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new window email more print opens in new window print share on telegram opens in new window telegram share on x opens in new window x like this like loading nature friday and a big birthday july 31 2026 july 31 2026 tails around the ranch 65 comments happy 150th birthday colorado welcome to this week s episode of nature friday were we join our pals from adventures of the llb gang don t forget to check out what bits of nature have been shared by others wilson here today s post will strictly be only me mum is tired and is for history buffs as well as nature lovers as we celebrate our state s 150th birthday colorado became the 38th state in august 1 1876 having been a territory from 1861 at the western entrance to the capitol building carved into the 15th step is the inscription one mile above sea level which explains denver s mile high city moniker later is was determined that marker was off due to inaccurate measuring techniques at the time now a brass medallion with a silhouette of the rocky mountains rests at the 13th step which is exactly at the one mile high mark the capitol opened in 1894 and in 1908 the dome was covered with 200 ounces of 24 karat gold leaf to acknowledge the state s gold rush days honoring all those who helped build and settle colorado it was reguilded in 1949 1980 1991 and 2013 designed by architect elijah e myers in a neoclassical design the capitol was built using colorado white granite in the 1890 s opening in 1894 with copious amounts of rare colorado rose onyx marble inside with the main entrance hall open to the top of the dome and as tall as an 18 story building the building is listed on the national register of historic places and is part of denver s civic center area across the street from city hall looking up into the in the interior of the capitol dome showing some of the rose quartz pillars from the center hall colorado is well known for it s purple mountain majesty according to the colorado geological survey colorado has 58 named summits over 14 000 feet here are a few of them that we ve visited over the years probably the most famous of our 14 ers is pikes peak you can read more about about how it inspired the writing of america the beautiful by katherine lee bates here photo courtesy of paul ehlis davos trail near vail glenwood springs here is another photo showcasing colorado nature is our state flower the blue columbine from the nederland area well that s it for me this week sorry we re a bit short on content today it s been a busy week hopefully you enjoyed slices of nature from around our state on its 150th birthday next time mum will join us in sharing slices of nature we hope you all have a terrific weekend and manage to get outside to experience nature in person oh and for those interested in where we re at in the summer countdown there are 53 days left until autumn mum is jonesing to drag out her sweaters i told her just to let me lay on top of her but she nixed that idea straight away saying i didn t come with buttons not sure what she means by that but talk about rude live love bark sharing is caring share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on facebook opens in new window facebook email a link to a friend opens in new window email more print opens in new window print share on telegram opens in new window telegram share on x opens in new window x like this like loading monday musings july 27 2026 july 27 2026 tails around the ranch 55 comments happy monday troops hope you had a lovely weekend hard to believe we ve reached the last week in july for us we re just hanging on and ticking off the days until autumn arrives which for those keeping track of these kinds of monumental happenings is scheduled to land in 57 days i know there are a lot of you groaning that summer will be leaving to soon but for some of us it can t happen soon enough between smoke and evacuations from wildfires to temperatures in the stratosphere we re looking forward to a change but don t start to worry yet that s not happening today and you still have time to enjoy what s left of the season so let s start this week with a smile shall we we hope your coffee takes pity on you and you enjoy a miracle or two with lots of smiles this week happy monday live love bark sharing is caring share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on facebook opens in new window facebook email a link to a friend opens in new window email more print opens in new window print share on telegram opens in new window telegram share on x opens in new window x like this like loading nature friday july 24 2026 july 24 2026 tails around the ranch 60 comments ceud mìle fàilte everyone if i m not mistaken and please correct me if i m wrong i believe that means a hundred thousand welcomes before i get to our featured post i just want to thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes i had a great day and mum agreed with me that the celebration should continue through the end of the month we both feel like celebrating a birthday shouldn t be limited to just one day still wondering why we didn t start at the beginning of the month but glad for the 11 days of additional merrymaking and treats wilson why you ask did i open with a scottish expression well this last weekend the sheepdog rescue participated at a local celtic festival and today s pics are all from that festival it was a hot day in elizabeth colorado approximately 60 miles southeast from our house but mum was up for helping out with other volunteers for our first celtic festival participation and what a fun one it was but as we typically do we are joining those pups from adventures of the llb gang for their weekly blog hop wilson while i didn t attend in person my breed heritage was with everyone in spirit we had a couple of old english sheepdog ambassadors who attracted a steady stream of visitors who stopped by our tent who wouldn t want to pet this cutie hadley gave kisses to a visitor the mum it was a fun event and while it was hot we had a nice tented area providing shade which made it seem cooler when i arrived for my shift i was greeted by a bag pipe and drum parade it was such fun to hear and watch them perform my latent scottish dna smiled at their precision and enthusiasm young and old all looked like they were having a great time displaying clan banners and marching to the pipes wilson bet you d never seen so many kilts have you mum the mum nope sure hadn t but everyone seemed to enjoy it and everyone was very friendly one visitor told me this celtic festival has been going on for the past 20 years i could only wonder how i d missed it i knew about the big one in estes park that will happen in september but had never heard about this one wilson are you planning on attending that one since the rescue has signed up to participate the mum not sure yet it s a bit of a drive and i m not sure i want you to be left alone all day we ll see wilson i know you spent some time checking out some of the 4 legged attendees while you were there just look at this array of scottish highland cows scottish highland cow she was a big one one very cute baby cow the mum those cows were huge and the owner told me their meat is renowned for being exceptionally lean around 90 quite tender and very flavorful often boasting lower fat and cholesterol levels and higher protein than many conventional commercial beef breeds they are a hearty breed as well wilson what s with these creatures alpaca llama donkeys the mum you know me i just love taking photos of critters it was great fun seeing all these guys at the festival it was such fun hearing the llamas making their humming sounds they re so cute i even saw a scottish deerhound but that fellow never did get up from his nap and i checked on him a few times i think he was just a bit overwhelmed since his tent as on the end where all the rescues were located and right next to some noisy st bernards this fella knew just how to deal with the heat deerhounds are similarly sized to greyhounds but are larger and more heavily boned with a rough coat they were bred to hunt deer and are similar to but a bit smaller than irish wolfhounds and are a majestic breed scottish deerhound wilson say didn t your daughter consider getting one of those guys before settling on irish wolfhounds the mum yes i think they did consider them but ended up with the wolfhound and have raised several wolfhounds since seeing them at the estes park celtic festival many years ago wilson sounds like quite the day enjoying all things celtic glad it was a fun event mum also i m grateful i didn t have to go not sure i d be all that keen listening to bagpipes and dealing with all the rescue dogs near the tent but you guys deserve kudos for getting the word out about the sheepdog rescue and for selling a few things to benefit the rescue you met a lot of people who were interested in the two dogs in foster care so that s a good thing all and all great job mum and what fun animal pics you managed to capture well that s it from us stay cool if you can but keep your eyes open for opportunities to check out slices of nature we hope you have a wonderful weekend slán goodbye live love bark sharing is caring share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on facebook opens in new window facebook email a link to a friend opens in new window email more print opens in new window print share on telegram opens in new window telegram share on x opens in new window x like this like loading monday musings july 20 2026 july 20 2026 tails around the ranch 86 comments welcome to monday and a big monday it is eight years ago this fluffy boy entered the world to create good old fashioned chaos and cuddles happy barkday house pony how about a photo to comemerate the occasion ok let s try this again knucklehead let s shoot for more of a all right mr demille i m ready for my closeup kind of photo okay ahhh that s better hope you have a fantastic day sweet boy even though it s wilson s birthday we still need to start the week out with a smile we hope your monday is totally wonderful here s to doing diddly squat live love bark sharing is caring share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on facebook opens in new window facebook email a link to a friend opens in new window email more print opens in new window print share on telegram opens in new window telegram share on x opens in new window x like this like loading nature friday july 17 2026 july 17 2026 tails around the ranch 55 comments well well well we ve reached another friday and are that much closer to our favorite season autumn which for those seeking a smattering of hope is 68 days happy friday peeps wilson here there are no words to describe what we ve endured so for the benefit of tom of reiko s journey who s clearly exhausted about our whinging about the hot temps we shan t say another word about it and just let the screenshot speak for itself and because it s friday we re joining rosy and sunny from adventures of the llb gang be sure to check their blog hop to see what other have shared from nature we ve had a hectic week which will continue through the weekend but we managed to find a few slices of nature on our early morning walks wilson imagine my shock while i m walking along nicely with mum in the early morning houses totally in the zone as we crossed one of four bridges along the ralston creek trail and out of the corner of my eye a creature much larger than me stotted from under the bridge and bounced off like tigger i was stunned the deer was stunned and mum was stunned luckily she managed to actually put aside her surprise and wonder and quickly pulled out her cell phone to capture a few shots the mum wasn t that encounter something else i m not sure which of us jumped higher with surprise wilson you re not wrong about that that s a mule deer an indigenous breed of deer found in the western united states and particularly in the great plains they received their name based on the size of those large ears although more than capable of running away from perceived predators mule deer most often are seen stotting where they spring into the air lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously a common trait of quadrupeds people who live in areas where these deer can be found often refer to them as rats with hooves they graze on trees and flowers in suburban communities much to homeowners dismay the mum it was an exciting few minutes to watch this doe bounce around the landscape all the while keeping on eye of our presence on the path she was alone and not taking any chances wilson maybe we ll run into her again i ll keep my eyes and nose at the ready oh that s your cue to keep your phone handy better yet maybe bring your big camera with you more often you missed another opportunity to capture two blue heron as three white egrets this morning they took off before you could snap their pics the mum well in my defense they were behind a metal fence which i couldn t quite crop out of the frame and when i tried to move closer they took flight and not seeing anything while having to lug a heavy camera doesn t make for a fun walk wilson oh sure blame them for your inability to quickly take a pic i guess if it makes you feel better think the mum whoa lighten up there house pony encounters with wildlife isn t always going to result in some award winning photo wilson well in this case it resulted in no photo award winning or otherwise the mum ahem got any other pics to share mr critical wilson well we ve been seeing these plants called dipsacus for a while now commonly known as teasel these tall herbaceous biennial plants have been popping up along the creek and canal they re anywhere from 3 to 8 feet tall 1 2 5 meters with prickly stems and leaves with purple dark pink lavender or white flowers that form a head on the end of the stems they are considered invasive in the u s despite the seeds being a good winter food source for many bird populations teasels have been used since roman times to comb the nap of wool along the canal the mum lucky for us we won t be getting close to those stickers i don t want to be picking those out of my socks or your legs wilson appreciate that mum so what s the story about this tree it sure is pretty the mum oooh i m glad you asked i love this maple tree known as a tatar maple it s somewhat smallish tree shrub that grows to anywhere from 13 39 ft 4 12 m possessing a short trunk with slender branches the bark is thin pale brown and smooth at first but becomes slightly fissured as the plant ages it produces green leaves but the real beauty of these trees is the fruit called samaras with a beautiful rosy red color which matures in late summer and will last until early autumn those samaras will quiver on a slightest breeze and add even more visual interest to the landscape wilson nice capture before the smoke began to fill the skies with haze mum speaking of smoke filled skies the a...