning. Smoke is just happy to have Rags back: he was slightly depressed while Rags was gone.
Hard and Soft Links
A Linux Gazette article explains the difference between hard and soft links.