Re-Entry and Routine

 

I never left the Lovestead yesterday. 

And, that was just fine. 

It's been fun going through the decompressing, re-entry phase and settling into a routine. 

With all the fall stuff to do, the routine is far from boring. 

On any given day our routine includes a few "do-this-every-day" tasks:  walk the dogs at o-dark-thirty, give Foster his meds, cook the breakfast sausage links, do the blog, figure out 'what's for dinner,' etc. 

The past few days of walking the dogs early has been a joy because there are so many stars to be seen in the sky. 

In fact, the daily star show has rivaled those Northern Lights everyone was enjoying earlier this week. 

Star bright is the only way to describe what one sees while looking upward at 5 a.m. each morning. 

One slight change to the "do-this-every-day" schedule involves taking Bridie for a walk around the place. That has replaced walking the horses to pasture, and it will most likely happen every day until the horses come home in the spring. 

Again, cool, crisp and clear fall weather makes that part of the day something special as the sun is slowly rising to the top of the Cabinet Mountains and the light of day is gradually coming. 

A soft wind blowing adds a pleasant and calming dimenstion to the trip around the hay field and through the woods.  

And, so, the routine returns and along with it come the unique highlights of each day. 

Yesterday's highlight:  a visit from Becky and Shawn from the Meserve Preserve next door. 

I was on my lawnmower in the north lawn mowing some grass, a lot of riffraff and a few dust piles created by gophers. 

I looked up and saw a 4-wheeler with a cute homemade trailer coming around the right-of-way where our place borders the Meserve's. 

Shawn parked, grabbed his chainsaw and the two of them went over to the trunk and limbs and leaves from a tree-top that had broken off during the storm two weeks ago. 

In almost the blink of an eye (maybe a bit of an exaggeration), the mess was cut up, picked up and deposited in the trailer. 

Along with that thoughtful neighborly deed came some quality visiting, which I'm sure will eventually fit into the "routine" slate of affairs. 

Becky and Shawn have been living at the Meserve Preserve throughout the summer and now into the fall. 

And, they work outside a lot because their place incurred a vast amount of blowdowns as a result of the storm. 

So, that chainsaw and trailer and 4-wheeler, along with the new orange tractor on the block named "Bota" have been putting in the hours aiding the cleanup. 

Eventually, Bill came home from running errands in town, and he joined the visiting. 

Twas a lovely interlude to a beautiful autumn afternoon, and we are so thrilled to once again have neighbors at the Meserve Preserve.

Thanks, Becky and Shawn, so much for the clean-up project and the visit.  

Also, during the day, I picked some more apples for jelly.  It was a must do since some I had picked the day before got a little hot on the bottom of the kettle, and when it comes to jelly, the hint that something in the pulp may have burned doesn't go away. 

So, another kettle went on the stove, and this morning, I'll finally do the drip routine and then cook up a batch of jelly. 

I must have been feeling domestic yesterday because I also baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies, adding the magic touch with a few sprinkles of sea salt on top.  

Pretty yum, yum.  

As I said to Bill, this was a batch where, like the old Lay's potato chips commercial, I could say, "Betcha can't eat just one."  I know of at least four cookies that left the plate.

Oh yeah, I also hauled some dead sunflowers and tomato plants from the garden.  

Anywho, the fall routine, complete with some good football games began anew yesterday, and I'm figuring on a repeat performance with a few different highlights today. 

Still feeling pretty good to be home and to be getting stuff done. 

Happy Sunday.