Last night right after we got into bed, around 9:15 or so, I heard a coyote. I had cracked the window ever so slightly for some fresh air. I jumped out of bed and opened the window wide so I could hear it better. The barks and howls of the coyote split the night air and quickly faded as it got further and further away from the cabin. I could hear wet snowflakes making a plopping noise as they hit the canoe stored under the window.

Rick got up at midnight to look outside and he said we only had a skiff of snow at that point. I woke up several times thinking that if we were going to get the snow they had predicted then the wind should be blowing. All was quiet. I assumed they had blown the forecast.

It was kind of like Christmas morning this morning, lying in bed anticipating opening the curtains instead of presents. We were not disappointed. I was rather shocked to see about six inches of so already on the ground and covering the trees.

The photo above is the view out our main window this morning. Since then it has snowed at least another 3 to 4 inches on top of the six or so that we got overnight.


Here is a before and after view of our driveway looking away from the cabin. The first one was taken yesterday morning, the second one was taken this morning.

It has snowed all day and just now is finally stopping at 4:00 p.m. At times it really came down. We lost our internet satellite connection for a time because of the heavy snowfall and some accumulation of snow on the dish itself.

It’s been between 24 degrees F and 26 degrees F all day. The heat has not come on at all as I’ve kept a modest fire going all day in the wood cookstove. The cabin is nice and toasty. It always amazed me that all that lie between me and the great outdoors is the width of a log.

I had to laugh at the pack rat’s preparedness for the winter weather. This is his collection yesterday afternoon on either side of the front step—this time near the ground and not on the step itself. Can you see what it has collected for insulation? Take a close look at both artful pack rat piles. Do you see the little “something special?”





If you can’t tell, I’ll give you a clue: the dogs helped somewhat.

We could try to get out in the morning, but frankly I am afraid we will get stuck. I think it’s better to wait until it gets above freezing and the sun comes out tomorrow to help with some melting. We have gotten stuck trying to make it out before and thankfully we had neighbor Larry to help us out. He isn’t around to “save” us anymore. So, scheduled departure date is now Sunday. Fingers crossed!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level

Just as we are nearing the end of our stay we are completely in cabin mode. We don’t really pay attention to any kind of schedule (except for the dogs) and we get up when we feel like it, eat when we feel like it, and go to bed when we feel like it. Last night we turned in around 8:00 p.m. I think. We got up at 5:30 because the heater wasn’t coming on fully. (Rick had replaced the batteries in the thermostat and the cover was not on completely.)

We do shower every day but tend to wear the same clothes for several days. Fashion mavens we are not.

We’ve done really well planning and buying meals this time. We are really getting the most out of the ingredients we bought, such as we had to buy italian sausage for the Lasagna Soup and we used the rest of the sausage for italian sausage with peppers and onions last night.  Thrifty!


Sunset over Bull Mountain on Monday evening.

The weather has not been typical at all for this time of year. We didn’t bring any really warm clothes as we never need them. I am usually running around in shorts with layers on the top, but this year I’ve worn shorts once in two weeks and that was yesterday when the temperature was about 70 degrees F.

We are usually longing for keeping a fire going in the wood stove and this year have pretty much had one every day, although we let it go out in the afternoon.

The wind is something else that is not normal this year. It’s been extremely windy most days. I am not a big fan of the wind but if you live up here you get used to it. September is not usually a windy month—mostly winter and spring is when it blows. The wind also becomes your friend up here. Why? Because Wind=Power! Everyone has a wind generator (our is decommissioned now). We were discussing the wind last week when we had our neighbors over for a drink and they all said they celebrate when the wind blows by staying up late watching movies! Ah, high country life.

The aspens are not behaving as they should either. Some have turned while others’ leaves are still on the tree, but they were touched by the frost and snow last week and instead of turning color they will just fall off.

We took a drive yesterday over Sand Creek Pass and up a BLM road on the back of Bull Mountain. It’s usually a beautiful drive in the fall, but again, the trees this year are pretty much hit and miss. The view of the Rawah Mountain range is always beautiful from the top of the pass.




