Lazy Days, 1st Day of Summer Chill, Good Eats & Flowers

 The days have been clicking by smoothly, with the lawn greening-up and the flowers growing stronger and it seemed like the summertime weather had arrived, but then, on June 21st the morning temps were a chilly 35°. Wow! we thought and fired up the furnace, but the sun warmed things right on up throughout the morning and it was a beautiful day after all.

At this altitude (7200') the sun's rays are particularly strong and really make you feel like you're getting a solid daily dose of vitamin D. Based on all the flowers in the park, it's easy to see that the plants love it here.

A mixed petunia planter on a tree stump with
columbine below growing up to meet it.

I did a little thrifting last time we were in Ft. Collins grocery shopping and I found a few bits and bobs for the yard. A chili pepper planter tub and a yard welcome sign that I particularly liked. I've filled the planter with 8 plants hoping for a really full bloom show when they grow up some.

2 yellow marigolds, 2 coleus and 4 verbena - I hope they take off.

A little "kitchy" but what the heck, it's friendly right?

We've been tackling a few projects around here and taking local walks so not too many pics from farther afield, but I do have a couple of shots from around here.

A shot taken from the island's river shore.

The river is raging right now.

This next shot is directly across the river and you can see the burn scar on the far right side at the top of the canyon ridgeline. Bummer, let's hope we don't have any flash flooding this year, that was very deadly, with 5 people killed at the mudslide site and the debris generated took out the center support of the little bridge over to the tent camping island here in our park.

The 2020 fire came too close for comfort!

The owners fixed it by using several 
40' steel beams as underlayment support
for the rebuilt bridge span topper.

The food situation has been really good around here, featuring plenty of grilling and summer fresh fare interspersed with comfort food like enchiladas with Mexican rice, and spaghetti with meatballs.

Grilled chicken thighs, baked potato, asparagus plus a tomato,
pickled cucumber and kalamata olive salad.

We will split this enchilada and only eat half of the rice,
I make extra for a breakfast treat, or as I say 'put an egg on it'.

And to wrap things up a few more shots of some flowers in the vicinity, including a cut wildflower Ed brought home for identification and possibly inclusion in our yard scheme. Surprisingly after 6 days of being cut it still looks fresh as can be - wish I knew what it was.

It's growing wild in an abandoned house's yard.
If you have a clue what it is, please let me know.
It seems to grow about 16" to 24"or so tall.

Friendly garden arrangement alongside their trailer.

Pretty box of iris

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog, hope you found it a relaxing respite to all the daily drama.