We survived...

 We survived another week with Aunt Bonnie.   The annual tradition continues.  A culmination of the weeks events was a 7 mile hike up Black Elk Peak.  There was some grumbles, but I ignored them and the endeavor was exhausting but successful.  The picture below is the before photo.  Seven miles later nobody wanted to take a picture.  We were too busy partaking in our perfectly prepared picnic.

The view from the top was amazing, but somehow I didn't get a photo.  It was a perfect day for a hike as it was in the 70's with a nice breeze.

As always there were projects and baking.  We made pies, cookies, peanut butter bars, and (of course) jello for the post hike picnic.

Despite three people in my little cabin kitchen, there were no major mishaps.  We did run out of peanut butter, but managed to improvise.

The weather was cool, but magically warmed up prior to putting the floats in the water.  Somehow we only managed to get three in the Jeep.   We must be slipping, because one year we were able to load 5 inflated floats  and five of us.

The photo below is the girls in back of the Jeep.  A tad crowded.

It was the week of the Days of '76 Rodeo.  The ladies are all barrel racers, so we went and watched the barrel racing slack.  Then played tourist in Deadwood.

We may have taught the girls how to play poker in an effort to keep the evenings lively.  I have to say they caught on quick.

It was another successful week.  I always worry the older ladies will get sick of our tradition, but much to my surprise they are still game.  

Do you have any family traditions? I would love to hear about them.  

Drat...

No it isn't snowing.  It did hail.  I got pictures of the hail, the damage, and my beautiful roses that managed to survive. 

The drat comes from the fact that I did not notice my camera was set on video mode.  All my great pictures are actually 8 second videos.  That is a drat.  I had some beautiful rose photos.  I tried again today, but it wasn't the same.

I also can't show you the before and after of my vegetable garden.  You can't believe how destroyed it looked after the hail storm.  Now...

It is slowly coming back.  I'm very happy.  A long time ago we had a terrible hail storm.  I was so depressed about my flowers.  In the end the flowers were amazing.  The hail had pruned them, which is something I am always hesitant to do.

Just because things seem bad in the beginning, don't assume the worst.  

Despite the hail, it looks like the garden is doing fine.  Maybe I need to take my drat back.  

Do you get a lot of hail where you are?  Whet is your biggest weather woe.

Life and death in the garden...

It is amazing what you see in the garden if you pay attention.  

This little black and red bug, for example.  He seems to be enjoying the daisy.

My peonies, or as they call them in Denmark prairie roses, and columbine are still blooming.

I need to harvest my chamomile for tea.  Mixed with apple cider vinegar and lemon juice it makes a wonderful hair detangler.  Somehow I have managed to keep it contained, as it can go a little wild.

The sun's rays can really set off the poppies and roses.

I've talked about life in the garden and now take a moment to see the opposite.  I happened to notice that the bee in this peony seem to be sideways.

Upon closer inspection I found out why.  He had met his demise thanks to a very cleverly camouflaged spider.

Yup, there it is.  Notice the white spider even has a pink stripe to match the peony.  I wonder what he will do and where he will go when the flower withers?  Does he wander the woods looking for other pink flowers?

Well, those are my observations for the week.  Some good, some bad, but always interesting.  What have you observed in your garden this week?

Ahhh... Summer!

 Sorry I have been AWOL.  June was a busy month.  My husband and I took a week and made the family tour.  We made a big loop to Minnesota and back.  Thankfully, we were able to see everyone both from my family and my husband's family.

This included a good visit with my 98 year-old grandmother.  She passed away a week later.  She will be greatly missed!  I am so thankful we had a chance for one last visit.  She was a ranch wife, baker, painter, historian, and author.  She did this painting of an old wagon on my parent's ranch.  Her book was about growing up during the Depression.  She was also my inspiration to create a family cookbook.

I remember playing on those wagons pretending to cross the prairie.  Grandmother's stories and wisdom is a great loss for our family.  

It was good to see family and I am afraid it may be awhile before we are all together again.  Still, it is good to be home.  Spring and summer is fleeting where we live and I hate missing such precious time.

We have had quite a bit of rain and the gardens look pretty good.  This is despite being neglected and visited by deer while we were gone.

Last year, my loving husband had a frog pond dug for me.  We used to have tons of tree frogs, but 'improvements' to the road by people who don't live here ruined their habit.  Well, lo and behold I have tadpoles.  No idea yet if they are tree or leopard frogs, but they are growing fast.

I am looking out for them and will keep you apprised of their progress.

Well, that was my June in a nutshell.  I am hoping July will go a little slower.  I wish everyone a fabulous summer.  I ask that you take a minute and call or visit those you love.  It is time spent you will never regret.