Boo hoo...

..not 'boo' like a ghost and hoo(t) like an owl. Nope. This isn't a statement on the upcoming October holiday. It's a direct comment on the recent weather change. Boo hoo, sob, weep, sniffle, & whimper.

So alright. Cool. We're accepting (well, kind of) that Summer is over and starting to ooo and ahhh about the purty Fall colors on the ash & locust tree and lilacs; how vivid they look out the kitchen window with the contrasting deep green of the doug fir and rainy grey skies of the past two days.  

But fer cryin' out loud! get this: as Papa was driving the semi up the mountain towards the job this early early morning (4am) he said it was drizzling. Then, to his dismay, he started seeing chunks of snow on the road that had obviously fallen off the southbound trucks. He's thinking, 'NO!', when suddenly it's snowing up by the Dana cut-off. There's a half-inch built up on the highway. He begins cursing the weather gods, figuring he'll be needing to pull off soon to chain-up, when fortunately the flakes change back to liquid form. And stay liquid. Thank goodness, too, cuz he said he's in denial and realized he hasn't loaded any chains onto the truck yet!

..and THIS is what Sugarloaf looked like when we went out to the woodpile this morning (10/6/11) -oh my- here comes Winter :(

As it turned out, Papa didn't get rained out of the woods but had an early day anyway due to some logging equipment (chipper) break-down at the landing. He got three loads hauled before that happened and was able to get home shortly after noon.

On a warmer, sunny day in front of the house- remember the truck rides he gave you kids?! Notice there ARE chains on this rig ;)

We made good use of his half-day off (8 hr day counts as a half-day? This is insane, no?) by completing the draft forms on his Citizenship application and setting up an appointment at the Post Office for the photos he needs to submit along with the other documents and ..gulp.. the check (ouch! this ain't cheap).

With some steaks Peggie brought over from her ranch, and carrots from Kay & Bill's garden, I made us my favorite Beef Barley Vegetable soup and a batch of Honey Whole Wheat rolls for supper, stoked the fire (oh ya. 2nd day of firin' up the woodstove. bummer dude), made Jenny a hot meal (spoiled old mutt), tucked Papa into bed, typed up this journal entry and will finish off the evening preparing his lunch for tomorrow, washing the ol' grey mare's long locks (those would be mine), reading a bit in Patrick Taylor's An Irish Country Village (2nd in the series), and calling it a day before the temperature drops and the stove cries out for more fuel (something we're in short supply of currently. see how tiny our pile is? - yikes!)**

**Thank goodness for commas or that last paragraph/sentence would look like one enormous run-on sentence ;)

p.s... you really should click on this book link and play the short video on Patrick Taylor's village inspiration. He's an interesting fellow. Librarian buddy Deb recommended the series to me but Papa ended up starting them first. I 'read' his first one, An Irish Country Doctor, through the library's book on CD. Taylor is the reader so you get all the 'flavour' of the dialect and pronunciation of the names. I've become quite fond of listening to recorded books while I go about my household chores... get a lot of titles read that way :)