Farm visit, little mishap, and end of October

Quick update here. Our company has come and gone. Loved having them here, but oh, my a slightly less successful trip than usual, at least for Paul. A slip on a rock in full waders on a hill caused blown out knee and remedy still to be determined. Not the best fishing trip ever. Hope for the best!

'

We experimented on the willing Paul and Nancy with our friend Bunny's famous Cuban pork recipe. Good stuff! Black beans, cilantro lime rice, and plantains as sides. We've had Bunny's fabulous plantains and mine were just  okay - should have asked her for that special recipe too.

clearly a couple of family chickens

first time seeing this - protecting something or someone

A rare trip to the farm to get our every other month ground meat pickup. Oh how sad - it used to be a weekly egg pickup. No egg solution has emerged with the farm that took their chickens. Oh, well.

We are on countdown now. Leaving for Naples soon and trying to get organized. We won't be back until after the holidays. How can this year zip by so fast?

Trickle of snow and making the best of off season

Back from Colorado Springs - whirlwind trip with lots to do and lots accomplished. Mini snowstorm rolled through there as well as at home, making it  a little difficult for Mark to drive back from Denver airport to my mother's house after his business trip. Winter a comin'. The house at Star Mt. was 47degrees when we got back! My fault - hadn't turned the heat up and the nighttime temps were in the teens while we were gone.

Paul and Nancy are here, coming from different places (Dallas and Santa Fe) and on completely different agendas.Paul and Mark are on a heavy fishing schedule, and Nancy says she has no agenda, so I'm making one up.

So far we've gone to Garlic Mike's in Gunnison for Nancy's first night with great success. It's been around forever, much improved food and service over the last year in my opinion.

Next, off to CB to see what was even open. Nancy had a yen to try our Nepal and Tibetan restaurant Sherpa Cafe, and happily it was open..  You have to be adventurous to go there - very different food. Mr. Sherpa (oh yes, that's really his name) was there and confirmed he still is guiding people up Kathmandu and the like in his native country. Apparently all the people in that area have the last name Sherpa - interesting.

And of course had to introduce Nancy to Montanya Rum. I begin to see a pattern here - promoting daytime drinking for all. Only one drink, I swear.

How fun is this sign - closed for off season so couldn't try it, and I'm not really a big hot dog girl - but full points for creativity!

Yes, Paul is really here, and no, there are no pictures of him yet. I'll get there!

Hunters, off season quiet, and company coming

Hunters abound around every nook and cranny. Not the time for fun new hikes, or even well known paths. Bright fluorescent orange attire is the word of the day. I must say, the amount of trucks loaded with outfitted hunters who are slowly stopping on the main roads looking at what? are just a tad concerning. Don't they have a plan, a schedule, a place for hunting already planned out? Let me be clear, no issue with hunting - it has its place and is a help in our area with over population. Just please follow the safety rules! While on this rant, I realize that most of you won't have a clue what I'm talking about. The latest stats on percentage of hunting in this country is 8 - 10 percent, down from 10 -12 percent. Teeny tiny numbers but big here.

Sooo quiet here on off season.We went to dinner at Soupcon for the last time for some months to come. They close in a week, back open in mid December. As usual, a lot of their staff are off to exotic climates. Costa Rica was mentioned, what a life.

We also visited our new favorite, having time after Mark zipped into his doctor for a Saturday late afternoon visit (who has these hours?) - Montanya Rum!  Yes, everyone, of course we had a Maharajah drink. Whoo hoo!

Fishing report from the weekend - fabulous fishing on the Gunnison because of the unusual drought year. So low that you can get in places not available in a normal weather year. Monster fish are everywhere there. Mark went down to the Gunnison, but quickly turned around as every local fisherman in the county apparently had decided to do the same thing. Parking lot!  He ended up on the Taylor, caught fish (small) but at least it wasn't grand central station.

View out Montanya Rum window -Halloween a comin'

We leave tomorrow for opposite places. I, to CO Sprngs, to help my mother, and Mark to oh, boy, Detroit, yes, that familiar place, but for a different company. Wow, you never know what's coming...

Deer are very scare now

Paul and Nancy coming this weekend - hurray. It may be a bit brisk, but we have endless firewood for the fireplace and lots of blankets. Oh, and hot chocolate! Perfect.

Life and its mysteries

A quick and short post. My father passed away yesterday and is finally at peace. Everyone is coping and life will go on. Thanks everyone for the well wishes! Life does throw curves at all of us.

Tree in Mom's neighborhood

Mark is back from the first week of the new job. Looks very good so far! We have family coming in next week, and in the meantime Mark will be off on another business trip while dropping me off at Mom's for a few days. Winter is not far away here, so we are enjoying lovely weather in the meantime.

Bye, bye aspen leaves, elk, and marching to winter

We are back from a quick visit to CO Springs to see Mom and Dad. Dad is not doing well and it's quite difficult at this point. All I can say is thank God for hospice. They are a wonderful organization that strives to provide quality of life at the end of life.

We stopped at Rudy's barbecue on the way into CO Springs to pick up brisket to bring to Mom and Dad's. Yummy stuff and we know of them from Texas. Texas barbecue is the best!

Dusting of snow happened while we were away, and as usual, while weather was calm everywhere else, the big boy Monarch Pass was 27 degrees, snowy, icy slush on the road at the top and snow plows working. Wow, precursor of things to come...

Last of the fall leaves and snow on the peaks at the same time.  Oct. is marching on.

The most amazing thing happened on my walk this morning. A herd of at least 30 elk ran across the road in front of me. Of course I had the camera at the ready - I stood still and snapped pictures as the bulls, cows, and half grown babies thundered by. I think they'd been spooked elsewhere by hunters. It is that time of year.
As quickly as we got back home, Mark has left again, this time to St. Louis. A new job awaits! Apparently, he's not ready to leave the workforce just yet. He'll be working from home part of the time, with travel to a number of cities. Let the games begin again...

Deer, grouse, rum, miners cabins, and end of fall

Sooo much fun with our great friend Marci. Weather was terrific and the last of the leaves waited to turn while she was here. Deer everywhere. Missed you Tom!

And the cows were on the move again... This time on the road from CB to Gunnison. Better not be in a hurry to get anywhere.

Lunch at Ryce with great Asian spicy. Marci loved her eggplant dish. A new nutritional category, if you're not aware.

The DRINK

On Marci's list was a repeat visit to Montanya Rum. Maharajah drink is to die for, hopefully not literally. It sells twice as much as any of their other great drinks. Marci has tried to copy it, and I just found out Heather has too. Neither was quite satisfied with the result. We picked the brain of Will, distiller extraordinaire, and along with a great tour, he checked the recipe to make sure it was accurate. Small tweeking needed. They are down to 9 states needed to complete entire US distribution.

traffic

Walking through the woods with the last leaves dropping and deer everywhere lazily eating and laying down resting before moving to lower ground. Time is coming soon. And a group of dusky grouse appeared, plodding along, good thing for them you can't hunt here. they'd be goners.

Marci and I went to take a look at the old miners cabins. Wow, hard to imagine how they lived in that time, surviving the minus zero degree COLD. Again, very sad these are falling down with no stop in sight, but isn't it always the land that's left anyway...