Goodbye Star Mt. Hello Florida

We leave in the early am tomorrow so doing a quick post before we go. What a madness to pack for 2 months and winterize the house. We have a great neighbor who will be watching the house, and our snow prep is done. The big snowblower purchase will be delivered while we're gone, in plenty of time for the big winter snow accumulation. Let's hope for big snow, it's important here!

The Halloween pic is early I know but how cute! We;ll be going to a Halloween party in full costume as we did last year so had to plan and pack costume too. Never thought I'd get back into the spirit of the thing, just shows you never know...

We are making an extra stop this year in Dallas, to attend Lisa's one woman show at the art gallery that represents her. Very exciting stuff! She is one very talented lady and we're so proud. Come join us!   Details at   Lisaadamsreed.com

All the leaves are almost gone, and it will be very quiet here before the mountain opens for skiing. Hunting still goes on with a vengeance for some weeks and then just silence.

And the elk still roam below our fence. They clearly know they are protected here, but will all be gone to other parts when we get back.
I'll post from Naples as always. Palm trees are calling!

The winding down of the season and thoughts of palm trees and white sand.

Where has the time gone? I still have a lot to do and my lists for my lists are quite long.We leave for Florida in just a matter of days and the house needs to be winter ready.A lot will happen while we're gone and we will come back to bitter cold and snow.

Snow poles are going up to protect ditches and well, septic,etc. and we've put up a 100ft snowfence off the driveway (this we tried before doing it all wrong, hopefully learned the correct procedure this time). Its supposed to help with the major snow drifting we get. Deck furniture in and flower/herb pots taken down. Cut a bunch of herbs to use before leaving. They last a long time in a vase of water.

yep those are more elk, I hasten to say this is not the hunting ground

Many comings and goings at pre -dawn and late hours during Mark's 5 day hunting period. He did at least get to shoot the new gun, but sadly did not "bag" one. His friend and our neighbor, who was his hunting companion, did get a cow and is sharing the meat. Terrific, as this was a big part of Mark's decision to hunt again. Mark helped with the cleaning, etc., I think this qualifies as the icky part.

Last lunch at Ryce today after picking up my seasonal ski equipment rental in Gunnison. Gotta do it now and it's super cheap to rent for the whole season. Still hard to imagine since there's no snow on the mountain at the moment, but it's coming. Crested Butte has gone very quiet, and finally all that blue from the "Whatever" promo has removed off the main road (diamond milled - serious stuff).

And about the moment I was congratulating myself that we were leaving the barrage of dreadful non-stop political tv commercials and phone calls, I was reminded that apparently we're going to a state that has equally obnoxious political races going on. Oh, well.

No big list of books read as I'm still on the repeat of the Outlander series. Deep into book 4, Dragonfly in Amber. These are really long books folks!

The dwindling days of fall

As I write it is blowing wildly outside and snowing/sleeting/raining with no visibility. A blazing fire in the fireplace and hot spiced tea makes it a cozy place to be inside.

never had flaming orange and camouflage in the house before

This is day two of Mark's hunting adventure, with day one unsuccessful. He has opted out today due to the weather. At least he has that option since he is hunting on our private land Not so much for the hunting tent/camping mini cities set up in the valley.

Elk are everywhere except where Mark is hunting. As he left the hunting area last night, there was a 6 x 6 in the middle of the road as he drove out. You hunting people will know what I'm talking about. He has 3 more days after this, we'll see what happens.

This was yesterday as I walked,

And this is right now. Hard to capture the wind, but our umbrella has a 50lb weight base and it's practically airborne. I think it's safe to say the best fall color pics have come and gone. Most of the leaves were just blown off - in 30 minutes. And I realize we look pretty silly having outdoor furniture still out, got it. The blue sky and sun will be back out and there's really no accumulation of snow - its just a warning.

Flap's twins

The deer are also everywhere and before the storm blew in they were in our yard. Flap and twins were there and I caught the above photo - family love.

Fading color, early snow, and cattle

And it's gone all quiet here. After more encounters with cattle, oh yes.

Around here it's quite important to know the difference between cows, calves, steers, and bulls. Really, it's the bulls. Since so much of the land and roads are open range here, cattle roam freely until stopped by a cattle guard. As I walked down Carbon I saw quite a number of cattle wandering on the road, not a cattle drive I hasten to say, and approached cautiously. Breathed a sigh of relief when no big boys appeared. Then the grunting began.

not so pretty right?

Happily he, actually there were 2, was behind the fence, but not happy with me walking close by at all. Grunting, pawing the ground getting the cows around me a bit unsettled. Honestly I swear I don't try to disrupt, its a knack.

Ohio Pass was still crowded with end of season leaf watchers but surprise, surprise snow was also a visitor. Real winter will be here soon enough.

And back to cattle. Ours at Star Mt. are gone after gorging on our grass all summer and becoming twice as large as they started out. Burt and his cowboys came and rounded them up and whoosh back open went our gates. It's a love/hate thing...

We are now on a bit of a countdown, leaving for Florida in a little over two weeks. A lot to do outside and in to prepare. Moving wood, bringing in hammock, outdoor furniture etc. Whee.

It is very hard to watch the fall disappear and the leaves float away. The restaurants will soon close for off season so we hurried in to have a lovely dinner at Soupcon before they close. Love that restaurant! This is normal seasonal change but we fight it like crazy. Aah, a Florida break is called for.

We will listen to the coyotes and the owls in the night as the animals continue on with their lives. Mark is back from a business trip tomorrow (work - what's that?) and then his first hunting (elk) experience in decades begins. For those non-hunters, remember that elk are over populated here and must be managed. We'll see how it goes...

Deer, elk, rainbows, and fall cattle drives

And a little window into my day. I went for a hike up Ohio Creek this morning and saw in the distance what looked like a bunch of cows. Oh, yes, it was a cattle drive and I was heading right into it. I decided to get off to the side of the road and let them all go by, the small amount I thought they were. And this is what happened:

the orderly beginning

trying to escape ME

cattle racing off the road going the wrong way

this cowboy galloped by me to head them off

and they're headed back up to the road

I decided to go back in our gates and get out of their way, especially after finding out there were 600 coming. The cowgirl, cowwoman, cowlady?  who had jumped out of her truck to saddle up and help round up the stray cattle waved at me and wished me a nice day, especially nice since I had done a bang up job at trying to ruin hers...

And snow and freezing temps have arrived. Not ready for this. Its a small amount of snow mostly on the peaks and the temps are going back up for the next week, but let the big leaf falling begin. Interestingly, our woods always turn much later than most, no idea why, but they're turning now. They fall off just as fast as any when they're done.

Amazing rainbows happen here often, but couldn't believe when we had the end (or the start?) down our hill.

The deer are everywhere on their last munching frenzy before they move to lower ground. They love our still green grasses and we carefully tiptoe by windows. Done this drill every fall...

a little rest between feedings

Also elk are around. These photos were taken a week or so ago, just past our fence. He had some females with him and were moving pretty quickly to hide in the next woods over.

Enjoying my walks/hikes a lot at this time of year. Always have the whistle and eyes peeled though for bear or mountain lion (a recent addition). Nothing recently...The falling leaves just add to the beauty.

Long time without listing books read. And I will also point out I'm a GIANT fan of the Outlander books and now the show, so have just reread the first in the series and starting on the second. It will be hard to wait until April for the second tv (Starz) half.
Saturnalia - Lindsey Davis
This is the story of a happy marriage - Ann Patchett
The man in the wooden hat - Jane Gardam
Chickens, mules, and two old fools - Victoria Twead
Great stuff all of the above. Doesn't always happen that way.