Last leaves falling off, snow coming, and off to see Penny

I am leaving - again. :Yes, back to Penny, big surprise, and Mark is leaving too, back to Detroit.(coming to see Penny on the weekend - hurray). Crazy, crazy life we've been leading. It's okay, except now the winter kicks in. Yes, I know, for most of you winter is a distant thought - not so here. Denver is supposed to be hit in a fairly big way late Tues/Wed. Of course I was scheduled to fly Wed morning to Virginia, happily Mark was already going out Monday - not an issue, but it's his BIRTHDAY as well. Some years the celebration does not connect...
Soo, changed my reservation and now out Tuesday, before the storm. Wow, we have much travel scheduled in the next few months - oh, dear - cause for thought and patience....

Day in the life - going to town passed the one room school house setting up for a wedding. went to the pre-season ski sale at local store, bought a couple things, including little boots for Penny - absolutely needed (did they see Nana coming - possibly). Stopped by the rather antiquated recycle center in town  and then by the fairgrounds. To see the after rodeo work out - what workout you ask? The practice round up the cow workout. Very normal here...

Hunters  everywhere. We went to dinner at Soupcon for the last time until their reopening in December. On the short way over on Ohio Pass, saw a hunter right by the road. gun in hand, fluorescent orange vest and  no deer/elk in sight. Wow, watch out everybody.

Went on probably a last fishing trip/painting/picnic trip to upper Taylor and upper Spring Creek. Sooo quiet except for hunters (previously mentioned) and Mark fished but not much luck. Gorgeous day, and we enjoyed the ambiance anyway, and a little plein air painting as well.

Fly report - they are much diminished in number- much happiness here, although, the week we're gone should be a good test on the remainder. Oh, please let us have a fairly pest/rodent free winter....

Shots, off season, and last deer

More preparedness going on, this time in the health department. We've gotten flu shots, and I'm on my way to get a pertussis booster shot (this to protect baby Penny - you can't immunize babies for whooping cough under 6 months) and I'll be back to Virginia a couple more times in the next couple months to be with her - don't want to do anything to jeopardize her health!

We got photo ids for our ski passes too. No one in line at this time of year. Boy, are CB and Mt. CB quiet! It's deep in off season, with half the restaurants closed until Thanksgiving. One of our favorites, Ryce, is still open until the end of Oct. Thank goodness, popped in to get our Asian fix...

Flap napping, twins there too just out of frame

deer in the woods courtesy of Mark

Sweet deer are still around, although the numbers dwindle by the day. That's Flap having a nap in our yard by one of my aspen/flower beds.

Fishing is still going on and Mark spent a little time on the Taylor over the weekend. Caught quite a few but all small he said.Fishing doesn't stop here even in the dead of winter and -20. Just a tad too cold for me (of course I don't fish ever, so doesn't count).
Books read - I'm zipping through quite a few. Read the last two of a series that I had missed somehow. Dorothy Gilman - Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha, and Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle. Very entertaining series about an older woman recruited as a spy in exotic countries. This author has written a ton of books in addition to this series and she's 88! The other book is a new author for me - Martin Walker. Read his first fiction book,  (there are 3 more in the series - I'll be right on that) Bruno, Chief of Police, the start of a series. It's fantastic. They're set in France, small town policeman and yes, a murder mystery (again), but so well written, and very food centric as well. Martin Walker, who I wasn't familiar with, was an international reporter for many years and is editor in chief emeritus of UPI, active in world events still, and written a lot of non fiction books about politics etc. His foray into fiction writing is terrific in my opinion.

Winter a coming, pests, and full moon

Preparedness for winter:
2 cords of wood delivered and stacked - check
extra firestarters purchased - check
new snowblower started - check
hauling the logs from the dead trees Mark cut down with his new chainsaw - um, not yet
outdoor furniture moved inside - well, mostly check
fence repaired - another mostly, our guy never showed up and Mark's had to fill in
find all gloves, hats, boots, and coats - definitely check
Well, we're sort of ready. And it would be easy to be fooled right now since the last few days have been gorgeous and high 60's. It can change in a flash...

We've also had a pest control guy out. Anyone remember our horror movie called "the Flies"of last year? They started appearing again, and along with the prospect of rodents trying to get in and something chewing holes in our siding: time for a professional. Spraying has been done, we'll see, there are still flies I have to sweep up everyday, but I think there are less.

big boy - photo courtesy of Mark

fleeing elk - photo courtesy of Mark

After believing the deer were gone, quite a few have shown back up, including Flap and twins. A big buck spent a couple hours in our yard eating and then resting this morning. Pretty sure it was scared out of it's normal area by all the guns blaring. The hunters are out in full force. 5 elk tore across the hills in front of the house with tongues hanging out yesterday. Same, same.
I really, really don't have a problem with the hunting, especially since we (the humans) have disturbed the natural order of things - the elk are overpopulated due to man wiping out their natural enemies as an example- but, I feel for the animals and don't actually want to do this myself... Oh, yes hypocrite am I.

full moon - camera Mark's, photo mine

An important purchase today - this time a new tv for the living room. For those of you who saw our tv sporadically missing part of its picture this summer, it died finally last night. Not bad really - 8 years old. Now, of course, we paid 1/3 the price for a slightly bigger one, plus it weighs considerably less too, Our local WalMart - good job.

