In which it's finally summer in the Swampland, (but it's still quite green)

So many places are on fire right now 

(notably California, Nevada and British Columbia)

affecting a lot of our horse friends,

but the number and size of fires here in Washington State is much lower than usual

thanks to the long nearly endless wet winter.

the sides of the trail were run down by weedeaters earlier this week, and are just now starting to dry out

Fiddle and I haven't had much trail time lately.

View from the monument

There's been logging ongoing on our usual training trails, and we try to stay out of the way of all the machines.  Fiddle isn't afraid of the tree felling or the big trucks, but it's polite not to be an obstacle while other people are working.

Late in the afternoon, most of the machines are turned off for the day, and we headed out to see if we could still find our way around after they'd moved all the furniture.

Everything looks different!  These logs used to be trees.

I always think that Fiddle and I will stay on the main drag...and then we see something that bears investigation, and off we wander.  That happens a lot when it's just her and me out there.

But today

We're getting the band back together!

Duana is returned from Italy, Patty's horse vet agreed to let Ariana go on a "no-stress, don't slip the foal" outing, and we met up at the trailhead.

Dragon loves Ariana.  Ariana loves everything.

Du and her young horse Freya continue to learn things together.  Today's triumph:  crossing the creek (BOTH DIRECTIONS).

Totally no big deal.

Back at the farm, there was a patriotic holiday a while ago.  I dislike fireworks, so I made something pretty to celebrate.

Much prettier than fireworks

Monica absconded with the camera when the light got interesting, and shot some nice pictures of the dogs.

Luna:  always our beauty

Foxie Loxie:  he looks innocent enough

Roo and Fox:  with a whole house to sit in, he sits on her.

Out in the yard, we had a special delivery:

Phryne likes to steal other hens' eggs

Baby chick loves Mama Phryne

The garden started slowly in the cold wet spring.  The peas did poorly, and the carrots couldn't muster any enthusiasm.  But tonight, we will feast a little bit.

fingerling potatoes and purple beans

The blueberry crop hasn't been as enormous as last year, but we've had berries in our cereal every day for a few weeks, and plenty of scones besides.

blueberry bushes are conveniently located between
morning chore location and breakfast making location

The big garden is starting to bulge a bit with traditional American crops:

Beans, squash, corn (and cilantro and sunflowers)

Scarlet runner beans.  The hummingbirds love the flowers, we love the beans

Purple bush beans

Corn was "knee high by 4th of July" and is now starting to tassel

This squash is growing into an...interesting...shape....

Elsewhere:

purple potatoes

Grapes...so far they are untouched by chickens.  That won't last.

Apples of the "Actually Quite Tasty" variety.  The early-blooming apples and plums
didn't get pollinated (too cold for bees this spring!) so we will make do with the late comers.

lavender, a pollinator's delight

It's nice to go out without a jacket and even without socks...but the days are already starting to shorten.  A few weeks ago the sun stayed up until nearly 10 pm, but now it gets dark around 9:15.

I wish the long days would last longer!