Windy, Windy!

So today has been the most windy day since I've been here. Apparently, Gardner's pretty notorious for its high winds, but until today, they were completely manageable. Tonight, we have wind gusts from 35-40 mph. It's been like this pretty much all day-- it destroyed the cold frame we built yesterday, and I even got blown off balance on the stairs to the cabin!! It is kind of cool though because the winds are in a direction that's blowing the sand and dust across the mountains from the Sand Dunes, so there's this incredible dust storm that's been approaching us all day. It came on slow, creeping throughout the day, but by dark visibility was at zero. I just went outside and it is so eerie! You can just see the moon through the cloud of dust. Bella's all talking about how this is the weirdest full moon and she's like yelling out for the ETs to land, haha. I swear, if it's not 2012 then its aliens! What a wonderful quack.

Since it's been so shitty outside, we've been inside most of the day. We did some work on our indoor plants and I made a pound and a half of cannabutter to take to dispensaries in Pueblo. It's fun making that stuff on a small scale, but brewing bulk is a BITCH. And unless I get a mixer with a quickness, I could get real tired of this baking thing, haha. I tried a new recipe tonight: dark chocolate muffins. They're made with organic 70% cocoa dark chocolate and all natural ingredients. They could have been baked a little longer (I'm still getting used to the altitude difference), but they're pretty delicious. Can't wait to have one in the morning for breakfast! What a great way to wake up =)

So, we're supposed to have rain tomorrow, freeze and snow tomorrow night, then more snow/rain on... Friday? Is that the day after tomorrow? It's so hard to keep up with here. Don't know what else there is to do inside... maybe work on the tincture/edibles business and try to get organized to get some product moving. Who knows... Bella's so erratic. Nothing else very interesting happened today other than the wind and baking... I picked up Mike from Aztlan, which is always a pretty drive and he's good company. Young, but in ways mature beyond his 19 years... a young mountain man in the making...

An hour later...

Just got off the phone with my family and found out that my parents had to put our family dog, Benny, down tonight. It came as a complete shock. He apparently had cancer all over his body... but he held up real well until the end. He was happy and seemingly healthy -- he was even out at the Double O last weekend! Poor, poor Benny-boy. You will be missed. You were the most loyal and protective and amazing dog we could have ever asked for. I'm so sorry I'm not there to put you in your place next to Boomer and Molly, but I know you're happy in a better world, on a higher plane.

Anyways, my eyes hurt from crying, so I'm going to sign off for the night. Thanks for reading. Peace.