Our first hard freeze/chance of snow is coming this week, which is not to say that we've seen the end of nice weather.

I took a walk around the property the other day and one of things I was looking for was signs of the moose we think has been living up Rabbit Creek all summer.


One thing I found was three aspen trees snapped off in a relatively small area.




There's one in the foreground, one 10 yards away slightly to the left, and one to the right next to that taller tree. People around here like to attribute this sort of mystery/pattern to Bigfoot. It could have been an elk rubbing velvet from its antlers, or even that moose.



It's a big deal when I can get hollyhocks to bloom - short growing season, not enough sunlight, etc. In my hometown, they grew like weeds along alleys, re-seeded themselves every year. I'd love to get some established, but have a feeling it's going to be an every-year struggle like this one was.