Keena's Couch

When she's not outside, our Siberian Husky Keena hangs out in our back room. It's a cozy room, with her crate and favorite blanket for napping, and of course lots of rawhide toys for chewing on.

This is also where Chukani usually spend time tv/movie watching, so we hang out with her back there quite often. However, when we aren't out there... she sometimes pouts and decides that lounging on the couch will get our attention.

Keena also thinks of herself as a lap-dog, so if you sit on "her" couch, she is likely to join you for a cuddle.

What a silly dog!

Palisade Peaches

I bought a case of peaches last month, from the West Slope of the Colorado Rockies in a little town called Palisade. Around these parts, peaches from Palisade have quite a good reputation for being juicy and oh-so-delicious.

That same weekend, I made a batch of peach jam (you see those cooling off in the foreground) and 12 quarts of peach halves in light syrup. I really enjoy canning and preserving the harvest, a skill my mother-in-law taught me. She learned from her mom, so it's in honor of Grandma Mary Keller that I used her tools to put up another year's worth of peaches... something she did every summer.

I've also canned tomatoes from my garden, and even made concord grape jelly last fall. (and I heard through the grapevine (pun intended!) that I might be getting another box of grapes in the next week or two. )

In the dead of winter, when the snow is blowing and everything is bleak and dark... it is such a JOY to bring up a jar of peaches from the basement. It's summer all over again- the sweet aroma of peaches fills your nose and you taste pure sunshine in every peachy bite.

Nothing beats hot, fresh from the oven peach cobbler in January, right? I'm looking forward to it.

Early Autumn at the Cabin

Chukani left for the cabin last Thursday night, to spend a few days up there for my birthday. The weather was cool and we enjoyed the warmth of the crackling fireplace in the evenings.

We also took advantage of the the clear skies and new moon at night for some good star-gazing. The milky-way was so bright and sparkly! With a couple lawn chairs and blankets out in the front meadow, and all the lights off in the cabin it was a prime shooting-star viewpoint.

As you can see in these pics, the Aspens are in the process of turning from bright green to that beautifully glowing gold. We took an early morning walk with Keena and enjoyed the sunrise among the changing leaves. It was a very nice Birthday I have to say.

Notice the mountainside in the background, and you can see the patchwork of light green, gold and dark green as the trees welcome autumn.

We are expecting SNOW in the Denver metro area this week. Seriously!! If it happens, I'll definitely have my camera handy...

2009 Harvest

Today I decided to see what the garden had been working so hard on all season.

We only got one pumpkin, the darn squirrels (or a skunk?) got to the other 2 and ate them right off the vine a couple months ago. The carrots were a surprise- I'd forgotton how many seeds we had planted. Somehow I thought it was just a couple squares' worth.

The potatoes were so much fun to dig up! They didn't get very big, but for the first time ever growing spuds I am delighted. Can hardly wait to see how they taste. yum.

I went ahead and picked all the tomatoes since the weather folks have been threatening snow sometime soon. (gasp! snow??) Only a few greenies left, and the rest will ripen pretty quickly I'll bet.

And the beets! yeah for beets. I am planning to can these tonight (or maybe in a couple days if I run short on time...) into pickled beets. This will be a new one for me, I've never tried to can beets before. wish me luck!