The Ides of March... one day late

The Ides of March one day late.

With a nice warm day behind us I can reflect on how we spend our spring days.  With my Hill City neighbors to encourage me (make me feel guilty) I now have our small yard raked, the part we mow anyway.  I am not about to start raking the upper back part of the yard as it is natural forest.  I am envisioning the green grass and warm wind of summer.  My green thumb starting to throb so I built my free, no work and simple to build compost pile  http://www.blackhillsgarden.com/index.php?p=1_7_Composting-in-tire-towers.  This will make a nice, easy  place for the Hill City Home renters to put compost material (food scraps, coffee grounds with filters, etc.).  The more soil I can make the better our garden will be in addition to the less we put in the landfill the more we benefit.

Winter Wanderings

     Winter has turned around.  The days are getting longer and warmer.  Hard to believe mid January but it is true.  The cabins are locked up and tucked away for the winter.  The Log Cabin and Boxcar Cabin emerge from their cold depths periodically as guests visit us to enjoy the quietness of the winter.  This is the time we evaluate what we want to change, reorganize or get done.  Spring comes upon us so quickly it catches me unawares.  Before I know it I will be telling Tally that we need to turn the water on and start our deep cleanings.  He always states "so soon?".
     

Stewart Gulch Hike

Another hike with friends and family.    We were driven to the starting point of the gate over the top of Stewart Gulch.  From here it is a 2 mile hike to Rapid Creek and a 2 mile walk down the creek to Happy Trails (our house).  It was a girls hike so Tally had to drive back home.

 The Juneberries (serviceberries, sarviceberries) are having a bumper year and of course we found some.

 Coming upon Rapid Creek

 We are all wet to our knees from the tall grasses and the morning dew.

 Mama Mountain Goat and her baby on the hillside.

                                  Looking downstream Rapid Creek.

                                               Just a squirrel.

It was nice to walk the trails, usually I am on a mountain bike and travel faster.  Slowing down and walking was a nice perspective.

Peddlers Path

Great time of year to take a break and enjoy the Black Hills with friends and family.  We started in Mystic and walked the shortcut "Peddlers Path" to Slate Creek to trail #40 back home to Silver City.  Met friends in the woods, go figure, only in South Dakota can you go back into the woods and meet up with someone you know.  The following pictures say more than I ever can.

Peddlers Path

Blue Bells

Looking down on Rapid Creek

Slate Creek at Trail #40

Trail #40

Horse Talis

  

 

Bridges across Rapid Creek

 

Summer

     We are in the midst of our summer hosting.  Can't believe we are geting ready to celebrate the 4th of July already.  Lots of parades and fireworks around the Black Hills.  We prefer the Belle Fourche Parade.  It is a bit of a drive but well worth it.  It is a great full fledged parade with candy, politicians, horses and a water fight going on throughout with the culmination of wetness occuring when the fire departments go by.
     Our grandchildren were here last week.  Yes, their parents were here too.  We did the full Silver City experience - inner tubing, ATV riding, fishing, hiking, mountain biking on trail #40.  The fishing was great with all fish caught eaten for dinner.  For one grandson that was the highlight as he even used a knife for the first time to gut the fish, great yuck factor.
     The garden, as usual, gets a bit out of control and all control freaks are welcome to visit it and whip it into shape.  It is fun to spend time down there with the hummingbirds whipping around.

Wonderful snow

Yes, we received some wonderful snow, 20" in Silver City and 14" in Hill City.  We opened the Boxcar Cabin and Cottage for guests during the great warm weather.  Now we hope the heaters are on high enough and nothing freezes.  Taxes are done and I am waiting for the snow to melt and weather to warm so I can start on the cabin laundry and hang it outside on the clothesline.  
Snow time was spent finishing the updating of the Hill City Home master bedroom.  We repainted and put new carpet down.  It sure looks cozy and inviting.  I even painted the closet, a house built in 1885 sure has some wonderful character and a huge history of changes.  
On a more personal note, the move tothe big city was not a great move for the grey cat.  She found a boyfriend, after having her for 3 years - she came as a stray- we thought she was taken care of.  She had 1 kitten in the midst of the blizzard.  Our daughter named her stir fry, I think it should be munch mouth,  she is well taken care of my momma cat.  I think she may already have a home but let me know if anyone is interested.  We are looking forward to the summer and meeting new guests, welcoming our return guests and especially seeing our good friends and neighbors return to Silver City from their winter lives.

It is the time of year to revamp our web site  We tried to get it done earlier but Tally (the IT guy) has to relearn HTML when it has been awhile since last used.  He decided to give the page a fresher look and with our Hill City home we needed to add cabins to our list.  Feel free to give us advice.

I am trying to update the bog more often.  We are excited about the 2013 season.  Reservations are coming in and managing a few additional cabins help round out what we can offer our vacationers.  We do not have chickens any more but I already have ideas for the garden am planning what to put in and where.  The soil is not consistent, there is a definite dry patch in the middle that is ideal for onions and squash.  We try to amend it every year and it is slowly improving.  Gardening is ideal for cultivation patience and hope.