Lilacs Lose All Them Leaves

Another milestone for the season- the lilacs have lost almost all of their leaves almost overnight. A few days of very cold temps in addition to a night or two of high old winds equals, well, this.
I wasn't quite ready for it, but it's gonna happen, with or without my volition.
The Sheep are relatively non-plussed, though. They're gonna be plenty warm enough.

Ryan's Birthday, Today.

Ryan celebrated another birthday on Friday, and along with Matthew over there, I think we did a fine job of telling him that we care and will continue to do so.


Oh, and just up the street from his house, the very next morning, I saw about the coolest man-made thing I've ever seen in my whole life.
Good eighteen hours spent, in my book.

Yellerstone '13

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 The Yellowstone trip pert near didn't happen this year; as the Washington Furlough Feakshow dragged on and the BurningFunds dwindled all-too-quickly heading into the second half of the month, we figured that we ought to just head up the mountain or out to the near desert for a couple of days to save money, time and stress points.
I really wanted to go, though. The northlands called and this fall season brings many, many changes to the BurningHome, so I figured that if Jess or Bryn wanted to head up to the Absarokas or the Beartooths for a couple of days, maybe that'd be a good, quick, and dirty outing to the sacred lands and enough to keep my heart beating through another long winter...
The night before our break away, we monitored the imminent budget agreement with relish and mounting giddiness. The parks would be opening the following morning, and we could cross through the mighty 'Stone as we wished and when we wanted.
The trip was refreshing and with almost every weather condition imaginable for this time of year. We saw snow, sun, rain, and wind, and even a little bit of each in most every place we stopped. Good people, splendid air, happy animals, and great food. It couldn't have been better at what it was. I'm terribly glad my two eldest wanted to and were able to come along. Best company, ever.

 

Autumn Ales

A beautiful day for an autumn ale. Up to the cabin to use a bit of canal creek cave water for a batch of Punkin Ale; the brew was true and while we weren't toiling over the fire or the mash tun or cracking grains, we had some resplendent hikes and a goodly sum of the last batch of Nut Brown to make the session glide by quite nicely.
A month or so from now, we'll see how this holiday libation has been enacted.

Sage for Life

Out at lunch wandering around the hills for an hour or so, I saw sticks and wire and clouds and an overall change in the air and on the ground.
The wind blew and the sky whorled while I chose and cut sage...

Broken Valves and Final Peaches

Those PVC valves with the red handles? Not built like they used to be. I burst a brand new replacement for one that had been though nine years in place. The adjacent new old stock valve that I installed a couple of weeks ago was just fine for a third night of hard frost. Funny stuff, plus it made some lovely ice sculpture on the gate close by.
By the way, there's the last of this fall's fresh peaches. They went down very well and with many thanks...

Long Day and a Short Hike

It's a season for preparation and laying up in store, so here we are after a day of cleaning and organization, of gleaning and seeing what we have and don't have ready for the winter, so up the mountain we went in the back of the 'Runner for a short walkie.
I love nothing more than to listen to their banter and hold their hands as we enjoy the leaves and scents of this time of year; it takes me back to the original love of what autumn and winter brought me when I was much younger and a little more hopeful.
It's a good, good thing for the heart of a man.

October Outing

Jerusha's birthday. A day of clouds and calm before another shift in the weather and the progress toward the reign of the Pleiades and Orion in the coming long nights.
The aspens are changing according to the dictates of individual organs, so the hikes need to be taken before these high places are under a blanket of next year's snow.