In other words,  I am in a Blogging Rut. BL(ogging) (R)UT. Not much to say. Nothing to photograph. BLUT. Back soon. I hope.

My eyes are finally adjusting. Instead of taking in the wide sweeping vistas around the cabin they are focusing in on a more closed-in view of trees and heavily wooded hills. The trees are just starting to turn here and there. There’s a touch of Fall in the air and we are expecting quite a bit of rain throughout the night tomorrow. Our annual mushroom foray is planned for Sunday (we just got word) but will depend on Sunday’s weather. I hope we don’t get rained out!

We had two cords of wood delivered yesterday. Yes, it’s that time of year again. Last year we didn’t use the full two cords so we have some nicely aged wood to begin the fire season with. Instead of trying to stack it as I went, this year my goal was just to move it off the grass so it wouldn’t kill it first, then slowly work on stacking at my leisure. See how much I got done yesterday by chucking it piece by piece onto the gravel.

Not bad, right? As I worked I heard a rustling noise in the woods. When I turned around I saw three deer walking the fence line. They came out of the woods and crossed our driveway. I went to the gate to get a better look. Each deer as it crossed the drive stopped to look at me, tails flicking with trepidation. I spoke softly to them: I won’t hurt you beautiful things, it’s okay. They stood there looking at me for a few minutes longer, then went on their way into the front yard and I got back to my wood chucking. I felt like a Deer Whisperer or something!

Here is the progress after today’s work:

Almost done! My arms gave out so I stopped. I’ll have Rick help me with the rest tomorrow.

What I wouldn’t give to have this wood at the cabin! Look at that lovely hardwood! Funny how we have this same chore at the cabin—putting up wood—except that there we have to actually cut it ourselves instead of having it delivered to us already split. I will still have to split some of the pieces with our little splitter, but mostly it’s all good to go.

This was also going on around my house today. The big question mark in the sky seems to be asking What? is going on here?

A big air show is going on in our town this weekend and this stunt plane was practicing his maneuvers almost over our house. I took these photos from the back yard. I think he was mostly out over the lake.

And upside down as well.

He was fun to watch. Noisy, but entertaining. I’m sure we’ll be seeing (and hearing) the whole air show almost as if we had a front row seat. After all, we are close to the airport. It’s fun to watch the big old WW II bombers fly over. They shake the whole house and are so magnificent in their vintage-ness. It’ not going to be quiet around here this weekend. Au contraire!

Added as an addendum: Dryer update! The motor is gone ... boo hoo ... so I’ve been hanging laundry on the line (gasp! My neighbors hate this!). Instead of opting for a new one we decided to just replace the motor in this one. Our twin washer is still going strong (both Maytags and never one day of service before this) and pronounced healthy by the repairman, so we hope it hangs in there for a few more years. Hopefully this coming week we’ll have a dryer back again! Not quite the same as pioneer laundry at the cabin, but almost.

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!

Unlike Dorothy I have no need to click my heels together and repeat the phrase above. I am there. We arrived home right on schedule last night and pulled in to our driveway at 6:57 p.m. How’s that for a good guess? The house seems huge after spending two weeks in our 1,000 square foot cabin. So much space! We were gone long enough that things look and feel strange to us. It will take a few days to acclimate to the East coast again, just as it took us a good 3 days to settle into the cabin. The dogs are having no such issues. They are home and that’s all that matters. All their familiar habits that were out of place at the cabin have resurfaced now that they are back in their home environment. Some of them are good; some are not.

More later. Just wanted to touch base and say that we arrived safe and sound. Now there is unpacking to do, but the laundry will have to wait at least one more day. Our dryer died the day before we left, so a service person is due out tomorrow to see what the trouble is. I do have to visit the grocery store though since the larder is bare. I’m thinking maybe some Salt and Pepper Shrimp for dinner ...

So, did you recognize those lyrics? If not, you were not “of age” in the 70’s. Guess.

Anyway, here I am so very close to the Indiana/Ohio border I can almost brag that we’ve put the “I” states behind us. Tomorrow will still be a long, hard drive but we hope to be home by at least 7:00 p.m. Driving on a Sunday should hopefully help some. But then again, maybe not.

Some snaps from the road over the past two days. Sorry, last night I was too tired to do much of anything. (Note: Apologies in advance for the quality of the following photos. All were shot either out of the windshield or my side window, both of which I’m afraid were spattered with bugs.)

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming and we have history. It’s a vortex of bad karma, it really is. On the first occasion we ran out of gas in the middle of the night while coming home from a dog show (which one I do not have a memory of). Here is the hill (taken from the opposite side of the road) just a few miles on the East side of Pine Bluffs where I sat with at least two dogs and waited while Rick hitched a ride into Pine Bluffs to get gas with some trucker. It was dark and I was scared you-know-what-less. He eventually returned—with gas enough for us to make it into Pine Bluffs.

Let’s call this unfortunate incident #1.

Unfortunate incident #2 happened a few years later, only this time headed East (again to another dog show—Lincoln NE) with our nearly new 21-foot travel trailer and our equally brand new (of 2 weeks) Chevy Tahoe. We lost control of the travel trailer while passing a semi truck in the wind and ended up jack-knifing the travel trailer and pretty much totaling our Tahoe. This stretch of guard rail should have a memorial in our name since it is the only thing that stopped us from going over this elevated section of highway. The grand state of Wyoming also charged us for the guard rail we mutilated. I think we should have a plaque bearing our name along this very stretch.

Is it no wonder that I make the sign of the cross as we go by this god forsaken town even though I am not longer a practicing Catholic?

Our next point of interest after making it safely past Pine Bluffs (at least this time we were spared) was the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, NE. We have never stopped at this even after passing it by many many times.

We spent the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just barely over the Nebraska/Iowa border.

Here it the sunrise over Iowa countryside this morning.

More wind turbines. Sorry, I just can’t help myself. They are so darned poetic.

The old Miss (again).

Somewhere in Illinois. Not really sure just whose mailbox this is. The residence of Mr. & Mrs. Corn?

And last but not least, a yummy lunch just West of Chicago at Culver’s. Those of you who have never experienced a Culver’s hamburger have something to look forward to. Unfortunately for us, it’s a Wisconsin based chain that doesn’t exist outside the Midwest corridor, or at least as far as we can tell.

And that’s it for tonight folks. This road weary person is going to get horizontal for change. Catch you back on the flip side in New Jersey. Thank you all for taking this journey with me.

Good night.