Gardening

I am calling this post gardening simply because these two pictures are part of mine. We visited the Sierra Trading Post last week and were impressed and inspired by their "natural look" landscaping on a hilly mound. We have such a hill in our back yard and so we started with these two potentellia which are native to the countryside here. We need lots more trees and shrubs, but all in due time. Also note that the stove that will also find a home in my kitchen garden has been primered which will hopefully prevent so much rust from forming.














Yesterday, my neighbor and her sister who is visiting from Berlin, Germany and I, trekked to Estes Park. They had never been and it has been eons since I was there last. We were so hoping to be able to see some Elk. I have seen quite a few here in Wyoming, mainly in the winter months between Laramie and Saratoga, sometimes in large herds and on one occasion in the middle of the road at night. We drove right between two and didn't see the dark critters at night, until we were upon them. However, although the scenery yesterday was spectacular, no Elk! The Big Thompson canyon was busy and the river was running pretty fast. What was particularly unusual was the prairie land north of Ault. The entire stretch north to the state line was greener than I can ever remember and blooming with varieties of foliage that I couldn't identify. We have had over 4 inches of precipitation alone this month and northern Colorado has probably had more. The crops between Ft. Collins and Ault were really looking wonderful and I am sure that the corn will be knee high by the 4th. I was afraid that there would be obvious hail damage....I didn't see any. However today we got hail and it really pounded my plants. I didn't get my baskets in but hopefully they will be OK. My tomatoes didn't suffer too much, but we were lucky. My posts may get a bit scarce for a few weeks as we are preparing for visits from family and friends of all kinds and getting excited to see everyone. We also have a wedding or two and some other obligations upcoming so keep checking!!!

"May our home be warm and our friends be many."