Waiting for Rain

Since I live near to the mountains, the weather here is very dynamic.
Suddenly, it gets so windy like storm is coming, and dark clouds appear in the sky.
I think it is a sign that the season will change from summer to fall soon.

What disappointed us when we had the dark clouds shown above 2 or 3 days before was the clouds didn't drop rain in our area.
The dark clouds disappeard very soon and we had sunny blue sky again.

We haven't had rain for a long time and my garden has been way too dry.

Hope, we will have rain soon!

Lookout Mountain Natural Trails Colorado

Lookout Mountain in Jefferson County (JEFFCO), Colorado is my current favorite place to go for a hiking. My husband and I have tried only one trail so far. We drive up to a parking lot (oh, no, we don’t start from the base of the mountain but many bikers are so tough to ride up to the top of the mountain), start to hike on a trail which can give us nice shade along side of pine trees with moderate ups and downs. It takes about 1 and half hours for us to make a round trip on the trail. We enjoy seeing deer, tiny wild flowers and wild animals. The fragrance from the pine trees is wonderful, too. It’s nice and cool up there so it’s a nice place to do hiking on a hot day and refresh bodies with fresh green air.

Information: jeffco.us/openspace

Red Robin’s Nest

There are a red robin’s nest and a wild dove’s nest in my back yard.
I assume they are regular couples who have been nesting in my back yard every spring.
They are like my extended family members.
I feel so happy to see them come back to my garden every spring and pray for their babies grow safely.
This morning, I found a red robin was getting earthworms from the compost pile. I am happy she/he found the compost pile has many earthworms for their babies.

Happy New Year

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

Frozen Water Fall in Idaho Spring, Colorado.

So Much in Nature

There's just so much in nature...
more than enough for a lifetime of discovery!

by Marjolein Bastin

Lair O the Bear Park on Thansgiving Day

Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving !

Snow Days

How is your weather?

We had around 18” heavy snows started from last Wednesday till last night.
Some businesses fully or partially closed and we had very quiet days.


Today, we had a warm beautiful day with blue skies.
At our back yard, I heard a lot of noises of snow and ice melting down from the roof to the ground.

Ducks in our area stay here during winter season.
I am very glad to see ducks survived the heavy snows.

Lair o' the Bear Park in Colorado

Can you enjoy fall leaves in your area?

My husband and I went to the Lai o' the Bear Park and had a nice walk this afternoon.
The weather was gorgeous.


We were surprised to see this new beaver dam.


This is my favorite spot.
Very nice combination with river, evergreen and fall leaves.


The moutain water was so clear.


Shiny glasses in golden color.


Ripe apples on the trees.
It is getting a time to bake fresh apple pies.

Hope you enjoy nice walk, too!

Elks in Lakewood, Colorado

My husband and I were so lucky to see 2 elks while driving on 6th Avenue today.




They were so beautiful and peaceful.

Rocky Mountains and Wild Sunflowers

My husband and I drove on highway 93 from Golden to Boulder, Colorado this afternoon. Gorgeous rocky mountain, lovely prairie dogs and now a season to enjoy wild sunflowers.

Wildflowers Meadows in Central City, CO

My husband and I had a nice one day trip to Central City, Idaho Spring and George Town today.
We loved driving along with various colored wild flowers in Central City.
They were so pretty.



These Aspen trees were so beautiful with their white trunks and branches.
We had a sudden heavy shower which made the leaves so fresh light green.

Ducks Visiting My Back Yard

I live in a small neighborhood few blocks away from a busy highway and main boulevard in Denver metro.
Most houses in my neighborhood were built in 1950's and have many mature trees and shrubs.
Gulches running in my neighborhood provide water sanctuary for ducks.

It is possible for us to provide peaceful sanctuary for wild life in cities.
I treasure wild life visiting my garden so much!

Love for Birds

When I was sitting on a bench in the mountain park in Japan last spring, I saw a crow was watching me from a tree. After a while, I heard a baby bird voice from somewhere and noticed a light brown crow baby in the nest a little bit far from my bench. The mother crow was still watching me but didn’t fly above my head to let me go. It was a special experience for me that the mother crow let me enjoy watching her baby crow.

I have several big trees in my back yard in Colorado.
I can see doves and red robins make nests and have babies on the big trees in spring.
Today, a dove couple was staying at a bird bath for a long time.
When I went to the garden, I found a baby dove was sitting under the tree bush next to the bird bath.
The baby dove looked so innocent and delicate.
I am so happy to see precious wild life grow in my garden.