use real butter

Happy Birthday to all my mates born on this day! I know the autumnal equinox bops around a bit, but I love it when the first day of autumn coincides with my birthday. Why? Because it means the ushering in of a favorite season with pumpkin pies, fall colors, cooler weather, Halloween, apple cider, autumn harvest, hearing children at play in the school yard, the smell of smoke from chimneys drifting through the air, and frosts.

But today we managed to skip over all of that and plunge into winter. Okay, to be fair, the forecast calls for warmer temps and sunshine in the coming week. However, today I could pretend it was winter – except it didn’t require much pretending. On our drive to the trailhead this morning, the roads were completely slicked with a sheet of ice. Although I love winter, this punch of winds and then cold temperatures seems to have some aspens going from green to brown. Thankfully, there is still some color to spare.

last year, this expanse was full and brilliant

**Jump for more butter**

And look what it’s doing on the last day of summer!!!

whoooooooop!

[EDIT] as of 10:15 pm

Actually, there are a couple of inches of snow accumulation on our deck as I type. That’s a spankin’ sweet birthday gift and introduction to autumn (for tomorrow)!

**Jump for more butter**

We went by the post office today and I was delighted to wrangle this out of our post office box:

a classy surprise for our birthdays

Thanks Kell! What a sweetheart you are. Certainly one of the brighter points in my day. I finally figured out what to send to YOU! It will take a little time… but I think you’ll like it.

I wish I could bake my thesis.