Mid-Summer Scenes Around The Farm

These photos are a collection of shots accumulated during several weeks in the summer. This first is my tenant making friends with the dogs (with the Mock Orange bush blooming behind him). He had a curious way of befriending the dogs and they took to him wildly - all of them, even Fergus, the perennial Nervous Nelly. They bark when they see him, but they are barks of joy:

At other times, the dogs lounged about in their fenced yard:

I planted a small vegetable garden, but the summer had at this point been so cool and so wet that I didn't know if anything would grow sufficiently to harvest. Well, at least nothing had rotted in the ground yet:

The bees were having a field day in the Rugosa Roses I'd planted:

In fact, they were having themselves an orgy of pollen collection. They seemed to be drunk as they rolled around amongst the stamens:


The Elderberries were in full bloom, growing inside an old silo base:

Perhaps this year I'll get to taste some Elderberries before the birds take them all:

And speaking of taste, my cherry tree produced a bumper crop. Here I am with a bowlful of freshly picked, halved and pitted cherries - which I used in my dinner:

Summer has been luscious, quiet and serene - at least when it wasn't raining nonstop:

I walked across the road for a photo of the house and barn. You can see the Elderberries in bloom to the left of the barn:

My Amish neighbor (who I haven't met) tacked up this hand painted sign on the telephone pole by my barn. It's hanging from two horseshoes, a creative flair. I don't know if he's gotten any business, but I saw an Amish man helping another neighbor with her horses, so perhaps he has:

When the old fashioned roses and Mock Orange flowers faded, the wild Milkweeds burst into bloom. So the air was nearly always perfumed with one type of flower or another: