Coming along!

The landscaping is coming along quite nicely and may finish up phase one this week or next. Still to come are the 8x8 ft garden shed and the pergola, plus filling and planting in all the garden beds. You know, if I died tomorrow I would die happy - how many times in your life do you get to create something from nothing on a scale like this!
In between Murph and I traveled to Timpie Springs WMA for a couple of bird shots.

Variety of views

Here's a variety of photos from around the house, some are the aftermath of the storm from Wednesday and some just from our front and back porches. The Lazuli Bunting is our first one out here, which may mean they are moving for winter as friends have seen them in SLC for a while.

The "boss" sits on top and chases everyone off - except those that come in two's and he chases one while the other drinks!!

Patio is coming along!

A crazy storm in Erda!

Wednesday we had the wildest storm here for about 1.5 hours. The rain was torrential and the hail tore apart our vegetable garden and many plants and trees. Our dry riverbed was flooded again, but fortunately we had put a large drain pipe in the end so it emptied quite quickly!
No one who lives out here has seen these kind of rains before - pretty awesome and wild and frightening all at the same time!
Here's some photos:

Hail on our back deck.

Flooding at our northern side and in our neighbors fruit trees

Pretty impressive cloud and rainbow

Wet streambed - fortunately we had just put in a 15 inch diameter drain pipe in the far end that morning.

Water fills the lowest spots

Diana's waterfall got a workout!

Mountain Retreat

We spent last weekend with friends at their cabin above Fairview overlooking Gooseberry Reservoir. The beauty of the retreat was enhanced by the wildlife we saw - mostly birds. Here's some of the highlights from the weekend.

Sandhill cranes walk slowly away from us and over the hill into the safety of the valley - these prehistoric birds are something else to see and hear.

This unafraid little guy buzzed the truck a couple of times before stopping in the road for a photo op - then he disappeared!

Meandering stream that feeds Gooseberry reservoir.

Raptors were everywhere and sitting on the front deck of the cabin meant they would come by regularly to check us out.

Chippie checked out the remains of the barbecue left on the barbecue brush.

A new batch of nectar and a little time and the hummers came back and got pretty comfortable with us humans.

Hawks and prairie falcons checking us out.

Faces in the sky!

Thursday evening a large mass of clouds came up from the south initially prompting us to think that another rainstorm was coming. But the clouds - at least here in Tooele Valley - were for our entertainment and storytelling as they formed various faces and peered down at us humans!
What do you see in the clouds?

Stormin' in the desert!

We had a wonderful tropical deluge last evening, leaving us with many beautiful sights and some interesting water flows. Here's some of the sights we had!

Clouds over the Oquirrh's before the storm.

Lightning was everywhere.

Clouds from the south that presaged the storm

Wind-driven rain.

Once again the dry streambed is wet!

The Jr. Civil Engineer and his trusty companions (shovel and dog) attempt to handle the flooding!

Another Supermoon but again, no drama!

The second super moon of the year was Sunday but once again the skies were basically clear for both the rise and the set of the moon, so no good dramatic skies for me. Still, I liked a couple and then got a nice sunset shot last night; the sunset is moving to the south as the season changes.

Hummer time

The hummers are feeding and fighting and feeding and fighting - the Rufous have arrived and the games are on. As you might anticipate, the females often sneak in while the males are sword-fighting - love it.
Here's a couple from yesterday.

The grass has arrived!

Never thought I would want to see grass in my yard but boy is this nice!

View from the front porch

View from the driveway

More light on the land

And some chicken visitors! Our neighbors chickens have started to come over and eat bugs around the garden - very cute.
Clouds and light provided some wonderful opportunities yesterday, starting with sun on the Stansbury Mountains to late afternoon diffuse cloud light.
Enjoy!

Lightning over a neighbors house - quite a bit farther away of course.

Rainy Day

Monsoon season in Utah - such as it is. We had some very nice lightning shows last night and a fierce and intense but brief thunderstorm this afternoon. More is forecast over the next couple of days and the coolness and water are very welcome.
The mud it creates is not, but until we get grass and then handle the outlying areas it is something we have to put up with.  We were reading a brief history of the Tooele valley and adobe brick was one of the earlier products - and we can see why!  Maybe we can make some out of the mud and get something useful from it!!!
In the meantime here's a rainstorm shot and then the 'wet' dry stream bed. iPhone photos.

The garage view during the storm.  We planted the Bristlecone Pine in a place of honor at the head of the stream bed.

The dry stream bed with water in it.  The black hose is a drain off the roof on the front of the house - it gets a lot of water from the roof and puts it very nicely here.