desertsteph....Colorado. Manitou Springs. I was up against the mountains, on top, 101mph winds/had to strap down cast metal patio furniture, with open space behind me...and a camp ground below. The people in the camp ground fed the bears bags of raw chicken. The neighbors had "live" chickens...the bears ate. The bears came through in droves! Then they/the bears found my hummingbird feeders. We had great horned owls, golden eagles, bobcat, mountain lion. Just 3 houses down the street, a mother mountain lion killed a deer, left it in the neighbors back yard...and fed her 3 cubs for a week. They put it on national news. Photographers were flying in to get the shot. Herds of deer slept in peoples yards. The city is planning a bow & arrow hunt. Ticks, fleas & a HUGE population of voles & wood rats. Even knats & black flies, the flies & ticks feed on the deer, became over powering. When they made "pot" legal, the town became over run with drugs & beggars/setting the bridges on fire with warming fires, That's when we decided we had to move.....at any cost. We just moved East, away from the mountains.......and it ALL went away. Of course we'd remodeled the home, it sold in 3 weeks....happy ending.

I miss all the colors of the spring, summer and fall. The gray gloom of winter (at least where I live) can really wear on a soul. But I know it won't be long now. One month down and two to go. :) I took this picture two days ago and right now it is triple that size!! Growth in winter is so welcome. This is a paperwhite in the making.

Nicole, thank you. It‘s actually a small pitcher, but I use stuff like that as vases more than the real purpose. I worked in the greenhouses yesterday. One of our jobs is to groom plants, and there were Gerber daises that needed to be cut back. Rather than just throw away the blooms, I saved them and brought them home. No one else wanted any, so I have two small cheery bouquets.

Youngsters having fun about 6 years ago - messy day with chocolate syrup & sprinkles.