Backyard Farmgals

As promised, the rest of our fabulous trip to Colorado, in photos.  The second day was spent in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), which is incredible.  The tundra at RMNP was impressive along with the herds of elk and the stout little flowers growing and stretching as far as oxygen would permit.  We learned a bit about identifying flowers and set out to identify a few on our own.  This was great fun with the exception of the altitude factored in.  We were at 11,700 feet and a few of us got sick.  I was just a bit dizzy and breathing a bit faster than usual, Julie was a lot dizzy and decided not to hike around so much as to just sit and take it all in (and go shopping at the visitor's center). Photos cannot do the mountains justice.  The range is massive and one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever seen.  It really makes you wonder where all of this glorious earth came from. Some of the exquisite flowers we sa...

I had to share this beautiful flower with you.  She was the first to bloom at the farm in the sunflower patch that we have growing there.  I found seeds for black sunflowers this last spring, but I have to say that I planted them with a bit of doubt.  Would they really be black???  Ye of little faith!  Here she is black and glorious.  I squealed with delight when I saw her bloom on Sunday morning.  She is absolutely gorgeous, dark and mysterious, completely stunning...  The variety of species and diversity is astounding to me.  I am continually baffled by the idea that there are over 5,000 types of tomatoes.  How will I ever get to all of them???  What is so amazing is that diversity is what keeps our planet going.  Without it, we would be just a potato blight away from sure starvation.  Remember Ireland???  The thing is that there are several large companies in favor of doing away with diversity, patenting seeds,...