Category: Mother Nature

Nature Friday ~ July 24, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 34 Comments

Celtic Festival

Ceud mìle fàilte…everyone. If I’m not mistaken and please correct me if I’m wrong, I believe that means a hundred thousand welcomes. Before I get to our featured post, I just want to thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes. I had a great day and Mum agreed with me that the celebration should continue through the end of the month. We both feel like celebrating a birthday shouldn’t be limited to just one day. Still wondering why we didn’t start at the beginning of the month, but glad for the 11 days of additional merrymaking and treats.

Wilson: Why, you ask, did I open with a Scottish expression? Well this last weekend, the sheepdog rescue participated at a local Celtic Festival and today’s pics are all from that festival. It was a hot day in Elizabeth, Colorado (approximately 60 miles southeast from our house) but Mum was up for helping out with other volunteers for our first Celtic Festival participation and what a fun one it was. But as we typically do, we are joining those pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang for their weekly blog hop.

Wilson: While I didn’t attend in person, my breed heritage was with everyone in spirit. We had a couple of Old English Sheepdog ambassadors who attracted a steady stream of visitors who stopped by our tent.

OES Celtic Festival
Who wouldn’t want to pet this cutie?

OES volunteer at Celtic Festival

Hadley at Celtic Festival
Hadley gave kisses to a visitor.

The Mum: It was a fun event and while it was hot, we had a nice tented area providing shade which made it seem cooler. When I arrived for my shift, I was greeted by a bag pipe and drum parade. It was such fun to hear and watch them perform. My latent Scottish DNA smiled at their precision and enthusiasm. Young and old all looked like they were having a great time displaying clan banners and marching to the pipes.

Celtic Festival Celtic Festival Celtic Festival Celtic Festival

Wilson: Bet you’d never seen so many kilts, have you Mum?

The Mum: Nope, sure hadn’t but everyone seemed to enjoy it and everyone was very friendly. One visitor told me this Celtic Festival has been going on for the past 20 years! I could only wonder how I’d missed it? I knew about the big one in Estes Park that will happen in September but had never heard about this one.

Wilson: Are you planning on attending that one since the rescue has signed up to participate?

The Mum: Not sure yet. It’s a bit of a drive and I’m not sure I want you to be left alone all day. We’ll see.

Wilson: I know you spent some time checking out some of the 4-legged attendees while you were there. Just look at this array of Scottish Highland cows.

Celtic Festival
Scottish Highland cow-she was a big one!
Celtic Festival
One very cute baby cow.

The Mum: Those cows were huge and the owner told me their meat is renowned for being exceptionally lean (around 90%), quite tender, and very flavorful, often boasting lower fat and cholesterol levels—and higher protein—than many conventional commercial beef breeds. They are a hearty breed as well.

Wilson: What’s with these creatures?

Alpaca-Celtic Festival
Alpaca
Llama-Celtic Festival
Llama
Donkey-Celtic Festival
Donkeys

The Mum: You know me…I just love taking photos of critters. It was great fun seeing all these guys at the festival. It was such fun hearing the Llamas making their humming sounds–they’re so cute. I even saw a Scottish Deerhound but that fellow never did get up from his nap and I checked on him a few times. I think he was just a bit overwhelmed since his tent as on the end where all the rescues were located and right next to some noisy St. Bernards. This fella knew just how to deal with the heat. Deerhounds are similarly sized to Greyhounds, but are larger and more heavily boned, with a rough coat. They were bred to hunt deer and are similar to but a bit smaller than Irish Wolfhounds and are a majestic breed.

Scottish Deerhound
Scottish Deerhound

Wilson: Say didn’t your daughter consider getting one of those guys before settling on Irish Wolfhounds?

The Mum: Yes, I think they did consider them but ended up with the Wolfhound and have raised several Wolfhounds since seeing them at the Estes Park Celtic Festival many years ago.

Wilson: Sounds like quite the day enjoying all things Celtic. Glad it was a fun event, Mum. Also I’m grateful I didn’t have to go. Not sure I’d be all that keen listening to bagpipes and dealing with all the rescue dogs near the tent. But you guys deserve kudos for getting the word out about the sheepdog rescue and for selling a few things to benefit the rescue. You met a lot of people who were interested in the two dogs in foster care so that’s a good thing. All and all, great job, Mum. And what fun animal pics you managed to capture. Well that’s it from us. Stay cool if you can but keep your eyes open for opportunities to check out slices of nature. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Slán  (goodbye).

NatureLive, love, bark! 🐾

 

Nature Friday ~ July 17, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 55 Comments

Summer temps

Well, well, well…we’ve reached another Friday and are that much closer to our favorite season, autumn…which for those seeking a smattering of hope is 68 days. Happy Friday peeps. Wilson here. There are no words to describe what we’ve endured so for the benefit of Tom of Reiko’s Journey, who’s clearly exhausted about our whinging about the hot temps we shan’t say another word about it and just let the screenshot speak for itself. And because it’s Friday, we’re joining Rosy and Sunny from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to check their blog hop  to see what other have shared from Nature.

We’ve had a hectic week which will continue through the weekend but we managed to find a few slices of nature on our early morning walks.

Wilson: Imagine my shock while I’m walking along nicely with Mum in the early morning houses, totally in the zone as we crossed one of four bridges along the Ralston Creek Trail and out of the corner of my eye, a creature much larger than me stotted from under the bridge and bounced off like Tigger. I was stunned, the deer was stunned and Mum was stunned. Luckily she managed to actually put aside her surprise and wonder and quickly pulled out her cell phone to capture a few shots.

Deer Deer Deer

The Mum: Wasn’t that encounter something else? I’m not sure which of us jumped higher with surprise.

