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It is not mine and grows in the national grasslands. I haven't seen it everywhere, do the cattle eat it? Cattle are allowed to graze there.
Cattle don't eat it, but I've had mules and donkeys that like the flowers. It's kind of funny watching them stick their lips out to grab the flower head without getting poked by the spines.
 
new back door: Needs some gap filling and stuff but it's perfectly level. Needs touch-up paint on the inside and more paint on the exterior ...

I think I'd work on the steps first. Bonus points for creative use of a computer when you ran out of cinder blocks.

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I think I'd work on the steps first. Bonus points for creative use of a computer when you ran out of cinder blocks.
Oh, the computer wasn't there until today. It was inside and its in that spot because it was heavy and that was as far as I could get it with my aching back when I was clearing out all the junk blocking the door on the inside.

We used to have back steps but the people who did the siding broke them and didn't replace the even though they should have. So we've had cinderblocks for years. I want to build a landing back there.
 
Oh, the computer wasn't there until today. It was inside and its in that spot because it was heavy and that was as far as I could get it with my aching back when I was clearing out all the junk blocking the door on the inside.
Of course I was making a joke about that computer. I sure hope nobody was using it for a step!

We used to have back steps but the people who did the siding broke them and didn't replace the even though they should have. So we've had cinderblocks for years. I want to build a landing back there.
Understood. And cinder blocks might be fine for a temporary fix (if installed in a sturdy configuration). But yours are in such disrepair that they are a major hazard. I'm sure you know this already. I think it might even be safer to get rid of all the blocks. Sure, it would be hard to step down two feet. But it might actually be safer than stepping on those rickety cinder blocks that are there now. No handrail. Plenty of pretty nasty looking stuff you could get cut on or impaled on. I don't want you, your mom or your brother to fall. What you have there now is really dangerous.

This is only $99 on Amazon (and it comes in different configurations to fit what you need in height - one handrail, two handrails, three steps, two steps, etc.)

https://www.amazon.com/RV-Step-Handrails-Anti-Slip-Removable/dp/B0CK1PZSQL

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Swearing in the new Executive Board of the Society of the Fifth Division, US Army for the 2024 - 2025 term.
I’m standing center in the baby blue Wrangler shirt.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve our Society with such men.
And I am humbled that my Brothers re-elected me for another term.
 
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Swearing in the new Executive Board of the Society of the Fifth Division, US Army for the 2024 - 2025 term.
I’m standing center in the baby blue Wrangler shirt.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve our Society with such men.
And I am humbled that my Brothers re-elected me for another term.
Bunch of OUTSTANDING MEN right there
 
Of course I was making a joke about that computer. I sure hope nobody was using it for a step!


Understood. And cinder blocks might be fine for a temporary fix (if installed in a sturdy configuration). But yours are in such disrepair that they are a major hazard. I'm sure you know this already. I think it might even be safer to get rid of all the blocks. Sure, it would be hard to step down two feet. But it might actually be safer than stepping on those rickety cinder blocks that are there now. No handrail. Plenty of pretty nasty looking stuff you could get cut on or impaled on. I don't want you, your mom or your brother to fall. What you have there now is really dangerous.

This is only $99 on Amazon (and it comes in different configurations to fit what you need in height - one handrail, two handrails, three steps, two steps, etc.)

https://www.amazon.com/RV-Step-Handrails-Anti-Slip-Removable/dp/B0CK1PZSQL

View attachment 162964
Thank you! I can never tell when people are joking in text. LOL. Part of the problem for steps is that there's an uneven brick path right at the foot and its considerably higher than the rest of the ground. The ground eroded to the right of the steps-- I need to get rid of all the plants there and find some way to stop the erosion and stop stuff from growing there. Right now water flows under the house there bc it slopes toward the house. Probably have to break up the old brick path that Mr. Troy laid (he was the mean old busdriver who lived in the area). Those steps look interesting. Would have to do some work to level the ground-- maybe some concrete-- to install those, but could be worth it.

I was actually looking up how to make a cinderblock landing (planned to use rebar and concrete. Mom never even goes to that part of the house and doesn't go out that door. I'm the only one who regularly goes in to that back yard area.

Now to keep on topic: Display at Walmart deli
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Not my photos, but posted by a friend of my daughter's.
Driving to the mountains and leaf peeping is a Colorado thing. The yellow are aspens, while beautiful in the mountains, are not the best trees to plant in your yard.
Someone told me that today was one of the best days for leaf peeping.View attachment 163040 View attachment 163041
We went to the Grand Canyon back in 2002. One day we took a road trip around Mt Humphrey just east of the canyon and north of Flagstaff. The Aspen's were in full bloom. IT was quite the sight. And wouldn't you know it, I left my camera in the camper. We didn't get a single picture of them.
 
Not my photos. Photos taken this weekend on Trail Ridge Road in Colorado. It was definitely cooler in the Front Range earlier today.

Trail Ridge Road is the name for the 48-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 34 that traverses Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park, Colorado in the east to Grand Lake, Colorado in the west.

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park is usually closed for the season in mid-October. In 2023, it closed on October 18th. The road is typically open from around Memorial Day weekend until it's closed in the fall.

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I didn't take this picture, but I've been there standing on the rim over on the right side. It's Mount Longonot in the Rift Valley, Kenya. All around is dry scrub brush but inside the crater is a lush jungle. The crater is a mile across.
When you get to the rim and look down into the crater it's surreal, like finding a lost world.
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Locally my favorite weird wild plant is blooming in lawns everywhere. Saw 100's of them today as I drove down the road. It has tiny leaves in early spring, then drops the leaves. It stores the energy in it's roots and goes dormant until fall. Then a stem and strange flower appear with no leaves.

Red Spider Lily

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Locally my favorite weird wild plant is blooming in lawns everywhere. Saw 100's of them today as I drove down the road. It has tiny leaves in early spring, then drops the leaves. It stores the energy in it's roots and goes dormant until fall. Then a stem and strange flower appear with no leaves.

Red Spider Lily

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Beautiful. We have a Pink variety that bloomed last month. I'll try and throw up some pictures of them. Beautiful foilage in the winter/spring. Blooms are always a surprise when they pop up. We call them surprise lilys. I'll have to try and find some red ones. THose are really nice.
 
Locally they are only red in color. I've seen pictures of yellow ones, never seen pink ones. And yes, they are a surprise. They magically appear overnight, stay for a week then vanish again. They never appear in the same spot the next year. Never know where they'll pop up. These were in my yard, last year they were across the road on the shoulder of the highway.
 
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