The recent weeks have brought weather reminiscent of mid-October ... Lou kept a fire burning from morning til late night through the first week of July. The flowers in the garden kind of went on hold...we still have blooms on the pink peony. The cycle for the iris and poppies is over; next up will be the return of the lilies.

It was a stellar growing season for the Turkenlouis poppie; the blooms on the yellow peony surprised us with five exquisite blossoms.

Another plant that is much the talk of our guests and visitors is the Salix Integra "Hakura nishiki":

Salix Integra "Hakura Nishiki", of the Willow family

This is a willow that we planted in the new parking area that has the most graceful weeping branches with beautiful light green foliage mottled with white and pink. More than one guest reported they were going to go home and find some to plant in their yard. Here at Burntside they are interplanted with Nine Bark Diablo and Tiger Eyes Sumac. We're grateful they survived the extremely cold winter as well as nibbling by the deer.

The loon chicks hatched on either Friday, July 3rd or Saturday the 4th. On Friday as we left the lodge at the end of the evening the calls of the loons wailing from one end of the lake to the other were mesmerizing. It was hard to leave their beautiful calls and go in to sleep. The next day, guests Nina and Dan shared the news of the birth on the 4th of July. They too, had heard their calls; we decided perhaps they were born on Friday night and the joyful parents were announcing this precious arrival to the world.

That same week, Richard Simonsen of Scottsdale, AZ was a guest at the resort. An avid photographer of loons, he captured incredible images of the first week of life for a loon. You are welcome to view the photos at his website. The Gallery is called Loons 2009 Burntside Lake . We promise you won't be disappointed.

Loon and chick photo by Richard Simonsen: http://www.richardsimonsen.com/

On Saturday evening, guests in Cabin # 4 reported watching the cross of three wolves (quite large) in front of their car just near the crossing of the Burntside River and County Rd 88. It's not been uncommon to hear and see a lone wolf; but three is out of the norm.

- Lonnie