Wintry Weather In The North Country

Winter usually comes early to the north country, but autumn stayed late with us this year. I had only a few apples and pears, but the herd enjoyed those few:

Remy and Blue were lonesome after I moved the cows across the road for a period of grazing in the north field:

But they quickly got over it:

And soon, their family of cows returned to the south field:

I began feeding hay, and that's where I could usually find the herd. Remy, however, nearly always runs over to see me when I enter the field:

On cold, snowy days the cows sometimes (but not usually) want inside the barn. If I call them in for grain, however, they've been resistant. I guess it has to be their idea:

Only the horses have access to the barn. That chain keeps the cows from pushing the door open, a trick they quickly learned:

The hardy Magnolia I'd planted in the little rock garden was clearly going to be too big to stay there. The Cooperative Extension horticulturist said to transplant it after the leaves fell, but they stayed on and stayed green, right into winter:

When a hard freeze finally shut down the leaves, and we had a day warm enough to thaw the ground, I transplanted the Magnolia:

I moved it to a spot near the new, red Hydrangea, which seemed to need more shade anyway:

I filled the hole with compost and began dreaming of what I could plant where the Magnolia used to be. You can see the Hydrangea and Magnolia in the background - just what I need, something else to mow around:

But our weather warmed up again for awhile, and the herd continued to enjoy the extended autumn. It's over now, of course, but winter was delayed this year: