For the past couple of days conditions have been just right for con trails. They’ve been spectacular so I thought I’d share them with you.

A very busy morning over Bull Mountain.





And these over Camel Rock on our way in to Laramie. They kind of look like they are forming a flag to me.





And yesterday’s almost over the cabin. This was taken from our front porch.

Click on a picture to enlarge it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I am so behind in posting photos of our walks! The re-threading of the serpentine belt was successful the other morning and took half the time of our messing around that night trying to achieve the same results. Thank goodness! Rick is my main auto mechanic! If I had been here by myself I would be stuck. Anyway, no more rat talk!




Old man sage.

The dogs do so love it up here.




Hailey




Alex




Bella (dry version)




Bella (wet version)

We walked to the UFO landing sight (or at least that’s how we refer to it) which is just a barren circle of ground where nothing grows. Every year it yields up what I call Colorado Turquoise. This year it was just small nuggets, but I have a whole collection here at the cabin of larger stones.









The views are always expansive up here.




Not much left in the way of wildflowers, but still pretty even in their dried state.

Star arnica still blooming!

More pics coming soon!

Click on a picture to enlarge it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

We are now minus one pack rat. But not quite in the way in which we had intended.

Last night right after dinner we decided we were going to drive around and see if we could spot any elk or moose. We all piled in the truck (including Bella who hates these just-before-dark drives and we can’t really figure out why) Rick started the truck and backed up.

Eeeeewwwwwwww. What was that smell? All of a sudden Rick announced that the truck didn’t have any steering. What????? We knew what the stench was—pack rat—but why didn’t we have any steering?

We all got out of the truck that wasn’t going anywhere and I put the dogs in the house. Rick popped the hood and started scooping out a lovely nest made of ferny material and some black chewed on piece that used to be covering something in the engine. He peered closer. Yup, there was the “monster” (as Rick called it) pretty chewed up with guts and gore splattered everywhere in the engine compartment. He said “the belt is gone!” At first we thought the monster chewed the fan belt in half or had run off with it, but then he found it lying there completely off its gears or whatever they are called. Apparentely he got caught in the belt when we started the truck and it threw the belt off the heads.

We got rid of the pack rat carcass and stood there for a minute trying to understand just what this meant. Did we have to call a tow truck to come all the way in from Laramie? We saw a diagram under the hood that shows how to thread the belt back on, so Rick got busy trying to figure it out.

It’s not a simple thing to do since it’s not just the fan belt, but drives lots of other things too. They don’t call it a serpentine belt for nothing! It winds in and around all the little belt heads (don’t laugh I don’t know what to all them) in a rather intricate pattern.

Rick tried his best while I offered moral support and held the flashlight. By now it was starting to get too dark to see very much, so we gave up after coming very close to having it back on. Rick came in and went online, found a video of how to put it back on and now we feel pretty confident we can get it back up and running today. Good thing we hadn’t planned on going in to Laramie to shop until tomorrow!

So, therefore the score above: pack rat: 1,  us: 1. We got him but he got us too.

Traps were set everywhere last night: under the truck, near the entry to the fireplace where they had been getting in, by the canoe. One trap was sprung with nothing in it, the one under the truck netted one mouse.

So, if you are still thinking in the back of your head that pack rats are cute, maybe you’ll change your mind when you see the havoc they can cause.




Starting to change! Another post still on the way today with photos from our walks of the past couple of days. I need to catch up if only these dang pack rats would leave us alone!

Click on a picture to enlarge it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

This was last night’s sunset as seen through our dining room window. This is a sight we never used to be able to see. In other words, we couldn’t see the sunset for the trees. So, there is some good in losing all those trees to beetle kill.

This photo was taken outside the cabin and looks more like an advancing forest fire.

And again, more late night bedside scribblings led to this:

As I lay in bed awaiting sleep I can see the last of the fire’s light flickering on the logs of the ceiling above. I hear the deep satisfied breathing of tired dogs.

Click on a picture to enlarge it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Our new “street” sign.

I am attempting to blog from my iPad this morning instead of using Rick’s computer. I have a nifty little program called BlogPress, so we’ll see how it goes. Please bear with me if the photos come out smaller, or something else weird goes on. I may switch back if this experiment doesn’t work.

I am sitting at the table looking out the window at the stellar jays having their breakfast of peanuts at the bird feeder. The sun is just now high enough to light up our pines in the newly opened meadow. It looks like it’s going to be a nice day.

Rats aside, the cabin feels like home. We don’t have to adjust, nor does it feel foreign even though we’ve not been here for a year. When we’re here; we’re home. When we’re at our house in New Jersey (which we love); we’re home. The dogs and cats feel the same way. They do have different behavioral patterns here which they just fall into from the moment they arrive. Take Sam for example, on the cat tree that Rick built for the cats on the porch.








The dogs seem to play more. Alex and Bella like to play tug-a-toy and most of the time Alex initiates the play.



The aspens are just now thinking about changing. Strange, because last year this time they were well on their way. There are only a few actually changing right now, while the others are only showing the barest hint of yellow. We’re hoping they get on with it while we are here! Bring on the golden show!

Here are some sky shots from our walk the night before last just before dinner.










We sat on the porch with the oil lanterns lit and listened to the wind sighing through the trees. No owl. No coyotes. Just the wind. No television that night. Just to bed.




I feel like I am one day behind in my blogging due to the rat story, so I will probably post again today. Stay tuned for more cabin-y news.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad