This lovely herd of deer marched single file just outside our fence this weekend. They were having a rather slow go through the crusty snow. ‘Enough snow,’ they seemed to say. ‘We can’t find anything to eat in this frozen wasteland!’ The flick of their white tails were the only signs that they could hold up.

But it seems to have worked! We had some good thawing happening over the weekend. A little bit or rain helped with the melting process. And sun! And temperatures in the high 30’s! Woohoo!

Aren’t they lovely? We counted 18 deer in all. I’ve never seen such a big herd here before.

Actually we would not have seen them at all if it weren’t for Bella. She was on the deck and started barking. I always take note when she barks just in case it’s something interesting. Sometimes it’s only Finn (the dog across the street) out in his front yard that she carries on a long-distance conversation with quite frequently, but other times it could be deer ... or a bear.

The snow since our ice storm has been unbearable. With a hard crust on the top of about an inch, you either slid along the surface or broke through. Not knowing if the snow was going to hold your weight or not, it was next to impossible to walk anywhere in the yard. When I went out on the deck to fill the bird feeders I had to hold onto something so I wouldn’t slip and fall. It was more like skating than walking! Here are a few photos of its glistening iciness.

I think we have finally broken free of that stormy weather pattern we were stuck in. Thank you, deer.

Last night we woke ourselves at 3:00 a.m. to view the lunar eclipse. We felt we had to. After all, it rarely occurs with the winter solstice. The last time it did was 1638. It was eerie. I stood there in my bathrobe with my dog-walking-jacket over it and paid homage to its rare reddish color. I tried to take a photo, but of course—no tripod! It was cold and windy, but very clear with lots of stars twinkling. I didn’t stay out long. This is my best effort at trying to capture it.

And, as predicted, the snow is gone from our Christmas forecast. They are saying it might snow the day after, but that’s still a pretty big “if.” It used to drive me crazy if it didn’t snow by Christmas so that there was at least some on the ground, but I think I am finally growing out of that childhood stage. It would sure be nice but it’s not going to happen. After all, Christmas is all about what’s in your heart and not on the ground!

We’ll be alone this Christmas. My sister and her husband are staying home and entertaining his side of the family, while our friend Carolyn is heading to the great Northwest to meet up with her family. I didn’t do a great deal of decorating this year, but enough. The Santa collection stayed in their boxes this year as did the little German village. I’ve been feeling the need to edit and simplify things. With our new landscaping out front we changed up our lighting strategy and used the net lights on the little trees that used to be stretched across the burning bush hedge (which has now moved) and they worked like a charm. I plug in the lighted garlands hung around the doorways inside the house every morning now. Have to get that Christmas spirit UP!

Our Sunday was spent by attending two different open houses on our street. The first was over at neighbor Kim’s and the second was all the way down the street with the folks who run our block party. And, darn it, I missed Fire Truck Santa again this year! We must have been over at Kim’s when he passed by. Why can’t I seem to catch him so I can photograph this silly event? Santa strapped to the bumper of a fire truck is a sight you don’t forget. I would gladly give them a donation for the chance to have my photo taken with him!

Our Christmas tree reflected in my wine glass.

Yesterday marked the last day (finally!) of pottery class. I’ve been trying to get back and glaze my piece for several weeks now but it hadn’t been fired yet. So yesterday was glazing day. She was going to fire last night so I am thinking of going back this afternoon to pick it up. Again, I have kind of an idea what the glaze is going to look like (it’s called Cappuccino Mint) but I did something different on the button and not sure how that’s going to look. Kind of like I was not sure what the inside of the previous bowl would look like and look how well that turned out! If I hate it I’ll just stick it away in a closet somewhere where I don’t have to look at it.

Also yesterday the dogs went to the groomers. They always come home smelling so wonderful and feeling so soft and fluffy. I try to appreciate it fully because it doesn’t last long. Alex is just like Pig Pen in the Charlie Brown comics and dirt seems to follow him everywhere he goes. Hailey usually stays pretty clean because she’s kind of a prissy girl, taking right after her father who was a pretty prissy boy. Now Bella is not a girly-girl at all. Look what the groomer put in her hair! We don’t expect it to last long.

Mom! Get this thing off my head!

So far this morning it’s still on. Now if that bow was on Hailey’s head instead Bella surely would have chewed it off by now!

Today will find me mostly staying home. I need to make cookies and wrap Rick’s presents. Mine are already under the tree and Sam has even opened one! Cats cannot resist paper, at least Sam can’t.  He looks pretty angelic though, doesn’t he? He’s not! I’m sure I’ll have his help wrapping.

We haven’t seen any bears for a long time. After the bear hunt I am sure they are all trying to lay low. We have plenty of birds: blue jays, titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, chickadees, juncos (2 varieties), carolina wrens, cardinals and the red-bellied woodpeckers visits once in a while. I’ve seen quite a few deer crossing the road but they just don’t seem to like our yard. We have plenty of these little rodents though:

Yes, they are cute but we have so many. And they are so very greedy! Bella gets lots of exercise chasing them off the deck and down into the yard.

Well, that’s about it for today. Tomorrow I will hopefully have a photo or two of the latest (and last) pottery piece to show you. Until then, I toast you with some Christmas cheer!

Just in case any of you out there were wondering exactly where our cabin is, “X” marks the spot!

The driveway.

It’s hard to believe that we only have three days left at the cabin. Three days. Where did the time go? The days slip by in a sunny blur. Yesterday our weather station here at the cabin registered 83 degrees F! Crazy. We are unsure yet of how to best spend the remaining time here. Do we take another drive? Walk the perimeter of our 70 acres? Or just be lazy and sit around and read (and blog)?

We’ve done a few chore-like things but not much. We have to fix our fence at the entrance to our cabin every year because the snow piles up so deep that the fence poles (which are just trees that have died and fallen over) don’t hold up very well. Rick took the big chain saw and cut through downed trees on our path through the woods and replaced the threshold on our front screen door. That’s about it for work.

Part of the fence.

The other night we finally got lucky and caught a herd of cow elk just over the hill from the cabin. They were spooky and didn’t hold still for long. Still, it was nice to see them.

The cows continue to stroll through our newly formed “meadow” leaving lots of meadow muffins. behind. Like this:

Yesterday they just laid down and took a long afternoon nap. We forgot they were there and when Rick went out with the dogs after their meal Hailey took off chasing them. argh! I didn’t see it because I was inside, but from hearing Rick yelling at her I knew something was happening. She chased them out of the woods, across the road and over the hill, then she came back. She thinks she’s a cow dog now and is very pleased with herself.  Here they are at our salt lick (which we have to attract the moose, not cows) yesterday morning.

eBay likes it when the cows are here too. She looks out the window frozen into position and her whole body just quivers. I don’t know if she’s quivering with excitement or fear, but it’s amusement anyway. Speaking of eBay, she’s got her nose out of joint because I haven’t shown any photos of her, so here she is doing her favorite thing at the cabin—rolling around in the gravelly dirt in the driveway and taking a dirt bath.

We took a drive yesterday over Sand Creek Pass and down to the Laramie River road and on to Woods Landing, taking the extremely long way into Laramie. This stand of aspens were too pretty to pass up without capturing them.

One thing that Colorado and Wyoming have over New Jersey it that blue, blue sky that goes on forever. And, of course, signs like this one.

And folks, it’s no bull!

Uhm, but in this case it was a bull!

After errands in Laramie we came home and I made lasagna for dinner. We had neighbors David and Sal over. We took them on our “around” walk before dinner and they were completely amazed at all the trees we have. Bella took a late afternoon dip in the pond. I liked the ripples fanning out from her and the reflection of the tree that goes right through her middle!

I have so many photos to share I think I might do another blog entry later today, so stay tuned to the cabin channel!

Oops, almost forgot to include an aspen pic!

Our cabin’s driveway arch under a clear blue sky.

A little too quiet. The relentless western sun shines every day. Day in, day out with no hope of rain. Yesterday it was 80 degrees! That’s more like summertime cabin temperatures. I’ve forgotten how strong the sun is in Colorado. We were so hoping for cooler temperatures than what we’ve had and what we can except for the rest of our stay here. The nighttime temperatures drop by over 30 degrees from what the daytime temps were. That’s quite a swing. Here it what the weather forecast in Sunday’s paper said:

Sunday: Another sunny dry day : high 81 /  low 41
Monday: More September sun : high 76 / low 43
Tuesday: No rain on the horizon : high 77 / low 44
Wednesday: Continued dry : high 75 / low 45
Thursday: Staying sunny : high 71 / low 43
Friday: Mostly sunny : high 72 / low 47

See? Even they are bored with the weather! They keep themselves entertained coming up with new ways to describe sunny, hot and dry.

While back home we understand that we had a good storm blow through our little town that toppled trees and took down power lines. Our house fared alright but a neighbor on our street had a tree land on their house. Our weather station at home has not rebooted since the power outage, so we can’t see how much rain we’ve gotten back there. Radar this morning showed a good drenching rain. Boo.

I have also forgotten about dry skin, chapped lips and sinus woes caused by the dry air here. Yikes, I am pruning up! My hair likes it here though even if the rest of my body does not. It comes out perfect every day.

The other night was chilly enough to warrant a fire, which was very nice.

Last year we took this old lamp back with us to New Jersey to have the socket refitted because it was broken and the wiring inside the lamp was old and worn out. My dad made this lamp out of a cypress tree stump that he got one of our vacations to Florida (before we moved there). It’s cool and very retro and fits right in with our cabin decor.

As another source of cabin lighting we sometimes use this mirrored candle holder.

The aspens area changing daily. Some that were in full color when we got here are barren and leafless now.  The grove behind the cabin died a few years ago and new trees have taken their place. When seen together they look pretty interesting: the gnarly old adults next to the up-and-coming youngsters.

I’ll have more photos of trees in another blog post that I may post later on today.

We finished a second puzzle the other day. A Springbok puzzle called “Knit Knacks” which pictured all things to do with knitting. I fell in love with the little gingerbread boy in the picture and am now on a hunt to find a similar pattern so I can knit one up for myself. If anyone out there has any suggestions of where to look, please let me know!

Here are a couple of photos I took the other day when we had a cloud in the sky!

And what would a post be without the obligatory dog shots?

Here is Bella facing down the wind.

Alex waiting to be let in on the back porch. Doesn’t he look handsome?

Hailey looking cute. (photo by Rick)

I know there are a lot of you out there reading even though you are not commenting! You’ve let me know by email, so thanks and keep reading! I’ll have another post up soon!