The Beauty Of Summer

It seems bold of me to type the word "summer," for it has seemed that spring would never end and we'd move right into autumn and winter again. We had to heat our houses at night right through most of June, but at last I can safely say it is summer now. The baby fantail pigeon is doing extraordinarily well:

 And most of the adults are nesting or quibbling over prime mates or nesting sites:

 The bantam hens have reduced their egg laying to a just a few per day:

 And they seem comfortable and happy with their lives:

The offspring of the old fashioned rose began to flower:

 And the damn Canada Thistles and Bull Thistles crowded the fence line:

 I took a weed-whacker to them and things began to look better:

 With longer days, I began going out to do the chores at earlier times, with exquisite sights such as this dawn sky being my reward:

I planted Iris several years ago and this giant purple one began to flower. It is huge!

 Baby apricots (I think - it's hard to remember which tree is which), the first time I've had fruit since I planted the tree:

 And baby plums on the always productive tree. The nonproductive tree looks to be carrying on its nonproductive tradition:

 I planted a hardy Blue Moon Wisteria 3 or 4 years ago, but it never grew an inch. This year it appeared to have died, and even when it produced leaves, I held no hope for it. Then suddenly it began to send up vines as if it was finally going to thrive. Well, better late than never:

Random Shots Around The Farm

The Sunflower seeds were the first to come up although the bed had a big bare spot where nothing came up:

 The new Day Lily roots began to grow, but the reason I took this photo was to illustrate how fast the weeds grow here. This bed was weeded less than 24 hours earlier, and just look at all the new weeds coming up!

 The new baby fantail pigeon is looking good!

 And many other adults are nesting:

Out in the pasture, Buttercups and Common Fleabane are in bloom:

 A close-up of Common Fleabane:

 The shoot I rooted from the old fashioned rose I saved is blooming, though the parent plant is not yet flowering because I cut it back to about one foot high this year (as I also did the Rugosa Roses):

 I thought my little Magnolia died over the winter, but it has slowly come back to life and even produced one flower - a month or so late, but I'm still happy to see it:

The bigger of the two Ninebarks began to bud and put on quite a colorful show. I remember thinking last year that the buds were prettier than the flowers:

 I cut a vase full of Buttercups from the pasture and a vase full of purple Iris from beside the door and brought them to church:

 The little hens seem busy and enjoying life. They may not get out anymore, but life is otherwise very good for them:

 I planted the six new roses along the road and they are not yet growing much - but this one, called Carefree Beauty, has already bloomed. Apparently it really is carefree and that's a good thing, for I'm not much for providing a lot of care:

A House Full Of Critters

As always, the most popular gathering spot is the kitchen corner, with its floor pillows and pet beds. This critter collection consisted of Clover, Bugsy and Daphne:

 Bugsy is shy and retiring, but very sweet:

 Sammy loves the soft life he's found here, complete with catnip filled glove-puppets to play with:

 Fergus had a guilty look on his face. Did he know something I didn't know?:

Another kitchen corner collection: Daphne, Fergus, Clover and Jack:

 The weather finally warmed up enough for me to open the front door and let air come in through the screen door. Sammy was fascinated:

 Jack, Clover, Caspar and Daphne:

 I also opened a kitchen window one warm day, drawing Sammy and Caspar to investigate. They are the reason I keep a baby gate in front of the screen. The black and white band hanging on the baby gate is Jack's belly-band, used to contain his pee. This house has concessions to the animals wherever I look:

All five dogs at the back gate, as anxious to come in as they were to go out:

 Ruby the Guinea Pig got her toenails clipped:

 And so did her fat sister, Meghan:

 I still have two Siamese Fighting Fish, and they are doing quite well. They seem to like it here:

Flowers And Birds

The Snowball Bushes which were given to me by a friend, now deceased, were blooming up a storm this year. That's the neighbors' barn across the county road:

And they were incredibly beautiful, a fitting memorial to a beloved friend:

And the old fashioned yellow Iris, always later than the purple, began to bloom. These plants were on the old farm when I bought it, though I've moved them around and added compost to their soil:

The little bantam hens seem content and comfortable:

And their egg production is low this season, a blessing for me because I can't use them all, and not many people want small bantam eggs:

The Bridalveil Spirea in front of the house began blooming:

These too were part of the farm when I bought it, but were overgrown and not blooming heavily. I cut them back almost to the ground one year and, though it took several years, they rebounded in dramatic style:

This is the front of the old farm house, showing two of the Spirea and one Snowball bush. The funny looking ladder thing on the left is for the Mandarin Honeysuckle to climb on and the big bush on the right is a small part of the giant Lilac bush at the edge of the driveway:

The fantail pigeons are doing well although the one female who tried to make a nest on a narrow shelf below other nesting pairs still shows the poop stains she received for her poor choice of location. She's now nesting on the floor beneath a table, where she is mostly safe from the poop-storms:

And these couples made nests in cubbyhole near where I keep the egg cartons:

I've had three dead babies this year, but this one is doing well. I caught a parent feeding it one day:

They both became self-conscious at being photographed and stopped their feeding, turning their eyes on me:

Red Poll Cattle

Jasmine is the sweetest natured cow and likes to lounge in the grass:

Scarlett is the most reliably productive cow (along with her daughter, Rosella):

And they are all living a good life, a well fed life, a life of ease:

Rosella's little bull calf is cute and healthy, but I've been reluctant to name him. I finally decided to call him Winston:

And the herd often hangs out on the waste hay near the horses' corral. Apparently they still consider the horses part of their herd:

Violet is an attentive aunt to the little calf:

Jasmine and Scarlett were hanging out together in the springtime sun:

Rosella and Amy kept each other company near the stock tank, where there is also mineral supplement available:

Gracie opted to keep company with the horses:

Rosella and Amy moved over by the gravel road:

It is shady there, and the waste hay from winter feeding has accumulated to such a depth that it is soft and dry, a fine place to take a nap:

Scarlett is due in early August: