Arrived at Star Mountain

The Anthracites

It always feels a bit like reuniting with family to come back to Star Mt. The sheer magnificence of this place takes my breath away. Right now we have snowy white peaks on every mountain top, aspen leafing out by the day with that newly minted lime color, the beginnings of the first wildflowers, coyote howling at night, and elk and deer wandering through.

And not to forget- the hummingbirds are here. One greeted me as we drove up buzzing around our daffodils. Nice to see the flowers, I missed them last year as I got here an entire month later. One of the first items of business was boiling up that sugar water. That's a long journey from Mexico they make.

I better not forget another creature that made it's appearance our first day. The marmot aka groundhog. A normally shy animal (you can see how far away I had to shoot the photo) but that day it decided it wanted in, as in our house. The first photo shows the paw prints on our front window. It kept up the banging on the window for quite a few minutes until I went up close and scared it away. Crazy!

Getting lots of photos of elk, they're all over Star Mt. at the moment. It's a regular occurrence come every late May. They are all female come to give birth in early June. They've had babies in our woods every single year we've been here, which is 10 years now. Home construction has been quite active and I fear it will affect how many elk and how long they'll stay. Star Mt. is in the middle of a mini boom after a lot of years of no activity. Other people have discovered the magic here.

The Castles

We've had snow flurries off and on the last couple days. Even for here that's pretty late. Temps are still below freezing at night which is normal. You don't dare plant anything until after June 10. Everything is a bit late this year due to the winter that refused to end. Not record snowfall but way up the scale in inches for the 2018/2019 winter.

Our first company of the summer is coming this weekend. Lisa, Charles, Chase, Heli, and little Layla will drive over from Santa Fe. It's always great to see them and I predict fun will be had. They timed it so Mark will still be here. It's his last summer to do this crazy commute every couple of weeks back and forth from Florida. The reason it's his last? He's finally retiring at the end of the year. Yippee!

Seattle Visit

Just came back from a great visit with Mom and Anne and family in Seattle. Mom turned 91 and going strong! Lovely weather with lots of sunshine (something that doesn't always happen there).

Mom lives with Anne but in her own little place in the backyard. They knocked down a free standing garage and built a wonderful apartment in its stead. So cute and the garden is thriving.

Zia!

Many neighborhood walks walking Zia were had. It is Spring for sure and temps were moderate (60's high). I had to dig through my closet in Florida to come up with appropriate clothing. My shorts and flip flops were not going to work. Speaking of Florida, I got back from the trip to find summer had arrived. 90 and giant humidity. This is the reason summer is quiet in Naples. You don't want to be there if you can help it.

Serious plant decisions

Fun ferry trip over to Bainbridge Island. Shopping and lunch for Mom's birthday. If you haven't been in this part of the world, car ferries are a everyday thing here as there are many outlying islands with a good portion of the population living there and commuting to Seattle. I watched large groups of cyclists line up to take the ferry back home after a work day so it's not just cars that head over.

The family group minus Justine. She opted out of dinner to study for two tests Mighty impressive that. She missed a great dinner (Tilth) .Owner Maria Hines has a James Beard award and was on Iron Chef against Morimoto (she beat him).

Back in Naples for our 47th anniversary. Amazing!

And back to Star Mt. in a couple of weeks. Can't believe it's time already. They are still having snow which is not unheard of but a bit unusual. I'm in for a big transition but a welcome one. Back to you from there...