Around The Farm In November

November rolled across the north country with cold nights, brisk winds and gray skies. The pigeons didn't want to go outdoors anymore but the chickens continued to enjoy even the rainy weather. In the late afternoons, I drop the "hanging bobs," which allow them to enter the barn but not to exit:

 The horses and cattle grew thick coats and seemed not to mind the cold, windy weather much at all:

 One morning I came out to do the chores and noticed a row of mountains in the background, an odd thing since there are no mountains here:


 The mountains continued across the southern horizon and were, of course, really clouds. But it was an awesome sight, and all the more so because I have lived in places which did have such mountains on the horizon:

 The windfall apples slowed and finally came to an end. The herd enjoyed them as long as they could get them:

 When all the red apples were gone, I still had a tree with yellow apples clinging to the branches. I got several buckets of drops after a big wind storm, but there are still hundreds of apples in the top of the tree which may stay there through the winter. These apples, though small, look and taste like Yellow Delicious:

 

 Eating the last bucket of yellow apples:

 The six little Easter Egger bantams tend to separate into their own little flock as soon as they are outside. The eight Barred Rock bantams then move off as another separate flock:

 But occasionally they all hang out together. This picture got all six of the Easter Eggers and all eight of the Barred Rocks. Some of the neighbors' livestock can be seen in the background across the road:


 I emptied a bag of feed into the bin in the pigeon room but when I came back later, I found this bird with the string from the bag wound around its legs. It took some work and a knife to extricate the bird. I'll be more careful in the future:

I took this photo from my upstairs bathroom window. It is the neighbors' barn, field and livestock, with a cornfield to the left and forest in the background. It's wonderful to live in such a scenic place: