With schools starting so early any more, Labor Day weekend doesn't so much mean the end of summer as just a day off for government and office workers. Retail employees have to man the big blow-out sales. Except, like Hayduke says, bargain sales aren't what they used to be.

Fall is in the air around here, and the leaves are starting to change. My poor tomato has lots of small fruit, so I'll have to figure out when to bring it in to ripen inside.

My guests this weekend are my dear friends the Welsh corgis staying here, and over at the Brown Palace one of my former co-workers, Jan, and her sister. There are also some fishermen parked across the river.

They (the women) are driving 2 hours one way to visit an alpaca farm in Granby, Colorado. This involved driving over Trail Ridge Road, one of the highest altitude highways in the country. Jan has a ball of yarn she bought there last year for $64. That's right. A ball of alpaca yarn. It's very pretty, and I'll bet it's got a wonderful feel when it's knitted up, but if it took 5 skeins to make a sweater, that's pretty pricey.

Meanwhile, the annual Alpaca Market is being held in Estes Park (my nearby resort town) this weekend, but that particular vendor isn't participating in it. We will probably go see it tomorrow. The ranchers bring their animals to try to talk people into buying them, so it's kind of like a petting zoo, and there are booths selling yarn and made-up stuff. You can't buy just one because they are very social, and this isn't like 'nice to have two' it's a case of if you leave one alone in a pen it will jump out to be with the others; if you take one to the vet, you have to take another one that may not need to see the vet or there is a big panic.

Tonight I am cooking a tri-tip roast on the barbecue. I found an interesting recipe online, and the ladies will come over. I told them it will be kind of pot luck because I'm not going shopping. After a long day of slogging through the holiday traffic on a busy weekend they'll probably be hungry.

My septic system is not what it should be. The man with the big hose was here Thursday and pumped it out. He said there it isn't working like it should. Fortunately, the next morning I was meeting the septic repair man at the farm we are trying to sell so he could give me a bid on tearing it down and carting it off. He is in the excavation business, which ranges from installing and repairing septic systems to demolition, to earth work. They were just up here fixing a broken pipe in the septic system next door, and we thought we were being proactive by getting this one pumped out as part of the normal maintenance and now it might have problems. The pumper guy (we call them honey dippers) doesn't do repairs, but the repair guy is going to call and ask him what he thinks is wrong with it.

Needless to say, I'm doing my best to not run much water through the system until it can be looked at Monday or Tuesday. I'd rather run the dishwasher than take a shower. That is what is known as prioritizing, but I'll go over to the red cabin, which is empty this weekend, and get cleaned up.. One good thing is that I am here alone except for the dogs, and they don't use much water. Some cousins were going to come from Albuquerque, but they cancelled, fortunately.

Have a good long weekend, y'all.