Deer, mud, green things, and art brushes

The deer are definitely back and I'm seeing them everyday. They're changing from gray to brown right now so look a little mottled. Yesterday a group enjoyed a breakfast in our yard, munching very close to the as yet to bloom daffodils. As it turns out, I was wrong about deer loving daffodils, they'll only eat them if there is nothing else and there are lots of grasses and plants growing. Safe! I'm on the lookout for Flap - no sign so far. (Flap, so named for the loose piece on one of her ears, was around our house for weeks on end, always by herself - a loner it seems...

We have a road issue at the moment. As a reminder, we have dirt roads at Star Mt. which guarantees dirty cars - all the time.Part of the mountain lifestyle... This problem is more than that - the snow melt has caused a huge muddy mess down the hill from our house that our homeowner's association is debating on how to fix. We are going the long way round for the time being after getting giant piles of mud off both cars.Oh dear, hope our UPS and FedX guys call me first before coming...

Went to a garden workshop in town on Sunday. It was run by my Thistle Whistle Farm guy Mark, who I saw last year. He runs a totally organic farm in a warmer clim (Hotchkiss) and is bursting at the seams with plant knowledge. Sadly, a lot of it is to tell all of us in this area that the list is long of what we can't grow. Too high, too windy, too cold, blahh... However I did buy some tomato and basil plants from him that should do alright. (the tomato plants were developed in Russia - definitely need to be hardy from there!)

Finished two books recently at completely different ends of the spectrum. The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain a novel based on historical facts on Ernest Hemingway's first wife. Good, but you gotta wonder if any of the spouses of those famously flawed writers of that period were happy. Egotistical messes is what I call them... Second book (or tome I should say - 807 pages!) was A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin. This one was at Heather's recommendation. I'm not normally into science fiction fantasy but this is very, very good - although word of warning - graphic and intense done in medieval times. This is the series that's been running on HBO - watching that next.
I'm busy painting every day right now - have great incentive. I'm the guest artist for July at the coop art gallery in CB. The call came out of the blue, and I need to have enough paintings to fill up a wall.  Oooh, swish that brush, squeeze those paint tubes.