The Beauty Of The Changing Seasons

Impressive stand of lavender revisited as promised. The bees are all up in that shite!

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Here is a shot of a xeric bed transitioning into a more wild meadow. This is more of my friend's work and the lavender, while not in the picture, is on the other side of the French drain on the right.

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A pretty stand of aspens from yesterday's morning walk.

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And, I've been watching Jupiter and Venus on the western horizon shortly after sunset the last couple of weeks. Last night was the closest they have been in the sky for 25 years. Not a great picture. Taken with a phone. Gosh they were bright!

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For anyone following my critter dilema....
Three times now the S.O.B. has managed out of the trap. One of the critters is a definite raccoon, I can tell by the "presents" he left in the trap. LOL

However, that is not the only pest. I found the main den for the biggest problem child in my barn.
The barn door has been wide open for 2 or 3 weeks, but this thing recently decided to dig a huge hole along a wall to get in. :rofl:

I have an old wooden swing sitting on the dirt floor and there was a large hole under it with a massive amount of dirt dug up and cast aside. I covered it up with firewood the other night to see if it was active. This morning there is a new hole on the other corner of the swing, so yep....it's in there.
Not sure if it's a skunk (which has been a problem in that barn in the past) or the woodchuck. But I WILL find out.
My estimation is that these brats are coming around at dusk, and I am at work then. When I get home before 11:00 p.m. they have already done their damages. Grrrr...............
I may call a good hunter friend of mine to come and do a "stake out". LOL

Oh what fun.............
 
PeeJay, those are awesome! Oh, I can't wait to get my lavender grown. :)
Those property transformations are gorgeous. Keep them coming, it's inspiring as hell.

When I left work last night, a couple dozen of us had to stop and view the sky. The Jupiter and Venus view was soooo bright. Gotta love a nice clear sky when something like that happens once in a few 25 years. :)
 
Wow Smokey! Just as we're talking stars and planets, you post a picture that looks like an exploding star! That is a postcard worthy picture.
Just wow......

:circle-of-love:
 
Apparently this critter has decided I'm friendly enough....

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While on my walk today I got pictures of that bed I spotted on Monday.

This is standing at one end. It's a sizable bed.

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Just now beginning to burst forth.

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I really liked the grasses growing in here.

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I also came across a huge bed of Jewel Weed, the natural antidote for poison ivy.

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You pull the stalks open and use the gel inside, much like you do with aloe vera. If you've bumped up against the ivy you can immediately apply jewel weed to the area and arrest the progression of the poison. If you already have a rash the gel will sooth and quickly heal, again, halting the progression of the poison

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A link to a sit on the therapeutic uses of jewel weed.

Jewelweed, Nature's Poison Ivy Treatment, About Jewelweed plant
 
:rofl:
 
Some walk pictures. The area I'm in has been hit hard by forest fires recently. The theory is that years of "forest management" led to the build-up of fuel. Too much downed wood and too many small trees growing closely together. The predominant tree in the ecosystem is the Ponderosa Pine. The Ponderosa is actually quite fire resistant with thick bark that doesn't like to burn. When It's big it is hard to burn to a crisp unless there is a lot of heat that causes the needles to go up resulting in a "crown fire" that jumps from tree to tree. The scientists tell us now that this type of forest should burn frequently as a part of the natural ecology. If there isn't a wealth of fuel the fire will burn the small trees and ground fuel and leave the big trees standing. The forest should be park-like and open.

This area I was walking in is a case in point. A controlled burn was used to remove small trees and ground fuel about 20 years ago. Since then there have been two big fires that consumed hundreds and thousands of acres. A century of putting out every small fire resulted in a situation where the forest was much to dense and there was way too much fuel on the ground. The area that had been controlled burned was not ravaged by the huge hot fires. It is a lovely place.

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The flower show in this area won't kick into high gear for another month or so since it is pretty high altitude ~ 9000 feet. I can tell by all the spent stalks that there was a wealth of wild iris a few weeks back. I did find one late bloomer on it's last legs.

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The yarrows are just starting to bloom and will be going crazy in a couple more weeks.

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There are lots of these:

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Shooting star:

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Where there are flowers there are bugs:

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Some sort of wild dianthus, I think:

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Fairy Slipper orchid:

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And I found quite a few of these tiny unidentified orchids growing down in the grass:

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I had a feeling that this morning would be great for a sunrise mountain bike. 55 degrees, perfect for not getting over heated, and the colors, oh the colors! The camera does not do the scene justice.

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Oh, I just imagine what the scene was like PeeJay. The sunrise here was spectacular as well, although the view you have would have been much better than tall trees here. LOL
You must have had such a feeling of serenity. :)
Thanks for the walk pics, I've always wondered about controlled fires and why they do them. The end result is beautiful. You have a way of making sure we understand things, it is much appreciated.
Those shooting stars are unusual. One of them looks like a rocket coming down to earth. :)
Beautiful photos, I hope you are enjoying the photo time!

Dennise, did you get a new camera? Your pictures are very very nice!
I feel like I'm in a field of dreams when I log onto the page lately. Much better than noise and dust at work. LOL
Is mimosa the plant that does weird things when you touch it? I saw a video of them a while back, if it's the same thing. It was so funny.

I hope everyone has a SAFE and enjoyable Holiday this weekend. I look forward to seeing any photo opportunities you may have.
I will try to get a few, I'm working the whole weekend. I do have my mornings though!

Critter update....I believe I may have forced a relocation to the woodchuck varmint. A couple days ago, when I realized it was just going to keep digging to the den in the barn, I put a rag soaked with a 50:1 chainsaw mix into the hole and shoved it way down in there. Then I covered up the hole with dirt. Within two hours it had dug itself back out, and I have not seen any sign of it's return since then. No plant destruction, no new holes and no sign of it anywhere. This was prompted by reading that one of the best ways to get them out of the area is harassment. So, between getting caught in that cage a couple times and the smell in the den......it didn't want to stay?
Let's hope that is the end of that. LOL
 
All of you inspired me to take a walk out back this morning. I took lots of pictures, but I won't get them loaded today. I do have a couple at the moment.

Do you see him?

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As I got to the field I saw this Buck in velvet chewing on the trees on the other side. I stalked him for a bit when his head was turned away. This is as close as I got. LOL

And, does anyone know what kind of plant this is? These started growing in a pile of wood burner ashes from the winter that I haven't moved out yet. Near that area I used to have zucchini and squash growing, but gave up because the critters were eating them before I could get to them.
Is this a veggie plant?

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looks like zucchini to me, Canna....in my rounds yesterday I noticed 4 red petunias had reseeded in my 1/2 wine barrel planter from last year.....I had pulled them all out in the fall and after our bitter/brutal winter, I am just stunned to see them....
 
Shawnee said:
looks like zucchini to me, Canna....in my rounds yesterday I noticed 4 red petunias had reseeded in my 1/2 wine barrel planter from last year.....I had pulled them all out in the fall and after our bitter/brutal winter, I am just stunned to see them....
Click to expand...

That is very possible. I had those and spaghetti squash in the area. I'm hoping spaghetti squash, I just did some google imaging and I'm heading out to check the bottoms of the plants.
Either way, that area is getting cordoned off so they might have a chance to give me some eats this year. I LOVE spaghetti squash!!

I left a question for you on my grow thread too. ;-)
 
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