The Days Of The Shadbush - A Farm Update

My neighbor took this photo from his house across the road one foggy morning, of my cattle in the south field. I'm now hoping for another such fog so I can walk out and get some misty close-ups of the cattle. That sort of fog only seems to happen in the north field, though, so I'll lose my chance in another week or so when I move the cows back across the road:

The cattle liked the warm weather and they enjoyed the grass in the north field. The increased flies, however, they have not been so happy about. But so far at least, they haven't been biting flies, just the annoying kind which cluster on their faces:

The Fantail Pigeons have continued to stay indoors despite the big, open window they have each day:

They also have not been raising any babies. Maybe all the failed attempts during the winter wore them out:


Gracie was due in 20 days at the time I took this photo. Her udder was already swollen with milk and looked painful. Her belly was similarly swollen. Luckily, her sweet nature remained intact:

Then one day I noticed white sprinkles in the trees behind the cattle, and I knew that the Shadbush were beginning to bloom:

And bloom they did. Clearly, the horrible winter we'd just lived through had not set them back:

All along every roadside and scattered throughout every woodland were Shadbush, blooming profusely:

I bought two red Azaleas half price at Home Depot and planted them in the front yard. They both had plenty of buds so I am hoping to see flowers any day now:

The Shadbush at the edge of the north field blossomed fully and I began looking for nice ways to photograph the cattle with the Shadbush in the background. This picture was taken on my side lawn, standing beneath the Eastern White Cedar, and looking across the dirt road to the north field. That yellow square, by the way, is an "Electric Fence" sign, hanging from a fence wire:

Violet is my least friendly cow but she likes me enough to watch me from a short distance. In this case, she looked quite striking, standing in front of the white Shadbush flowers and white Birch trunks at the edge of the field:

I continued to give the cattle bowls of grain each morning, though it's a bit more tricky when they're not in stalls. In this case, Gracie (note the giant udder) and 9 month old Rosella were wrestling over a bowl of grain: