Feels Like Fall Today...

...As the temperature barely made it out the 30s...And while I would not bet the farm on such a fickle sister as Montana weather I am pretty sure we've seen the last of Indian Summer...The leaves, really colorful just a day or so ago have suddenly tinted toward brown and in the backyard already a couple aspens are bare. Won't be long until all the leaves are gone and we all know what that means...Yikes, hard to imagine another winter lies just around the corner...

While we haven't seen the last of the honey bees no doubt their visits will be few and far between in the upcoming weeks...

From the sound of it the last of the sandhill cranes boogied this morning...Already a week or so ago we noticed their numbers out on the East Bench (staging area) had thinned considerably...Always sort of sad to see these beautiful birds go but then again if they stayed around all winter what would we have to look forward to come early spring...

Tis a shame we don't have bracken fern here in southwest Montana to color up the fall woods; always makes me a little envious of the folks in northwest Montana...but on second thought we got way more trout and way fewer folks so...Ah, forget it...

How's this for proof the fall so far has been warmer than usual...this poppy bloomed next to deck two days ago and last night Jack Frost killed it but still...

On another way more serious track Annie is still hurtin'. And today especially has not been one of her best...she was putting weight on her foot yesterday but since this morning has been reluctant to put any weight on it. Plus the bruising and discoloration is all the way up her leg and looks much more sore than it did a couple days ago...Add to that the dead skin is starting to slough (something we all hoped would not happen) and...Well, I'm afraid she is in for not only a long painful haul but a serious one besides...Yeah, we got our fingers and toes crossed on this one and trust me, I would gladly eat all the crow the healing gods care to serve up...