Wilson:  You’re not wrong about that. That’s a Mule Deer, an indigenous breed of deer found in the Western United States and particularly in the Great Plains. They received their name based on the size of those large ears. Although more than capable of running away from perceived predators, mule deer most often are seen “stotting” where they spring into the air, lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously, a common trait of quadrupeds. People who live in areas where these deer can be found often refer to them as rats with hooves. They graze on trees and flowers in suburban communities, much to homeowners’ dismay.

The Mum: It was an exciting few minutes to watch this doe bounce around the landscape all the while keeping on eye of our presence on the path. She was alone and not taking any chances.

Wilson: Maybe we’ll run into her again. I’ll keep my eyes and nose at the ready. Oh, that’s your cue to keep your phone handy. Better yet, maybe bring your big camera with you more often. You missed another opportunity to capture two blue heron as three white egrets this morning. They took off before you could snap their pics.

The Mum: Well, in my defense, they were behind a metal fence which I couldn’t quite crop out of the frame and when I tried to move closer, they took flight. And not seeing anything while having to lug a heavy camera doesn’t make for a fun walk.

Wilson: Oh sure, blame them for your inability to quickly take a pic. I guess if it makes you feel better think…

The Mum: Whoa, lighten up there, House Pony. Encounters with wildlife isn’t always going to result in some award-winning photo.

Wilson: Well in this case, it resulted in no photo…award-winning or otherwise.

The Mum: Ahem…got any other pics to share, Mr. Critical?

Wilson: Well we’ve been seeing these plants called Dipsacus for a while now. Commonly known as ‘teasel,’ these tall herbaceous biennial plants have been popping up along the creek and canal. They’re anywhere from 3 to 8 feet tall (1–2.5 meters) with prickly stems and leaves, with purple, dark pink, lavender or white flowers that form a head on the end of the stems. They are considered invasive in the U.S. despite the seeds being a good winter food source for many bird populations. Teasels have been used since Roman times to comb the nap of wool.

Teasel
Along the canal

The Mum:  Lucky for us, we won’t be getting close to those stickers. I don’t want to be picking those out of my socks or your legs.

Wilson: Appreciate that Mum. So what’s the story about this tree? It sure is pretty.

Tatarian Maple

The Mum: Oooh, I’m glad you asked. I love this maple tree, known as a Tatar Maple. It’s somewhat smallish tree/shrub that grows to anywhere from 13-39 ft. (4–12 m), possessing a short trunk with slender branches. The bark is thin, pale brown, and smooth at first but becomes slightly fissured as the plant ages. It produces green leaves, but the real beauty of these trees is the fruit called samaras with a beautiful rosy red color which matures in late summer and will last until early autumn. Those samaras will quiver on a slightest breeze and add even more visual interest to the landscape.

Wilson: Nice capture before the smoke began to fill the skies with haze, Mum. Speaking of smoke-filled skies, the Aspen Acres fire has now grown to nearly 100,000 acres and is the largest current fire in Colorado. It has destroyed over 800 structures and only around 36-45% contained. At least your brother’s house remains safe but officials are closely watching the winds which have been changing directions daily and is keeping residents from being able to return to their homes. Here’s a graphic of some of the historic fires in the state so you can get a sense of what people are dealing with. We continue to keep everyone affected by wildfires across the U.S. and Canada in our thoughts and prayers. I know the air quality is especially severe in the upper Midwest as well as the East Coast from all these wildfires.

Aspen Acres fire stats
Data as of July 15, 2026

The Mum: Yes, it’s been so heartbreaking that so many are still displaced. We will keep them all in our thoughts and prayers.

Wilson: Make sure to have a safe weekend, stay hydrated and please be mindful of pavement temps on tender paws. And for heavens sake, please don’t leave your pet in the car, even for a few minutes while you dash in to quickly pick up something. Please leave us at home instead.

Pavement temps

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ July 10, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 67 Comments

Welcome to hell, erm I mean Friday, where we are living the song from Beverly Hills Cop as the heat is most definitely on. Wilson here and I’m almost grateful that Mum stole my furs last weekend. While I may have lost my fabulous floofiness, I’m probably more comfortable than Mum is whenever we’re outside. We’ve been taking our walks even earlier than usual when it’s still reasonably cool and we’ve actually found some rather interesting sights. Of course, there’s almost no one on the trail except for some fairly interesting critters. Chalk up a new one on Mum’s list of wildlife seen on the walk. I was rewarded in seeing my first pack of wild raccoons. Not those urban cousins who looked at you with merely a glance. Mum calls them trash pandas but I’m too refined to be that disparaging. There were at least 3 of them, possibly 4 and they did their best to hide their presence. We wouldn’t have noticed them in the trees if one of the chubbier ones missed a step and fell a couple of branches downward and I first thought it might be a squirrel. They looked like a troop of mama and her babies.

Raccoons

Raccoons
See that little bandit face at the base of the tree on the right?

They took one look at us and skedaddled up the trees in a heartbeat…thus the crummy photos. I keep telling Mum she’s gotta be a whole lot quicker with her cell phone. To which she retorts that, “she’s got her hands full simply holding on to my leash,” let alone fishing for a camera inher pocket.” Personally,  I think she’s just making excuses.

The Mum: Umm, I heard that…

Wilson: Oh, hiya Mum. {trying to act quite innocent} What ‘cha doing?

The Mum: Nice try, House Pony. Those guys were super quick and I doubt I could have responded any quicker even if you hadn’t been with me. I was surprised how quickly they bogeyed up into the high canopy. Seeing them two days in a row was some kind of fun. I love those kinds of encounters.

Wilson: {changing the subject} Regardless, the sunrise was pretty spectacular what with a threat of rain and lots of wildfire smoke adding to the intensity. It was pretty special. What is that old sailor’s saying…red sky in morning, sailor take warning, red sky at night, sailor’s delight.Sunrise

The Mum: That morning show was supposed to have been a warning that we might get some rain later in the day and true to the forecast, we received about 2-1/2 minutes of light rain later in the afternoon. I had hoped for a longer shower but think it was a bit too warm and most of it likely evaporated before it hit the ground.

Wilson:  It was a bit disappointing but not as much as yesterday when we were told to expect a nice afternoon shower. Sadly it didn’t materialize though I think there might have been 15 drops when it got windy.

The Mum: Yeah, it was disappointing. The weather people keep telling us to be patient…El Niño and the monsoons should be arriving in about 10 days but I’m not all that optimistic. I don’t want to get my hopes up, only to be disappointed.

Wilson: Well look at the bright side, at least we enjoyed some pretty morning sunrises this week. SunriseThe Mum: Indeed we did, buddy. Plus there have been the quiet walks in the early mornings catching glimpses of various critters along the trail.

Wilson: Yes, nice quiet walks and new discoveries. Speaking of new discoveries, I found a new plant that you should make sure neither of us get too close to it. American licorice or wild licorice is popping all around the trail as well as along the canal behind our house. Along the canal it’s quite thick and we discovered the hard way that it has burs. I don’t want to rub up against that thing again! It’s a North American perennial legume native frequently found in the western United States. Native Americans used wild licorice for medicinal purposes and as a food source, it was discovered it had high nutritional value for livestock. Too bad livestock aren’t that keen on it so it quickly reproduces through seeds and rhizomes, leading to large infestations, especially in pastures as well as along streams and ditch banks. We won’t be walking near those plants again any time soon now that the burs are appearing and are so prolific.

American Licorice

The Mum: Right you are. While those burs look soft, they are anything but. And speaking of sunsets, did you know, that yesterday was the last day the sun sets at 8:30 pm. It’ll be the middle of June in 2027 before the sun will set at 8:30 pm again.

Wilson: You don’t say. Huh…well that’s kind of interesting. Guess that means the days are growing shorter as we move toward the arrival of autumn in 74 days just in case you are interested. I think we’ll be be happier though I know a lot of our readers really like the extended sunlight in summer.

The Mum: I’d enjoy the extended sunlight if it wasn’t so doggone hot. Well, that’s about it from us. Triple digits are set to arrive this weekend so I think you and I will definitely be hibernating. Maybe you can scoot over a bit and we can hang out together. What do you say?

Wilson

Wilson: Umm, I don’t think there’s enough room for you here, Mum. Sorry. Have a good weekend and stay cool and hydrated. If you can, get out early to see what kind of fascinating ‘gifts’ Nature has left for us. Have a great weekend.

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

 

Nature Friday ~ July 3, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 75 Comments

WilsonWelcome to the latest edition of Nature Friday where we join the pups from the Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to check out what others have shared. Wilson here and we’re getting ready for America’s Semi-quincentennial, aka the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Mum has strong feelings about fireworks any time of year but especially on July 4th. It’s the day where more dogs go missing from fireworks. She’s watched various dogs over the years totally freak out when loud boomers go off. This year with Colorado’s wildfires, it’s even more essential not to have fireworks spark another blaze. Because the Aspen Acres fire near Pueblo is now the largest fire in the country burning over 60,000 acres with zero containment. Yesterday, both Douglas and Jefferson counties here in the metro area have cancelled public firework shows and I suspect other municipalities have followed suit. Truth be told, we’re not sad about that. Pets, veterans and other folks struggle with loud fireworks.

Anyway, this week rather than specifically focusing on the 4th of July, we thought we’d instead, take a trip to a garden center for Nature Friday. Let’s get started, shall we?

The Mum: Thanks House Pony, I know I get worked up about fireworks going off so I appreciate your showcasing flowers from the garden center down the road from the house.

Wilson: Sure, Mum, No problem-o. It’s good to investigate some of the nearby centers close to our house and I know you were checking to see if they might have a replacement bowl for our birdbath. So far, we haven’t found anything that will work with the solar fountain but we did see some nice plants. This is a small, family garden center and you were impressed with some of their plants. Just look at these beautiful Echinacea plants. Who knew there were so many different collections separate from your standard plain variety. Those ruffly ones were pretty cool. Looks like the bees liked them.

Echinacea Echinacea Echinacea

The Mum: Yeah, I was rather impressed with the various colors. When I went into the greenhouse, I was followed by a hummingbird. He zipped in and around the flowers and while the photo that I managed to capture of him, it isn’t great since I only had my cell phone but it was entertaining watching him flit this way and that among the flowers.

Hummingbird

Wilson: It’s not horrible..for a cell phone. Still, I see you had to highlight it because he was so quick and so tiny among the blooms.

The Mum: You know me, any critter comes within 20 feet of me and I’m all in.

Wilson: Right…you do tend to lose your mind love it whenever you see critters of any kind. You need to start being prepared better with cameras. You missed a great shot of a large doe in the wildlife habitat area on the trail. ‘Course she wasn’t willing to wait for you to pull your phone out of your pocket and focus on her. She took one look at me and was gone in a heartbeat.

The Mum: Yeah, I totally missed out on that one but remain hopeful that we’ll see her again on one of our walks.

Wilson: Like you always say, hope springs eternal. I noticed you spent a lot of time looking at the zinnias too.

The Mum: Guilty as charged. I just love them and the had a nice selection of some very colorful ones.

Zinnias

Wilson: These were especially colorful. You do like the unusual in plants, don’t you?

The Mum: I really do. Showy and out of the ordinary colored blooms are my jam. Like this Scabiosa (pin cushion plant). I just loved that deep color.

Scabiosa

Wilson: And the bees seem to like it too.

The Mum: There were lots of bees all over the center. It was nice walking through the various plant rows. Here’s a gorgeous impatiens with bright color and striking foliage.

Impatiens

Wilson: Here’s another plant we found near our house. The bees were all over those pretty purple flowers. I could hear them buzzing!

Bees

The Mum: Yeah I think that’s a Blue Mist Spirea shrub. They’re pretty drought tolerant and have a long blooming season. Pollinators are drawn to those purple flowers. We found a twelve spot dragonfly this week. While they aren’t very good pollinators, they are a large insect predator. These guys can devour pests like mosquitoes, gnats, flies, and midges. They aren’t interested in pollen so they generally don’t visit flowers. When you see these guys it indicates a healthy local water quality and they tend to show their habitat has an active, balanced ecosystem.  I was thrilled to see this guy on the sidewalk. I only hope he followed us home to nosh on the irritating midges near the front door.

Dragonfly

Wilson: He wasn’t too keen on my sniffing him.

The Mum: Well I think he was startled by you since it looked like he was resting.

Wilson: Well that’s it from us. Happy 250th birthday to the U.S. We hope everyone has a safe holiday and hope people are considerate to those who aren’t fans of loud fireworks.

July 4th

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ June 26, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 70 Comments

WilsonGreetings and salutations, everyone. Happy Friday. Wilson here…and as always, I’m joining those lovable pups from the  Adventures of the LLB Gang. Well hallelujah…we finally received some rain last night. Arvada officially received somewhere between 0.40″ and 1.41″ of rain, with the heaviest moisture occurring in the western foothills. In our neighborhood I think we received somewhere in the middle. It. was. beautiful. And comes at a good time since our temperatures are slated to be in the low to mid-90’sF next week. But like my Mum always says, we’ll take that moisture.

Wilson: Besides the news about receiving rain, Mum has a new critter obsession now. We’ve know about this critter appearing in our area because we’ve seen evidence of him but had never actually seen one in person. Well that’s history now. Meet our newest critter in the ‘Hood. He is unnamed as of now so I’m asking for your help in suggesting a name for him since Mum can’t decide. Let me just say she is over the moon giddy about running into him a couple of mornings since last week. She couldn’t capture any good photos since she didn’t have her big camera with her and whenever she did, we didn’t see him but she’s been researching about beavers nonstop. Can you imagine being replaced as the love of her life by…{gasp}…a…rodent??

Beaver
Photo taken from the canal bridge
Beaver
Hauling a branch back to his lodge

The Mum: You are not being replaced, let me reassure you. It’s just I’ve never seen a beaver before in real life and I certainly never expected to see one in the city. This is monumental so I’ve been trying to find out about this fella. Did you know that beavers are the second largest rodent (behind capybaras) in the world and weigh up to 110 lb (50 kg)? With their stout bodies, large heads and those famous chisel-like incisors, beavers have brown or gray fur, with hand-like front feet, webbed back feet. Their tails that are flat and scaly and are used as a rudder as well as a alarm system when they slap it on the surface of water. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats and typically eat tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges. They are considered a keystone species because their damn and lodge building activities create wetlands that are used by many other species.

Wilson: {with his paw against his forehead} I can’t believe I’m being replaced by a rodent. This is just humiliating…

The Mum: {interrupting} Let me assure you that you are not being replaced. But seeing one of these guys is pretty monumental. They’re nocturnal you know.

Wilson: Well we do practically take our morning walks in the dark so I guess that makes sense…

The Mum:  Oh for heaven’s sake…stop being so hyperbolic. We walk early to avoid the heat…seeing that beaver was a bonus-just like that day we ran into the coyote pup. Did you know their eyes, ears and nostrils are arranged so that they can remain above water while the rest of the body is submerged and their nostrils and ears have valves that close underwater? They also have a translucent third eye membrane that covers their eyes when they are submerged. Isn’t that cool?

Wilson: {harumph} Big deal. They can’t cuddle with you like I do.

The Mum: No, you’re right about that…for which I’m grateful. You’re still my favorite pet, so don’t worry. But I will always want to better capture that guy in a photo. You’re still my bestest floof.

Wilson: Well I guess I feel better about that declaration. Thank you for that. Now that you’ve pledged your undying love for a rodent, how about I share some other slices of nature we encountered this week?

The Mum: I did not pledge undying love for a rodent but I’d love to see what else you have today.

Wilson: Just to prove we do walk in the middle of the night at dawn, here’s a beautiful sunrise we encountered a couple of days ago.

Sunrise

The Mum: That was a pretty spectacular sunrise through the coyote habitat.

Wilson: Umm, meh…I’d have been happy sleeping in but whatever.

The Mum: Oh come on…you love the cool mornings as much as I do. What else do you have?

Wilson: You’re right, I do like the cool mornings because I know it’ll be hotter later. The wildflowers are lovely. With the blanket flower (Gaillardia) a kind of chamomile is blooming with them.

Wild flowers

The Mum: To show how hot and dry it’s been, look at this rye grass. Crispy-crunchy.

Grass

Wilson: I’ve noticed gladiolus are starting to bloom and there are some real beauties in the neighborhood adjacent to the golf course. Just look at these babies.

Gladiolas

The Mum: They really are pretty. I’ve always thought those “sword lilies” are quite showy and this house has a gorgeous selection. They do tend to flop over so I’ve never planted any in favor of other plants that stay upright without support like these gorgeous lilies.

Lilies

Wilson: Well that’s all I have this week. We hope you have a terrific weekend and don’t fry in the heat that is set to return. Mum is helping the rescue out tomorrow at the annual Denver Dog Fair. This is one of the best public events for dog rescues. They find homes for so many dogs and there are vendors selling everything you can imagine associated with owning a dog. I’ll be happily snoozing on the sofa (don’t tell Mum) while she’ll be dealing with crowds, parking and all the things I wouldn’t enjoy. What are your plans? What ever you do, we hope you can find some time to get out and enjoy what Nature shares with us. And don’t forget to suggest a name for the rodent. I was thinking of Theodore like that Leave It To Beaver kid or Norbert, a famous beaver who lived at the Detroit Zoo. What do you think? I have no doubt that if Mum has anything to do with it, she’ll be sharing more photos of he who is to be named. Sigh. Have a wonderful weekend!

Dog Fair

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ June 19, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 73 Comments
Giddy goose
Giddy Goose is more than ready for summer

Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday. Today is Juneteenth, a federal holiday. It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — after the Civil War’s end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Happy Juneteenth. Because it’s a federal holiday, no  mail will be delivered, the stock market is closed as well as some some businesses. Parades and other celebrations will mark the day along with public service. The City of Milwaukee is the oldest known and longest-running annual Juneteenth celebration in the United States. What started as a small gathering of vendors, now spans over several blocks of fun with over 170,000 participants. Denver will once again have a music festival beginning today and running through the weekend in the Five Points neighborhood.

Wilson here and as we always do, we’re joining our friends at The Adventures of the LLB Gang. Clicking on the link will take you to see what others shared this week. Even though summer is scheduled to arrive this Sunday, I think it jumped the gun. I don’t know about how the weather is on your end, but it’s been very hot here. As in 15+ degrees hotter than normal. Wednesday felt like we were walking into a pizza oven. Mum got up even earlier than usual so we could enjoy a morning walk in somewhat cool temperatures, but it was already 72F (22.2C) before 5 AM. Usually at that time, the temps are in the low-to-mid 50’s. By the time we finished our three-mile walk, I was panting heavily and not walk walking my usual speed and Mum was dripping in sweat. Neither of us enjoyed the walk much. The only thing that kept the walk from being a total bust was when we came across a coyote pup on our walk in the wildlife habitat we cross every day. He’s kinda hard to spot in the tall, dry grass but isn’t he kind of adorable? Look at those pointy ears! He almost resembles a German Shepherd puppy, doesn’t he? He curiously watched us walk through but made no attempt to follow us, thank goodness. I can’t help but wonder if his mama knew he was away from the den. If she’s anything like my mine, that little guy is probably in big time trouble.

Coyote pup

The Mum: He seems larger than I thought he would be, which leads me to believe he’s older than I originally thought the pups might be. From what I learned when I looked up info about coyotes, they are usually born in spring and may have between four to seven pups in a litter. We didn’t encounter any siblings who were probably back in the thick brush behind this little guy. Anyway, I thought he was pretty cute and right in the area where that mama coyote bum rushed those little dogs recently.

Wilson: This guy kind of acted like he wanted to play with me, Mum. But I know you didn’t want to encourage him. Besides his mama was likely close by and no point poking the ‘bear,’ right?

The Mum: Absolutely! Trust me when I say, you will never be allowed…let me repeat that just in case there’s any question…you will never be allowed to play or interact with any coyotes. Period.

Wilson: Um sheesh Mum…don’t get so worked up. I’m not going off to play with some coyote pup, okay? Besides I’d never leave you on the trail by yourself…well at least not for a coyote. A squirrel, maybe but never a coyote.

The Mum: You bet your sweet bippy, you won’t! Now that we have that clear, what other slices of nature do you have to share?

Wilson: Well, there are a lot of heat loving plants out there that are pretty. Check out this lavender that was enticing pollinators early yesterday morning from a house down the street from ours. I love brushing against that border. Those plants fill the air with their scent.

Lavender

The Mum: I absolutely love lavender…and so do the neighborhood bees.

Wilson: We found another beautiful clematis that the bees like too. Look how pretty this one is and how well it showcases that garden statuary.

Clematis

The Mum: This is one of my favorite gardens we walk past. Everything always look so pretty.

Wilson:  My favorite place is the meadowy area near the canal overflow. There are loads of blanket flowers (Gaillardia) blooming now but yesterday, Mum saw a few prairie coneflowers mixed in with some of them along the trail. Such pretty wildflowers.

Wildflowers

The Mum: The blanket flowers are really popping up along that stretch of the Ralston Creek Trail. I get practically giddy seeing them randomly showing up here and there.

Wilson: It’s always interesting to walk along that area. You just never know what you’ll see. It’s very close to where we spotted the coyote. That area is becoming a real treasure trove of cool slices of nature. And lastly we have an update on Figaro. He’s finally beginning to set fruit after getting very bushy. Look at this little baby fig. Can’t wait till it ripens. I hope more will set because, no offense…I’d prefer not to share.

Figaro

The Mum: No offense taken. I thought the same thing! Well that does it for us.  Got any special plans to welcome summer?

Wilson: I plan to stay home zonked out on the sofa for a couple of hours while you’re hobnobbing for the rescue at the Denver Dog Fair.

The Mum: Yes, you can hang out at home. But please remember the rule about no dogs on the furniture.

Wilson: {snickering} Oh yeah, right. {wink, wink} Got it Mum. We both hope you have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy getting out in nature but try to stay cool and hydrated.

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ June 12, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 51 Comments

BunnyGreetings mates. Wilson here and I’d like to welcome everyone to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where as always, we’re joining our friends at The Adventures of the LLB Gang. Clicking on the link will take you to see what others have shared this week. Well it’s been a uber busy week and Mum has been up to her eyes in alligators. All fun stuff mind you (her sister from Texas came for a short visit and brought her Dad with her) and she had some work done around the ole barn so photo taking sessions are, well let’s just say a bit slim this week. But one thing that’s not too slim are the number of bunnies we’re seeing whenever we’re out on our dawn walks. Why are we going on walks around dawn, you ask? Well, neither one of us can stand being outdoors when it’s 900 degrees. And yes, that is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much. The temps we’re having are more in the July or August variety of hot. We’re not looking forward to those months if these are the kind of hot temps we’ll be getting.

The Mum: Yes, it has been a very busy week with lots of work to take up loads of time. Last night I collapsed on the sofa-my body said “No more, woman or imma gonna hurt you” but apparently my body lied about the threat and delivered a raging ache in her lower back. She’s hoping now that things are semi-back to a more normal schedule that her lower back will stop aching nonstop. I asked Wilson when did I get so old but he didn’t have an answer…

Wilson: {interrupting} Not an answer you’d want to hear, at any rate.

The Mum: Wait, are you implying I’m just old?

