Around The Farm In August

There's so much happening around the farm this summer that I often have more photos than I can post. Here's a few from summer in the north country, beginning with the chickens who invade the barn at every opportunity. They're looking for spilled cattle grain and hay seeds. They also like to nest atop the bales of hay, laying eggs there if given half a chance. I wouldn't mind so much, except that they leave a trail of chicken poop behind them:

But they're pleasant and scenic outside on the lawn, where their poop is a welcome fertilizer:

The dogs have never shown any inclination to hurt them, but they sure do watch them. In this case, though, the dogs couldn't even be bothered to leave the ramp. They just lay there and watched from a distance:

For their part, the little bantam hens cover every inch of the yard, snatching up bugs and greens in a never ending search for food:

And inside the barn, I discovered a new baby fantail pigeon:

The first baby has quickly grown to full size and is now, in fact, hard to tell from the older birds:

The pigeons and baby chicks get along famously, with the pigeons often getting down on the floor to fraternize:

I've spent a lot of time walking the south field, looking for the calf. But that has resulted in my getting a closer look at the wildflowers which live there. This beauty is Purple Fringed Orchis, a wild orchid which I've seen in books but never before in real life. This summer, the south field was full of them:

And Goldenrod, the bane of my existence because the cows despise it, allowing it to grow unchecked while they eat everything else:

This beauty was another new wildflower to me, which I had to look up. It is Meadowsweet, a member of the rose family:

Do you remember that rose cutting I tried to grow by poking it into the ground and upending a jar over it? I kept it watered, but thought the summer heat had killed it:

But finally I pulled up the jar to take a look. Indeed, there was a healthy young rose plant growing. This jar technique, I'd read, was how the pioneers transplanted cuttings from their favorite roses as they moved west: