Another Busy Day At Casa Claire – Hi Jane & Lloy[] & Robyn

That’s me and Lloy[] Collier, husband of Jane Collier who stopped by Casa Claire with Lloy and her good friend of Robyn (who has an interesting tale of a grandfather doctor who used to tend to the Chi-Town Mafia. She is also a writer).

Speaking of grandfathers, Lloy[]’s grandfather lost the [d] at the end of his first name, Lloyd, at the hands of an incompetent administrator during his induction as a very young man into the military service during one of the Great Wars, so it stuck in the family and Lloy may be the only man in the world, certainly the only man I know, that has the first name Lloy.

But I digress, Lloy, Jane and Robyn stopped by Casa Claire yesterday afternoon just when a thunderstorm was passing overhead (I was actually on the phone with Pete “Buck” Sheridan – from WTLLM – at the time they rolled up), and the foreboding clouds and lightning over the foothills – and the corresponding static electricity in the air – gave CC an even more magical feel to it.

Jane had contacted me a couple of weeks back on Nextdoor and asked if I might inscribe her copy of TWA. We arranged for her to stop by CC yesterday afternoon after 4 pm (when my NY workday ends).

Now the truth is that Jane and Robyn really just wanted to meet Claire and Honey, so poor Lloy got stuck babysitting me, while the ladies had a great time out back conversing with Claire.

That’s Jane on the left closest to Honey and Robyn closer to Claire.

No doubt the ladies were confirming with Claire some of the outlandish tales I was telling them while we were stuck in the (new) barn – more on that later- for a brief interlude while we avoided a spritzing.

Claire did glance over at me to make sure it was okay for her to spill the tea.

Anyway, I ended up giving them the tour of CC – they got to meet Lisa who was out and about shepherding one of my grans’ neighbor friends, the sweet and lovely Ada, back over the common fence (my grans were off site hiking through the mountains with their parents) – and I later showed them the office where I am presently typing this blog. They were absolutely delightful.

I inscribed Jane’s copy of TWA. But when I went to sign Robyn’s copy, you can see them tucked under the ladies’ left arms, she explained that she had purchased her copy from a Used Bookstore in Longmont, and didn’t realize that the copy already had an inscription to a man named “Tom.” When I looked at the inscription, I realized I had done it for one of Lisa’s patients – who in turn gave Lisa a handmade pen holder, which sits on her office desk – and he (or his family) must have donated the book to the used book store.

I told her that the coincidence was amazing and made the book even more special to me because she rehabilitated it the same way Tom had been rehabbed at Lisa’s rehab center.

I included such thoughts on the first page off cover and told her that it would probably bring a little more money on EBay with this backstory.

Anyway, tour concluded, Jane popped off a nice text to me later that evening:

But that isn’t what made it so busy at Casa Claire.

Now I have mentioned in the past that Lisa had spent the past few years dissuading me from converting Geppetto’s Studio into my man cave. She said it would make a much nicer, cleaner. larger and sturdier barn for Claire and Honey.

This spring, after the third time the NoCo winds removed a section of the original barn’s roof, and a very nasty call from Claire’s agent complaining about the living conditions of the now famous Claire The Mule, I agreed that we would convert the G Studio into the new and more luxurious barn. Well, that required that we first install an oversized rail-sliding set of Barn Doors in a spot that would allow the now oversized egos of my mules to enter comfortably.

There was only one Southern facing spot that would work.

So, I contacted my local handyman extraordinaire, Josu, and asked him to handle it. So he did, yesterday,

and by the end of the day, he not only finished the installation – he’s coming back to apply a second coat of paint this weekend –

But he and his crew repaired the gaping roof section in the original barn – you can see the fresh lumber on the upper right of the photo – so that I could continue to use that to store hay and other treats for the mules. A win win.

Now a younger and more foolish me would have attempted the lastest conversion on my own but since I now seem to value my life a little bit more since there may only be a little bit left, I left it to the professionals. But the busy and noisy strangers had Claire and Honey’s rapt attention for the entire day.

But I did finish most of the original barn myself, and while it has a rough hand made look to it, so do I.

I’ll have to shift the signs to the new barn, once I get it all set up and then convince Claire and Honey that they are allowed to go in it.

But that was yesterday, and now the Hump is vying for all of our attention. So, you fine, five readers should finish up those remaining cuppas and get your skates on. Time to attack the hill.

Make sure you wave at Friday from its peak, but don’t sleep on Thursday which may be politically monumental in our history books. Mano et mano.

I’m going to head out and cuddle some kitties, and once that sun hits the horizon, make my rounds.

And, no matter what else we get up to, let us make today a great one.