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...

Family Florida visit

Cousins and aunt together!

What a week! What a wonderful family visit. Gone in a flash but I took many photos and that's the gist of this post.

Remember me? Yes! said Aubrey

Peekaboo

Ahhh, my toes. Hidden for months with winter clothing

They look just a little bit alike...

So great to have everyone together. Mark had to do quite a bit of work and conference calls but he was at least in town for the visit. This was a special time not to be missed.

Lunch out with the gang - too bad we're missing Mark. Work!

Pool time - Penny and Jules know it well. Aubrey was a happy first timer.

Chris and Penny braving the waves

A massive windy day at the beach. First time for Aubrey. She loved the sand but not sure about the water.

The crazy tent I ordered. Required a lot of work from Chris to make it right

Second beach day with much calmer weather for the Walker family's last day. Sadly Heather, Brian, and Aubrey had already left for home.  So much fun. I loved it all!

Back to posting, my book, and visitors are coming

You may have decided I had given up on blogging. Not so, I promise. I think, not consciously at all, I decided to take a break. A long break as it turns out. My dearest sister in heart had to point out to me I hadn't posted in a month. A MONTH!

In truth, it's been an intense month with my big writing project front and center. I've finished the first draft of my manuscript, hired an editor and it is in her hands now. The first edits come back the end of the month. Oooh, I'm steeling myself for that. This book has been a two year project and dear to my heart. Working title is Self-care and Self-healing: Living a Life of Vitality. It all stems from my diagnosis of an autoimmune disease 5 years ago and all I've learned about how to live a healthier life hopefully in continued remission. Ha, you say, you never talked about this in the blog. So true. It just didn't seem like the place for it.

So on to happy Florida life. Gorgeous weather, massive season crowds, for another couple of weeks anyway, and we're making the most of our time here. Leaving to go back to Star Mt. end of May which may sound far away, but I know how fast it all comes up. We always end up with a list of places and things that we meant to get to and never did. And Mark is still working so he will be back and forth from Colorado to Florida. Yes, slightly complicated.

Along with herbs we have resurrected tomato growing at the house. This is a tiny plant but as you can see there's actually a few tomatoes on this. I count that as success. It's a lot of fun to be able to plant this smack in the middle of winter.

I've made it to the beach although not as often as I planned. Quiet right? I think not this week - spring break is a happening. Naples is not the hotbed for college spring break crowds as we are far too sedate for that. Just north of us (Ft. Myers) has more wildness going on. They can have it, that's all I have to say....

Big happenings in a little over a week. All the family will be here: the Walkers and the Trimms. That means all three granddaughters in one place. I am beyond excited. Penny, Jules, and Aubrey will meet for the first time. How great is that!! And yes, I will take photos and will post promptly, I promise.