Leafy Spurge

Not a very exciting day around here. Nice temperatures but a little too much wind. I did some "seasonal" laundry today, rugs and blankets--it was a nice day to hang it all outside and it dried very fast.

Michael has been working on his garage all day and if I read the noises right coming from out that direction, things are not going as well today as they have. He did take a break mid-afternoon and leveled the road through one of our ravines so I can get the Kawasaki mule farther up the road to spray weeds. I have a 10 gallon tank on the back of the mule and if you happen to get tipped sideways on a hillside just a little too far, the liquid shifts and can cause the mule to flip very easily.

We have a very noxious weed here in Montana called Leafy Spurge--it is a beautiful weed as many are, bright green stems and leaves and vivid yellow flowers. In the fall it turns an awesome shade of red. This weed takes over allowing nothing else to grow and cows and other animals won't eat it with the exception of sheep. Here in the valley where we live, the spurge is not as prevalent as it is in the main river valley coming from Big Timber. On our own place, we only have small patches of it here and there and we keep a close watch, pulling and spraying any we find. I found a larger than normal patch this morning and it was located where it can be reached only by back pack sprayer, UGH, so Michael felt sorry for me and leveled the road. Many of the locals living here work hard at controlling the weeds, we can only wish that our more wealthy, famous neighbors cared as much!! It is a strong bone of contention in this valley of millionaire, billionaire absentee land owners.

On our walk yesterday, we surprised this mom and baby and they took off as if to say, "let's get out of here."

This is a red columbine in my flower gardens. Some of the guests at the July 4 party accused me of having fake flowers they are so plentiful and beautiful this summer.