july 3, 4 & 5

the weekend started thursday night. steve was busy caulking and cleaning and getting ready for the plumbing final next week.

we also got the back porch painted to get ready to move furniture and set up some storage.

temp kitchen counter painted, made a bit more water resistant & a lot less possible sliver giving.

and the deck power washed in preparation for staining. of course, rocky foiled this plan several times...... and halle did too, on the last cleaning, hopping up on the porch with her dirty feet.

got the prayer flags flying too.

it wasn't ALL work, tho. here's steve kicking back on the removed jeep seat.....

we drove out to the national forest for a hike friday morning while it was still cool.

a beautiful day.

the dogs always seem to be having a blast. halle decided that this small stick would be a good thing to pack along (and play keep away with) for a while.
we saw this deer far enough up the trail to get the dogs in a heel & walk calmly by without any drama. the doe walked up the hill, but was not terribly alarmed.

weenie girl waded the stream rather than try the reverse log walk. not sure why i thought that halle would be good to steady myself on. yes, the water was cold, and the rocks slippery, but i made it- slowly- across just fine.

the wildflowers were blooming everywhere. the red are firecracker penstemon- perfect for the fourth!

butterflies everywhere. these flowers are wild geranium.

a columbine

not sure what these are, just that they're merrily growing in the middle of the trail (an old road).

pussy toes (love them!)

buckwheat (one of my favorites- i think maybe because the flowers stay on for a long time- they dry on the stem & change colors and are just very cool)

meanwhile, back at the ranch.... (um, i mean house).....another beautiful evening

these are in the field behind the house. i haven't looked them up yet, but they're sure pretty!

then we rode our bikes to city park for fourth of july festivities. the arts council brought in a band. they hope to build a band shell in the park and have a concert series. these guys were very enjoyable- some great fiddle, classics like rocky top & orange blossom special as well as original music. arts council also sold wine as a fundraiser. good thing we were on our bikes!

looked like a good turn out from the town

and then the fireworks....

this morning, cutting & baling hay in the field behind the house.

ran out to the marsh to see how things looked this morning, it was beautiful.

that's it for now. steve has the plumbing final tomorrow, then hopefully the occupancy. we're at a point where there are things to do, but it's possible to relax & enjoy the area too. we're enjoying exploring & looking forward to doing more of that.