A yellow iris with rusty-veined falls blooms against a stone wall backdrop

First iris popping!

I was but a fleeting, 6yr Minnesotan, but now I have Karl Ove Knausgård on my reading list, and herring in my belly!

Given my propensity to purchase Olsen herring on a sudden urgent craving & standing at the kitchen counter consuming it til I feel slightly ill…
Hell yeah, gimme that bucket!

A woodstove shrouded in shadow with a brightly-burning fire visible through its tempered glass door. This fire is primarily spruce and pine, lit on the coals of a half-round of oak burned overnight. I’ll let this burn hot and fast to clear any buildup before putting in aspen and damping down. Oaks grow at lower elevations surrounding the Black Hills, but our main sources of heat are pine & aspen.

The power of a chunk of oak for overnight.
Sure makes the morning warmth come faster!

Second shingles shot!
Fully covered now.
Totally worth the, OMG I hurt all over

Neighborhood peacock drove me nuts when my son was a baby.
Those cries would have me running to the bassinet only to realize it was the dang bird.

Hope you start feeling better soon!

A mixed grassy woodland with Ponderosa pine, Black Hills (white) spruce, and common juniper the predominate woody species. And orange pack hangs from the lower branches of a mature Ponderosa and a small yellow electric chainsaw sits on the ground below.

A small, perennial stream flows through a grassy montane meadow ringed by Black Hills spruce and pine.

Long weekend on the timber and first camping of the season.

Thinning pine saplings along our western fence line w/ USFS, where a past MPB outbreak resulted in tons of debris on the ground alongside an ATV trail, increasing fire risk.

Appreciate working by a big old Ponderosa to hold my pack!

This is exactly exactly exactly what I picked up on reading the CNN article.
Sure seems to be a pattern there

If it’s Smuckers, it’s got to be good?

An open woodland & grassy pasture predominantly Ponderosa pine with some Black Hills (white) spruce and common juniper. There are piles of bucked & blocked logs and fluffy piles of pine slash on the ground.

Late afternoon on the thinning project. Met with a fencing crew & grazing lessee. Feels like progress!
It’s getting warm enough that we are planning camp nights as temperatures permit.

A couple weeks ago, I re-enrolled in one of those other social media places to keep tabs on local public safety (wildfire) updates & maybe use marketplace.
Despite a tame engagement schedule, I have been adjudicated Not A Real Person™️, in violation of inscrutable standards, and kicked back off 🤷🏼‍♀️

Elevated feet in dark brown suede slip-on shoes at the end of blue jean clad legs. Below them is a yellowed pine floor.

Sure, I could’ve used my rewards for a smartwatch or some fancy gear.
But now I have old lady feet that need hobbit shoes, so hobbit shoes it is!
#PlantarFasciitisSucks #CuteShoes

Amazing hack: replace the old, flattened out insoles in your shoes with fancy new cushiony ones.
Preferably *before* it hurts to walk.
Follow me for more obvious lifestyle tips!

Some days organizing is a crushing, “hey folks, can we stop undermining each other & fighting over scarce resources?”
And some days, it’s, “I’m gonna quit chasing this rumor, put my headphones in, and go bake a cake.”
Today was both those days.
Experience tells me tomorrow will be better🔥🙌🏼❤️

Owamni Is Changing Its Name Ahead of its big move to the Guthrie Theater, chef Sean Sherman's celebrated Indigenous restaurant is taking on a whole new name for its next chapter.

the main reason I get scoops at this point is because subjects have enough experience with other media who miss the point so they'd rather be written about by someone who really gets them. then a lot of readers just read the headline so 🤷‍♀️

mspmag.com/eat-and-drin...

Iran Imposes New ‘Cash, Grass, Or Ass’ Fee For Strait Of Hormuz

Iran Imposes New ‘Cash, Grass, Or Ass’ Fee For Strait Of Hormuz

This “Good” Friday is really not living up to its hype, IMO

Forest Service to move HQ out of DC, shutter regional offices in sweeping overhaul Employees react with tears, warn of brain drain and call the changes "a pointless exercise."

The Forest Service is relocating HQ, shuttering regional offices, and closing dozens of research stations. This is Project 2025 ideology masquerading as efficiency: disrupt the science, hollow out the institution, and call it reform. And no one asked for it.

www.govexec.com/management/2...

Good luck! Trivia: I used to have a sweet lil house on Forest Ave. I painted it sherbet orange. 🥰

Called the forester we work w/ last Friday, & today he texted some ideas & apologized he couldn’t call but is off fishing in Montana

Of course I made a Norm Maclean reference, & HE GOT IT, laughed, & of course has been fishing there since before a river ran through it

<Sigh>He’s wonderful

My goodness look at all that chicken!!!😍

So much this. High school/ junior high science teachers were such a mix too. I had brilliant ones that inspired & encouraged me to level up—into classes w/ tired &/or pervy jerks.
As an adult I’ve found Master Naturalist programs & science-adjacent work fascinating, but always wonder what if…

Terrible that reference exists, but kudos to your son. History grads FTW!
And, also, Union Carbide did all the bad things in so many places (including illegal uranium mining in SW SoDak)

A map of a forested area with a highlighted and shaded property boundary. The boundary line appears as a stylized crested or horned bird or dragon’s head with a long neck.

When we tell people our lil timber & range operation is called “Dragonhead,” we often get a bit of 🙄👀😏
And then maybe they see the map. And then they go, 😯🐉🙂

I was gonna say! But you said.
Nice work 🫡

Glory of the lowering sun on a Black Hills pasture/timber operation with dried brown native grasses & forbs and Ponderosa pine

Glory of my last year birthday gift socks from NDN Collective. They say “Landback” on the toes. I’m putting my feet up because my one foot started hurting while I was walking a few miles today. In the background is an old mellow gold pine floor

Up working on land stewardship today (aka thinning pine & spruce) & meeting w/ a potential grazing partner who seems to “get it” about our water & land protection goals.
Hope it works out!
But I walked a lot & toward the end had a sudden pain in my foot, so resting it & thinking on a good good day.

Everyone needs to stop what they’re doing and watch this video.

“It seems like there’s a lack of diversity here today, and it’s mostly people who look like you and me, and I just…?”

This lady’s response is🔥

Oh dang! Miss that album.