A Farm Update

So much has been happening that it's been difficult to keep this blog up to date. The lilacs are long gone now, but this photo from last month was so lovely that I wanted to show it to you:

And the chickens continued to roam freely with (so far) no more losses:

I let the dogs out one morning at dawn and photographed this sunrise in the eastern sky. Despite the old adage, however, the day was very nice:

One morning I saw what appeared to be a coyote in the field and, when it didn't run away, became concerned. I kept an eye on it and became even more concerned when it began coming closer. But it turned out to be a neighbors' dog, a very well behaved dog, so I relaxed. Nevertheless, I delayed letting the chickens out for the day. Even a very good dog might succumb to temptation:

The first two baby fantail pigeons of the season left the nest and were growing rapidly:

Their parents continued to feed and care for them, even after their squabs hit the floor:

But while they were still in the nest, I got this video of Mom delivering a breakfast of pigeon milk. She got nervous with me filming her, though, and you can see the babies pick up on her cue and quiet down, turning their backs on me:



One day after giving the cows grain, I managed to trap Rosella and Gladys inside the barn without the big girls. I called the neighbors to come help me tattoo Gladys' ears and give her an ear tag. He and his wife wrestled her down and held her still while I performed the operations and their three boys watched. Afterwards, I got a family photo. The two boys holding their noses were making an editorial comment about the smell of cow manure in my barn. That's Rosella and Gladys in the background:

Baby apples began appearing:

And baby pears, some of them even showing a reddish glow:

The chickens grew fat and healthy on summer grasses and bugs:

And both the purple and yellow Iris bloomed simultaneously. Usually the two colors bloom at different times, but this year we plunged directly from winter to summer and everything had to make adjustments: