Spring is in the air! Flora & Fauna, part 1

Fall is one of my favorite seasons, weather-wise.  Summer can get a bit scorcher - unless you're lucky enough to spend the hot days by the water - but Fall is often dry, warm-ish, & beautiful.  Spring is my favorite for the fact that we watch as the world turns from brown & grey to lovely greens, pinks, purples, blues, oranges, reds...  Our yard is no exception - we've spent lunch breaks & evenings walking around the yard, cutting back dead brown plants & watching excitedly as the green baby shoots shyly peek out from hibernation.  A few warm days & plants magically double their growth overnight.  This year, as our yard comes to life, I'm trying to capture it on camera.

I added more bulbs last Fall for more color in front of the boring concrete steps.  This year, I'd like to add more late-season bulbs because the plants pictured below are early Spring-blooming bulbs.

Chives!  They were indoor potted plants that weren't doing so well, so I stuck them in the ground last-minute in the Fall.  The chives took well to their transplant before Winter blew in & when Spring rolled around, they completely took off.  Currently, they have flowers nearing bloom that are supposed to be pretty AND edible.  I love being able to step out the door & snip a few chives to throw in a dish.   

Hip hop anonymous! (Name that movie)
We have three hops plants (one in front yard, two in back) that have become very well-established.

One of my favorites...strawberries.  :)  We had them in a planter last year & they never did well, so we made another last-minute snap decision to move them in-ground pre-Winter frost.  It was apparently an excellent choice because these babies immediately took to their new home.  Strawberries can be invasive so we'll have to keep them from intruding on other plants, but we have them in a low-maintenance portion of the yard that we let go, so they're free to roam (& I'm not opposed to having a strawberry problem).

Said portion of the yard that's low-maintenance.  It's an area believed to be a gravel driveway in years past & we've never had luck growing grass & we made a decision to change it to an eco-friendly area of the yard that doesn't require [much] watering & no mowing, utilizing native plants & grasses that are sun-friendly & low-water.  We included plants that attract bees & hummingbirds - we have yet to see hummingbirds but we love watching the nectar-drunk bees enjoy the plants.  Two young aspens are starting to fill in & with a bird feeder, it's become a favorite for neighborhood birds.  It's my favorite part of the yard.  Interestingly, it stays the most lush throughout the hot summer.

More pictures to come as our yard continues to wake up...

Shed Hunting

Shed Hunting.  Huh?  If you're not ingrained in the hunting world, "shed hunting" may be obscure terminology.  It's basically a big kid Easter egg hunt.  So, every year, certain animals (deer, elk, moose, etc) grow antlers - and (typically) every year, they shed those antlers.  Read about it here.  Antlers are often used in decor or craft - an unadulterated antler (or pair, if you are so lucky) are pretty cool (if it's your style).  Some people take it seriously & turn their sheds into crafts to sell, others, such as ourselves, just enjoy the look & beauty (not to mention the time spent outdoors).  In some areas, shed hunting is limited to certain times of year; the best time to find the sheds is late winter/early spring but at that point, the animals are at their weakest & if pushed too hard (scared by human intrusion, often running them into less vegetative areas of the mountain), can damage the health of the herd.
Recently, the Sheridan Community Land Trust put together an event for its members - a morning of shed hunting on private ranch known to be a corridor for elk.  One of the issues in Wyoming (from our perspective) is the enormous private ranches that surround the base of the mountains & prevent easy access to trails (NON-motorized...Wyoming already has damn near enough motorized trails).  The SCLT is working with ranch owners toward a future of conservation & easements to bring outdoors to all.

The mountains in the background are the Big Horn Mountains & the Horseshoe Ranch includes pretty much all the rolling hills at the base you see below:

I'm on top of one of the hills surrounding the ranch that, yes, is part of their property.

First shed find!  Not huge, but it's in great condition (no points broken or chewed off) & brown, which indicates a recent drop (as opposed to a weathered antler that is white in color).

 Hmm, wonder which critter uses this cool rock for a nice winter home?  I didn't get my face too close to the hole because I didn't want to find out the unfortunate way.

