Snowy day walk…

 It was a snowy day and R and I decided it was just too beautiful out to stay inside, so we bundled up and headed out for a walk in the snowstorm. 

The wind wasn’t bad until we got to the top of the hill, then it hit us full force and was COLD… so we quickly turned and headed for home. 

As we got close to home we saw that the front yard had been completely taken over by deer while we were gone. We counted 14 of them, none of whom seemed very concerned about our intruding on their little get together.

We were pretty cold when we got home, but the wood stove warmed us up quickly. 

There is nothing like being cold to make a person really appreciate warmth!

Early morning beauty…

 I woke up this morning to hoarfrost covering everything…the sun was back out, after a foggy day yesterday, and it was breathtakingly beautiful.

It was a bright spot…

 …in the day. Literally.

After spending at least five hours today learning about and comparing insurance plans for Joe (and eventually signing up for one), and getting him a new cell phone and switching his old number over… (Why does this all sound so much easier than it was?!)…while at the same time keeping M on a somewhat even keel and dealing with the regular dramas and responsibilities of the day… I was exhausted. 

The kids and I had planned to take the dogs for an easy hike on a nearby trail that we’d never explored, but those plans went out the window and we spent that time sitting in a cell phone store instead.

It was not a good day.

The sun was already starting to go down, but I suggested we take the poor neglected dogs just down to the park in town for a quick walk before bringing burgers home for dinner. 

The Christmas lights were still up at the park, including on one of our favorite trees…

 

…this huge old cottonwood, totally decked out in lights. 🥰

It truly was the bright spot in an otherwise long, frustrating, day.

I’m so glad we took that short little walk. 

Rainbow

 We had a lovely snow this morning early…

It was supposed to be terribly windy, but instead we had a light, beautiful snow. 

It was a rainbow to me, recognized and deeply appreciated.

🎄 Tree’s up 🎄

 

Nighttime stroll

 The kids and I decided to take a walk after dinner..

It was already full dark when we left the house and the moon was amazing… big and full on the horizon. 

We found Jupiter and Saturn in the southern sky, and looked for… but didn’t see… the Milky Way. 

I tried to get a picture of the moon, it was so beautiful…

…but didn’t have much luck. 

M did have fun with the flashlight, making scary faces at us. R and I didn’t want to bring the light, surprisingly, it seems easier to see without it…just letting our eyes adjust… but M was nervous about being out in the dark. We ran into nothing scary however, except one poor deer who thought she’d found a lovely private spot to bed down for the night but ended up frightening M to pieces (and frightening her to pieces at the same time!) when he mistook her for a mountain lion. 😂

Sunset

 I never get tired of watching the sunset….

Sunrise

 The sky is so beautiful this time of year…

Sunset

 I had to drive down to Castle Rock yesterday evening just at dusk…

…the sunset was breathtaking!

 

I was almost late for my appointment (despite leaving early) because I kept pulling over to take pictures. 

I do love living here… 

Autumn

 First fire of the season…

Piper approves. 

October Birthdays

 We celebrated K and R’s birthdays yesterday with a family get together here at the house. After months and months of not being able to get together in person, inside, I appreciate so much the ability to be together, inside, without masks, eating and enjoying each other’s company. 

This is part of our group text from before we got together…

Two years ago, who’d have thought we’d be testing ourselves for a potentially deadly virus before getting together for a simple meal? 😢

It felt so good to get together though, and I insisted on a picture of all of us of course… (all of us except granddaughter #1 who is away at school…and sorely missed!)

We’re kind of a motley crew! 

And here’s another one of our favorite newly engaged couple! 🥰

 I found this in a book I’m reading and want to remember it…

“There is…something marvelously reassuring about the room, a warmth even in the gloom. The unfinished pine of the walls and ceiling has mellowed, over the years, to a rich honey color, as if stained by the warmth of the people who built it into a shelter…”

~from Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

Dearfield

 We made another trip out to Dearfield today. 

We’ve visited several times over the past year or so but have never been when there has been an “event”… 

I have to say it’s MUCH better to visit when this tiny historic settlement is filled with people, music, and life. 

Dearfield was the largest Black homesteading settlement in Colorado, and during its heyday in the late 1910’s it was a thriving farming community with a several hundred residents. Sadly, a combination of the Great Depression and the dry Dust Bowl years doomed the community. It is now a ghost town… 

But today it was alive! There was a great little band set up on the porch of the old Dearfield Lodge, and all the buildings were open so we could wander around inside and get a sense of what things might have been like back then. 

Across from the Dearfield Lodge there had been a dance hall, which is gone now, but I could imagine how 100 years ago, right where we were standing, there had also been music and dancing and people laughing and babies playing just as there were today. 

The (trumpy ) congressman from that district spoke and seemed to compare Dearfield to Amache, a Japanese internment camp in SE Colorado, and I was offended. Dearfield was built on hopes and dreams, on strength and courage and the desire to create a better world… and through no fault of its inhabitants, it didn’t survive. Amache was built on racism, loss, and fear. 

But once the congressman was gone, it was a lovely afternoon with good conversation, good music and a lot of history. 

On the way home R kept saying this had been her “best day ever”. 

October 1 sunrise

 The sunrise this morning was stop-me-in-my-tracks stunning…

I had a nice pasture walk this morning too…

 I surprised a good sized group of deer grazing on the hill at the back of the pasture, and admired how everything is putting on new fall colors of every different variation of gold, orange, and red. And, for some reason, the whole pasture smelled like sage. It was a lovely walk.

Pasture Walk

 I took my first pasture walk since early summer this morning. During the busyness of the growing season with the early morning time needed for garden watering, weeding, and just generally getting outside things done before it gets too hot, there just wasn’t much time left for pasture walks. I’ve missed them and was happy to walk the pasture on this cold crisp morning. 

The fading almost-full moon was just visible over the big ponderosas to the east as I headed across the pasture and down the hill…

I loved how the barn looked with the sky just starting to lighten behind it.

I surprised some deer who were still bedded down, they didn’t hang around long…

I checked on the “waddle” fence I built last spring to use up some of the branches that had been left down there over the years. (This is the furthest corner of the property, and often gets used to dump branches that have fallen.) 

I always feel a little sad when the pasture grasses start to die in the fall, but there is beauty in the dried, golden grass too. 

I finished my walk at the chicken coop where I peeked in and found Sadie awake (ever the queen of the coop, protector of the flock) with Shirley… still asleep with her head tucked under her wing… beside her. It took just a moment for Shirley to wake up too, and I fed them and scattered their scratch and headed inside to start my day. 

Early birthday morning walk…

 

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S

 E and the two little girls stopped by for ice cream after school. 

Emily got her hold her favorite chicken. She has loved and cuddled this hen, Shirley, since she was a tiny chick. I’m so glad Shirley is still tame enough to let Em hold her…

Summer is winding down…

 …the robins won’t be here much longer.

We love watching them raise their babies each year, and seeing the first robin of the spring always makes for a special day. 

The birds take turns at the birdbath, with the robins always giving way to the jays (and the sparrows sneaking in when they can!). I caught one of the almost grown robin babies having his bath this evening…  they do seem to enjoy splashing around! 

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Caterpillar time!

 We found our first monarch caterpillar on the milkweed plants we grew from seed last spring. It was so exciting! 

We have since moved him inside into a protected habitat. I was worried the birds would eat him if I left him out in the garden area. 😱

We can’t wait for him to form his chrysalis and emerge a beautiful monarch!

Wildfire sunrise