hi everybody! it’s me: bella! remember when i used to blog alot when i was a puppy? my new year’s resolution is to take over mom’s blog more like i used to. i used to do really bad things but now that i am grown-up i am a really good girl. well … most of the time. mom says i am still her problem child. just look how i came to the door the other day and wanted to come inside. would you let me in? i even added a new freckle to my nose.

mom had to get some hot water in a watering can and pour it over my legs. sheesh. i didn’t like that very much. it was more fun getting in the mud in the first place.

yesterday we went for a long walk. we all got in the truck and drove for a little bit. when we got out i knew exactly where we were. hurrah! jungle habitat! at first i ran and ran. on the trail; off the trail. run, run, run. i stay close to mom and dad though and hailey and alex are more laid-back than i am. here i am with hailey (who is moving in this pic) and big brother alex in front.

i jumped in the water a bunch of times. i like jungle habitat because there is always water. i get wet. i get dirty. and of course, i get things caught in my skirts. mom and dad are forever pulling branches out of my fur. but on this walk i really topped it all. i earned a new name on this walk: bramble butt. take a look.

ouch! there are lots of wild rose bushes at one point in the walk and i think i found them all. i didn’t want to move with those things in my butt, so mom and dad had to pull them out one by one. i don’t know if i learned anything by this prickly situation. probably not.

at the end of the walk there is a really nice water place where we always like to get a drink. of course i have to do more than just get a drink. dad took this really cool picture of me and alex in the stream.

and here i am dashing through the woods … wet. can you see the water flying off me?

i had lots of fun. i slept most of the day after we got back. i can’t wait to go back there again! mom took some other pictures there too but they are just old nature photos. i’m sure she’ll bore you with them soon.

My sister pointed out to me that she was still waiting to see the blog post where Alex picked our tree.

Last Saturday we drove to Wintergreen Christmas Tree Farm near Lafayette, New Jersey to cut our tree. I’m glad I had printed out the directions since it was like following a trail of bread crumbs to get there. It was a beautiful drive through countryside we had never been to before.

We parked and walked up to the barn to get a saw and a tree cart. How nice of them to provide nice, sharp hand saws and a cart to collect your tree with! They sold about four different kinds of trees, but we had driven by the kind we wanted: Fraser firs. Of course they were the furtherest ones away from the parking area!

Row upon row of nearly perfect trees! Which one to choose? I wanted to just close my eyes, spin around and point to one but I am sort of a perfectionist when it comes to trees. We were looking for one that wasn’t too big around at the bottom since we don’t have much space for it to fit into between the fireplace and the entertainment center.

Here I am, saw in hand taking a look around.

And then Alex said, “Dad, let’s take this one!”

Although I joked with the man at the barn about bringing my dog along to find the right tree and “mark” it, he kept his leg on the ground! Lots of other people who were coming in after us had also brought their dogs with them.

Trees were being tied to tops of cars at a fast pace.

By the time we left it was getting very crowded and people were having to wait for other people to bring back tree carts. We got there just at the right time I think.

The tree fits perfectly into its spot in the corner and it’s a very pretty tree. All in all, a nice way to spend the better part of a day.

We did take Mia out for a ride yesterday after working in the yard blowing and picking up the final leaves. (And, duh, I didn’t take my camera so you will just have visualize this.)

It’s obvious that the weather is changing. Even though the thermometer read 60 degrees F, the sun was veiled by a thin layer of clouds making it feel not quite that warm. Plus, the smell of wood smoke from house chimneys as we drove along and the bare trees reminded us that it was not summer anymore. Even the very air itself feels different, expectant. Almost like at any moment it was thinking of switching the season over from autumn to winter.  I can’t fully describe it, but it’s there.

We passed a house we’ve gone by many a time on our route the back way to and from Warwick that has a large in-ground pool. Now they’ve converted their pool into a hockey ice rink!

Our main destination was the Warwick Valley Winery for lunch. I’ve mentioned before that we’ve eaten there many times over the summer. They have a wonderful café but it’s only open on the weekends. We ordered our lunch (grilled steak sandwich with truffle scented caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese for Rick; duck confit sandwich for me with melted brie, cranberry chutney and arugula), bought and opened a bottle of wine to drink. I always want to order their mussels in white wine but the idea of duck confit had me at hello. Anything duck: foie gras, confit, just plain old duck ... Next time it will be the mussels!

We wanted to buy some apple cider from one of the local apple picking spots (of which there are four in Warwick alone), so that is where we headed next. We had heard that Och’s Orchard has “the best,” so that is where we went. I’m not sure that Mia has ever had her feet on a real dirt road before as we try to avoid them whenever we can, but this one was an exception. Up the hill with farm fields dotted with rolled up bales of hay we went. We even drove over some cow manure that had been spilled in the road. Really, Mia! With the trees laid bare of their leaves it was now possible to see the beautiful undulating layers of swells and hills. Such a beautifully situated farm and orchard!

When we got to the top of the dirt road we passed the farm house and barn where several cats lay sunning themselves. Freshly laundered sheets hung on the clothesline in the yard. We were wondering if we had just driven into someone’s private driveway when we rounded the corner and the farm store came into view. When we went inside all we could smell were apples and apple cider doughnuts! Intoxicating! Many different kinds of apples were for sale in wooden quart containers. Some were labeled as “home grown” and some just “local.” I picked some Jonamac that were home-grown and smelled delicious. I was tying to avoid the apple cider doughnuts but Rick found them and put a half dozen in a bag. sigh. They are a seasonal treat around here so why not enjoy them?

They had fresh pie fillings in a plastic tube made from their own fruits: blueberry, apricot, blackberry and more. They even had big cheese pumpkins (the kind used for cooking and baking) that we’ve been searching for this year and could not find for making our annual pumpkin soup, but these were too big to fit in the oven! They still had some vegetables for sale too—even brussels sprouts on the stalk.

I think we’ll be coming back here again. Maybe for the strawberry U-pick-yourself season? All in all, a pleasant lunch and outing with Mia.

This morning we did a little grocery shopping and then took the dogs to the dog park and let them run around like crazy. Alex decided that at the grand old age of 9 he was really meant to be an agility dog and went up the A-frame with very little coaxing. Several times! He even went through a tunnel. Go figure! Bella loves to chase any dog that runs and there were plenty of those today so she got the best workout of all of them. Hailey just trots around looking for people to scratch her butt. Then we came home to make lunch.

Today for lunch we drank these: Apple Cider Mimosas.

Half champagne (we used Prosecco) and half apple cider with an apple piece floating in it. Yummy!

I made these roasted pears which were basted with a honey mustard and olive oil sauce topped with melted brie and chopped pistachios. Also yummy!

Hope your weekend was a good one!

The other morning this was all that was left as color on our burning bush hedge. I think the colors have intensified with the frosts we’ve had the past week. It was grey outside so the leaves took on their own persona. Pretty.

Early morning shadows on the back deck.

Our weather station was not recording rainfall amounts anymore after more than 15 years of hard service. It drove us crazy not knowing how much rain we got this past week. So, for Christmas we bought a new one. It was supposed to be saved and wrapped and put under the tree but we just couldn’t stand it any longer. Rick got it installed yesterday. Here is Sam having fun with the box. Sam does love his boxes!

Our turkey came out looking and tasting wonderful! In fact, our whole meal was one of the better Thanksgiving feasts we’ve ever tasted.

Bella and Alex thought the turkey looked awfully good too! Mom, are we getting any?

Our weekend weather is supposed to be glorious—sunny and in the 60’s so we are thinking Ms. Mia is definitely going for a drive. It might be the last chance for weather this incredible. After that it can snow a little if it wants to get us all in the Christmas mood.

We still need to run Johnny over the yard one more time for a final leaf pick-up, then he can be switched out to the snowblower. Right now it’s hard to imagine!

We arrived home in the very same kind of weather we left in. Rain. It rained nearly all the way through the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, again. We haven’t seen rain since the very first day we arrived in Laramie to do our shopping on the way in to the cabin. Two weeks without rain! The temperature upon arrival was a chilly and damp 50 degrees F which feels so much colder than the dry-almost-non-existent humidity of Colorado.

The dogs somehow knew we were home the minute we pulled in to the driveway and all three erupted into a frenzied joyful barking. We let them out of the truck and they ran around, barking of course, in the front yard. I’m sure the neighbors at the opposite end of the street knew we were home after that racket. The kitties once let out of their crates in the house roamed the rooms with tails straight up and eyes round. The house was chilly, so on went the heat for the first time this year. It smelled good; comforting. We unpacked the truck in the light drizzle, put some things away and then finally sat down to a well deserved glass of wine. We heated up the leftover chicken pot pie we had brought home with us from the cabin because we couldn’t bear to throw it out and had that for our dinner while we watched the TiVo’d premiere of Terra Nova.

Our neighbors called and told us to be on the look out as a big bear was getting into the trash down the street and we had just put our trash out for pickup in the morning. They said they’d had a bear in their garage three times over the past week. Welcome back to the wilds of New Jersey! Rick turned on our outside lights at the street thinking that might deter him.

Too tired to do anything else, we went to bed. As I lay in bed listening to the soft patter of rain outside I thought not for the first time how good it was to be home. We both love the cabin but now it’s somewhere we go on vacation and not home. At least “not home” in the sense of where we live. When we are at the cabin, we are home. Hmmm ... does that make sense? It’s hard to explain. I know I’ve said it again and again on my blog, but when we are there we are home and when we are here we are home. I think you get the idea. I am starting to come around to the idea of a trial year at the cabin, winter and all, once we retire. What a blog that would make!

This morning as I type it’s raining. The sky is gray and dark. So different from the brilliant blue that we had for the past two weeks. When I look out the window I see a wall of trees crowding the yard instead of an open meadow and golden aspens glowing in the morning light. Our trees here are just starting to change but I don’t think they will be very pretty this year. They look soggy and defeated. But they are oh so beautiful with their many colors when they do change. We shall see if all the rain has made a difference in our normally gorgeous fall.

I have much to do today as you can imagine. Grocery shopping is #1 on my list, then laundry. My new machine will certainly be getting a workout over the next few days!

I’ll leave you with a photo I took last week.