another so soon!

classic NRG

the rock around here is as hard as granite. It takes a hammer drill and appx. 1 bit per 10 or so holes. That makes this old hand carved face even more impressive.a cookout I planned! About 50 people came
The ghost town of Thurmond

Plum Orchard Lake
we picnicked there

smile!
Monongahela! Cranberry Glades in July. Cottongrass
we took this same picture last fall
pitcher plant flower

the part that eats the bugs

some wildflowers for Grandma!





butterflies!
about 3-4in. high
we climbed on a random boulder in the Monongahela. And I did it in a skirt.

how the garden looks today: cantaloupes: thriving
giant pumpkins: dead
corn: getting ready to cross pollinate
ladybugs: also cross pollinating.
the best part of Thurmond (out of order, but I couldn't move the video to its rightful spot)



-Stella

more gardening

some more garden pictures! This first set is a few weeks old.
Here's some corn. Newer planted in the front, older in the back.
and the pumpkins looking goodsome of the corn is growing really well!
but the garlic is not. Sorry garlic. I planted you wrong, so nothing will come of you.
Just last week, we took a short trip to Boone, NC. Unfortunately, I suck at taking pictures as proof. Here's the only one. That's Kyle and Timmy (who are from Boone) on a V4. It was cool to see people I know from the New, somewhere other than the New.
okay, pictures from today! Here's some of Micah's cantaloupe! It's still not quite as big as the pumpkins from the previous set of pictures.
the corn's still doing really well.
see! Waist high by the 11th of July. It's doing better than knee high by the 4th of July.
The pumpkins haven't been growing. A deer started eating them. I put up a fence, but I still thought they were goners. Turns out they were just using their energy to make flowers?
One of my fingers started swelling up while I was weeding. I have no idea why (but the hypochondriac in me was guessing black widow bite). It's done swelling now. I guess I'm allergic to a weed?
Right now Colin is visiting! He's my second visitor since last winter (Rick, Jan, and Sayre came a month or so ago). Be my 3rd!
-Stella

gardening

not too much to update. Moved out of the cabin and back to Roger's. Weather's been much nicer (when it's not raining). I'm not climbing very strong, but I'm having a good time when I go out and I've been more motivated lately. I'm working 3 days a week, which seems too often for me. But most important is my garden. I'm super psyched to garden. Today I was out there in the 85 degree sun at 2. That's how psyched I am on it. Here's a couple pictures.
I have corn:
giant pumpkins:
and garlic:

also Micah and I went to the Monongahela (national forest) yesterday and saw a(nother) baby bear. And (again) I didn't get a picture of it (sorry Jay).

-Stella

Ahh, now that's more like it!

Finally, spring has come! At least, in the Southwest.

Joshua Tree!


Key's View at JTree
the first of many wildflower pictures for Grandma!

Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert National Park

Some dessication cracks in a dry lakebed (there was SOME water) also in the Mojave

I can even identify this flower. It's a wild poppy!
This is Ephedra, it's more powerful than caffeine if you make it into a tea. It's starting to bloom

A Saguaro that must have been blocking the trail
a close up, cool, huh?


close up of another Saguaro

rainbow rocks!

Camping with the WOODSians! Kelsey, Sarahbeth, Lydia, and Harper from left to right. Stephanie joined us later.


this is Phoenix, believe it or not. It was greener than WV is now!
Slide Rock State Park, near Sedona, AZ. It's a natural waterslide!
Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park. Here's some petrified wood in the painted desert

Hopefully the weather will start being just as nice here as it was there! It is getting a lot better!!

Come visit me,
Stella