Woods, owls, coyote, and flowers

I'm like a child walking through the woods. It's all wonderment to me,no matter how many times I've strolled there, even if I don't see the big 4 footed creatures (deer and elk). There's the swish of the aspen leaves, the magic musty tree smell, bird songs, and the tiny 4 footed creatures.

first wood sunflowers

tiger swallowtails are everywhere in the woods

So we have a dilemma with our farm. For two years we've been getting their eggs and also receiving their "mixed meat" share once a month. It's the meat share that is causing an issue. We've tried, I promise we've tried hard, to utilize the odd cuts of meat, the small cuts of meat, and I think we're at a crossroads here. We do use the ground hamburger, and the occasional prime cut, but the rest has mostly been a disappointment. Tougher and tastes different - perhaps our taste buds are too jaded from the grocery "regular" beef? I'm going to see if they have an alternative plan - all prime or all ground perhaps... We love everything they're about, apparently only in theory where meat is concerned...

This is an ode to our chopping block. I realized the other day we have moved it 4 times, actually changed a kitchen design plan in a previous house to accommodate it, and it's older than our children. It will definitely outlast us and the girls will have to decide who wants it - draw straws perhaps? Made by ecumenical monks(do such people exist now?) outside San Antonio, we spent a fortune at the time ($250.00) to buy it when there was little spare money to throw around - in 1979. The label underneath, while aged and discolored is still legible with the friar's signature and this message:, "May you enjoy this prayerful and loving extension of our lives". Sweet...

The wildflower season looks to be early and short. The wild iris came and went in just a few days. Barely found any to take photos of. And the dreaded larkspur have not appeared as I predicted, we can't find one blooming anywhere - have to think it's part of this low snowpack/ dry season going on. Rain would be a good thing, but this is an arid part of the country - not an automatic. I'm crossing fingers for a weather shift.

After identifying our owls we hear in the night (Great Horned Owl) through a great app my mother has on her Ipad - all bird songs -( I think I need this also), they've gone silent. We did have a second swoop at dusk up on top of our roof we could see through our living room windows, but no Whooo hooo. Why? And coyote are around in mass - we are seeing them in the daytime, hearing those in the night with their kids joining in. Not city noises that's for sure.
Finished another book - Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel. If the name seems familiar, she has just released the sequel to Wolf Hall to much praise - (Wolf Hall is a magnificently written book of historical fiction in Henry VIII's time with a concentration on Thomas Cromwell).  My recent read is a memoir of her life published before Wolf Hall. It's a dark memoir with many demons and physical illness to overcome, but uplifting in the end. Liked it a lot and even more impressed now, knowing she is a brilliant writer in spite of all her obstacles (or because of?)