Changes

Full

Happy Halloween :)

Colors

All of the colors are changing, including the deer coats. They blend in with the background, which is good since it's hunting season. Here come the sounds of gunshots daily...eh.
We didn't get much of a Fall since we've had several freezes. Not much orange or red around. I did find some great colors in Idaho, but not having a car much these days has halted the drive-around-photography. Hopefully this weekend we'll have some sunshine and a car. It's actually snowing some today.

I've almost missed this weeks moonrises because of the clouds.. I've heard there's been some beautiful moons lately. I have 4 days until the full moon, maybe I'll be lucky then.

I started making cupcakes recently, which is totally new for me. I'm usually the cheesecake gal. I loved making cupcakes. I wish I had had all the toys for decorating, which are on order now, to really be creative. I've got a few batches to make for the nephews school and a neighborhood Halloween party, so I get to dabble some there. I'm almost considering moving onto cakes.. we'll see.
At least it's something to do during the Winter months. I'll post photos too.

Not really much else new around these parts. Pretty soon we'll be blanketed in snow and you'll get sick of snow photos :)

Still

A typical Fall day today.
Not much really exciting to share from this little town. Our local store and cafe have closed down, so we're basically a small ghost town. We do still have a post office, a few churches, and a veterinarian. Well, part time anyway :)

Time to clean out the gardens and prepare them for Winter. I've decided to try to start a compost system. That HAS to help next year, right? We'll see. It will be hard to do compost with bear around, but maybe fenced in will help.

The bear will be around until probably Thanksgiving-ish. The woodpeckers are everywhere, which is fun with the feeders hanging off the new deck. The deer are bedding down in the yard at night and I've decided to get a chiminea (sp?) for the new deck ( great for snowy days ).

Are ya still awake??

That's it for excitement around here. I just haven't had much interest in my photography subjects. Maybe Winter will change that.

October Moonrise

23 degrees this morning. The waning moon is still rising over the mountains. I feel silly photographing it each month as the photos look just about the same each time, but... I still wait for it.

I love their ears

Falling into Winter

Fall feels as if it's gone right into Winter. The garden is pretty much fried except a few standing tomato plants. The skies are clear and the moon is almost full, and you're almost tempted to start the woodstove. But.. I'll push it as far as I can.
The trees are turning and there's leaves on the ground. You can smell the fireplaces now. Great time of year :)

The momma bear above and her two yearlings have been quite troublesome lately. As some of you might know that live in an area like I do, the momma bear can be quite aggressive. She definitely fills that description and has made it difficult to feed the horses at night and let the dogs out. I need to remember to refill that paintball gun.

We added onto our back deck, which turned out really nice. We've been working on staining it for about a week, hopefully we'll be done with that soon. With a table and chairs and the grill, all sitting next to the hottub, it's a great place to hang out. I really like it.
In about three days I'll be out there with the camera waiting for the moon to rise :)

There have been a lot of changes in our little town, in our home.. ups and downs. It's been an interesting Summer. I think I'm ready for the quietness and slowness of Winter. Different scenes, different photos, different animals. Time to close down the garden, split up the firewood and switch out the clothing.

I wonder if I can talk momma bear in to hibernating early?

Say hi for me

Rest in peace sweet Ruckus and Spaz. :(

Say hi to Brock and Bustopher for me.

Fall Slowly

Slowly moving into Fall... did I say that in my last post? Anyway.. the bucks are around, the temps are dropping and the leaves are falling. And, I'm ready. We still have tons of green tomatoes, so it might be chow-chow again this year. I actually have corn coming up this year, but I'm not sure the season will be long enough. Not as successful a garden as I'd hoped, but better than the previous years. I guess come see me in 5 years or so, I might have figured it out.

September, so far . . .

Eventful weather so far for September, and we're supposed to freeze tonight. We built a fire today, but then it ended with a rainbow. Honestly, the photo doesn't do it justice and neither does blogger. But, you get the idea.

Not a whole lot new to tell ya here.. just starting to cool down and get ready for Fall. The bear are back, the fawns are getting bigger, and losing their spots. Some birds arrive and some leave for Winter. It's that time to start gathering firewood and harvest the garden. I love the Fall skies, there will be more to come. Photos, that is.

Firsts

This n That

Coming along . . .

Red

Moondance

What to Say...What to Say....

It's been really hot these last couple of weeks. Anywhere from 85 and up and it's just yuck. I swear we have the hottest sun in Montana. You'd think coming from Texas I'd know what hot is, but this dry dry heat is just hot.
It's been pretty smoky the last couple of days from fires in MT. We now have three active fires, but none right in our vicinity. I always hate fire season...too scary.

The family is moving up from Texas in about a week. All new adventures for everyone I think. I'll have a houseful for awhile, not sure how I will adjust to that yet, but it will be nice to have humans around again... someone that actually talks back and answers :)

The veggie garden is doing awesome, I'm so excited about that. This is my first really successful garden, and hopefully I'll just get better from here. I have green beans and peas so far coming up. Obviously the berries are all blooming. Tomatoes are coming along and the jalapeno plants look great too. The other veggies are slow growing but coming along. We still have a bit for those to come up.
The raspberries are just out of control.. I think I picked over a thousand yesterday. We made 27 jars of jam last week and I have SO much more coming out of the garden. I might need another freezer :)

I wish I could say the same for the flower gardens. Between the cats and the deer, they're all working against me. If the deer don't eat it, the cats lay on it or dig it up. I've decided that if you want to grow anything that you truly like and want to keep, it's all got to go behind fencing. Maybe next year.

No bear for the last month and probably not for another month. I've been trying to capture ( photography-wise) a group of fox kits, but I just haven't been lucky enough to spot them yet. All the little baby birds have flown away, and the fawns some days are just too quick.

We're adding onto our deck, something we've wanted to do for awhile. Finally the back of the house, which looks onto the creek and the mountains, will have a covered deck for tables and chairs. I'm SO looking forward to it. There are even plugs for the laptop and grill.
Oh annnnd... the covered deck means not much snow shoveling anymore. But, my sister's moving here, so she's the new designated shoveler :)

I think that's it. Did I forget anything? Anything you wanna know?

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Happenings

Apparently it's Baby Day