Category: Weather

Nature Friday ~ September 25, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 28 Comments

Pink spotted hawkWelcome to the last Friday of September and the first Friday of autumn. Hallelujah…our favorite season is here. Woof, woof. Today is notable in that there are a couple of other celebrations.  Blogville’s very own Mum to Teddy and Angel Sammy from Two Spoiled Cats is celebrating a birthday today and today is also Dolly Parton Day (9 to 5-get it…9/25). We’re jointly honoring the legendary entertainer and philanthropist and well as Teddy’s Mum. As we do on Friday’s, we are joining our pals from the Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to click on the link to see what slices of nature other have shared as well as leave birthday wishes for Teddy’s Mum.

Wilson: Good morning, mates. Welcome. Will you take a look at that gigantic pink-spotted hawk moth. That’s a large but gentle sphinx moth, also known as the sweet potato hornworm. Those moths range in size from 9.5 to 12 cm (3.7 to 4.7 inches) and feature a grayish-brown body with wavy dark lines on the forewings with some pink bands on the sides of the abdomen and at the base of the hind wings, which are usually hidden when the moth is resting. We almost missed it on the trail pathway and Mum took me back to check it out closely on our way back home from our morning walk a few days ago. Sure, I wanted to taste him but you can imagine that didn’t exactly fly with Mum’s agenda. Sheesh, sometimes, she treats me like a toddler as if I’m going to put everything in my mouth. Oh wait, I probably would, given half a chance. My bad. Moving along.

The Mum: Yes, I have to watch you like a hawk so make sure you don’t eat critters and plants that aren’t good for you. You act like you’re starving all the time and I don’t want you eating something that’s not good for you.

Wilson: Oh Mum…you get so carried away sometimes. My soft tongue would have gently caressed that moth…initially.

The Mum: I’m sure he wouldn’t have enjoyed a bath from you. While the pink-spotted hornworm moths are not poisonous to dogs, there’s no reason for you to lick one to death.

Wilson: Sometimes you take all the joy out of life, Mum. I thought I’d pose at the butterfly mural in its honor. Mum didn’t quite get the angle lined up on the wings but I think I make a nice looking and colorful butterfly.

Wilson

The Mum: Yeah, I misjudged photographing you but needed to quickly snap a photo before a bicyclist came around the corner. Didn’t want you to be startled.

Wilson: It’s ok, Mum. I’m mostly grateful you were once again closely hovering over me looking out for my best interests. You do know I’m pretty good with a sit-stay pose, right? Just a reminder for you. So can I share some good news here?’

The Mum: Of course. What would you like to share?

Wilson: Well as everyone knows, Colorado has been suffering from a severe drought and our neighborhood in particular has been repeatedly  shortchanged by Mother Nature on the moisture front. We were able to measure the rain in inches instead of droplets. Well, Wednesday we received a lovely shower that last for over 30 minutes and likely received over three fourth’s of an inch. It was fantastic. We can still use more but that made for a lovely evening. Just check out how much water remained in one of the water retention ponds in the neighborhood the next morning. We sure hope that tree didn’t mind being in the standing water and hope it doesn’t negatively impact it.

Retention pond

The Mum: It was so welcomed, I kept think it was going to end and went out on the porch several times to check it out and was thrilled it lasted for a long time.

Wilson: Finally, we noticed a volunteer cherry tomato plant popped up in a planter box. We hadn’t given it much thought but I know you smiled when you first spotted it a couple of weeks ago. This week, you saw that it was flowering. Thinking it probably wouldn’t have enough time to produce any tomatoes, imagine our surprise when we found little baby tomatoes on it! With warm days and cool night, it just might make a couple tasty ‘maters before the first frost.

Tomato

The Mum: It really did bring a smile to my face and was the last thing I expected in a planter that was planted with lettuce. The lettuce sprouted from seeds that were planted in the spring which was a good thing too with all the news about Cyclospora of bagged lettuce. While I wasn’t overly excited about that variety of leaf lettuce, the two volunteer tomato plants made me almost giddy. We’ll see what happens. But I’m always excited when volunteers sprout. Those little cherry tomatoes are always so tasty. Those seedlings came from a tomato plant from our old house last year so it just seemed like quite a miracle.

Wilson: Glad it brought you some joy, Mum. It’s not been an overly great year with our potted veggies but this kind of makes up for it.Well that’s it from us this week. We hope everyone has a terrific autumn weekend. Are the trees in your neighborhood turning yet. Things have been a bit slow here but Mum noticed they are slowly starting around our house. Enjoy the weekend!

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ August 31, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 62 Comments

Happy last Monday in August which means we’re one day closer to autumn dropping…in a mere 22 days away. Woohoo!  Another reason for us to celebrate is that we received a small shower yesterday. While it wasn’t much, it still was something and we’ll take it.  And because it’s still Monday, while we’re celebrating the countdown and a tiny bit of moisture, we still need to start out the week with a smile. We hope you have a terrific Monday that carries over throughout the week. September…here we come!

Monday

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Moanings ~ August 3, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 62 Comments

Good freakin morning, Monday campers. Hope you survived the weekend. So is this is what hell must feel like?

Today we pay homage to a true saint.

Monday smiles

Bless that man.

Monday smilesI tried to do a hard boot, but alas, it clearly work. Stay cool peeps and have a good Monday.

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! 🐾

 

Monday Musings ~ July 6, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 60 Comments

We hope you survived the Fourth of July weekend. It was surprisingly quiet in our neighborhood for which we were grateful. I’m sure the high temps and wildfire smoke may have had something to do with it, although I know in various parts of the metro area, some stupid people were setting them off in crowded, dense neighborhoods. Obviously the heat melted any sense they may have had.

Anyway, we found a few smiles that indicate how hot it’s been. The forecast is calling for triple digits by the weekend and temps are expected to linger around the OMG level of hot for three or four consecutive days. Oh joy, I can hardly wait. On the plus side, autumn is scheduled to arrive in 78 days.

Monday smile

Monday smile

Monday smile

Stay cool, hydrated and keep smiling. Have a great Monday.

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! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ June 8, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 79 Comments
OES Picnic snacks
OES themed snacks

Happy Monday, peeps. We enjoyed the rescue picnic over the weekend although a smaller than usual group attended. There was a rodeo just down the road from where the picnic was held and I’m sure there were many other events that competed with our get together but I think we did decently well with the silent auction baskets and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Here are a few photos from the event.

It’s never easy getting everyone in the frame let alone getting them to look at the camera. It’s always for a good laugh though.

As you can see it was a glorious day, but very hot. Most folks hung out in the shade.

OES picnic 2026

OES picnic - 2026

OES picnic - 2026
Playtime for sheepies while their parents bid on the silent auction gift baskets.

There were lots of wrestling matches and/or dashes around the acreage, but everyone was well behaved. A small doggie pool was set up that helped cool off panting sheepies and frequently turned into a good sized drinking fountain for them. Trust me, that sight was not pretty since as soon as dogs cooled off in the pool and took a long drink, they were back chasing one another. The dirt build up in the bottom of the pool required multiple cleanings. Too bad we didn’t have something as pretty as this one.

Monday smile

Temperatures reached 90F (32.2C) and let me tell you, it was hot whenever you were in the sun. I was ‘James Brown hot’ with sweat pouring down my face despite wearing a wide brimmed hat.

Monday smile

All in all, everyone had a great time (Wilson opted to stay at home to avoid being too stimulated with all the high energy from the attending sheepdogs) but he apparently had a good time too. He was a good boy and didn’t get into anything.

Wilson

We hope you had a terrific weekend. Stay cool and enjoy a fabulous week.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ June 5, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 62 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 8, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 60 Comments

Greetings mates, tis I, Wilson your friendly neighborhood House Pony. Boy have I got some photos to share with you showing Mother Nature at her best or her worst, depending on your opinion. It’s been a wild week but let’s dive in shall we. As always we’re joining those cute pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang for their weekly nature blog. Don’t forget to click on the link to see what others have shared from around Blogville.

Wilson in snow

Wilson: Mum…why do I have to bundle up? I mean keeping me dry is one thing, but you know how I feel about snow boots. Ugh.

The Mum: What? Come on, you look adorable in your booties. And you posed so nicely wearing them…

Wilson: {interrupting while raising his voice} E-nough. I should think that expression says it all. Wearing those hideous things is humiliating, Mum. I hate them.

The Mum: But they sort of keep your feet somewhat dry, well at least drier than if you were stomping around with your furry paddles…and without anything to protect your paws you’d need either a session with a hairdryer or a serious and lengthy mopping up with towels before coming back inside the house. I mop the new floors enough as it is because you’re a such drool machine.

Wilson: Yeesh…you cut me to the quick, Mum. We could argue discuss this all day long. But I’ve got photos to share and we should probably just move along. So as you were able to tell from our discussion and the first photo, it snowed this week (Tuesday and Wednesday). I know a lot of you will be aghast at the thought of snow in May but it’s not all that uncommon in the Rocky Mountain region. The irony to that fact is we received the most snow in May for over 20 years. Look at some of these snow depths through Wednesday.

Snow totals

The Mum: The total in Arvada really surprised me. We all knew a storm was coming but I only expected around 4 inches or so. Fortunately it was a nice wet snow with lots of moisture. I think we received nearly as much moisture over those two days as we’ve received to date this year. We’re still down and the drought is nowhere near gone but this was a nice dent toward improving things.

Wilson: Do you think plants were adversely impacted by that heavy snow?

Spring snow storm
Early morning view of our trees – the shrubs were buried for the most part

Spring snow storm

The Mum: I won’t sugar-coat it, the storm did a fair amount of damage to trees. Cottonwoods which are softwood trees, were particularly hit hard as were many ornamental pear trees around the neighborhood. I went out every 3 or 4 hours to shake off our crabapple trees but along the trail we walk every day, a lot of large and small limbs were broken. Yesterday I was impressed that the city crews were out early cleaning up around the pathway. Most of the larger branches that fell far away from the pathway will be cut up and left to provide habitat to the area’s critters, while those closer to the trail were removed. And a lot of plants were flattened but by yesterday when we were in full melt, they were rebounding. Even these peonies didn’t seem to be worse for wear but they are somewhat protected by the trees around it. Yesterday’s high  was 72F (22C) and more than half of the snow had melted. It was totally crazy. The forecast for the weekend will be in the 70’sF and we may even reach the low 80’sF by Monday. The temperature whiplash is in full force.

Peonies with snow

Wilson: It was absolutely beautiful when we walked and even more quiet than normally. Funny how people don’t want to get out and walk around in it. I’m glad you don’t mind, I just wish I didn’t have to bundle up from head to paw but it was fun checking everything out. The smells were quite remarkable.

The Mum: Even our newly blooming Bachelor Buttons in a large pot survived.

Bachelor Buttons

Wilson: Nature is pretty amazing. But somewhat selective, isn’t she?

The Mum: Pretty much. What other photos did you want to share?

Wilson: Well…how about some photos from the pathway? It was so beautiful and the quiet was palable.

Spring snow storm
Along the southwest side of the golf course
Spring snow
The canal was filling up from its previously low levels
Ralston Creek Trail in snow
Along the creek

The Mum: You managed to curate a fairly representative batch of photos. Well done, House Pony.

Wilson: Thanks Mum. See, I’m not just a pretty face. I can put a few pics together to show off how Nature is truly amazing. I see that Mother’s Day is this weekend and we want to wish everyone a very Happy Mother’s Day. We know not all of you have two feet kids, but you have fur babies so I think you deserve to enjoy the day as well as mums to them. Are you doing anything special for your mum? Whatever you do, we sincerely wish you a wonderful weekend and hope you are able to spend some time enjoying the many sides of Mother Nature. Have a good one, everyone.

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