Summer On The Farm

There are ten little bantam hens now, seven Barred Rocks and three Easter Eggers. They aren't laying many eggs, but there are still more than I can use:

A pair of fantail pigeons successfully hatched two babies in their cubbyhole nest:

The babies were doing well for several days:

And then one morning, I found one dead and the other missing. I'm afraid this is a common occurrence and I've become accustomed to dealing with it:

I'm glad to say, however, that there are some successful nests in which parents raise healthy babies to help make up for the sad losses. These two are so close to adulthood that I feel confident they'll make it now:

They are growing rapidly and don't mind being held:

Flowers have been blooming in abundance and I collected two colors of roses and three colors of lilies into one vase to bring to church on Sunday:

I also collected an armload of Elderberry blossoms and put them in a vase, then stuck a couple of Ninebark branches in for color variety. Alas, by the time I arrived at church, the Elderberry stems had wilted so badly that I had to dump them in the weeds by the church parking lot. I know now that Elderberries, like Oriental Poppies, should not be used as cut flowers:

A new color of Asiatic Lilies, planted just this year, have been blooming copiously:

You may remember the photo of baby apricots in a previous post. There is now only one marble-sized apricot left and I don't expect it to last. But at least I now know that the tree can produce fruit:

The always productive plum tree is producing nice looking plums, but the other plum tree has lost its fruit:

I planted a whole row of seeds in an area where other seeds didn't take. I now have lots of baby Lupines emerging. They're awfully close together, but I think I'll leave them alone and let nature take its course: