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?

I told you I was sure more moose would show up. Look what I found in the drawer the other night while trying to find something in our limited collection of things for setting a table.

Another place mat and matching napkin avec moose ...

... and this napkin holder.

The best though was on our evening drive right at sunset last night. Take a look!

Isn’t he grand? I walked right out into the meadow where he was standing with my telephoto to get this picture. I could have gotten closer because he was not spooked by me at all, but another car (filled with hunters) pulled up while I was taking photos and he spooked.

Finally, the real thing!

hello adoring fans! it’s me, bella. mom finally gave me some computer time of my own. i begged and begged and said please please please can i use the computer. now i can tell you what i’ve been up to. this place is really cool. i get to go on lots of walks and i don’t have to be on a lead. mom and dad say i’m a really good trail dog. there are woods with lots of logs to jump over, a little stream to get a drink in and wet your feet, and bestest of all is the beaver pond. well, the beaver doesn’t really live there anymore and daddy says the pond has a leak now, but it’s lots of fun. the minute i saw it i jumped right in! mom and dad couldn’t see me at first but they could hear lots and lots of splashing and they think i was actually swimming. i have swimmeded—i mean really swimmeded—twice. i think it was by accident when i went too far out and lost my footing, but i swimmed anyway and it was okay. i prefer to just stand there up to my shoulders. here are some photos.

here i am painting water pictures in the air with the drops from my tail. way cool, huh?

every time we walk down to the pond i have to go in and do my thing. i’m a water dog at heart. i really am.

look at me—i can float!

i can jump!

i can shake off and make myself look funny!

and here i am on a walk.

onced i saw an animal go down a hole in the middle of the road. mom says it was a prairie dog but it didn’t look like any dog i have ever seen. besides, what kind of dog goes down a hole? i tried and tried to dig it up. i made dust fly everywhere.

it must be down there somewhere ... come out, come out wherever you are ...

can you tell i am having a blast?

here i am still wet from my pond swim with sis hailey. my mom likes this picture a lot.

well, gotta go now. there are walks to be taken and scents to be sniffed! bye for now!

Here are some photos of the sky over the past few days. Some at sunset, some early in the morning.

This morning’s glorious display. These were taken with a wide angle lens.

I always wanted longer legs!

This tree is not on our property, but on an adjacent piece.

The same glorious display, only this was taken about 30 minutes later. A weather system was moving in.

So much for that old song where “the skies are not cloudy all day.”

Yesterday was annoying. Evidently Rick got too greedy with our internet. He had both the iPhone and the computer hooked up so both were taking up band-width space. Our server decided to penalize us by cutting us back so drastically we basically could not even get on to do anything. How dare they! But, now we are back to normal after having to stand in the corner with our noses to the wall. Shame on us!

Bella is upset because she is really anxious to bring you up to speed on what she’s been doing but I told her she’d have to wait her turn. Later, Bella, later.

This morning we filled the cabin with the smell of baking cookies and bread. I tried a new recipe from the latest Food Network magazine and Rick made Breakfast Bread for our breakfast.

The cookies are tasty and chock full of things good for you (molasses, dried cranberries, golden raisins, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, greek yogurt) but they don’t look very pretty. Baking at high altitudes is challenging!

Yesterday I felt like a pioneer woman. I did laundry in the kitchen sink, then hung it out to dry. I’ll spare you the photo of our underwear and socks hanging on the line. Getting the rinsing cycle down is not easy and I’m certain that I left some soap still clinging to the threads. And with all the wringing out I did it certainly makes you appreciate the spin cycle on your washer.

We had a visit from neighbors Donna and Larry, and after they left we put together a puzzle. That was about our day yesterday other than the walks with the dogs. For a few days now it will be the last of the walks with all the dogs together as Bella has entered standing heat. Not much fun for anybody, believe me! But, we’ve been through it before up here at the cabin (with multiple intact male dogs!) and survived, so I think we can do it again. It just makes things more difficult.

I need to do a picture post but none seem to go with this entry. Maybe later ...

P. S. No pack rat nest under the hood for two days now, so it must have been the only one. The furnace is still working.