Big Bear Takes Us Through The Mountains

We went for a relaxed tour of the mountains surrounding the cabin on Big Bear today (click on the link to read more about Bear).  It was quite a chilly ride, but the sky was bright blue and there were still some rich red, orange and yellow leaves to be found, though most have already fallen. 

There were two blooming wildflowers in an open field at the top of the mountain.  I'm glad I saw them, because there is a frost warning for tomorrow morning, which will put an end to any remaining blooms.  I'm not sure what this first one is, but it is a stem of very small buds.

And there were a few clovers in the same open field.  I found it interesting that each of the flowers were primarily purple; I have observed that it seems purple is the color of blooms in late fall.

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You can see that though the view is still beautiful, the fall colors are becoming muted and transitioning to brown.  Soon, all the leaves will be blanketing the ground, and the trees will be bare.  I am looking forward to it!  I love the stark look when the trees are bare; I can see the detailed shape of the mountains that surround us, and it means winter is on it's way!

This morning, we harvested the last of our beans (I'm glad we did, due to the frost warning).  We picked everything that was still on the vines...

 ...including the smallest beginnings of a bean...see the tiny beans?...I bet those are going to be tasty! 

We still have rutabaga, turnips, beets, sweet potatoes and mustard & collard greens, which are all frost resistant.  We also have radishes and red peppers, neither of which are ready to harvest and we are not sure they are going to survive a frost...so we are hoping for the best with them. 

It's been a relaxed day, something both Mountain Man and I were needing.  We've enjoyed it so much we are going to take a car tour into the mountains that surround the mountains that surround the cabin, did you follow that?  Can't wait to tell you all about it.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise