A Fine June Day On The Farm

I arrived up at the farm Sunday mid-day and the dogs were happy to run around, stretch their legs, sniff everything and pee nearly everywhere. There's 3 tiny kittens living somewhere in the barn but they won't let me get near them. They're awfully cute, though. It was evident they came up onto my porch to play during the night as they'd taken a coil of clothesline and pulled it down the stairs into the driveway. Anyway, the Lesser Stitchwort of former weeks is now being replaced by Bedstraw, Galium sp as the "Baby's Breath of the Hayfield." It's everywhere, including the photo above.

And the various clovers are side by side with the yellow flowered Birdsfoot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, an alien legume which can be found almost everywhere, from the sides of city streets to hay fields far off in the hinterlands.

There's still Canadian Tiger Swallowtails flitting about the flowers and they are lovely.

And another view of the same butterfly in my hay field. The undersides of the wing are more pale than the brilliant yellow upper wing surfaces.

Hop Clover, Trifolium agrarium, a yellow flowered alien, is currently in full bloom.

A friend who saw my photo of Blue Flag alongside Mountain Pond dug up some in her back yard and gave it to me to plant up at the farm. I put it in the new garden next to the house where the Roses are floundering and the Columbine never even began. Blue Flag is a native Iris which should be right at home here. Thanks, Mary Ellen.

Casey on the newly mowed lawn. Some of the other dogs are back under the apple trees.

The barn. It needs a new door at each end, new windows, and much more - but it's spacious and serviceable.

I discovered one of my favorites, Butter-And-Eggs, growing with the Bedstraw alongside the barn's milk room. It's scientific name is Linaria vulgaris, and it's an alien import which you can clearly see is a member of the Snapdragon Family. I think it's one of the most descriptively named flowers.

Wally and Casey doing their business.

Fergus smells the kittens hiding in the barn but they won't let themselves be seen by him.

Wren and Winky, a pair of buddies who go their own way at their own speed.

This small orange butterfly was flitting around in large numbers in the hay field. I looked it up when I got home and think it's the Least Skipper, Ancyloxypha numitor.

And of course Cinquefoil. I'm not sure which species, but I think it's Rough Fruited Cinquefoil, Potentilla recta.

And for the final picture of the day, I present to you the two youngsters, Seamus and Fergus. Can you see the mischief in Fergus' face?