Wilson: Umm, might be. You know if the shoe fits, you have to wear it. But I digress. Let’s get on with it and share what little we managed to capture around our neighborhood, shall we?

The Mum: Oh gosh, you know you’ve cut me to the quick, House Pony. Alrighty then, show me what you’ve got.

Wilson: Let’s first start with an update on the bloody cottonwood seeds that continue to stick to everything. No matter how many times you clean them up, the afternoon winds manage to disperse loads more. This was just a teensy fraction of them that rolled up together.

Cottonwood seeds

The Mum:  Oh yes, I’m so over the cottonwood seeds. It’s beyond incomprehensible why there is so doggone much of these fluffy seed heads. It’s as if they’re never going to end.

Wilson: It funny how fluffy they are when they’re floating around for a spot to land. After a few days the seeds begin to dry out and then they resemble popcorn and they are crunchy under your feet. These were found on top of the BBQ grill cover.

Cottonwood seeds

The Mum: I know, they’re everywhere. Luckily there are other things that are non-cottonwood related that brought smiles this week.

Wilson: Quite, Mum. Like this blooming yarrow. It’s so cheerful to look at and several of the homes near us have planted it. I think this variety is Moonshine. It’s very fuss-free, and loves the heat and blooms with its large clusters of canary yellow flowers on narrow stems on ferny-like, grey-green foliage clumps. Landscapers use it to accent sunny borders and rock gardens, or in mass plantings like it appears around our area to create a nice band of color throughout summer. The beauty of this particular yarrow is that it doesn’t go bananas naturalizing like so many other yarrow varieties.

Yarrow

The Mum: Seeing these over by the mailboxes always makes me happy, even if it’s hot as blazes over there. It’s an especially great plant for our mountain desert climate.

Wilson: It is a beauty, no doubt, but there’s beauty in the milkweed plant that’s beginning to bloom now. Hopefully that means there’ll be lots of butterflies arriving soon and not just the cabbage butterflies we’ve begun seeing around the neighborhood. Milkweed seems to be everywhere around the golf course and along the Ralston Creek Trail where we walk everyday.

Milkweed flower

The Mum:  The grasses along the trail have really gotten tall and thick. With a bit of rain recently, even the dandelions are gigantic. I think it’s actually Salsify or Goatsbeard, not the typical small yellow flowered plants we find in people’s lawn. Dandelion

Wilson: Well I’m no horticulturist, but it looks like your average dandelion to me. Anyway, it’s not the most unusual thing we saw this week. While it looks a little bit like your average every day Canadian goose, it was actually a wild female turkey on the golf course. You don’t see those every day. Mum didn’t have her big camera with her and had to rely on her cell phone to capture it and sadly it’s not a great shot, plus it turned its head and waddled away as fast as her long legs would carry her.

Turkey

The Mum: Nope, you sure don’t see them all the time. But it’s always a joy whenever I see some new critter along our walks. We’re starting to see lots of blue jays now but they seem against posing so I haven’t managed to capture any semi-reasonable shots. Hopefully soon though, since we are seeing them every day now.

Wilson: Well, that’s it from us. We hope you are able to check out some of Nature’s finest sights. Whatever you do, we hope you have a terrific weekend. Stay cool if you can (or in the case of some of you, stay dry).

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ June 5, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 60 Comments

Wilson Chewed up coasterHappy Friday, folks. Wilson here. We have been busy this week. Mum is getting ready for our annual sheepdog picnic/fundraiser and sadly, I’m had to spend a lot of time entertaining myself after my walks. But apprently I’m not happy about being left to my own devices while Mum is working on getting the gift baskets ready for the picnic. I don’t know, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But I was contrite when Mum saw it. My head went down quicker than a bad day on the stock market. Mum knows I had no idea what I was doing, us dogs don’t feel guilt like our humans think we do. Still I know I disappointed her and for that, I’m sorry. Ok, maybe not all that so sorry, but here we are. Anyway, we’re joing our pals from the Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to click on the link to see what others are sharing.

Wilson: So we had a couple of days of light rain in our neighborhood. Oh my giddy aunt! In Denver however, things got real. There was major downpour in downtown and hailstones fell like crazy (see a video here). A family from Aurora posted a photo of an alligator they created from all of the hail. Bulldozers had to be called in to shovel it off roadways and one woman was rescued at a gas station because the hail and fast moving water was running so deep. Holy cow!

Hail alligator

The Mum: That was quite the weather event. It was nice to receive some moisture but I’m sure the northern third of Denver and eastern suburbs feel differently. Currently those nice temperate days are definitely in the rear view mirror. It’s back to hot temps. Yesterday the thermostat hit 88F (31C) and it’s forecast to be hotter during the next week. Bet you’re glad that you were groomed with a summer cut, aren’t you, House Pony?

Wilson: Absolutely. We’ve had to take our morning walks at the crack of dawn. I know you’d like to sleep in a bit as much as me but we need to get cracking to avoid the heat. It’s disrupting my chi, Mum.

The Mum: I know, buddy and yes, I’m not happy about it either but we just have to accept that’s the way El Niño rolls…hot temps, with lots of moisture. ‘Course with those hot temps, it makes our statewide drought worse. It’s a vicious cycle. Anyway, not much we can do about it. What else do you have for us?

Wilson: Well, the weird weather didn’t keep us from finding a few pretty flowers from around the ‘Hood early in the mornings. I think I’m going to look at this next photo often while it’s hot. It’s so calming and gives me a nice cooled off feeling. Not that I will start liking water, mind you, Mum…so don’t get any ideas but I think it’s a refreshing place along the trail to pause and enjoy.

Creek

The Mum: No, I get it. I feel the same way. That view is from one of the bridges we cross  and it always makes me want to stop and inhale deeply to relax even more during our walks. Best time of the day crossing that bridge and seeing that runoff rushing into the creek from the canal.

Wilson: Right! That’s what I’m talking about. I did rather enjoy the new route we took this week to see what kind of gardens other folks have. This front garden was especially pretty.

