Around The Farm - Part 1

Things have been happening rapidly around here, to the point where I've begun to look forward to the inactivity of winter. But it's also been beautiful, especially when the Rose Mallows bloomed:

The geese began moving quite early this year. This particular skein was headed north, but the important thing is that they were grouping up and starting to travel:

The fantail pigeons have been doing well. I cleaned out their room after the baby chicks were permanently out of there and the pigeons seemed grateful:

The pigeons still hang out with the chicks, but on their own terms:

The eight remaining Barred Rock bantam hens have been pecking holes in the windfall apples as fast as they fall to the ground:

I've got a very large toad living in the barn, apparently living off of crickets. I saw him every morning when I turned on the lights for awhile, but then I didn't see him any more:

I ring a cowbell to call the cattle and horses in for grain each morning. It's a beautiful time:

I've been trying to always notice the skies. They are ever changing, always beautiful:

Great white clouds over a corn field:

Blue-bottomed clouds, moving across the sky and passing over silos:

The neighbor asked me to visit and see her new lamb. I also got to see this year's wool crop:

Most lambs are born in the spring, but this one was late. And its mother had suffered from a prolapsed uterus with each of the two previous lambs, so this one was a special blessing, a sign that she may be just fine from here on: