New Mexican privet : fernbush : golden currant : orange horned poppy : brown eyed susan : crocosmia : penstemon : red yarrow : sedum
never-ending rhubarb in a basket bought ages ago in Portland
Though there is always more growing to do, like with the evergreens and a few of the shrubs, I feel like our gardens, and my vision for them, have come to fruition. With the exception of this year’s new plants and the fruit and vegetable patch, we don’t provide any additional water – a xeriscaped haven in the high desert of Colorado Springs!
It is truly exciting to no longer think long-term, wondering what more needs to be added. Everything is here, huzzah! We’ll replace whatever becomes diseased or dies, of course. In the mean time, what a pleasure to wander amongst plants of varying heights, textures, and colors, to hear all the critters and winged visitors, bird and insect alike.
How cute, also, is farmer Greg harvesting lettuce made safe from marauding, but ever adorable, rabbits. We’ve also learned they enjoy echinacea flower petals for dessert, rats. The ups and downs of sharing a space with all the four-leggers.
While in Cheyenne, I bought a painting of a view of this very mesa from a different angle. Isn’t she a beauty? The wondrous part is that it was painted by a woman named Bev Finger, who shares the first name of my beloved Aunt who lived in Casper for more than thirty years!
More fabulous food at The Fort. Tex-Mex fried chicken and a French Dip. And how about the cool interior? It really looked like a fort!
The ever elusive Jackalope…
Better Together
Y E S !
A sunset stroll along the North Platte. A little slice of heaven, to be sure…
Giddy-up!
Aunt Bev during her high school years
Uncle Lyle & Aunt Bev in their Casper house
We had fun wandering Casper and visiting the house my Aunt Bev’s family lived in for all those years. Though she died in 2005, her spirit is still very much there, as creative, independent, and kindly as ever!
On the day of our arrival in Casper, we spied more lemonade stands that we’d ever seen. When we stopped at one, we learned it was Lemonade Day and is meant to teach kids about what it takes to be entrepreneurs, on every level.
The cute kid who ran the stand we visited was planning on buying a new Lego set and giving $20 to an animal shelter with his earnings. Pretty wonderful!
Every accident, and the essence of every being, is a bud, a blanket tucked into a cradle, a closed mouth.
All these buds will blossom, and in that moment you will know what your grief was, and how the seed you planted has been miraculously, and naturally, growing.
Cheers from Cheyenne, the capitol of the least populated state! I’m sipping a gin fizz at yummy Bella Fuoco, cool and refreshing on a particularly hot day of fun.
the Governor’s Mansion
While I was craning my neck to snap this photo, a fellow tourist suggested they install a recliner for such pictures. Wouldn’t that be nice?!
Did you know there are more than twice as many cows than people in Wyoming? Amazing! Even more so when I think about how few cows I actually saw while on the roads of the Cowboy State.
If you’re a person who is strictly anti-cow grazing and eating (I certainly used to wonder), please read this articleto the very end. It’s good food for thought, pun intended.
These giant cowboy boots, decorated in all manner of fabulousness, are scattered around downtown Cheyenne. So cool!
If you’re curious about Juniper’s harness looking a bit harsh, it’s actually not. It is a Halti, which, after trying all sorts of harnesses to keep her from pulling (she hurt our arms countless times and made me fall twice, OUCH!), this is absolutely the best solution. It is padded, doesn’t keep her mouth from opening like a muzzle, and she enjoys our walks just as much as when she was pulling like a maniac. Now we do, too!
More coolness is the Cowgirls of the West Museum, dedicated to the extraordinary women who helped build the West, and therefore the World!
While taking the photo of the gorgeous Ford above, a man darted down the street, shouting about Juniper, “Is that an Australian stumpy-tailed dog?” Though we’d never heard that exact moniker, we said yes. Excitedly, he said he had one inside and wondered if they should meet. And here they are! How curious to see them together, their bodies and faces so much alike!
A dandy breakfast at the R & B Breakfast Club! I came for the Elvis memorabilia and was wowed by the great food and truly amazing service.
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