Garden flowers

The Mum: This was such a pretty front garden and they had a couple of fun signs in the middle of it. Everything was neat as a pin and fairly formal.

Wilson: And then there was this gorgeous clematis. So full and vibrant. Much more so than the ones we had at our old house. Yours never did bloom that much.

Clematis

The Mum: No, I don’t think I really gave mine enough water and with the shade from the silver maple, well I just don’t think they ever liked the conditons where they were planted.

Wilson: It’s ok, Mum. We have lots to see on our walks. I really enjoyed passing this large clump of blue flax in the area between the path and the creek very near the spot where that coyote was seen. Looks like Mother Nature was moving ‘furniture’ again. She sure finds the oddest places to put flowers, doesn’t she?Blue flax

The Mum: Well I don’t mind, it’s rather fun finding what she thinks is a good spot for flowers. Last week it was the Gaillardia (blanket flower) and this week, it’s this flax. Nature sure has an interesting way of moving things around.

Wilson: Nature provides us with some beautiful sights, like last night’s sunset. The clouds gathered up and swirled and it looked like it might rain a bit. But alas, it was just a tease. Still, it was very lovely. Well, that’s it for us. Please make sure you get outside this weekend and have a great weekend enjoying all that Nature shares with us. Since Mum is busy again today with picnic preparations for the rescue’s fundraiser, we may not be able to respond for a while but she’ll do her best. After the picnic, she’ll be getting ready for her sister from Texas to come visit next week. No rest for the wicked and the righteous don’t need it, right. So which one is she? Have a great weekend.

Sunset

PicnicThe Mum: Wish us lots of luck at the picnic! It’s always interesting herding all those Floofs.

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ May 29, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 42 Comments

WilsonWelcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join our pals at The Adventures of the LLB Gang. Clicking on the link will take you to see what others have shared this week. This week’s post is mostly about one topic-cottonwood trees. Ok…let’s get started.

Wilson: ‘Morning mates, here I am sitting nicely in front of one of the wildlife habitat area’s huts created along the Ralston Creek Trail where we walk. They provide habitat for the area critters on both sides of the path. Along the path and creek are gobs of cottonwood trees and lately they have been very active as the leaves emerged.

The Mum: It’s been as if it’s snowing as jillions of cottonwood seeds are floating all over. I realize it’s a bit hard to see them but all those teeny little white specks are cottonwood tree seeds.

Floating cottonwood seeds

Wilson: They float on the breeze. I had to chuckle when they flew up your nose a couple of times. But you’re right, Mum. They are EVERYWHERE and stick to wherever they land.

Cottonwood seeds

The Mum: I’m constantly pulling them off the few potted plants in our yard and some of the window screens.They especially seem to like sticking to the hairy stems on the potted tomato plant. They are a nuisance and potentially damaging when they stick to air conditioning units. Removing those seed heads will be part of this weekend’s chores around this barn of a house.

Wilson: What else can you tell us about cottonwood trees?

The Mum: They are one of the more popular tree species in the world and often grow to more than a hundred feet tall. They provide loads of shade along our creek bed. Cottonwood trees are dioecious, meaning the trees grow male and female flower parts on separate trees with the male flowers appearing first and the female buds emerging about a month later. The male plants produce pollen, while the female plants produce the seeds or fruit. Cottonwood trees are rapidly growing trees, growing as much as 6 feet a year and are hardy in Zones 2 through 9.

Wilson: We weren’t 100% positive if the fluffy seeds would follow the male catkins which began to emerge in April, but expected they probably would. We didn’t have many of them in our old neighborhood so Mum didn’t keep any photos of them when they started to drop and fall on our pathway last month but found the following image online. Leaves emerge from those catkins and then the seeds begin to form from separate trees about a month later.

Catkins
Photo courtesy of Jim Chatfield of OSU Extension

The Mum: With our breezy conditions most days and the recent snow and rain, a lot of branches and twigs came down. Cottonwoods tend to have soft wood and breakage is a constant threat. The pathway was littered with the evidence that indeed we were going to have lots of floating seeds. Notice how they start out as little necklace-like strings of the seed pods that eventually release millions of white, cottony seeds into the air. Cottonwood trees are a member of the poplar family similar to Colorado’s quaking aspens, but unlike aspens, cottonwoods do not clone themselves from a single root system. They can readily re-sprout though if broken or cut down from the cotton seeds after they emerge. Cottonwoods thrive at lower altitudes (3,500 to 6,500 feet), on the Eastern Plains and along riverbanks. The male trees grow reddish-purple flowers.

Cottonwood seeds

Wilson:  Are there any advantages to these trees?
The Mum: Well, their fast growth and wonderful shade are reasons enough to like them but they have other positives. According to the Colorado State Forest Service, they reduce erosion, capture and filter sediment, provide wildlife habitat, slow flood water runoff and increase water infiltration. The leaves have flat stems, which make them shimmer and rustle in the wind making them eye-catching and distinctively attractive. The tree offers strong fall color, with leaves fading to glowing shades of gold. The National Forest Service often use them to stabilize stream banks and they may act as a natural waterway filtration system to reduce sedimentation. They colonize and form groves that can act as natural windbreaks though as I’ve experienced, the leaves and twigs are constantly falling all year long. I thought after I moved from the old neighborhood with all of its silver maples, I could leave that behind me. Instead, I’m constantly picking up little twigs and gobs of leaves that fall in the wind. Sigh
Wilson: Well I don’t mind the cotton snowing on us-it’s pretty and when it begins to heat up next week, maybe we can imagine cooler temps with that ‘snow.’
The Mum:  With those warmer temps slated for next week, I’ll try to envision snow. In the meantime, I guess we’ll just need to endure all the cotton floating in the area and stacking up along the pathway.
Wilson:   Anyway, let’s share a couple of images of something other than the cottonwood seeds. We found this hydrangea getting ready to bloom. Look at the beautiful pink color that’s beginning to emerge. And finding a Blanket flower along our walk through the wildlife habitat area was a nice find. It’s like Mother Nature was moving ‘furniture’ around.
Hydrangea Blanket flower
The Mum: That’s a good way to describe how Nature decorates sometimes. I saw a few other spots where blanket flowers were beginning to pop up and whenever I see a flower showing up like that, it makes me smile.
 
Wilson: Thanks, Mum. Well that’s it from us. We hope you have a terrific weekend. Hard to believe this is the last Friday of May and June is on the horizon. Where has this year gone? 
Nature
Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ May 22, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 54 Comments

Wilson - LoraxGreetings mates, Wilson here sporting my best Lorax poise. I woke up with a bit of bed head but you can be sure while I’m not small or orange, I am mustachioed and I do speak for the forest by making sure I water trees every chance I can. Mum laughed at me but I couldn’t figure out why. Then I looked in a mirror. Egad, that must have been quite the dream I was having. All I remember was I received a rather heavy handed shove. Apparently I was in the midst of a dog pile early yesterday morning. Mum has been complaining about waking up and being at the bottom of the pile. Doesn’t she know I need to be right next to her though I prefer being on top of her.

The Mum: You have been a bit too much lately. As in heavy as all get out. There’s nothing like waking up unable to breath because there’s a House Pony crushing your throat or chest.

Wilson: Oh Mum, you’re exaggerating. A little. Ok, so you’re accurate but I love you and want to show you how much.

The Mum: Being the object at the bottom of the dog pile is not my idea of a good time. We have to have a serious discussion about it. Your constant squashing has reached a point where we need to set up some rules about it.

Wilson: Rules-shmules. I love you and am just showing you my affection.

The Mum: Well perhaps you could love me just a teeny tiny bit less? I’d be very grateful and might even consider relaxing the “no dogs on the sofa” rule in effect in the living room as a compromise.

Wilson: {grumbling under his breath} You’re being too dramatic, Mum. Why can you just enjoy all my beautiful floofy love?

The Mum: You mean enjoy the fur in my mouth or an elbow in a rib or your head across my throat? Gee, what was I thinking?

Wilson: {shaking his head} Blimey…Mums can be so persnickity. Anyway, we can do all that negotiating behind the scenes. I’ve got slices of nature to share. As we always do, we’re joining the gang from Adventures of the LLB Gang and encourage you to click on the link to see what others have shared from their neighborhoods.

The Mum: Fine, we’ll discuss this politely later this afternoon. Just know it’s spring, the pollen count is high and I have a hard enough time breathing. Just something for you to consider as we come to an agreement about this ‘dog pile’ thing.

Wilson: {ignoring the last comment} Well, we received some rain this week and boy howdy, was that something. It rained all night and all day on Monday, and sprinkled during different parts of all the other days. I looked a little bit like a drowned rat even with my rain jacket on and you trying your level best to keep me under the umbrella which scared me.

The Mum: Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, I was just trying to keep your head as dry as possible. We both got pretty soaked Monday but our other rainy walks weren’t as bad. Everything is lusciously green and because I protected the herbs and potted tomato plant, they all survived the freeze warning we had earlier in the week.

Wilson: Things do look quite lovely. As the neighborhood Lorax, I’m glad to see everything got watered without my help. Just look at Exhibit A.

Iris

The Mum: Those iris clumps are planted along the strip between the sidewalk and street around the neighborhood and I love the pops of color. This was one of the few moments where we had decently sunny conditions. Most of the week was shrouded in clouds. We’re headed for a bit of a warm up for the Memorial Day weekend but have been told there is potential for more rain next week. I remain somewhat skeptical but we’ll see. If it happens, we’ll gladly accept any moisture.

Wilson: I enjoyed sniffing through the wildlife habitat area at the golf course. You couldn’t ask for a more sniffable landscape. The ground smelled of moisture with lots of decayed leaves. It was awesome. Mum tried to hurry me along to keep from getting too wet but my snooter just couldn’t get enough. There’s nothing like damp conditions and decaying leaves. The aroma was practically peaty. Mum frequently tries to get in some parkour on this log but I was too interested in sniffing around it. Those grass seed heads were way too interesting for me to think about climbing up on that big log. Don’t they look like they’d make a cool woven piece of artwork?

Grasses

The Mum: Our walks were so delightful. There wasn’t anyone out walking on the rainiest day so we wandered to our hearts content without being an obstacle along the path. It was terrific.

Wilson: The potted hibiscus Mum received on Mother’s Day was a pretty happy camper too. Mum is always amazed how much more beautiful plants are when they receive even a little bit of rain. Rain makes everything look so much better so we were quite chuffed on that day when we received a nice gentle, soaking rain.

Hibiscus

The Mum: It really is quite remarkable seeing how much of a difference a little rain can impact plants. A couple of days ago we found some beds that had been recently planted with annuals at intersections in the golf course community. I’m a big fan of ornamental cabbage so I’m looking forward to seeing this all summer long. They’re small now but this week’s rain will give them a good start.

Ornamental cabbage

Wilson: You’re so right, Mum…a little bit of rain makes garden plants look fantastic.

Fountain

The Mum: Even the snapdragon seeds that I sprinkled in a pot earlier this month managed to germinate and are doing nicely. These little plants will provide a nice pop of color by the back door area and the potted Roma tomato appears to be in good shape with a couple of tiny tomatoes emerging this week.

Snapdragon seedlings

Tomato plant

Wilson: Well, that’s about it for us this week. It’s Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. and we will honor all those who paid the ultimate price for serving their country. You can read our post from last year here for a historical background. Memorial Day is the unofficial start of the summer season. We’re planning a low key get together with the family. With gas prices so high, we aren’t planning on doing much driving any time soon. What are your plans for the holiday? Did you have a good week? Whatever you do, we hope you are able to enjoy some slices of Nature. Have a safe holiday and enjoy the long weekend.

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