This time of year there are plenty of beautiful wildflowers to behold. We are lucky that many different varieties bloom on our land. We have a varied environment for them to thrive in; everything from sage meadows to deep woods. Here a few that are now blooming.

Purple Fringe

Paintbrush

Larkspur

Wild Iris

and my very favorite, the elusive Fairy Slipper (also called Calypso Orchid) which is endangered. It blooms down by Bart’s Creek in the moist woodsy soil.

We finally managed to get our internet connection working last night. I am really sitting in our cabin writing to you rather than sitting on the hilltop. Magic.

In the crisp morning air all that can be heard is the whizzing, whirring sound of the hummingbirds as they go back and forth between our two feeders, the peewee is screeching its monotonous song, and the light babble of Bart’s Creek, still flowing with spring run off water. It’s very peaceful here. It’s taken some time but I think we are finally on cabin time. Time that passes slowly and sweetly, without you even noticing. It’s hard to explain.

We are “off the grid” here, meaning we have no one providing us with services. We make our own electricity, relying on the sun to spill its power onto our solar panels and down into the batteries, so we have to be mindful of our usage. We have a wind generator too, but we took it down when we moved to New Jersey. The wind is downright wicked up here and would have ruined it if we had left it up unattended. We do have a large propane tank and our refrigerator, stove and furnace are powered by propane. We have a well with deliciously cold water. Yes, we have running water and all the comforts that go along with it. Rustic but comfortable.

The dogs are certainly enjoying themselves. We take plenty of long walks.

For now I will leave you with the sunset from the other night. More coming soon.

Okay. The tech came out last evening and spent four hours trying to get us up and running with no success. It seems they switched satellites on us and for some reason they were denying us access to the only satellite that we could get a decent signal from.

Yesterday we tried our hilltop again, but the wireless connector stubbornly refused to cooperate. It reminded us of a string of Christmas lights, blinking alternately green and red.

Right now I am sitting in a laundromat in Laramie, Wyoming. We’re in town to wash clothes and bedding and restock our grocery supply. Rick just got off the phone from the satellite provider and we think we may have it figured out. Of course, we won’t know until we get back to the cabin and try it out, but then you realize we don’t have cell phone coverage any more so if something goes wrong we can’t call them and ask questions. Very frustrating. Keep your fingers crossed. I have some great photos to share with you!

photo: view looking toward Laramie from just down the road from the cabin

Hello from the cabin! We don’t have internet yet but hope to on Thursday. Right now I am sending this from the nearest hilltop where Rick’s wireless connection works, albeit very slowly. Twice per day we drive until we can get a signal to check our email and connect with the rest of the world.

The cabin is peaceful. Many flowers are in bloom, the weather is warm and sunny and the dogs are having a great time sliding down the one remaining snow bank.

My eyes have had to adjust to the high altitude sun and the lack of lush greeness that is New Jersey. Here the high prairie has its own beauty, but it’s different.

I hope to blog a lot more once we have a connection from the cabin itself and not the nearest high point.

Until then ...

I am blogging from Des Moines, Iowa. We are passing by newly formed “lakes” right now. There’s a lot of standing water out there. Looks more like a bayou than anything else at the moment. Incredible. And downright scary for some of these people only feet away from being engulfed. They say the river here crested last night, and with no further rain, it has stabilized.

Our detour took us about 60 miles out of the way to the north, to Dubuque and over. I wish I could tell you it was a pleasant diversion, but it was not. Although it was a divided highway, it was not Interstate driving. Poor Dubuque’s roads were clogged with all of us “I-80ers” but they couldn’t have minded too much since we saw several signs like the Burger King we passed by was displaying saying, “Welcome I-80 Travelers!” At least someone could benefit from our miserable drive from Dubuque to Interstate 35.

We fought strong broad-side winds the whole way. Not much fun. The whole thing put us back about two and one-half hours of travel time.

We passed field after field with what we could only assume were planted with crops. It was difficult to tell since they looked more like rice paddies than farm fields. Swollen rivers and streams were nearly at bridge levels and had spilled over their banks to create new ponds and lakes. Oh, those poor people. While we were merely inconvenienced by our little detour, these people have lost their homes and more. So sad. And we didn’t even get close to Cedar Rapids where the worst flooding occurred. It’s going to take a while for the ground to absorb all the excess water. wow.

We’ve stopped in Omaha, Nebraska tonight. We had hoped to get further, but being buffeted by that wind today and having the extra hours spent going out of our way, we just couldn’t put the cats, dogs or ourselves through anymore car time. Tomorrow we hope to make good time and arrive at the cabin before dark. I may not blog for a few days until we can get our satellite internet up and running. Until then ...