Has it really been one whole week since I last blogged? It doesn’t seem that long. I guess I have some catching up to do. It’s going to be a long one, so please bear with me as I wade through the goings-on of the past week +.

We had a good Labor Day weekend and the weather was glorious. We didn’t do much of anything, just some yard work such as emptying the deck flower boxes of their past-their-prime petunias, one of the signs of a winding down of summer.

The petunias may have been done with in the flower boxes but they managed to seat themselves in various places, such as the potted palm that has been spending the summer outside

and also poolside.

The weather has taken a turn since my last post. Nights are cooler and every day we have less sunlight. The sun has a hard time getting above the trees for the better part of the day. The pool deck is covered with bits and pieces of acorns that continually drop from the big oak tree at the far corner, making loud thonks! whenever they hit. Fall is in the air.

Earl completely missed us and all we got was a bit of wind on Saturday. Since he passed by our weather has been just beautiful: blue skies and cool days. Perfect for throwing the windows wide open and letting the breeze blow through the house. I have to admit though that we needed to close up the house on Sunday night because it was too darned cold! 47 degrees F overnight!

The heat wave of last week did allow the pool to recover slightly in temperature (74 F) and we went for what we believe was the last swim on Friday night. With the past few nights dipping down into the 50’s and high 40’s, the temperature has tanked back down to 70 F again. I don’t think it’s going to recover this time.

We’ve had this visitor several times in the front yard. Eating acorns I’m thinking since it is always in the same spot: under the oak tree.

The only thing really left blooming in my yard is the overgrown morning glory vine that is threatening to take over the deck and Rick’s weather station. It got a late start this year.

Another sad thing on the winding down side of things is that we had to euthanize our old kitty, Vincent van “Goatee” last week. He was our little “Frenchman” kitty that came with us when we moved back from France. He was 18 1/2 years old and failing in health. It was hard to make the decision to let him go but when friend Carolyn visited and she sat down and talked to him, the end result was that she agreed it was time. Over the past year we’ve known that he probably had cancer from the results of his blood test and he had to live in an x-large doggie airline crate because of his lack of bathroom habits. He stopped taking care of his fur and it became matted, fell out and never regrew. We nursed him along but his quality of life confined to a crate was poor.

Over the past month or so he started looking very gaunt and was really nothing but skin and bones. With our three week vacation looming, we knew we could not leave him with a cat sitter coming in once a day, and feared that he would pass while we were gone. Here he is with eBay in better days, and getting a treat on Christmas three years ago. It’s hard to remember that he ever looked that good; he’d been failing for so long. Sleep well, sweet Vinnie.

And the gearing up, you ask? Well, I was gifted this gorgeous fig tree by a neighbor.

It came complete with instructions for its care.

And figs!!!!

Some of which we’ve already harvested and eaten!

And the biggest “gearing up” is of course for our westward trek to our cabin back in Colorado. Next week this time we’ll be somewhere in Indiana! Lists are being made. Piles of things to take are starting to accumulate in the spare bedroom.  Recipes are being poured over and rated (or not) as cabin meal candidates. The Suburban got washed and awaits its interior cleaning this weekend and the donning of its roof rack and storage pod. Soon, I tell the dogs. Soon you’ll be running free over the high prairie—and Bella—you’ll be swimming in the beaver pond. And your Dad and I will be sitting on the screened-in porch after dinner listening to the coyotes sing.

Very soon.

Thanks for slogging through this week with me!

I never got around to blogging about what was in bloom at the cabin. It’s not the time of year for prolific wildflowers, but there were some still putting on a show.

There were quite a few Gallardias.

Somehow these large white daisies have seeded themselves in front of the cabin and a few other locations. I don’t know if they came from the grass and wildflower seed mix we spread so many years ago or what. I don’t think they indigenous. They are pretty though!

The asters were still blooming too.

A few harebells were still hanging in there.

A lone lupine with Bull Mountain as a backdrop.

Rose hips and some kind of berry.

A bull thistle along the road.

Sometimes the prettiest things are the ones no longer blooming but gone to seed.

A few flowers just naturally dry themselves which I find particularly interesting.

Pine drops.

Here is a little dried flower garden.

And here is the bouquet I picked of all the flowers growing around the cabin.

Since we left I’ve been told that they’ve had the first snow of several inches up there. You could feel the change in the air right before we left.  Sleep well little flowers!

It’s now 8:00 p.m. mountain time as I sit writing this post. Our last night in the cabin. Tomorrow we head home, tackling the huge state of Nebraska with the hopes of making Council Bluffs, Iowa as our first stop in the eastward trek home. Sometimes with all the animals on board I feel like we should be piloting a covered wagon instead. But then it would take us much longer than 3 travel days to reach our final destination.

It’s sad, but I think we are all ready. The dogs watched us getting out the suitcases, loading things in the Suburban, and finally as a last chore tonight, loading their crates. They know we are going and they seem okay with it. The cats didn’t even freak out like the usually do when we bring their kitty crates in from the front porch so they aren’t too cold to load them into in the morning. Usually they hide in anticipation of the trip home. Not today. As “at home” as the cabin is, it’s not home.  New Jersey is home now. For now. We are not sure what the future holds as far as our place of residence. We’ll let it unfold as it should.

We saw Mr. Moose again the other night. Same moose, nearly the same location, different night. I was lucky to get this shot as it was getting pretty dark.

The dogs will miss their walks in the high prairie and big sky.

We’ve seen so many hawks this time around, I am certain they will not miss us.

Bella will certainly miss her daily dips in the pond.

We will miss the true unfolding of Fall here but we know we’ll have our own glorious display in NJ.

So many things I could have/should have blogged about but in the end went unspoken.

We know we will miss the people, creatures and flora of this special place, but will it miss us?

I’ve taken so many photos over the past week that they are all screaming and crowding around me saying pick me! feature me! that I finally have to cave in. So here are a collection taken in the area of our cabin. Hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy visiting the real places like old friends each time we come.

More big sky and clouds, sorry. (on our property.)

Vertigo. Which way is up? (Our other parcel of land.)

Driving around Sand Creek Park and Chimney Rock (aka Camel Rock).

My mom was so fascinated with this old falling down ranch-ette that she dreamed about living here. I think the only things that live here now are packrats. Still, a piece of history.

Mr. Pronghorn (or antelope: Wyoming’s fast food)

Rick wanted me to take a photo of this no fanfare border crossing. I think I am taking this from the Colorado side of the border.

Okay, most of the photos are finally appeased (except for Dick the Tree who is still whispering sweet nothings in my ear, but he will just have to wait. He simply does not fit in to this post.)

Did you enjoy your three minute tour?

Today we had company at the cabin. More about that later, but what I wanted to capture now, at this particular moment in time, was what I felt just now when I stepped out of the cabin. When our company left at about 3:30-ish it was raining. Now at nearly 4:30, upon stepping outside I can smell the sage, aspen and pine, all mingling in an earthy damp smell. There is no other smell quite like it. If I could bottle this scent I would be rich. It is truly heady. Thunder grumbles in the not-too-distant distance and the sky holds dark, forbidding clouds. I think our rain is not over yet for the day. As I type I can still hear the protesting clouds. grumble, grumble, grumble. A nuthatch lends its song to the already present thunder song. My eardrums don’t know how to react to hearing next to nothing. I know I’ve talked before about the silence being absolute up here when the wind ceases, and it’s true. Sound (or lack thereof) can be deafening.

In a clear departure from my previous posts on this blog where I have skirted photos of myself (mostly because I am always the person “manning” the camera) and also because I am not one of those photogenic type people, I give you this photo of Rick and I taken on Picnic Rock with Hailey and Bella.

Our company today consisted of people we have known since we got married. They are mentors as well as friends and even though they are not really old enough to be parents, some have also taken on that role through the years as well. They have seen us through many years, and some have even shared or at least visited us on our FSE assignments in Europe.  We all have history together and we owe it all to Hewlitt Packard, which is of course how we all came to meet and be friends in the first place. It was wonderful to see everyone and we’re so glad they made the journey over dirt roads to be with us. We are equally glad that on our walk “around” they all were able to sidestep the multiple cow flops (and the very wet Bella) we encountered. To Rick and I they are part of living the cabin life, but to others can be something they don’t encounter on a daily basis. It’s a rigorous walk but everyone kept up and I know we all walked off our lunch. A visit to Dick the Tree (and by the way, he has a new friend we are calling Jane) was unavoidable. Do you remember Dick the Tree? No? Okay, photos to follow soon, but be aware they are PG.

I’ll leave you for now with this photo after last night’s rain taken from the cabin front porch. What’s not to love?