The weather, after the solstice, is finally mostly sunny. I still cannot get over how green the Chilcotin is. The faint hint of brown in the roadside verge is not through drought, as is usual at this time of year, but because the grasses are flowering. One good thing about the rainy spring is that they and the roadside weeds (almost all introduced species) are thriving.
The wild roses are at last allowed to flower without getting beaten to death. Their scent is heavenly.
They make a perfect honeymoon suite.
After three years my rock garden is finally filling in.
The prettiest plant right now is the brown-eyed Susan, grown from seed I collected about 5 hours east and south, from a dry grassland area. It seems to like it here.
The yellow flowers below are an introduced weed, but I am so glad to have something covering the dustbowl of my yard (barren despite several plantings) I will let them be for now. Besides, the bees and butterflies love them. (Scroll back a few posts to the winter shots. What a contrast!)
A couple of weeks before the Solstice, I started finishing the yurt interior. I coated the floor, and put a small patch of tile around the stove. 
I had never tiled before, and learned how to do it, partly from a friend’s advice, and partly from this video. If you do happen to click on the link, you will notice how CLEAN the guy is. Even with this small job, I got the stuff EVERYWHERE. (Good job I put plastic on the floor.)
On solstice Monday, a volunteer arrived. With her, we finished the yurt interior. The old iron beds were scraped and repainted.
And fitted out with mattresses…
And it’s now ready for use!
Another thing Lauren helped me with was putting row-cover tents over the kale. I grow a lot to dry for winter use, and at all other times they were riddled with caterpillars – makes the job twice as long when I have to inspect every leaf. (And I’m sure I’ve eaten many caterpillars!)
The garden looks funky – but the kale looks so happy inside! (Collards in front.) Unfortunately, Lauren will have left by the time I will dry the first batch. A tedious job!
The other recent local event of note is the installation of the solar panels and other hardware on our new Internet tower. It won’t be in use for a good while yet as the booster tower at Tatla needs lengthening, which involves taking what’s there apart and replacing it, and our tower needs heavy batteries, which will need to be helicoptered in. But the progress is exciting. (This picture is taken with a very big zoom from my house.)
Gardens and yurt look amazing! Oh, the progress you’ve made. Bet you are tempted to live in the yurt ,some, yourself? I would!
And the flowers on previous post, what a show, and how they do grow amidst rocks and snow. Here, in the middle of NC there are a few late blooming azaleas, which is amazing
As the temp is in the 90’s now. Crepe myrtles must like the heat- they are at their July peak beautiful, pinks and white.
Weeds get a bad name,some very pretty. Once I was eating broccoli and I looked down into my plate and there was this big curly thing and on closer inspection it was a big green curled up like caterpillar,oh no I exclaimed to my friend, oh no tell me I didn’t eat one already. My friend Laura laughed and in her way of thinking if I didn’t see that;Big ugly green caterpillar, I may have already eaten one.Noooooooo way I said. I reminded her that she also was eating the broccoli, and the look on her face. Ah, ya shoes on the other foot now I said Every time I eat broccoli I remember that big green thing in my plate . Your greens in your garden’s look great.