Got lots of new Allison pictures from her visit with the other grand parents. This is my fav:

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Physostegia in bloom

Beautiful pictures, everyone!

Early morning sun at my house:

Thistle. I'm told it's native to the Pikes Peak area...

P.S.----Sundays hike made front page news locally. It was the first time they allowed people into this water shed area in 107 years.
http://gazettephoto.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=30308751&event=1031738&CategoryID=62011&picnum=21&move=F&Slideshow=Stop#Image

Nicole, Thistle is "out lawed" here on farmland! lol Apparently farmers can be fined if they don't keep it under control. They do make pretty flowers though.

Here is a guest I found yesterday morning.

{{!gwi}}

Lobster anyone? Seattle's Pike Place Market.

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Jodi-

That thistle reminds me of when we were picking strawberries last week. The berries were lousy but the thistles were huge!

Beautiful pics everyone! Susan, I love your house and the barn/shed! Hmmmmmm I could have a real worm farm in there! LOL. That would make an awesome studio or just a getaway room.

This is Teddy.

Jasdip, it's an ice houseÂwhere they used to keep blocks of ice (cut from a pond) to feed the ice box, in the days before electric refrigerators. I should measure the thickness of the walls so I know what I'm talking about, but I think they're about a foot-and-a-half thick, all stone. The interior is two separate rooms, unconnected. We keep gardening supplies in one and pool supplies in the other. ThanksÂI love the ice house!

loon sitting on her nest
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She has a nest in the water? That can't be good, can it?

oakleyok.....we "round up'ed" bull thistles here at the house. :0)Outlawed here too....but.....this is a wild life area and it looks like a "little shop of horrors" plant....right? That BIG ball might have teeth inside??? ha ha

it is a small island, guess it's partly covered with water...

Wonderful pictures!

Here's one I took this morning in the back yard.

Awww Oldgardener! I love the deer.
Thanks for the new wallpaper.

Beautiful pictures as always!
Nichole-What are the purple flowers?
Moni,she is getting so big and is adorable!
Alisande-I'll bet the ice house is a cool place to go when it's hot outside!
Love the deer too.I would love to live somewhere where the deer and other animals would come to my yard!Perfect picture!

Nicole, I need to look up and find out exactly why Thistle is banned. Maybe because it grows like crazy and has lots of thorns and could hurt cattle? lol. Boy, they sure do put out pretty flowers though. We still have them outside our acre but the farmers who farm the land don't do anything.

Oakleyok, it could be banned simply because it's not indigenous to your area. We have programs around here where groups of people go out to an area with tools (and rattlesnake chaps) and take down certain thistles and wild artichoke plants so that the native plants can grow again.

Jodi-

lillipad...the purple flowers are penstemon. Because of the altitude,13500' they were really short. :0)

oakleyok...I think Jodi's right. Since this variety is "native" and a unique variety I was told, it's a BIG deal to keep it. :0)

Not sure how to post photos here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Murphy - sunning himself.

Hi all, I just got back late yesterday from 5 days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northeastern Minnesota.
This is looking over my shoulder for the last few days.
Scott and Chad are sons of friends of mine. Great kids.

Ron

Ron, how was the weather while up were up there? As awful as it was down here?
The deer picture is just awesome, what perfect surroundings, and with a fawn yet!

nicole__ LOL that is exactly what I was thinking that plant looked like too.
Kittywhiskers

GREAT pics! I love them all...

Nicole, now, you DO realize don't you, that you will have to go take a picture of that thistle every other day so we can see the bloom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

joan,
Thurs. was beautiful. Friday we canoed all day in the rain, but, it let up enough in the evening that we could get stuff dried out. Sat and Sun. were great except for one brief, heavy, downpour Sunday late afternoon. It went from sunny to storming in about 25 minutes. I've never seen it rain and blow so hard. It was a whiteout on the lake, just like a blizzard. Thankfully we were already at camp. Monday was breezy but beautiful. A little rough canoeing out.

Ron

kat_wa.....they charged $10 a person to go on that hike. :0) I can't afford to see what it looks like when it opens....

the thistle reminds me of those things in THE SHOW LANGELIERS(SPELLING). In the end those things sawed through airplanes and everything else.

$10 for the hike ... a steal!

When we were on the cruise in Alaska last month one of the couples at our table partied a little too hard the night before we docked in Sitka and called at 7am to ask if we'd like to go on a hike while in town. We said sure.

A 15 min bus ride to a national forest and a four mile hike cost them just under $90 each for the hike and a light snack (bottle of water and a chocolate bar)!

Holy schmoly, I about fell out of my seat when I read the tickets.

Jodi-

Two silly kids......Jake and Mio