24 Hours Up At The Farm - Part 1

As soon as I arrived, I took the dogs for a walk around the back of the barn. Then I let them into the house and went by myself to see the progress in the apartment. Because there was exposed insulation which their toenails would ruin, the dogs weren't allowed in there this time. I found that Rick had made much progress and it was easy to see that the place would be a pleasant living space.

I got the dogs settled and my groceries into the refrigerator. Then I went out mow the lawn, a job which takes nearly the balance of the day. There were white butterflies everywhere and I photographed this one which I later identified as a Cabbage White, Pieris rapae.

As I began mowing the edges of the lawn, I was brushing against the hay field which was filled with so many wildflowers that it seemed like a giant bouquet.

I've kept a small swath mowed from the lawn into the hayfield:

And this perky bird was following my movements, possibly watching to be sure I stayed away from her nest. She's a female Redwinged Blackbird.

And standing near the mowed swath to the south hay field, I could see the barn, the milk house and the lawn tractor. You can't see it in this picture, but the house is just to the left:

And if you look inside the barn from that open doorway you see in the photo above, this is what it looks like. I've got junk to remove, but the stanchions are in place ready for cattle. There's also box stalls well suited for horses:

And I have 3 or 4 patches of blackberries in my north lawn near the dirt road which are just beginning to ripen. I, of course, stopped to stuff some of them in my face. Furthermore, I THINK (but can't yet be sure) that I've discovered a huge fenced in patch of cultivated raspberries. I didn't see any ripe raspberries, but I'll wade in there on my next trip for a closer look.

Those are the apple trees on the left, the house and barn on the right.

Winky trots across the newly mowed lawn between the barn and the apple trees in the photo below. He's not very fast, but then I've seen X-rays of those little legs and his bones are shaped somewhat like question marks. Given those legs, he does quite well.

In the photo below, Wally and Fergus are enjoying the same stretch of lawn. To them it's not a lawn but rather a grassy toilet. Well, I suppose it's also a playground for them.