Wildflowers are very slowly starting to peak their pretty faces out in some lower elevation areas:

 Lupine are one of my favorites:

We had a wonderful time hiking all over the gorgeous ranch & managed to find three sheds.  They do not lease their land to cattle, which is a nice change for once.  (Nothing against cattle but many places over-graze, leading to poor environment & ruined landscape.)  This particular ranch specializes in horses, many of which were wandering the place.  We guessed a few might still be wild - at one point, a small herd (five or six) stampeded toward me as I watched in mild fascination & slight concern ("Cool!  Pretty horses coming my way!  Hm, they're heading right for me.  They aren't slowing down.  Maybe I should do something?  Nah.  Look how pretty they are!").  Horses aren't predators so I was certain I wasn't in any danger, but when they circled me I felt like I was in a horse version of "West Side Story."  I think they were curious.  And maybe hoping I had snacks.  (I, too, stampede when I think snacks are involved)  Steve made his way closer & used a recently found elk shed to wave in the air - they were very skittish, but more so curious.

Spending time in a place like the Horseshoe Ranch is bittersweet, at least for myself.  Steve & I will never be able to afford a place like that, no matter how much we wish it in our hearts.  It's amazing to be able to enjoy it but it's a humbling reminder of certain things in life.  We'll continue to feel blessed by what we have & some day, SOME day, we'll have a few acres that we can call our own.  And raise a milk cow named Bessie.

Arizona race pt 2

On our second day in Arizona, we meandered to the Phoenix Zoo.  We thoroughly enjoyed it, although it did get a bit warm (high-80's is hot for pale Wyomingites in March).

Of course I spent part of the time worrying that all the animals had enough space & love.  One elephant looked particularly lonely.  Steve reassured me he was probably just hot.  (He doesn't realize he married someone that tried to plant a branch that had recently broken off a live tree because I was worried it would suffer.  Doesn't a tree have feelings??  I was approximately 7 years old at the time.  I've matured since then.  Slightly).

 I asked Steve if we could take home a kitty because I thought Brewer needed a friend.  He said no.

 The zoo doesn't quite know how old the tortoises are...except that they're really, really old.  And they eat really, really slow.

 The monkeys were so cute & curious!

A terribly zoomed-in & blurry picture of my absolute favorite animal of the zoo.  Aren't they so elegant?  Another kitty I wanted to take home.  Steve wasn't too keen on the idea.

 Even rhino had enough of the heat.

Play ball!  We spent the afternoon in the shade at a Cubs spring training game.  The game was fun (albeit short) & we enjoyed a beer & hot dog, old school style.

We finished up the day with one of these:

Visiting a fast-paced & crowded city is not our idea of a relaxing vacay, but we enjoyed the many activity & restaurant choices Phoenix had to offer.  (It helped we zipped around in a new Mustang.)  It was fabulous to step away from Wyoming & into warm, sunny Arizona.  Who knows, maybe we'll try to hit a race in every state!  :)

Arizona race

We took a trip to Arizona in March for a trail race & had a blast.  It was a short trip but the weather was beautiful.

This, my friends, is the vehicle we got to play with all weekend:

 Budget was having a deal & the Mustang was the most reasonably priced selection.  I'll never own a Mustang but who can pass up driving a sports car for a weekend?  This baby was super fun - the interior night lights made me feel like I was Knight Rider, only cooler.

 Where we raced (flags on the far right of the pic are start/finish) - I ran a half-marathon, Steve ran a 50K.  Amazingly, these trails are right outside Phoenix - fantastic single-track trails that took us through the hills in the picture.

Hey!  I know that guy!

 Sweaty, stinky, tired, & oh-so-happy.

After cleaning up, we squeezed in an afternoon visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens (long story, but our previous trip to Phoenix included purchasing a year-long membership to the gardens b/c of the price savings, so we were happy to use the membership again before it expires).

Butterfly garden!  My absolute favorite place.

Bob White

Not to be confused with this Bob White:

 (Picture taken during honeymoon road trip)

Hello, beautiful.

Cool sculpture at the entrance of the gardens.

Us & finger of random nice person that offered to take our picture

To be continued...

Dog toys = kiddo toys

Who needs to have separate dog toys & kid toys?

We just let our goddaughter play with dog toys (she was completely uninterested in her toys & decided to go after the pups snake squeaker toy).



*Note before you call the child abuse hotline: Dog toys were put through the wash earlier that day & our floor was cleaned before friends came over.  And her parents were sitting nearby & had no problem with her making a beeline for the snake (they have a dog too & they were glad she was trying to crawl).