A Beautiful Autumn

We've had a long and beautiful autumn, filled with glorious color brought on by our wet spring and long Indian summer.  Everywhere there is gold and red and orange which has been delightful to see.   The high winds we're getting this afternoon and evening may blow all the pretty foliage away, but then again, maybe not.   

Usually by now we'd have had our first snow, but I see nothing in the forecast to indicate that we'll get any soon.  We did have an early and quick hailstorm which left some cool looking icy pellets on the patio. 

But in general the past weeks have been all about being outside enjoying the lovely weather before the winter sets in. 

It's been good timing as the work on rebuilding our shed got underway.  This useful little building sits on the back of our yard next to the raised beds, now cleared of the few tomatoes and peppers and many zinnias and dahlias which filled them over the summer.  

The shed's old siding and trim was in sore need of scraping and repainting, a task made more complex by rotten siding and holes near the ground through which various animals found cozy nests underneath the structure.  We thought about replacing the whole thing with a prefab shed, but couldn't find one as large as the existing building.  So our interior designer friend Lotus put us in the line-up for a good carpenter and we got to the top of his job list last week.   

He immediately realized that one side of the shed had sunk six inches into the ground, a problem he quickly rectified by jacking up the shed and pouring concrete footings.  

Then he began the residing using Hardiboard siding that will be painted grey and match what's on our house.   

We had good news about little Miss Sheba.  She's been needing some extensive and complicated dentel work and she had four bad teeth removed from the left side of her mouth last week.  Being such a tiny and fragile thing we were concerned that she might not make it out of the anesthesia, but she did and has been making a great recovery, complete with an increased appetite.  The poor kitty must have been in a lot of pain from those rotten teeth, and it's encouraging to see her not only eating but showing more energy and interest in life.  Also on the good news front is that she does not have any mouth cancers, which was another concern.   She still has three bad teeth on the right side of her mouth, but she's at least halfway through her ordeal.  

Check out the scenery in this photo, taken on the newly rebuilt Tenderfoot Trail on Flagstaff mountain.  We have clear skies after a summer of terrible ozone pollution.  I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see that "Boulder blue" and the distant mountain views.   And it's always good to see our tax money at work maintaining our amazing system of trails.   This particular one was rerouted to take advantage of the lovely rock formations and views while making the hike less steep, something I certainly applaud!  

And another "Whohoo!": We get our booster shots tomorrow!  This is another case of good timing, as Colorado's COVID hospitalization rate is climbing and the state nows rank number 14 in the nation for hospitalizations.   Boulder County has vaccinated 74% of its eligible population, but other CO counties don't have this high a rate.  Nearby Weld County, for instance, has vaccinated only 30% of its eligible population.   And Boulder County has a mask mandate that is well followed by its residents, where this is not the case in many other counties such as Weld.   

From Cagle.com

 I have to show you this photo which I snapped this morning while having coffee with my SIL after our weekly hike.  Yes, that is a big tumbleweed and no, we don't usually see them in the Boulder area.  Everyone at the shop stopped to stare and laugh as it tumbled through! 

One more fun photo,  this one of That Handsome Dog Gus looking at us unhappily from the stairs, stymied in his attempt to get to the master bedroom and see if Sheba left any food in her dish for Gus to wolf down.  Sorry, Gus!  

We'll end with this photo, a reminder that Halloween is this Sunday.  There's a lot of decorations going up in the porches and yards in our neighborhood and in the nearly CU student housing on the Hill.  Clearly folks are in the mood to have some holiday fun.  Our own fun is limited to having friends over for dinner that night, but I'm sure the Hill will be hopping with costumed students and our neighborhood with trick-or-treaters.