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| Above, the gate to Six Mile Canyon is open. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
I am happy to report that the gate is open to allow vehicles (ATV, side-by-side, Jeeps) into the canyon.
So now I can drive the Jeep into the canyon and drive all the way to McGaffey Lake.
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| Above, the crabapple tree is blooming. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
It looks like we may be getting some precipitation this coming week, starting tomorrow and Monday with a dry storm. A dry storm is a thunderstorm that produces less than 0.1" of rain. This is according to the McKinley County of Emergency Management.
It won't be long when we'll be in monsoon season.
According to the National Weather Service, the week is shaping up as follows:
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| Above, the longhorns at Mesa Ridge Ranch yesterday. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
As yesterday was a nice warm day, I took an late afternoon Jeep drive around the subdivisions of Whispering Cedars and Mesa Ridge Ranch.
I stopped for awhile in Mesa Ridge Ranch where the longhorn cattle are at. At first, they were about 50 yards away, but two came over to check me out and then a mother and calf came over but remained a few yards back.
Naturally, I took some pictures of them.
We're now at Stage One fire restrictions in McKinley County unincorporated areas. I am in one.
It is a good thing that I cut the brush from the back yard. It had gotten overgrown. I was thinking over the years that I would need brush clearing tools as I could not tell if there were big rocks or the ground wasn't level.
As it turned out, my zero-turn mower did the job just fine. The inspector from the insurance company didn't have any problem with the yard, but they did with the roof. So that was remedied last week.
I've noticed other neighbors have been cutting down trees and brush over the past few weeks in the subdivision.
We're considered to be in drought conditions here. It has been a drier than usual winter.
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| Above, the Jeep at the shooting range last Sunday. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
We in the Gallup/Jamestown, New Mexico area will be seeing a heat wave this week (at least through Monday).
We might take advantage of the warm weather and may do some target shooting. Hopefully, this time without any mishaps like the last time.
It will be good driving weather with the Jeep as well. Too bad Six Mile Canyon won't be open to vehicles yet.
According to the National Weather Service, the weather for Jamestown/Gallup will be as follows:
Today
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| Above, on a side road next to Interstate 40. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
This morning, I went over to the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup for breakfast as usual. For those who have inquiring minds, it was their Monument Valley Enchiladas.
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| Above, at Barking Spider Acre. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
After some grocery shopping, I headed home. I decided to take a Jeep drive. Except for the wind, it is a nice day to do some driving.
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| Above, at the shooting range. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
I drove around the subdivision for a bit. As someone decided to do some shooting at the shooting range at 7:00 this morning, I headed over there to look around. I saw nothing unusual.
Later, after a break, I drove down to the Flying J. The price for unleaded regular there is $3.859.
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| Above, a different view at the shooting range. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Afterwards, I drove on a side road (parallel to Interstate 40) until the dead end.
All in all, it was a pleasant drive today.
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| Above, the new roof. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The roofers arrived around 9:00 this morning and immediately got to work. They brought their equipment in through the back gate. It was a good thing I cut down the overgrown brush in the backyard weeks ago.
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| Above, unloading their trailer. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Within an hour or so, they had the old shingles off and installed the cap layer. Within a few hours later, they got the new shingles mostly installed. It started sprinkling in the afternoon, so it was good they got the new roof on.
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| Above, a closer view of the new roof. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
They will likely finish up tomorrow.
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| Above, an aerial view of the property. |
Due to homeowners insurance issues, I have to re-roof the house. I had to change insurers due to area wildfire hazards and the inspector for the new insurance company came out to inspect the property.
In preparation, I did a lot of yard work to clear brush. Apparently, they didn't complain about the trees on the property as only a couple are near the house and the land was clear of brush hazards.
But, they did find that the roof was in need of replacing and they sent me a cancellation notice. I called my agent and he said that the cancellation would be rescinded if the roof was taken care of. I have until March 21 to do so.
So, I had to get a home improvement loan at my bank to get the roof replaced. It was a cinch getting the loan as I had a good credit score.
The roofers will be starting tomorrow morning.
A little surprise awaited me this morning.
A few minutes ago, I was putting some clothes in the dryer when I looked out the window and noticed about 1/4 inch layer of snow on the garage roof.
I wasn't expecting snow today, so it is a surprise. But I am not complaining, we can use it.
I took this shot:
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| Above, before his mishap, Larry shooting his pistol. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
It was reasonably warm outside with very little wind.
I started out shooting my Winchester 62A .22 pump action rifle and Larry started out with his .22 Henry lever-action rifle. Neither of us could hit the broadside of a barn when we had the targets set at 50 yards, so we moved them in to 25 yards. We did much better then.
After that, I switched to shooting eight one-gallon jugs of water with my Winchester 94 .30-30. It was fun watching them explode. Larry switched to a .22 cal. pistol.
That's when we started having a couple of mishaps.
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| Above, yours truly holding the Winchester 94 and the shredded shooting bag. Photo by Larry Lucier. |
It started with me shooting the Winchester 94 from my table with my shooting bags. Somehow, the barrel of the rifle slipped off right when I was firing and it blasted the larger of the two bags to pieces. I thought for sure that I would thereafter be the butt of jokes over this. But, something a bit worse happened.
