Around The Farm As Autumn Turns Colder

A second red Dolly Madison hybrid lily burst into bloom just as the weather turned cold. I cut the stem and took the last flowers to church one Sunday:

 And I mixed the red lilies with golden leaves from the Peonies, which put on a second colorful show every October:

 One of the two Ninebark seedlings grew like crazy this year, showing a great ability to outdo the weeds. I think it will be a beautiful, large shrub in the future:

 The second Ninebark seedling, however, grew very little and seemed to have contracted a fungus. I sprayed it several times with fungicide and it still looked very much alive, so maybe it will have another chance to grow next spring if the fungus dies in the cold weather:

 Late in the season, a patch of wild Butter-And-Eggs, in the Snapdragon family, burst into bloom beneath the electric fence and next to the hay bales:

 I am up to 25 white fantail pigeons as we go into winter. They all seem healthy, though some of them must be rather elderly by now:

 This pair seemed young and robust:

 And there are several pairs using the cake pan nests I made for them on high shelves:

 Alas, some birds continue to favor the floor. They'd be safer (and probably a little warmer) if they'd used the high shelves like the other birds:

 The bantam hens do it properly, using the floor for food and water but then roosting up off the floor:

 Our first hard freeze, cold enough to form a solid sheet of ice on the stock tank, came in October. It was melted by midday, though: