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.

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?

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.”

Here are some snaps taken on our walk yesterday morning to the top of our other piece of land (the one without the cabin). We waited a few days to tackle the climb until we had acclimated more to the altitude.

Bull Mountain with the moon.

Hailey looking cute.

The dogs having a romp. (Alex and Hailey running towards me with Bella in the background; Bella)

Alex looking regal.

As is our custom, we took an after dinner drive last night. We had rain all around us but all we got were sprinkles. The sky did offer up this half rainbow that seems to explode as it “hits” the ground.

Sometimes we see wildlife, sometimes not. We did see several hunting camps along the way, something I can’t stand to see. Right now it is bow season and I think muzzle loading season just started. I think the animals know when it’s hunting season and make themselves scarce. And, for whatever reason, the moose seem to leave the area during August.

This bull elk must not have gotten the newsletter about hunting season. We had just passed a camp of hunters dressed in their camouflage when I spotted him at the edge of the trees. Look at the rack on him!

He was nervous about our stopping to admire him and walked back into the trees moments later. I hope he stays safe and those glorious antlers of his don’t end up hanging over someone’s fireplace.

The only other creatures we saw were cows (they don’t count), and this beautiful hawk perched in a tree right by the road.

There were too many clouds around to make for a perfect sunset but it was pretty anyway.

Today we are sticking close to the cabin since we have a furnace repair person coming. That is another story ...

I thought I would post a few photos from our morning walk. I am going to think of all our beetle-killed pines as just changing color for the season. If I think of it that way they don’t look quite so bad.

Bella liked the boggy area of our beaver pond (of course).

The aspen trees in the bottom of our woods are thick and lush. Some of them are so big we can’t get our arms around them.

The little aspens on our “avalanche slope” (as we like to call the huge hill that collects snow in the winter) are changing.

Alex trotting up the road on the last leg of the walk.

Alex and Bella on the road at our driveway. Not sure if you can see them in this photo, but the dark trees on the mountain across the way are all beetle-killed. It has really spread since last year. In my blog header you can see the same mountain as it was two years ago.