Crystallized trees, daffodil bulbs, and enjoying the wild open spaces

We made it over Ohio Pass on Sunday to go into CB for breakfast and then head up to Emerald Lake. We'd heard that finally the road had been opened up. Sadly, not to be, as the road up was a giant muddy mess, and while we were in the jeep, we watched another 4-wheel vehicle slip and slide all over coming down. For those of you who know that road up to the lake, parts of it are very narrow. No thank you...
Ohio Pass had quite a bit of snow on it - already - this is the latest we've ever been on it I think. All looks wintery yes?

I'm deep into planting the daffodil bulbs I ordered. Having had a good experience with the few I planted last fall (as in one, they came up, and two, deer didn't eat them) I'm spreading them around the house.  Taking advantage of some mild days around here - they won't last!

I'm sharing some of Mark's photos taken with his new camera (Nikon Coolpix P500) - an early birthday present. Long zoom and he's already taking some amazing shots. And no, I'm not absconding with this one (as I did with his other, which is now mine - all mine).

Two more books read. One, a classic, well written, but I didn't care for the subject matter - late 1800's English poor girl in horrible situation - sooo depressing. The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns. And two, yet another new(she's not new, just new to me) murder mystery author. Really good, In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming.me
Time marches on and hunting season is upon us. I see lots of atv's and trucks all getting ready for 1st rifle season this weekend. You can't hunt on Star Mt., but nonetheless, the deer have become quite skittish. I've seen some elk back in the woods up the hill - they must know it's protected here...

Snow, endings, and blowing leaves

We've had mail drama here. A changeover to modern ugly key boxes from rural quaint row boxes involved cement pouring, tearing off the row of old mailboxes, and assigning box numbers. This, for some reason, seemed complicated to the USPS and took a couple of days. In the meantime our mail was delivered into the old mailboxes laying on the ground. Good thing there's almost no crime around here. Gotta love it... Also, we have a new small building just built  for winter UPS and FedX deliveries. (They will not, absolutely not, come into our Star Mt. gates in the winter) Here's a photo - bet you thought this was something else.

Outhouse or package drop?

Snow here! All the peaks got it and we got a dusting at the house. Yup, the white stuff comes early around here. A lot of the aspen leaves have blown off, but there's still enough color to have a stunning combo with the snowy peaks. And we picked up our first snowblower ever yesterday - just a coincidence in timing. This is a small one, just for the deck. Giant quantities build up on one side mostly from the roof. The driveway is just too big for us to handle, so marvelous Walter will continue to keep it open with his heavy machinery.

More breaking news - the cows are gone. The cowboys came to get them Oct 6 (a day later than last year). Sadly, even though we had rearranged our schedules to hang out for a couple of hours so I could get pictures of them in action, they gathered them up apparently with great ease on the other side of Star Mt. and took them off without us seeing a thing. A lone cowboy on our road was it. Ah well, next year. Hurray, our gates are back open.

Lots of deer are gathering around the house for the last green plants. Flap and twins were even being social in a pack of them. Our time is limited now - they disappear for the winter not back until spring.

A last dinner with our friends Gail and Steve. More endings it seems, they go back to their other home and we won't see them until next May.

Finished another great book. This time a memoir of a childhood in South Africa in the late 60's. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller. Full of excitement, tragedy, violence for a family of farmers in the middle of civil war. She has another one out I'll be getting.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that while I was in Virginia, Mark decided to hike Carbon Peak. Our mountain that we see out our living room windows. Not a little effort by any means, it's a nine mile hike in the strenuous category. Took him longer than he thought, I was worried when he didn't check in at the right time according to my calculations, but all was good. He could hardly walk for two days. Evidently our active lifestyle and walking every day is not the same thing as hiking up 12,000 ft mountains. Who knew... These are a few of his photos while up at the top. Fantastic!

Star Mountain viewed from the top

Penny and golden trees

Oh my, I'm back after a whirlwind trip to Virginia. Penny is a joy,delight, a blessing for all. Ooooh precious girl...

Daddy, DADDY wake up!

Yup, the reading starts early

Mommy you're so funny

A new favorite - Mr. Octopus

Nite, nite

A bunch of fall pictures to share. Before they all fall off!