Garden, Cabin, and Warm Days

We have been so fortunate to have had a few weeks of warm weather and it has caused a burst of outside activities. Building a garden was one of our big accomplishments. Here is a photo of our poor car pulling a trailer with 12 two-by-sixes and 2 cubic yards of soil.

Notice the rocks behind the tires? We were only able to make it half way up our driveway until we lost traction on some loose rock and started slipping backwards. After we removed the wood for the garden boxes we were able to get the rest of the way up. And now, here is a picture of our garden (the boxes).

The ground is so rocky that digging holes to fill with dirt is almost impossible. Also having them up in boxes helps keep them warmer during the day, which this time of year is almost always.
We also spent some time at the public use cabin on the nature center trails.
Here are Nicki and Leo enjoying time outside the cabin.

Here are Nicki and Leo inside the cabin.

Leo eating toasted marshmallows.

Our friend Danny who works at the nature center came out to visit us at the cabin and brought the Alaskan hiking essentials in her purse: Bottle of wine, bear spray, and wine glass.

Back at the yurt, here is a picture of the smaller members of the family enjoying the abundant sunshine.

And finally the view from the deck of the now extremely green valley.

Landscaping, Marauding Moose, and Leo the Robot

With the snow gone we have come to realize that the bare ground around the yurt is quite unattractive. Our solution? Landscaping. We have been busy spreading grass and wildflower seed and making rock pathways. We have some plans for some flower boxes and a small vegetable garden. Here is a picture of the new rock pathway leading from the yurt deck to the shed.

We also did some more work on our fire pit to make it more permanent and better lined with rocks. Some how I manages to landscape the number 6 into our yard.

Right by the shed you can also see a sand(rock)box we made for Leo.
The leaves are returning to the trees for their short growing season. They will be all gone again by late September. Here is a picture from the deck with the greening trees and low lying fog (also a strictly summer phenomenon.)

There are a lot of moose about now. They are having a great time nibbling on the willow and alder buds. We were woken up one morning by Georgie's loud barking to find this guy hanging right outside our window.

Leo and I had to run away from one the other day while we were playing in the driveway. I was clearing brush and Leo playing in water of the culvert and a moose decided to amble on towards us. The dogs were out so after I got Leo inside I had to round up the dogs who were attempting to round up the moose.
Oh, and speaking of Leo, the rumors are true. He has officially turned into a robot.