This and that in the Outback

My NaNoWriMo novel is sufficiently ahead of schedule (nearly 16,000 nonsensical, boring words), that I am rewarding myself with the distraction of putting up a blog post. Since November is pretty well dedicated to grinding out 2,000 words a day on the novel and when I'm not writing I'm thinking about what my hapless characters are going to be up to next, time spent at the computer without racking up word count seems like time wasted!

We were greeted with a beautiful sunrise Friday morning. I had slept in until nearly 7am, so only took the time to snap one quick picture before returning to my computer keyboard, willing words to flow from my fingertips.
Later that day, the Mister and I headed out to run some errands. He had just mowed the lawn for what we hope is the final time this year. Mostly he did it to chop up the dead lives into little bits, which is important because the Catalpa leaves are huge and will kill the grass if left where they fall.

It looked so green and pretty that I just had to stop and get a photo of it. Doesn't it look like the trees should be budding out instead of just now dropping their leaves? Hard to believe we have already had more than three feet of snow covering the ground here in the Outback.

The Mister has spent his last few days off getting the stove that was given to me by a friend ready to cook, and he finally succeeded! (Yes, Ann - the stove works!). So our task for a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon was to make a trek to the cabin in the Sandhills and put the stove in place. Add to that a cupboard donated to the cause by my sister, and doesn't it begin to look like a home?

Here you can see a close up of the beautiful stove in it's place of honor. We're already planning a day of wood cutting up here, and I think I'll put together a pot of chili to cook on the stove, and hot coffee will really be welcome!

Next on the list of acquisitions is a kitchen table, and I got a call from another sister yesterday that she thinks she has what I'm looking for. Woo Hoo!

Since the weather is cooling off, the bees aren't really a threat. Because of the widespread problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, I have been convinced not to kill the bees in the walls outright. I'll first approach some beekeepers to see if they have a way of salvaging the colony to place it somewhere else. This colony certainly seems to be thriving!

As does the critter that lives under the house. None of my efforts to block the entrance have succeeded, the little bugger just digs them out. I suppose we'll have to trap it or something.

All work and no play isn't any fun, so I bribed the two men who helped me with this endeavor, the Mister and son #4 with some target practice. The Mister doesn't think I have any business trekking alone into the Sandhills without some way of defending myself against wild beasts, and didn't consider my walking stick sufficient protection, so he has purchased a small .22 pistol for me to carry. Now I just have to become comfortable using it. I will admit to being a pretty good shot, though.

The Mister got to try his hand at it, too.

With the warm dry weather, the farmers have been anxious to get back into the fields and catch up on the harvest. From the sounds of things, the soybean harvest has finally been completed, nearly a month late, and they're spending long hours in the field getting the corn out.

A common sight in Nebraska, combines in the cornfields and a train rumbling by on the tracks.

Thanks for stopping by. The coffee is always on.