Connie in Ouray

 Barb (3) and I hiked up Veenstra's trail today as Barb is trying to accliimate from sea level to 8600 feet and because she'd never been up there before.  As we were coming back from the overlook, just as we approached the big meadow, Barb grabbed my arm and said,"Bear!"  There were two huge bears, probably 50 yards from us, not aggressive but watching us.  And because we are CRAZY, we had to stop and take pictures. Be aware, everyone, be aware. I liked hiking with Barb because she also stops to take pictures of flowers and then looks up their names.  I've always been one to "stop and smell the flowers," even when Mike and I were climbing 14ers.  He's a head down, get to the top kind of hiker, so we couldn't be more different.   This is a serviceberry bush/tree - such pretty white flowers

 We had a bear visitor a few days ago, looked to be a yearling...like we know what we're talking about.   He/she meandered past the deck, around the back of the house and garage, and then we last saw it walking down Aaron and Marchelle's driveway. Then last night, we were hanging out with Barb (3) when she suddenly said, "Bear!" This appeared to be a younger bear, still no mama in sight.   She says that this little bear comes around between 6-7 every night since she's been here. But the fact remains they are out and about.  I did some reading the other night, which made me realize our bear horn is worth virtually nothing, so we've started to stock up on bear and pepper spray.   In the meantime, the tourists are here!  RVs are streaming into town.  Jeepsters are driving up Camp Bird Road in the middle of the road.   But flowers! green-growy things! no dust on Camp Bird Road! The view as I sit on my couch

Officially 2.5 inches on my unofficial railing counter, but it snowed lightly most of yesterday afternoon and evening, so moisture!  There is a wildfire located 15 miles southwest of Montrose in Ouray County, most probably set off by a controlled burn by BLM or NFS, but still a little close for comfort. I'll admit it.  Low-lying clouds are a favorite Flowering holly peeking out from snow Yes, that's a small patch of algae.  Mike scooped it up. You have the right people obsessing about this

 It's going to be below or near freezing for the next few days, and all our annuals are inside.  It's snowing lightly as I write this.  The Front Range is getting blasted with this storm.  It's ironic that we moved to Ouray because climate change had reduced the amount of snow we got, and with this storm, they're set to get 4-8 inches.   The fish arrived today, and I got to see them go into the pond this year.  Last time, I was still on crutches from my sprained ankle.   Sometimes, just by accident, one gets a fun picture

 The county has been working on Camp Bird Road the last few days, and today they laid down a layer of mag chloride.  When we attended the board meeting last September, we asked for four things:   dust control and especially prior to Memorial Day, noise control, and speed limit signs.  So we got the dust control and we got the mag chloride prior to Memorial Day.  The other two, not so much.  We're in the process of trying to figure out next week's Board of Commissioners meeting.  There are two scheduled at the same time but in two different locations.  I want to hope that they're not trying to be deliberately unclear, but we'll report when we know. Our bathroom is complete.  Our contractor, Jake Coulter of Coulter Construction, brought in the best subs.  They were very particular and professional in their individual fields.  When we were struggling to find a house, Jake was going to build us a house, and that is their main business.   If I posted these before and after p

 We left last Tuesday morning for eastern Kansas, and the aspens weren't leafed out, and the pasqueflowers were trying to protect themselves against the cold.  When we returned on Sunday, the aspens are green, the pasqueflowers are fully open, and the holly is blooming.   I swear to you I am not making this up.  It was 95 degrees both days we were in Manhattan, Kansas.  I wasn't the only one griping about the temperatures.  The only saving grace was the wind, which kept the humidity to almost tolerable levels.   Aaron (24) texted last night around  8:15 that there were three bears down at the pond below the Whites' house (20).  He was seeing them on his outdoor cam, one dark, two light. I'm assuming that's the same mama bear and two cubs the Fickerts saw last week below the lower pond.  MFLers, they are out and about, so be aware. We hiked up Veenstra's trail yesterday, and there isn't a speck of snow to be found.  There are, however, water ponds from snow m

 Mike and I hiked for a few hours today on the Weehawken Trail, and as always, it is a hard trail for me.  I'm making it my training trail, and when I finally get to the Overlook, I will be as fit as I want to be.  As Mike says, I'm a work in progress.   Hundreds of springbeauty on Weehawken A very cool dead tree Dempsey loves to rest Just a little snow to eat and lie in When we came back around 11 this morning, there were two new friends on the upper pond, a pair of geese.  I'm reasonably sure we did not have geese last year, just the coots.  Dempsey has been barking at them, and he will find out soon enough that geese are not very friendly.  I wonder how long they'll stay. We have our hummingbird feeder out because we saw a scout just the other day.  We've always worried just a bit about bears getting to it, but I can't reach it so I hope it's not enough for all the work they'd have to do.   And speaking of bears, I got a text from Arnold (2) yesterday

 As I was coming through town this afternoon, here's what popped up.  It's tourist season! Some bad news:  Ridgway Reservoir is being emptied out faster than it can fill up.  When the snow melt started, it was looking very nice and fuller, but now it's pretty sad.  I haven't heard how long this is going to last, but I'll report here if I find out anything. Mike and I hiked up Veenstra's trail this morning, not expecting to go all the way to the overlook, but most of the snow has melted, and we did.  It was lightly snowing as we hiked up, which made it even lovelier, and we yelled for the bears since we saw a print as we were going up.   The wildflowers are starting to bloom in the upper meadow, and I'm hoping not to miss out on all of that prettiness this year.  You'll recall about this time last year was when I sprained my ankle and lost out on a few months of hiking.  Buttercup Spring pasqueflower There are two big trees that have fallen across the tra