News From Around The Farm

As summer began to show signs of turning into autumn, the herd continued to live peacefully:

The summer had rained so much that the herd drank little water from the stock tank, apparently drinking from puddles in the field and/or getting most of what they needed from eating the wet grass. As things dried up, they began coming in to the stock tank more often:

Mostly, though, it was a quiet and peaceful life for Teddy and his harem of red cows:

But then it was time for Teddy to be moved to a new herd of cows who needed to be bred. Teddy's owner arrived and set up gates to channel him into the stock trailer. He dumped out some grain to lure him in:

Teddy was happy to eat the first pile of grain, but he knew full well that we were trying to trick him and refused to be fooled by our devious schemes. We dumped out more grain and also a bucket full of apples, all to no avail:

Finally the crowd of onlookers all went home and left Teddy's owner alone with him. It took nearly an hour, but Teddy finally stepped up into the stock trailer. His next herd was right across the road, so he didn't have far to travel. Assuming my cows are now pregnant, they should calve in April and May. I still have two cows, however, who might possibly have been already pregnant when Teddy arrived. If so, they are due in October and January. Time will tell:

Blue and Remy live charmed lives, with nothing much to do but eat, sleep and play. I gave them windfall apples a few times but then quit, figuring that all my animals were already too fat:

 Blue looked pretty spiffy, standing beneath the Box Elder tree:

Another pair of fantail pigeons has a baby. It is growing rapidly and looks exceedingly healthy and robust:

 And the Rose Mallow plants began to bud. The buds were bigger than any other plants I know of:

 And the flowers themselves were record breakers, easily 12" across - and maybe more:

 I began finding tiny tree frogs everywhere, including one in the house (which I put back outside). I got this one to hold still long enough for a photo and managed to identify him (by the X on his back) as a Spring Peeper. While doing so, I learned that Spring Peepers only live in the eastern half of the U.S. I would miss them if I ever moved out west: