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NASA just released the first deep-sky image from the Webb Telescope, and it’s a stunner.

Look at all the galaxies! It’s amazing to think that as we look at the night sky and see countless points of light, those aren’t just stars. Most of them are actually hundreds of billions of stars organized into galaxies. Awesome.

This is the time of year when many of the local farms are raising rapeseed. The flowers are a brilliant yellow, and look amazing as they stretch for acres. As we were driving home today, I saw not only the yellow fields but a towering thunderhead building in the distance.

Although the name sounds unfortunate, rapa is Latin for “turnip” and is the base for rapeseed.

Our cherry orchard has aphids.

I didn’t think they were a huge deal, but looking at the trees “infected” with aphids, it turns out they are. They cover the leaves in some cases, and their sheer numbers can cause serious damage to the trees. On the advice of a few people, I bought some ladybugs.

Three thousand of them.

They come in bags of (apparently) 750 ladybugs each. I didn’t count them. It was kind of fun to watch these little bugs scurry around inside their bags, just waiting for some juicy aphids to munch on.

I spread some around the bases of the trees…

… And sprinkled others on the leaves directly.

I have no idea what to expect from these little guys; will they take care of the aphids within days? Are 3,000 of them enough?

These two need to stop chattering and get to work:

I feel like every few months, we have some crazy new adventure at our house. From chainsaws to raking gravel to v-bar chains, it’s anyone’s guess what disaster will befall us next and require us to learn some new Montana skill.

Step one: let the clover grow out of control, until it’s so bad you can’t ignore it any more.

Step two: spray the patches of clover with a solution of vinegar and dish soap, which supposedly kills it.

Step three: observe how the vinegar indeed killed the clover… but also all the grass around it.

Grrrr.

Tonight’s forecast calls for “severe thunderstorms” and even though it’s been a beautiful day, the thunderheads are building in the west…

To celebrate Independence Day today, we headed downtown to the annual Fourth of July parade.

It wasn’t the most impressive parade I’ve seen, but it was still a good time. After the last classic car and Congressional candidate had passed us, we headed over to our friend George’s office for a barbeque. There were probably thirty people there, none of whom we knew (other than George, of course). Still, they were friendly and energetic and we had fun. Happy Fourth!

During Mom and Dad’s visit, there were a couple of beautiful summer nights where the stars shone in all their brilliance. The moon was new, so once the sun had (finally) set, after a while everything went to black. I snapped a few photos.

Here the Big Dipper almost gets lost in all the other stars. The lights on the horizon are what’s left of daylight (at eight minutes after midnight!) with some of the glow of Kalispell far to the north.

And here’s our house, with the Milky Way spanning the sky overhead.

This sort of view makes me feel very, very small.

Although we couldn’t attend the wedding of our friend Courtney (who I’ve known since she was a little girl), I saw this photo from her wedding. What a great shot of her and her dad. Congratulations, Court!

After an aborted visit last summer (I’m looking at you, covid), we had another chance to hang out with Mom and Dad in Montana. They’d been visiting Thom and Katie for a few days, and the whole troupe drove east to be with us. We had a fabulous time, although I didn’t take as many photos as I probably should have.

On our first evening together we all enjoyed the late sunset. Here’s Julian at a little after 9:30 at night!

Sefton was learning to spell words, and I guess Hadley wanted to get a head start on her education as well.

The next day we hit the water. It was a beautiful sunny day, and as it turned out, the hottest day of their visit. Good timing.

Mom and Dad hadn’t been on jet skis before, so of course they called dibs on the first ride.

Mom sure doesn’t drive like a grandma! (Err, great-grandma) She had a blast zipping over the waves, and was quickly very comfortable with some speed and turns. Katie and Sefton took their first ride as well. Can you tell Sefton was excited?

Meanwhile, I was on shore with Hadley. She was still a little weirded out by an uncle she doesn’t quite remember.

Although Thom claimed to be a little wary of the water, it was only a little while later that he was cruising at 40mph on the lake…

The weather was amazing, but the water temperature was still around 50 degrees (maybe 55 on the surface during the heat of the day?). I seem to remember the water being warmer in late June in past years, but oh well. We just made sure not to fall in too often.

Naturally we had the kayaks and paddleboards out as well, and everyone took turns exploring the bay. Here’s Thom pretending to fall off (?) as Sefton laughs at his strange dad.

We were treated to some gorgeous sunsets, and as tradition dictates, I had to snap a few photos of them.

On their last night here, Sefton declared to everyone that it would probably be a good idea to have a “sunset jet ski ride”. It’s hard to argue with a five-year-old who’s fallen in love with jet skiing, so we loaded up and went out. The sunset and clouds were beautiful.

After dark fell and the bay was closed to visitors, Sefton decided we all needed some ice cream. He even drew a sign declaring the “ice cream shop open”, and helped dish up a few bowls of the good stuff.

Thom and Katie and their kids packed up and went back to Wenatchee, but Dad, Mom, and Julian stayed a few more days. We decided to hike Holland Lake on another picture-perfect day.

The view from the top was amazing, as always.

The days went by too fast, it seemed, and it was time for them to head back home. Another family get-together for the books!

Behind our house we have a huge crop of daisies growing. We didn’t plant them, though, so maybe they’re weeds? Regardless, they look pretty cool.