last night on the mountain retreat

On Thursday morning my two teenagers and I packed up, said goodbye to all the November Hill animal crew and husband/dad/solo farmhand, and headed up to one of my new favorite places on the earth. A good friend shared her mountain home for the second time - the first was the writing workshop back in June, and this weekend it's been a wonderful getaway and 3/4 of a family retreat.

We enjoyed the fall color on the drive here, and were absolutely thrilled when we got a few miles from the cabin and spotted what looked like a dusting of snow on neighboring mountaintops. The cabin is as wonderful as it was the first time, and I have loved seeing the rushing creek in its autumn outfit. We've done a little bit of walking, a little bit of riding on the Polaris up the mountain (daughter would not ride with me through sticky places - she got out and walked!), lots of creek watching, and some movie watching on the HUGE screen TV.

It's cold enough we've had the fire burning all weekend.

I've written a chapter in Fiona and the Water Horse, another chapter in Ava Lee's book, and been thrilled to sit here with Cold Mountain in my hands for a re-read. I had forgotten that a 17-hand Hanoverian gelding is in the book. Made me miss the Big Bay and also made me wonder - were there Hanoverians in the U.S. during the Civil War?

Daughter has finished her first research paper, done long exposure shots of waterfalls, and did a model shoot for my son in his ancient Greek garb.

Son has identified trees, gathered some wood samples, taken many photographs, and cooked some meals for us.

Tomorrow we're heading back to November Hill, but on the way we'll take a different route, stop by a favorite place for lunch, and see what else presents itself!

I had a terrible time uprooting from November Hill. It's always hard to leave. We've checked in daily and everyone there is doing fine so far.