July is here and everything glorious in summer

 

Everything is in magnificent bloom but it passes by quickly. Below are some of the many wildflowers around us.

Mule Ears Sunflower

Osha

Gentian

Western Valerian

Rose

Columbine

Wyoming Paintbrush

Yellow Stonecrop

Lots of animals around, domestic and wild. No bear or moose sighting yet. And no Flap the elderly doe either. I'm still holding out hope. Our daylilies are about to bloom - if she's still around she will surely show to eat one of her favorites. No other deer like them at all...

We have been graced with spectacular summer sunsets of late. Lots of much needed rain has swirled the skies.

The start of our summer company is coming soon. Love showing everyone around our gorgeous area.

The hum and buzz of Nature in the mountains

 Can't believe we're in the middle of June and been at Star Mt. a month already. Trying to appreciate every single day. It all goes so fast here in the mountains with a short summer and fall season. 

Our buddies the cattle. They are hanging out in the Star Mt. common ground waiting to be allowed in and visit all of us with homes. That is why we all have 3 acre fences - they're nice...at a distance.

First columbine of the season. The Colorado state flower dontcha know. One of my absolute favorites, a tad early but all the wildflowers seem to be headed that way this summer. All has to do with the winter snowfall, which was less than average.

Hanging baskets up! Now to keep the small creatures off who think it's snack food and water with a filter only. Our untreated well water does more harm than good. And no worries, we have a whole filtration system for drinking water and of course our magic spring water just down the road.

The elk are suddenly quite scarce and if seen they're solo or only a few. BABIES are happening we are sure. We have to keep eyes pealed for the next couple of weeks as after that they all group back up with babies and disappear to higher and more isolated ground.

The hummingbirds are amassing. This is one of 4 feeders on our deck. There is much boiling and mixing of sugar water - every day. We have a two day road trip next week and hoping they will not run out as crazy as that sounds. Each feeder holds a quart - that's a lot of sugar water...

While we've seen many of the creatures that are around every year some are missing so far. Flap, our kinda resident doe is yet to be seen. She would be 13 which is ancient for a wild deer.  Hoping she's still with us. And no fox either which is odd. A weasel popped out this morning with its cute Disney face and killer instinct. Watch out chippies and ground squirrels. We have a sizable marmot population this year which is not the best. They dig and rip up stuff. Just trying to live with and around all the wildlife. In the end we are the visitors here... 

The laid back mountain summer

Taylor River

 We are adjusting nicely to the slower pace and loving the burst of flowers and green everywhere. Didn't expect that Gunnison/Crested Butte would be having the same backorder/shortages that everywhere else big city seems to be having, but yup, it's here too. We have a weird assortment of things on backorder:  ATV, sunshades for the dining room, and two large spruce trees (the backorder part is the installation). We'll see which things come in first.

Mark's big adventure at Taylor Reservoir with his new fishing kayak. Very stable and lightweight. I was there to help but it wasn't needed. He caught a lot of fish keeping a few to smoke. They were yummy.

Noble Bald Eagle

Bighorn sheep

Dusky grouse with fake eye to protect his nest

 1800's one room school house

Nervous mommy to be elk on my walk

our old miner's cabin

Lupine

Larkspur 

Early sunflowers

All these photos were taken at Star Mt. We are so lucky to have these magnificent views everywhere you look. The larkspur are out in full force this year so not sure how long before our rancher put the cattle into Star Mt. The larkspur are beautiful but poisonous to cattle so they'll have to die down before the pile of steers come in. Our gates will have to stay shut until October to keep the cattle away from the house.

Wild iris are a sure sign that summer is here. Temps are warming up and no freeze warnings in the next 10 days. It is amazing but Father's Day is true last frost date here. 

The glories of Star Mountain

 

We are back at Star Mt. and all is right with the world. We timed it perfectly for the start of the greening up everywhere and elk and deer out and about. Glorious spring.

Elk mommies have been around our house almost every day. This is the time of year they calve in our woods. We hardly saw them last summer with all the noisy home construction. We will definitely be keeping an eye out for new little ones. They're not so little though - 40 lbs at birth.

More signs of spring. Lupine blooms and daffodils I planted years ago. Hummingbirds buzzing around were waiting for us to get here. I think it will be another mania summer of boiling sugar water but I love it. Nesting robins and bluebirds are here just like always. I love all the things here that follow the seasons.

Crested Butte is still mostly closed up as it's off season. Looks really empty right? We ate at one of our favorites that remained open  - Ryce. They struggle with a common problem that's here and many other places. They can't find people to hire. Hope that changes soon.

Anticipating a lovely summer. It feels great to be vaccinated and able to do things. I have so much appreciation for life and the wonders of nature.

Birds, Rosy Tomorrows Restaurant, and back soon to Star Mt.

 

Sandhill crane and baby

As we wind down our time here in Florida, the weather is changing to the hot and steamy soup that is summer here. Not my cup of tea really. It makes leaving such a wonderful place much easier and then there's the magic of Star Mountain waiting for us. There is still snow on the ground there as the mountains change slowly from winter season to spring/summer. It is quite the transition to go from manicured lawns, beach and palm trees, to dirt roads, forests of pine and aspen and rushing mountain streams. I believe we'll manage...

No sign - you just have to figure it out

We've been eating out a lot since we are fully vaccinated and exploring places we've missed in the last year and then we hit the jackpot. Had to share this place. Rosy Tomorrows Heritage Farm. Fabulous restaurant in the middle of nowhere on their 100 acre farm. Everything organic, including produce and heritage breeds of cattle, pigs, ducks, and chickens. It's been visited by a lot of well known names like Tyler Florence and Sara Moulton heaping praise on this amazing regenerative farm and restaurant. Food was wonderful. 

Zucchini fritters with truffle aioli

hamburger from longhorn cattle and red wattle bacon with onion jam

homemade ravioli with burrata, kale-pistachio pesto 

Had to share the food photos - quite yummy. We will be back for more but not until fall.

Started with birds and ending with them. Sandhill cranes close to the restaurant and egrets at the beach. I'll be back to you from Star Mt.