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| Above, Larry showing his wounded index finger. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Larry was shooting his .22 pistol and somehow his left index finger went over the gun's muzzle and the round grazed his finger. It was a small cut with powder burns around it. It was a good thing that it was a .22 and not a larger caliber.
We continued shooting for a little while more and then packed up and later met up with "Uncle Bob" at Jerry Cafe for dinner. Naturally, we had a good conversation about our shooting mishaps.
As it is said, sh*t happens!
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| Above, the rifles I am bringing today. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Today is plinkin' day!
In a few hours, we'll be heading to the shooting area of the Cibola National Forest to do some target shooting. I am just going to bring the Winchester 94 (.30-30 cal.) and the Winchester 62A (.22 cal.) today.
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| Above, water jugs to use as targets. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The temperature should be in the upper 60s.
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| Above, yours truly at the shooting area two years ago. Photo by Larry Lucier. |
Since it will be around 67° outside this coming Friday, we decided to head to the shooting area in Cibola National Forest near our Jamestown community for some target shooting.
Friends here have expressed a desire to do some plinking and this will be a great opportunity before we head into spring next month.
I have accumulated about 18 empty one-gallon water jugs that I will fill up with water and use as targets.
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| Above, yours truly with the Winchester 94 at the shooting area of the Cibola National Forest last November. Photo by Larry Lucier. |
It looks like we're done with snowy weather for a while.
This week looks to be sunny and warmer. The Wednesday and Friday high temperature will reach 65°, according to the National Weather Service.
I am considering doing some target shooting on either Wednesday or Friday. I have accumulated around 20 one-gallon plastic jugs for shooting. As they're taking up some room (I have them in boxes), going out plinking is in order.
I'll see if the rest of the gang is interested in joining in on the fun.
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| Above, this morning's snow (so far). Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
When getting my morning coffee today, I took a look outside and, sure enough, it is snowing.
This storm, on top of what we received yesterday, will accumulate to probably around 2 to 3 inches deep. It isn't what is received in the midwest or the northern eastern seaboard, but it is welcome.
According to the McKinley County Office of Emergency Management a few minutes ago:
Blustery Pacific cold front to cross W central, NW, and N central NM this morning with moderate snow squall: wind gusts up to 45 mph, visibilities around 1/4-1/2 mile, and ~1" of snow in about 1 hr. It will be cold enough for the snow to stick making driving hazardous.
I had to go to the post office yesterday in Continental Divide. It was a windy drive and a trucker ahead of me was swerving around. Thankfully, the driver got the tractor and trailer under control. Still, a lot of them are driving to fast for road conditions.
Hopefully, the wind and snow will taper off by this afternoon so that I can go into Gallup this evening for my Friday dinner at Jerry's Cafe.
Now that we got some daylight, I was able to see and photograph the backyard from my bedroom window.
This is the first real heavy snow since I cut down the brush in the backyard.
By the way, that's a deer butchering/skinning rack at center left foreground.
Here's a photo:
It's nothing like waking up to a yard that is snow-covered.
That's exactly what I woke up to this morning. The deck table has about four inches of snow that fell overnight. This snowstorm started yesterday afternoon/evening. That was on top of the freezing winds we also had.
It looks like I have some snow shoveling to do today.
I took a couple of quick shots of it:
Yesterday morning, I was awakened by strong winds hitting my bedroom window and a bathroom vent cover. This was about 3:00 in the morning.
About an hour later, I heard rain hitting my bedroom window. Sure enough, it was raining outside. Then, around 4:30, it started snowing. In all, we received about an inch of snow until it ended a few hours later.
The rain/snow were welcome. That, plus the rain we received last week, is a big help to the trees out in the yard. One pine tree is starting to revive.
I took the below photo after doing a little shoveling. It was almost melted away by late afternoon. We're supposed to get more in a couple of days.
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| Above, the deck is covered with snow this morning. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
It started out with high winds and rain and then it turned into snow flurries. At this time, we have about a quarter inch on the ground.
We'll have to brave it to drive to Denny's this morning for our Tuesday coffee.
According to the National Weather Service, the week's forecast in the Jamestown/Gallup area is as follows:
First of all, Happy Valentine's Day!
Yesterday (Friday the 13th, by the way), we had steady light rain for most of the day. This will be a big help to the plants and trees.
It did snow a little bit after I got home from Gallup where I had dinner at Jerry's Café. But it was too warm out to last and it melted as soon as it hit the ground. Still, we are happy to get the rain. It rained all the way to and from Gallup. We got a good soak.
We aren't forecast for any real precipitation today, the next chance for rain/snow will start Monday night, according to the National Weather Service.
The forecast:
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| Above, the backyard directly behind the house. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Word has gotten around in the community that the county has elevated wildfire alerts. We had a meeting on this last summer.
My main concern was the brush that filled the backyard. I was looking into getting a brush hauler to come and clear it. But I then got the idea that I could do it myself with my zero-turn lawnmower.
So, on Sunday I started with the yard directly behind the house. Then, yesterday, I did the section of the yard behind the garage. The is an area that is steeply sloped that couldn't accommodate the mower. But, I least cleared about 30 feet from the garage.
The main concern in the area is for possible wildfires. It should be okay now that the brush was cut down along with the buffer of the utility access road behind my property and that the second acre (Barking Spider Acre) has been cleared for several years.
Knock on wood!
