Summer is in full swing (now that June 20th has come and gone) and that means chores galore.  We did start painting the house last week but as is our usual custom, the next phase still hasn't been scheduled.  It does look better if you don't focus on the splotches on the unpainted trim.  Besides the house, no huge home improvement projects this year unless I decide to paint the downstairs area.

We packed 5000sf worth of houses this week and even with the stifling heat, it went well.  Suddenly we are the less expensive option, maybe because we haven't raised prices with the gas hike.   Still making money, though.

The garden has exploded with color  and I'm looking at sweet peas, yarrow, chocolate flower and Mexican Sage and roses, butterfly flower, those little purple bell-shaped flowers and the honeysuckle.  And  potentilla.  And one day lily that the deer missed.

Defining some terminology with Sugar the other day.

We started painting the house for real yesterday.
















Hansel helped from a distance.

It's been dry here during the last week but we got some great views of other people's storms. The Colorado Front Range gets more thunderstorms than all other states except for Florida and that makes for some great cloud and lightening shows. From this vantage point of slightly higher up the mountains, you can see far across the plains.

I've been busy getting the condo ready to rent again. Today, an ad went onto Craigslist and we've already gotten 3 calls even with a $75 increase! It's a landlord's market here with a low, low vacancy rate so we're going to make up for the last year or so.

Meanwhile, lots of visitors in the yard. Honey caught the fawns in the yard yesterday and today. The bird bath on the fence rail is about waist high so you can see he's really little.



And the squirrel is at it again. This one looks like he's mooning me as he dives down through the top of the feeder. The hinge door on the top was a no-brainer for this little fella. I was waiting for him to get stuck upside down.

The subject of disasters is developing into my summer reading project.
I found this capitvating map of real time disasters that are occurring around the world. As I write this, 9 volcanoes are erupting along the ring of fire and a biological hazard is in progress in Florida.
Fascinating, but not fascinating enough to make come up on a Google news search.

Most of my gardening musings are at my other blog but I am so proud of this little rose that I'm posting it on the blog that people actually visit. This sweet thing is a rugosa rose, one of a bunch of ditch roses that I nudged into my side of the fence and nurtured over the last 20 years. This one is in an area where my dear Yard Man, Sugar, can't accidentally mow or step on and it's blooming verily this year. First rose of the season in my garden. Who knew they were scented?

The Boulder Rural Fire Department outdid itself with their open house on Saturday.  Flight for Life stopped by after dropping a patient off and let the kids come on board to see all the equipment. 

  The Boulder Emergency Squad was there showing off the Jaws of Life.  Right when I walked up, they popped out both windshield into pieces and had the 'victim' out in a matter of minutes.

Code 3 Associates impressed me most of all that day, though all these heroes palpably inspire me.  I've never heard of Code 3 before, a disaster response team for animal rescue.  They're equipped with a huge rig to house the team and treat the injured animals.  They travel to disaster nationwide and don't charge for their services.  

On top of all the inspiration, the day was just a lot of fun.

I have to mention that this is 6/7/8 today.

I started Tai Chi again after a several year hiatus, same teacher but different setting. There's a different significance for me this time, since I'm looking at this practice to keep me physically strong in my old age. The spiritual lessons are a little bonus as well as the insights into Chinese Medicine. That's all I have to say about that for now.

Sugar is off learning about back yard beekeeping. Who knew that he had an interest in the area? He really responded to the solitary bee project, knocking together 6 houses for the street fence. I envision a lot of loner bees, coming and going without noticing the neighbor bees, probably with little bee Ipods to help them tune out the rest of the world. We'll just leave them be, so to speak.


photo from http://en.wikibooks.org/

We have our final CERT exercise tomorrow which should be fun and educational but I a little bummed because I found out that there isn't much to do as a CERT trainee after this except to be prepared. I had in mind that there would be some call-up opportunities like this guy gets but there just isn't any sort of program like that developed around here. The most I can look forward to is giving out information at some fairs and possibly helping in a call center during a blizzard. Maybe that's good, that emergency responders don't need any help around here.

Meanwhile, there's a new webcam in Boulder: Boulder Creek cam so if the big one comes this year, we should be able to watch it.

Time to say goodbye.  

Sugar joined his brother  to bury his mom today next to her husband in a little grassy cemetery in the wilds of the Upper Midwest.  His mom has been with us in a box on a bedroom shelf for the last 15 years, cared for and thought of, but it was time to put her ashes in the ground.  I had visions of taking her to the wide-open ND plains and opening the box during a windy day but the brother needed a memorial, a place for future generations to come to when the genealogical urge strikes.  I think she would have liked that,  her sons coming together for her sake.  Wonderful lady.