Summer is over. Autumn is here!

Look at that beautiful tree.

It’s considerably chillier in the mornings. And darker. We are up way before sunrise to get to work in the mornings, and it has become the yearly “dressing in layers” season in CO. Beanies and sweaters in the morning, sunglasses and short sleeves in the afternoon. We even already got our first SNOW. Usually we’re well into October before snow is here. One day last week it was in the forecast for snow above 9000′. We’re at 7600′. Sure enough, we got a dusting. It was cool. We even had a small fire in ol’ Johnny. Just to get the chill out of the house.

Sunflowers!

Mammoth Sunflower harvest.

Sunflowers & Acorns.

Now we’re in winterizing mode, we cleaned out our chimney, started putting things inside and out of the elements that have been outside all summer, giving Loki some straw and extra blankets for his run in the mornings. We’ve now harvested our sunflower seeds – which is super rad – and are still picking tomatoes and zucchini. The chives are still growing too. But we can also tell that food is just starting to get scarce for the season, deer and skunks are eating a lot of the plants around our house. Thistles are disappearing… our kale disappeared… the chives are considerably munched down… They need to eat too.

Still drying. So pretty.

I love this time of year. The colors in the leaves, the pine cones falling to the ground, the crisp chill in the air. We pretty much spend our days (after long days at work) playing with Loki, drinking beer, enjoying the woods, cooking, and relaxing. It feels good to take a break from big projects. Next week we’re taking a road trip to CA for my Aunt’s Celebration of Life, so we’ll be out on the road, seeing family, and going to some pretty rad places along the way and back, for 9 days! We’re looking forward to the break from reality here, and I’m sure we’ll be refreshed and rejuvenated when we return. 

Here’s to Autumn!

Our cozy cabin.