Happy 4th of July my way...

This is my kind of 4th of July fireworks...

Northern Lights to celebrate our 250th anniversary.

We even had a turkey parade.  

Every parade has to have someone watching on the sidelines.  Yes, if you look closely that is a mountain lion watching Dollor and I.

Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday America. I hope you all were able to celebrate your way.

The flowers are fenced...

 The last few years I have been getting a little frustrated with gardening. The deer eat whatever the hail doesn't get.  I can't give up without a fight, so today we fenced.  I found this decorative fencing on the way to work.  I stopped and asked the people that had it rolled up next to their barn if they would be willing to sell it and they were.  My husband got the posts and cut them to size.  After some fence stretching and cussing everything was nailed into place.  

I used to have blog posts about what is old is new again.  This is an example as old fencing was given a new life.  

It is hard to see, which is exactly what I was hoping for.  It should keep the deer out and the flowers in.  We left the back open, so I can deadhead, plant, and still have easy access.   Speaking of flowers, the garden is looking amazing.  

The western fires are making the sunsets and the moon extremely colorful.  The sunrise on Saturday was ominous.  Luckily nothing happened in the hills.  I do believe there was serious weather to the north.

Last night the Strawberry Moon was actually strawberry colored.  That wasn't why it was named the Strawberry Moon.  It is called that because this is when the wild strawberries are ripe.  The fires made it a red color befitting its title.

Did you see the Strawberry Moon?  How do you deter deer?  How are the sunsets where you are?

A day in the life...

 The horses went home on their own, escaped again, and went home again.  The ringleader, a bay mare named Meg, was taken back to where she came from.  Too bad.  

A lot has been happening around here.  Some baby spiders hatched on the porch and floated away with the wind.  It was something to see them floating across the yard.

It has been cool and rainy.  Everything is lush and blooming.  Columbine and my pink dianthus.  
All of my irises are flourishing.  They are a great flower, hardy, and every color in the book.

They also look amazing in the rain.  The bees love them.  I suppose because they have a perfect landing deck built in. 

I have hail netting over my vegetable garden.  Thankfully, we haven't had any hail yet.  It is nice to see all of my flower's blooming, instead of beaten to smithereens.  

My peas are blooming like crazy.  I've never seen pea blooms this pretty before.  Hope they taste as good as they look.

The view from my porch is filled with flowers, birds, and chipmunks.  It is very relaxing.

My husband mowed the trails through our property.  Things are green and lush.

After 6 months, our oven parts finally came in.  I am able to make muffins again.  I really missed baking bread.  We've used our smoker for everything, and it did a great job.  

My Western Tanager is getting braver and coming closer.  He sure is pretty.  I was a little worried I wouldn't see him this year.  He came quite late.  The wrens that nested by the house last year did not show up.  I'm sad about that.  

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day.  

I went to see a man about a horse...

Not enough time to post about the weekend.  I spent my evening rounding up some strays.  It felt a little like those Beverly Doolittle paintings.  I saw them and made a quick about face, so Dollor didn't see them.  I'm sure he would have chased them.  I got a halter and some oats.  Took forever to find them again.  Their owner came up and we looked high and low.   Right after she gave up and left, I found them again.  Amazing how hard it is to find a horse in a forest. I tried to call her, but my phone was dead.  We hung out for a while.  There wasn't anywhere to take them, so walked home and let her know where they were.  Hopefully, she will find them tomorrow.  They are safe where they are for the night.

Sure made me miss having horses around.  They were very sweet.  
 

June is for flowers...

 I don't have much to say.  Just enjoying the clouds and the flowers.  

My timing couldn't have been better, catching the little chub coming in for a landing. 

My Australian Copper roses are blooming like crazy.  They only bloom once and don't have a scent, but I love them anyway. 

The yellow roses are also blooming and they smell heavenly.  Nothing smells better.  They are also a one and done, but worth it. 

These pink diantus have a great scent.  I lined our path from the garage to the cabin with them.  

I love my gardens in June.  What do you have blooming?

What a wonderful world..

We had quite a bit of rain over the weekend.  I can't complain, since it hasn't hailed yet.  Friday was nice.  I used the smoker to make a bacon and blackberry pizza on nanna bread.  It was wonderful.

We had a hummingbird moth.  Normally, we don't see them until the fall.  He is very early, but delightful.

I've seen lots of fun things while taking Dollor on his walks.  Here is a yearling mule deer buck.  

A week ago I saw the most beautiful sight.  A bright red fox was trotting down this aspen alley.  I was too slow with my camera.  The picture will forever be imprinted in my mind.  

It has been pretty wet here.  We've had rain almost every day. If Dollor wants a walk it has to be a well-timed event. 

I know my husband loves me because when I came home from work tonight my planters were safely tucked under the porch.  It started to hail and he knew I'd be upset if they got destroyed.  I am luck indeed.

Our Western Tanager has returned.  One of my favorite spring birds.  He stands out against the green aspen.

We've had tree frogs calling like crazy.  I was able to catch this one relaxing in a mudpuddle.  

It was another great week filled with wonder if you just look around.  

What wonderous little things to you see?    

Dad was right..

 When I was a kid, dad would drop my brother, sister, and I off at a cornfield and send us in to go pull velvet leaf weeds.  He would always say one weed creates thousands of seeds.  Well, I guess he is right.  I have tried to pick dandelions from my orchard for the last two weekends.  I use the flowers to make wine.  I've been picking this dandelion patch for 15 years and I guess he was right.  There is hardly a dandelion to be found.  It took 15 years, but I made a dent.  Not exactly what I wanted, now I need find somewhere else to get dandelions.  So Dad, yes, it is possible to eradicate a weed.  Maybe not in the timeframe you were hoping.  

Picking dandelions wasn't all I did this weekend.  We went to the garden center and I got some plants.  I also pulled weeds in the flower beds.  All of my plants got a good dose of fertilizer.  

The bears are out fishing.  I also have my little bears in front flying the flags.  I didn't get a picture of them.  I will next week.

All of the house plants were sent to the porch.  The cabin seems bigger with them outside.  

I planted flowers for tea in the water tank.  I filled the wire bin with alfalfa and potato starts.  The vegetable bed behind everything is filled with corn, beans, peas, cucumbers, and tons of volunteer broccoli from last year. 

About a month ago we found this beautiful planter on sale at Tractor Supply.  This weekend I filled it with rosemary, oregano, parsley, sage, basil, licorice basil, and chives.  It will be nice to have these herbs close to the kitchen.

We fell in love with this rose at the garden center.  Outta the Blue is the name.  It is a zone 5 so we will try overwintering it in the garage. The scent is heavenly. We put it on the deck so we could smell it when we were out enjoying the beautiful weather.

This Westcountry Terracotta Lupin was a showstopper at the garden center.  At $44 a plant it will continue to enhance the garden center and not my garden. I love it but I have never had luck transplanting larger perennials, so even though it was breathtaking it wasn't worth the risk.   

I did so much over the three-day weekend I can hardly move.  It was great to garden.  My husband planted his pumpkins.  He is shooting for 100lbs this year.  

I am thankful for our veterans.  I learned a long time ago that freedom is thanks to the sacrifice of our military. Did you have a family member who was in the military?