Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Wildflowers of the Black Hills

One of our regular visitors to the birdbath 

Being stationary for so long with so many ongoing projects there is a fine balance between working too much and getting out and exploring the hills. With only two weeks left before we head to Ontario and all of our visitors gone we found ourselves in “all work and no play” mode.
Beautiful Rainbow after a rainstorm
What have we been doing? The two biggest were getting the underground plumbing done and building an outdoor fire pit area. Along with that we have been working on fencing over at Kevin’s and working on prairie dogs over at our neighbors.  
Having never done plumbing before I was a little perplexed on exactly where to start. Luckily, our neighbor to the west is a licensed plumber and was nice enough to come over and help me lay it out as well as inspect it before I covered it up. Richard and I had gotten a third to a half of it done while he was here so I just whittled away at the remaining over the last week and soon I was done!

While I was working on that Barb has been working on a project of her own. Farmer Bob was nice enough to bring us a tractor rim for a fire pit so Barb has been busy creating a patio so we can sit around it. 
I will take another picture when it is all done. 
It is very time consuming as she has to wander around and find the perfect flat rocks and then bring them back and piece them together like a big jigsaw puzzle. She is about ½ way done and it is really looking great!
With all this work to do we have to remind ourselves to stop, look around and “smell the roses”. That thought inspired me to walk through the property and take pictures of all the different wild flowers and other flowering plants that we run across on our daily excursions.

I have no idea what most of them are. Farmer Bob told me a few but I am afraid my retention is not very good so if you recognize any of them, let us know what they are. I have numbers each of them to make it easier. 
#1. I am told these are Echinacea 

#2. No idea what this yellow flower is
#3. Wild Sunflower

#4. No idea

#5. Some kind of thistle 
#6. Looks like a dandelion but the size of a baseball

#7. Wild Rose with some other flower next to it
#8. No idea what this purple flower is...

#9. Yucca blooms

#10. Prickly Pear bloom
#11. Once again, no idea, it is about the size of a dime
All of these flower pictures were taken on our property so as you can see there is quite the variety. We found two other things over the past week as well. About 1/3 of the prairie dog holes in the area have black widows guarding them which makes it a little precarious when treating them. The other even more disturbing creature found this week was a rattle snake. Barb is now looking into what we need to do to get the dogs a preventative shot in case they ever run across one. 

Speaking of the dogs, I have gotten a couple of comments that they are not in the blog enough so here they are. They have two new favorite places to hid from the heat. Under the rig and in their pool....




We did have a couple of get-togethers; one at the Bumpin Buffalo with Harry and Vicky as well as Jim and Brenda and another when Quartzsite friends Les and Sue stopped by for a visit. They are working at Crazy Horse for the summer so we hope to get together with them again sometime soon!
The gang at Bumpin Buffalo

Jim and Brenda along with Sue and Les
Oh! We also had a visitor the other day! This guy came right up to us while the Jordan's were over. As a matter of fact, he walked within a foot of Jim Jordan!
Our new friend
We leave for Ontario in less than two weeks, I am guessing the work is not going to slow down as there is a lot we want to get done before we head north for a month!


25 comments:

  1. Looks like things are coming together for you at the ranch. Have fun fishing in Ontario. :) I saw a bunch of trout right off our dock. Mostly babies but they will grow. lol

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    1. Where there are baby fish there are usually bigger fish looking for a snack!

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  2. Can't wait to see Barb's finished project. Looks like quite the puzzle. You two sure do work hard. I'm tired and all I did was read:) John ask if I wrote to say you didn't put photos of the dogs in the blog. He knows me so well. Thanks for adding photos. Love their pool but you obviously were thinking of Daisy when you purchased it:)

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    1. There is trouble in paradise! The pool now has a hole in it so now it is a very temporary pool lasting only an hour or so.

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  3. #4 Roundleaf Harebell, per the Garden Answers app. Fun app to play around with, Jim. Be careful picking up rocks, Barb. Snakes like to hide under them in the heat of the day.

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    1. Barb did have one encounter with a snake that was hiding in a prairie dog hole but we don't know if it was a rattler or bull snake.

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    2. Hopefully a bull...they keep the rattlers away.

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  4. That would have been fun to enjoy a fire. Looks like quite the puzzle for Barb.

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    1. I know, we worked you so hard there was no time for a fire! Maybe next time you swing through it will be done.

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  5. Things keep lookin good! The firepit is going to be great. What a shame. Looks like by the time we get there next summer all the work will be all done ;-) Nice to see the pooches!

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    1. We will be sure to have a project or two for you....oh, and some cold beer!

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  6. Fire pit is looking good, Barb may have found her new calling. You two certainly are busy, one day we'll be in the area...to visit and lend a hand where we can as we know the works never done. Hope you enjoy some of your last few weeks there.

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  7. Wow - you have been busy! Looks like it will be worth it when done! Great to see the pups!

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    1. Not fast enough for us! The more we do, the more we want it done quicker!

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  8. The plumbing looks great and so does Barb's fire ring area. But you guys need to get some down time.

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    1. Thanks for the help! Doesn't look like we will get any downtime until we leave here next week.

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  9. Good work you guys!! Firepit area looks real good, hand picking the rocks?? Impressive. Hopefully your fishing time in Ontario is more like relaxing than work. You are both way to busy to have a job :)

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    1. We got up to Ontario yesterday, looking forward to getting out on the lakes!

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  10. Busy, busy, too bad we wont be heading up there anytime soon for a visit :) We would love to see the completion of your home construction project and meet your hairy friends and wildflowers. Do you have to finish this by winter?
    # 2 Prairie Coneflower i think # 8 is a Clover but not sure

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    1. Our goal for this year is just to get the concrete down and hopefully get the structure up by next winter. Would love to have you guys stop by when you are in the area!

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  11. #1 is also called purple coneflower. #2 is prairie coneflower, #5 is musk ? thistle, #6 is wild salsify commonly called giant dandelion

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    1. I knew you would know a few of them! I have seen some buffalo berries and am told we have wild turnip plants as well.

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  12. You guys have your very own botanical gardens. Glad you got some down time with Q friend visits. Good job on the fire pit Barb. Hope your Ontario fishing trip is as good or better than ours was in Manitoba. Safe travels!

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    1. Who needs Butchart Gardens when you have 45 acres of wild flowers? Maybe we should start charging a $45 entry fee!

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