It's really beginning to look like we'll be here through the winter. Sigh. I wish it were different, but it just ain't so. We just had our fourth showing on the house this morning but I don't hold out much hope for anything to come of it. We have some stiff (and cheaper) competition out there right now in our area. Our thought is to take it off the market in mid-September and to relist it next February. Our move has to coincide with weather at the cabin, and if we leave it too late we are compromising our first winter there by arriving too late in the year.

Sometimes I feel like I'm on a carousel. Each day I go around trying to grab the brass ring, but every day I miss. Around and around. Day after day. That elusive brass ring, always just out of reach.

There are upsides to staying here until spring. Rick will be able to draw from his 401K at that point instead of relying on savings for those few months, and he'll have more stock options and another bonus. And, hopefully the house will sell early on and we can move in the spring, taking the whole summer to ready the cabin (and us) for winter. It feels like a long way off, I have to say. What is it that they say — all good things come to those who wait?

In the meantime they are in no hurry to have Rick leave at work, which is a good thing. We have a lovely home and there are certainly a lot worse places to be living than where we are. We really do like it here, but it's time to move on to the next chapter.

So far in our lives we've experienced different chapters. First was the "European Ex-Pat Chapter," then the "Dog Show Chapter" and now the "New Jersey Chapter." I should write more about those early chapters some day.

We are anxiously awaiting the "Cabin Chapter."

I know you all on Facebook have already seen the turkey photos, but this post is for my sister who is not on Facebook. I promised her I would put them on the blog. So here they are: the Baker's Dozen hanging out by the pool. I am thankful I didn't have the pool open on this day or they might have just taken a dip it was that hot!

Silly turks! I could not believe my eyes when I saw them all lined up on the railing. 

And while we're here, why not land on the cabana?

They hardly ever come in to the back yard. I like it when they do because they eat all the bugs.

I'm sorry I'm not here more often. I guess my motivation for the blog has diminished. It started to celebrate our new life in New Jersey and all the adventures, flora and fauna that were new and different to us. Now it's just everyday ho-hum. Add to that the fact that we can't wait to move back to Colorado and start the next chapter of our lives together and well, it's hard to keep the blog going. I think you know where I am coming from. But, until the house sells (and it seems we are not having much luck with that) we are trying to enjoy the rest of our time here. We're taking advantage of the pool and swimming lengths most mornings.

I haven't given up the blog, just scaling back a bit.

At this point, the entire 3-day-holiday weekend is stretching before us in a wonderful, as yet to be unfurled red-white & blue ribbon. What will the weekend bring?

Well, some grilling for sure: baby back ribs and a new macaroni salad recipe. Lamb chops and grilled artichokes. Brats. (No, not the kid kind, the sausage kind.)

Bringing our T@B up and prepping her for our camping trip this upcoming week. (Yeah!)

A trip to the Farmer's Market in Warwick on Sunday.

Swimming.

Relaxing.

Planning.

Hoping.

Not New Jersey

We are home in New Jersey as of Saturday late afternoon. My own house feels strange to me. I am in still in a Colorado state of mind and I'm finding it hard to adjust back to the noises of neighbors mowing their lawns and the annoying small planes that fly over the house on the way to the local airport. 

However, an incident last night reminded me of exactly where I was. We had our first bear of the season. I got up to close the curtains as it was getting dark. Out the window I saw our trash can toppled over and trash strewn in a wide swath across the front yard. Then I saw the big black bear. I stood on the front steps and clapped my hands and yelled at it. It took one last tasty piece of prime trash and retreated into the woods. 

Yep, we're back.

It pretty much either rained or was extremely overcast on our 3-day journey home. It seemed that the entire state of Nebraska was inundated with water. The Platte river was out of its banks and newly formed "lakes" appeared in so many fields. So. much. moisture. It was that way in Colorado too and it was nice to see it so green.

We listened to a very interesting book on the way home called "The Buried Giant." It was fantasy with a mix of King Arthur and The Hobbit, complete with ogres and dragons. It was so well read that the author's descriptive words and wonderful dialogue came to life. The story had a very interesting premise which kept us talking about it long after it was over. The 12 hours of CD time seemed to fly by as Lex's tires ate up the miles. Between that and podcasts of America's Test Kitchen we kept ourselves well entertained.

The pool is open and warmed up. However, it has mostly rain and stormed since we've been home. Rick did take advantage of a quick dip on Sunday, but since that afternoon we've had nothing but rain. I am not sure we even have fireflies since it's rained every night, and if they are here I'm sure they are all drowned. I did catch this little froggie on top of his "kin" upon opening the pool yesterday. Whenever it rains we get frogs in the pool. They are the devil to catch.

Most people ask if it's good to be "home" again. I would have to say, no, not really. I'm sure I will settle back into my normal New Jersey routine before too long, but right now I am not ready. We both become so immersed in cabin life that it's not easy to rewire ourselves. Plus, we kicked off a few things in preparation of living there full time while we there, such as next month we'll have new batteries installed and more solar panels. We found a great shed/small garage/storage barn that is going to be perfect for what we need. A neighbor is going to be clearing and leveling the spot for it this week (depending on the weather). 

Our yard was about to become a virtual garden with the promise of lupine, Wyoming paintbrush, fireweed, pink plume, blue flax and more. We won't see it in bloom. Neither will we see the fruits of our efforts to reseed the slash pile burn areas where we spread seed and native wildflower mix.

We're missing all the animals that come to our brand-new mineral and salt licks.

It takes a while to adjust to having moose, deer and elk visit vs. a bear getting into our garbage.

Moody sky over Nebraska

We've arrived at our destination: the cabin! After a quick stop yesterday in Laramie for groceries for a couple of days, we pulled into our driveway around 1:30. 

It rained on us. It hailed pea-sized hail on us. Welcome back it seemed to be saying. Everything is in good order and our new furnace is working great. We had to clean up an epic amount of dead flies, but our interent connected without much ado at all, something which was previously a pain in the you-know-where to get up and running. 

The apsens are just barely leafing out and the pasque flowers are blooming. It's been very wet and cool so far up here this spring. It should be a great wildflower season when it warms up. Not sure we'll get to see them though.

Please come by over at Off the Grid for the remainder of our trip as that is where I'll be blogging. See you there!

The snowdrift upon arrival!