A while back, Richard and I decided to take one step further down the slippery path to Yuppie-dom. After visiting his parents at the ranch, we poked around and found someone who was looking to sell their share for a 'if-we-don't-take-advantage-of-this-low-price-we're-nuts' great deal.

The transfer of a deed is *not* a quick process, by any stretch of the imagination, so it wasn't til this week that the final paperwork arrived in the mail, marking the share as truly ours. There were other things tentatively marked on the calendar for this weekend - the Scottish games in town, for example - but we both agreed what we'd much rather do.

The weather turned abruptly away from that cooler winter-is-coming pleasantry we've been enjoying for the past few weeks, and so it was quite hot. But the cabins were cool and we apparently picked a rather unpopular weekend for ranch visitors, so there were few other people to disturb us.

This was exactly what I needed. There is no way to relax quite like this at home. There are too many things waiting to be done - errands to run, stores to go visit, people to call and chat with online. No matter how hard we might try to just have a relaxing weekend at home, it is doomed to end up in us doing Something Productive.

We read books. We walked slowly around the grounds and at one point saw seven deer - their eyes huge and dark and watchful, ears perked as they tried to make up their minds whether to pretend to ignore us, or bolt further away from these intruders to their home. We slept and talked and slept some more.

And then we came home, to a houseful of sleeping cats who stumbled awake to greet us with yawns and demands for attention. And that was exactly what I needed too.