Posts from the ‘Me and the House’ category

December 1

Thanksgiving is over.

It is December 1.

Let the games begin!

Sunday, after Thanksgiving…my traditional time to put up the Christmas tree and deck the halls.

This is the 5th of 7 Christmases in this house where I will NOT be putting up a Christmas tree. Each one of those 5 years, I’ve said to myself: “Maybe next year”.

Maybe next year.

Auggie is not actually allowed on my little dining table.

We’ve been training.

It has been going pretty well…

Auggie 1
Christmas people 0

Gah!

However, not unexpected and I think the call to NOT have a real tree this year was a good one.

My little silk tree is unbreakable and nothing spills and makes a mess when it comes a tumblin’ down.

In another fortunate circumstance, the lights are not working. They were on the fritz at the end of last year.

I think this is a good year to not have any lights on the little tree.

Also, just a few stuffed (UNBREAKABLE) ornaments underneath. (My favorite skier and mama rabbit skier are on top of the refrigerator – an Auggie no fly zone!)

The stockings are hung…as usual…by the chimney – with care… I think they are out of reach. We’ll see.

The first Christmasy treats: Peppermint bark and Peppermint crunch marshmallows.

December 1.

Clouds and other good things

Bear and I took a late morning run to town for dog and cat food!

The clouds…

The clouds and sliver of lake…

And the breakthrough sun on the golden larch pine trees!

Beautiful.

Other good things…

A full jar of Linda’s (Savoring Every Bite) Pumpkin Ginger Biscotti.

I’ve made these twice. They are subtly spiced and include pecans…perfect Fall biscotti.

Bits of snow have come and gone.

It has been cold.

It has been damp.

It has been cold and damp.

This time of year, the cold and damp feel colder than the dry cold of deep winter.

A fire in the woodstove.

Clouds, biscotti, woodstove fire: good things.

A week

Auggie has been with Bear and me for a week.

He is sweet and happy and curious and increasingly confident. It has been a week of watching him grow in all kinds of ways.

We went to our own vet on Tuesday and got a good report: negative for all of the kitten stuff they test for, booster vaccinations and a general “sound body and good disposition” report.

The paradox is that those first days and some of all of this week were also so hard. This has happened to me before, but I always forget and it catches me off guard. Getting a new pet after losing one is a strange combination of fun, distraction and joy in folding the new into the routine but the flip side is that it is also that absolute realization that the lost pet really is no longer here. A finality that I find very difficult while at the same time the new kid and new routine needs a lot of attention. There is no getting around the fact that all is very different and it is not going to be comfortable again for awhile.

Life.

Meanwhile, Fall progresses and we’ve had 2 hard freezes. But there are still pleasant temperatures in the daytime forecast so I’ve been covering the herbs at night with the lights down low and using the lights directly during the day for “helper” sunshine. So far, all looks good.

I’ve been finding yellow jacket nests, fallen out of trees, in the yard and the woods. I’m not sure if hibernating queens are in these but I’m spraying and getting them out of here just in case.

The aspens and birch are turning and the larch are lightening to chartreuse. By next weekend there should be a lot of gold in the woods.

Auggie is very interested in the outdoors, especially when Bear and I are out. By January – maybe even a little before, I’ll take him out on leash to explore if he wants to. My hope is that he would enjoy being outside with Bear and me but be, like Bob, a homebody. There is a lot of great hunting without going too far away.

And grass and sunshine and a beardog!

Inside, with a wire crate half way folded to add a kitten barrier to the gate, Bear and Auggie grow ever closer. So much fun to watch.

A week.

Farmer’s Market

After a morning perimeter walk, I loaded Bear in the Jeep and we headed to town.

The sun rose above the mountains, and lit the cut hay and wheat fields under low, dark clouds. It was a beautiful drive to town. I pulled over several times to let people in a hurry pass and so I could dawdle a bit and enjoy the light.

I bought myself breakfast, shared a bit with the Bear boy and we headed to the Farmer’s Market.

It is fun to arrive at the opening time with everyone fresh and ready to go. We were there 15 minutes early and people watched from a shaded parking spot until the 9:00 a.m. open.

It is prime time for all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I walked the entire market looking and deciding what and from who to buy.

I bought sunflowers from a booth that had sunflowers of all different sizes as well as displays of colorful flowers for drying – I didn’t know the vendor but something just called to me from this spot vs others with sunflowers.

Cherry tomatoes and zucchini from Swallow Crest Farm, my down the road farmer. Julian and I exchanged neighborly news as I made my selection.

Feta cheese from a Polson, MT cheesemaker. I live near the north end of Flathead Lake. Polson is 35 miles south at the southern end of the lake. I bought directly from Joe and he WAS wearing a Hawaiian shirt!

The honey is from a vendor I’ve bought honey from before. I was the only one at the booth at the time and asked about the yellow jackets. He told me they were bad this year but I could drag nothing more enlightening from him other than to destroy the nests. Oh, well…the honey is wonderful!

The sunflowers will brighten my window until I go back next week – I hope!

Farmer’s Market.

At home

Home in the woods.

Things are different.

Bear and I miss the Bob-a-lu cat something fierce.

I took the “just get it over with quickly” approach to Bob’s stuff and closeted it all away. I don’t think there is a right answer to this…I could look at it and miss him or look at where all the stuff should be and miss him. None of it is him so I put it away.

And while I was about it, I put the A/C units away also.

It was gorgeous, yesterday (Saturday) and barely hit 70F.

This morning, it was a wonderfully brisk 46F.

But. We are to have a warm week with a forecast change to Fall next weekend. Still, it is September 1 and we are down to 11 hours of daylight and a lower on the horizon sun path so it gets harder for it to get miserably hot. I hope – I’ve had it with hot.

While we were away, there were 2 big storms. They included a LOT of wind. A photo of the yard really doesn’t show how much of a mess it was and some of it still is.

I’ve been working at the cleanup between 5:45 and 6:15 a.m. – to avoid the yellow jackets. I’ve had it with them, also.

I need to go up on the roof and at least get those big branches. I’d like to take the blower and clear the needles. We’ll see. I might wait until we get a hard frost for the blowing part. More needles will come down anyway. I can procrastinate. I can avoid looking at the roof. Maybe it will snow on the roof and then I won’t be able to see all of the needles…that is a happy thought!!

The herbies…more happy thoughts! My dear neighbors picked them up and kept them on their front porch and watered them. And delivered them back to me. The herbs look wonderful. They look like they did not miss me at all. Thank you, neighbors!

At home.