The days are much shorter now. The leaves are just starting to turn to their autumn colors. This is how I found the back field last week when I went to fetch King in for the night. The ground fog was beautiful as it rolled in. I loved the crisp feeling in the air. The setting sun was just getting it's show going. Fall is a funny time of new beginnings around here. I know so many feel like it's an ending time but for us it is the start of college for our oldest boy. The start of 11th grade back at Cocheco Arts & Technology Academy for the next boy. The beginning of a new homeschool year for our youngest one. Cub Scouts Den Meetings begin again. Knitting classes get started. Knitting Club too. LEGO Battlebots and soccer begin. The trail riding season (bug free) begins. Okay....trail riding season never begins or ends for me...but it feels like the time of the year we wait all year for! The beginning of that wonderful season! Bug free rides. :)
We took time last Friday between rainy days to go hiking with friends up at Castle in the Clouds. You can see the castle on the next hill at the top right of this picture. This is the spot where we stopped for lunch. Castle in the Clouds is also home to the tallest horse in the world (or at least that's what they told us) so we had to go and see Zeus. The pond that had rainbow trout to feed was a highlight as well. We found the hiking trails to be beautiful and numerous. I, for one, would like to go back and walk along more of them!
Our silly cats have been up to new antics lately. Today I pulled on my knee high black muck boots to head out to the barn and there was something wrong with the right one. I pulled off the boot and tipped it over. Out popped a dead mouse! Eeek. Eewww. Jester! I think she is finally living up to that name our oldest son wanted. He called her Jest for her calico coat. He thought she looked like a court fool. Well....now she's getting her revenge.
Last week she brought in a live chipmunk to entertain herself, Charlie and our old dog. I knew something was wrong when I heard the sound of clicking toenails, click-click-click, excitedly across the wood floor in our bedroom. He is in the final stages of lymphoma and spends most of his time sleeping. I wondered what the clamor was. In the room I see both Charlie & Tide chasing a frightened chipmunk back and forth under the bed. Jester was atop the bed watching the action. My youngest son and I worked with the dog to corner the chipmunk and I popped it into a trash can with a towel over the top to carry it back outside. The next evening while I was out teaching knitting Jester brought a garter snake into the kitchen for my husband. Our 17 year old was able to catch it and return it to the long grass outdoors. Then on Thursday morning with the rain making the day dreary Jester comes through the cat flap again with her own entertainment. I was baking and noticed a new dark leaf on the floor. Then it hopped! A frog. Poor thing. Thank goodness for little boys who are just as fast as year-old kittens. He grabbed it up and cradled it in his hands to take back outside into the wet world...where a frog belongs. Not hopping about on the tile below cookie making women!
Charlie in contrast to his sister, has been spending many a morning finding himself new places to sleep. This has become one of his favorites so far. He's the only cat to ever explore up there and he likes it. 6 and a half feet above the floor is a peaceful place for him to take his nap.
There are endings in September too. The pool is put away. The garden is mostly done (except carrot and potatoes.) John's golf league is done. Gone are the beach days and farmer's markets for one of the boys to earn money playing guitar at. Gone are the long teenage Dungeons and Dragons gatherings. For now.
~Rachel