There are quite a few antelope around and we saw this little group of girls that was being watched over by a big male. He was pretty possessive of his little harem and while I was trying to snap their photo one female broke off from the pack and started to run. We watched him run after her, covering a large amount of ground in a very short period of time, and turned her right around and chased her back to the other females. Very cool.





We are expecting some snow on Thursday night into Friday, the amount of which seems unclear at this point. One prediction is for not much while the other one is for “a substantial snow event.” If that happens we won’t be leaving on Friday as planned, but will have to wait a day. We left the snow chains at home with the thought that surely we wouldn’t need them in September!

Rick has been posting some very interesting and enjoyable blog posts over at his site too all about our days at the cabin. I encourage you to go over and visit him, read a little and learn a lot!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level

I am still  not sure if my blogging silence is completely over, but I wanted to say that as of tomorrow we are on our way to Colorado. Therefore, I've changed my header photo to the cabin which is where you can find us for the next two weeks.

First of all, let me say that our hearts go out to all our friends and our previous home of the flood-ravaged Loveland/Ft. Collins area of Colorado. It's hard to imagine that it is much, much worse than the Big Thompson flood of 1976 with such widespread damage. So very sad. Not to mention the amount of time to rebuild all those roads and bridges, especially the ones up the canyons leading to Estes Park. It's a staggering thought.

Our cabin is not anywhere near the flooding, nor will be have to drive anywhere close to it to get to our cabin since we approach from the North, and with all the rain they've had (even at the cabin) forest fires can be ruled out for our visit this time.

So, our annual trek begins even though our little family is sadly diminished by two since the last time we made this trip in June of 2012: the loss of Sam one short year ago on September 16, and the more recent and still very raw loss of Alex. We are hoping the cabin will bring us peace and restore our souls.

I am taking a short break from blogging. Not sure when I'll be back. I might return in a few days, or a few weeks. Losing Alex has pretty much wiped me out. I need a little time and space to  heal.

We are heading to the cabin on Wednesday, September 18th. I may or not blog publicly from there. I may just blog as a diary for myself. I am just not sure. So, check back often.

Photo: Broken

That pretty much sums up Alex's treatments over the past couple of weeks. I haven't posted any updates on him because it's been pretty much up and down. The last round of a new drug two weeks ago didn't make a dent at all. In fact, one of his other lymph nodes under his chin started to grow. Last week the vet could not give him yet another new drug because the drug the previous week (the one that did basically nothing) has a tendency to attack the bone marrow and we had to give his blood cells a chance to recover. 

So, last week he received a round of the very first drug he got in the beginning. We noticed within 24 hours that the lump started to go down. By Sunday we could barely feel it. It felt good to see it go down so drastically. But by Monday it had grown again, and yesterday on his vet visit it was pretty much back to where it was before. We were discouraged but the vet was actually encouraged since the other lymph node was now "behaving itself" and was normal again. Plus, Alex had a really good week of feeling great and eating well, which to me it pretty darned important. He actually made progress instead of going backwards.

Yesterday he received a new drug which we are hoping will make his other lymph node "behave" for longer than a week. We just have to wait and see. He has another appointment next week to reevaluate where he is before we take off for the cabin.

We are still doing the Colorado cabin trip, but depending on what happens between now and his next appointment, we may have to delay by a few days to get another appointment in. It would be nice to leave on an "up" note!

Speaking of the cabin, my thoughts are whirling around in my head. I've started marking recipes to make while we are there, rounding up the books and knitting projects I want to take, and just gathering things in general in the spare bedroom. "To Do" lists have started to form. The truck had been serviced and is getting all nicely clean and detailed today. The girls will go the groomer right before we leave to get their "detailing" and Alex will get his bath and blow dry here at home this weekend. Preparations have begun! Can't wait.

 

Photo: Early morning spider web between the deck rails.