Birds, Flowers, And Livestock

Summer is in full swing now and our weather was idyllic, except during the heat wave (which is now over). The herd is comfortable in the pasture and all seem to get along well. On the day I snapped this photo, Blue lay down (still wearing his muzzle) for a rest and little Lucky walked up to give him a sniff and a closer look:

The hens are living safe, comfortable lives, even though they can't go outside anymore:

The four Easter Egger bantams often hang out together. The lead hen in this photo is Blondie, the little chick who I said was too dumb to make it to adulthood. She proved me wrong, though, and has done quite well:

The Barred Rock bantams are getting kind of old for laying hens, but I have more eggs than I know what to do with anyway, so fewer eggs is a good thing:

The white fantail pigeons are laying plenty of eggs, but so far they've only raised one baby:

The new baby is up and about but getting pecked on the head like all the other baby pigeons before him or her. I even think I saw the parents do the pecking just before feeding it, so I can only observe and wonder:

Pairs still make nests and lay eggs, though they often don't hatch:

Outdoors, the north field has been hayed but the outside of the fence is filled with wildflowers - in this case, mostly Cow Vetch:

And the driveway is filling up with Pineapple Weed, just as it does every year. The aroma is most noticeable when I mow them. Pineapple Weed is related to Chamomile, but the flowers don't have the white "petals:"

 The Magic Carpet Spirea I planted last year is thriving and blooming. The Variegated Weigela behind it was just planted this year and is already blooming:

A close-up of the Spirea blossoms: