Kids love the dogs here and the dogs love the kids. Just a couple of days ago three generations of a family stopped by after their backpacking trip and the youngest generation had a present for Feather.
A stick they had carried all the way from the lake they camped at - just for her. Which she promptly destroyed into splinters.
It is extremely gratifying to have a dog that loves children and will play with them patiently and endlessly... and to hear the excitement in a child's voice when they return here and they recognize Feather or Chance. It is like they've found gold! Gold in the form of a warm, friendly lab.
I brought some projects with me (of course) and one is completed - I put some flowers in containers and they are adorning the motel and trailers as well as dressing up the store entrance. Now I have a bigger project - the entry to the resort.
There's a great old boat that needs a garden in it. But not annuals - those are fine for color around the resort but this needs natives, perennials, things that won't require too much care and will return every year.
I'm thinking, of course, of the things that grow and bloom here. Columbine, penstemon, paintbrush, larkspur, a couple of native shrubs, maybe an aspen or two....
The USFS gets very nervous when we plant things - no invasives allowed - and I can't take from the forest what is already there. But we have a native plant nursery down the road and I think that this can be a several year project - with some drip irrigation to get it through the summer and fall - and could be really as an entrance to the resort.
It'll get a start this year, and I'll keep you posted.
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