Notes From All Over

The fantail pigeons and chickens have been enjoying our beautiful weather. One hen disappeared, however, and I never found out what happened to her:

 The other chickens continued to spend all day, every day, picking and scratching, searching for edibles:

 I have three bait stations for mice in the barn, but I keep them under plastic "cages" so the livestock can't get at the pellets. I even added a rock atop each one for added safety. Any mouse has to be small enough to get through those small openings to eat the pellets. It's a good thing I don't have big rats (I hope):

 I returned to a local roadside which has an explosion of white Trilliums every year and it didn't disappoint me this year. It was quite a display:

 

 They are a beautiful wildflower, often living for 50 years or more. I puzzled over the pink ones but finally decided that they turned pink as they aged, just before the petals fell to the ground:

 These are Large-Flowered Trillium, Trillium grandiflorum:

Even a bit of roadside trash couldn't diminish their beauty. In fact, I thought it made for an artistic arrangement:

 Like so many flowers this year, the "Prairie Rose" Flowering Crab bloomed late and sparsely. Furthermore, its bud stage, usually the best part, was almost nonexistent, the flowers opening quickly:

 I photographed them while I had the chance. I knew they wouldn't last for long:

 But the old fashioned Lilacs did not disappoint:

 As beautiful as ever, and their fragrance filled the air:

 Every old farm should have an abundance of Lilacs. They are super hardy, able to withstand the harshest winters, and require no care whatsoever: