The road home.
This afternoon.
A late work day yesterday (Tuesday).
A very early start today (Wednesday).
At 5:00 p.m. on the dot (Wednesday) – I called “THE END”!
Bear and I took a Jeep ride.
On the way back…
I spied…
SNOW!
Oh, yes.
Mountain Snow.
Hoo…I say….HOO-RAH!!
Welcome Fall…I am SO happy to see you.
The just past full moon, through the trees, over the house to the west.
Beardog on lookout.
Foggy mist rising as sunrise approaches.
Foggy morning walk…
… in wonderfully cool (39F) air.
Apple cinnamon rolls (mini) with a brown sugar-cinnamon-goat cheese frosting to celebrate the last day of the work week (a GREAT work week), the return of cool weather and the demise (mostly) of the yellow jackets.
The sun finally made it.
Friday morning.
You could feel the change Monday evening. The air cleared, there was a hint of cool even though it was still 75F.
But, it cooled quickly and after out last walk, I closed windows all but a crack to allow the night air to move through the house.
This morning.
40 something.
Beautiful.
Our first time of sitting outside in a very long time.
Every week NOAA says that “next week” will be cooler and then as next week approaches…NOT!
It is not as hot as it had been, but it is still 10-15 degrees above normal for the 2nd week of September in Northwest Montana!
Some time ago, I stopped watering the grass… I noticed that the yellow jackets gravitated toward water sources so I decided to dry things up and see if that helped.
I brought in the herbie watering can, the boys’ water bowl (the boys were not out anyway), and shut down the sprinklers.
The good news is I haven’t had to mow!! I think I mowed 4 times before shutting things down. Oh, well.
The bad news is that it didn’t help the yellow jacket situation AND I lost my cilantro on Beardog Hill – not a show stopper for this summer.
Today, the high was 76F at my house…and an abundance of sun and blue sky.
Not horrible but it should be 66F!
But, Bear and I got outside a bit more than we have been.
Still…we got hot… and the yellow jackets – Bear likes them about as much as I do.
Inside sounded like a good idea.
NOAA…and Fall…Promises, promises!
YES!!
And rain, too!
August started with a whoosh of a cold front and then an afternoon, night and all day today gentle rain.
Hoo…I say HOO-RAH!
The forecast high today was 65F but it only made it to 60. I am ecstatic and dressed in fleece shirt and boots and long pants. AND, I even turned the heat on for just 15 minutes to take the chill and damp off…for Bob, you know :) !!
Rainy day Bob…
Rainy day Bear…
Rainy day me…
It’s ok. I was happy to sit at my desk and plug along at work while Bob and Bear snored.
In the wishful thinking department:
We started August cool and rainy
On Monday Bear and I saw a Cinnamon Bear on the game trail! ( we usually only see bears Spring and Fall)
Also on Monday, squirrels were working in the yard gathering stuff
There are a LOT of butterflies
Maybe it will be an early Fall …. maybe the yellow jackets will take the hint and do their Fall thing NOW!
A girl can hope….ok, a middle-aged woman can hope! I know Bear and Bob hope too!
Mr. Bob’s ear news… it is STILL going on. Last week we got an all clear from Dr. Clark via visual exam. To be on the safe side we continued the meds through Saturday. By Tuesday, Bob had the wobbles.
RATS.
DOUBLE-TRIPLE RATS!!!
We picked up more medication today and have calls in to 2 specialist clinics. We will travel either to Missoula or Great Falls or both this coming week.
On the plus side, Dr. Clark told me today that his gut feeling is that things look worse than they are. He was referring to my worry over Bob’s wobbly symptoms vs all other tests and as he said, his own intuition based on years of experience. As much as I try not to and KNOW that it does Bob no good to worry, it was so good to hear this. Bob is eating and drinking normally, normal output, he sticks to his normal routine and does not seem in pain.
So.
Onward!
The other good news is that originally, I was to pick up the newly washed and waxed Wild Thing today. That would have meant driving a fresh clean motorhome in the rain…on roads that had been dusty – resulting in yucky, muddy splashes. BUT…, the person working on WT called in sick and now she is to be ready next Tuesday AND staying in a nice garage bay at the body shop all this time. Another HOO-RAH! She should be home in time to load and head to whichever clinic(s) we need to go to.
It might not be exactly the getaway I had in mind, but we will get away and hopefully move toward full resolution of Bob’s ear infection. Dr. Clark does feel that is all it is…just bad, resistant bug or bugs. There is nothing to indicate anything worse.
The lastest wobbly Bob video…recorded for the veterinary diagnostic purposes.