Fall is coming, haying, fishing, and rainbows

And change is in the air. Everything is starting to turn golden, bits here and there. Schools are back in session and the tourist crowd is definitely less. The businesses in both Gunnison and CB had a great summer - always nice to hear.

Haying continues on. It's big business here if you're selling it and so important for winter feeding if you're not.

We still have the cattle for a few more weeks. They are huge now, courtesy of that great Star Mt. grass.

Had a little drama here. Gratefully all is fine, but a small, very small fire started by lightening happened in Star Mt. two nights ago. Two great things - a neighbor on the other side of our neighborhood saw smoke and called it in, and the emergency fire crews from town came rushing right out. They worked away and then the rain poured down -hence the end of the fire. And rainbows came out - a beneficent sign.  The fire started nowhere near a high area - poof goes the theory lightening goes for the highest point...

A little fishing on the Taylor for Mark and lovely spot to paint for me. Got to enjoy the beautiful weather while its here. Ate at the Nugget Cafe in Taylor Park for lunch. The area is a big one for ATVers but it's gone all quiet now. Long time homey cafe, famous for their pies, and we've bought many, but their price is a little steep these days.Hope some one's paying attention! All closes down Sept 15 for winter.

Wildlife report: no bear sightings, and we're at the end of August (last year's 3 sightings were all in August) but there's still a few weeks left. There was a mountain lion sighting in the middle of town (Gunnison), a young one that created such a crowd of watchers, that he had to be sedated to safely be taken out of town to be released in the wild. We have coyote, elk, deer, hooting owls, plus our (or Mark's) ground squirrels and chipmunks beg for food on the deck everyday.

doe resting outside our window

number 3 in a line of coyotes

Where's my food?

Of course late on books read: Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis, another in her great series about ancient Rome. Letters on an Elk Hunt by Elinor Pruitt Stewart, the continuing true story of a life in Wyoming in the late 1800's and early 1900's - the first was fabulous, and so is this - highly recommended. And lastly, Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson, a new author for me, but loved her style, a novel set in 1780 written in sort of a Conan Doyle style. I'm on to the next one...