Around The Farm In May

The Daffodils were almost done flowering when I photographed this hen beneath the Mock Orange bush, but it will be covered with flowers shortly. As for the chickens, however, they seem to have begun laying eggs outdoors and I haven't yet discovered where. I'd be happy to collect them once or twice a day - if I could find their nests. For the record, there were no eggs beneath the Mock Orange:

The Rhododendron by the side door began blooming:

The sun shined, the cows grazed, the temperatures soared:

The chickens scratched around in the lawn and in the pastures. They don't seem to miss a square inch anywhere:

The birds were singing their little avian hearts out but I am unable to identify most of the songs and have trouble seeing the birds for an identification. I was on the tractor in the north field one day when I heard a varied song, almost like a Mockingbird, and then spotted the singer atop a tall tree. I used the zoom lens for a closer look  and discovered, when I got back indoors to enlarge the photo, that it had been a Brown Thrasher. They are common around here and are a northern relative of the Mockingbird. This one looked gray until I got to see the photo enlarged:

The chickens know that when I ring the cowbell, grain is about to be served to the cattle. So they come running. No scrap of food, no insect, no plant is safe with chickens around. In this photo, they were snapping up grain which the cattle had spilled:

The pear tree burst into bloom:

And the farm sign was temporarily framed with pear blossoms. I expect it will framed with greenish pears in the autumn:

The Lilac buds began to open:

And my two red Azaleas, recently purchased half price from Home Depot, looked very happy in their new home:

Even the Dandelions and Wild Strawberries were blooming all through my lawn - or perhaps I should say "lawn," for there are more weeds than grass in it:

The farm was looking good, but the flowers were just beginning. I hope to be posting lots more photos soon:

The Days Of The Shadbush - A Farm Update

My neighbor took this photo from his house across the road one foggy morning, of my cattle in the south field. I'm now hoping for another such fog so I can walk out and get some misty close-ups of the cattle. That sort of fog only seems to happen in the north field, though, so I'll lose my chance in another week or so when I move the cows back across the road:

The cattle liked the warm weather and they enjoyed the grass in the north field. The increased flies, however, they have not been so happy about. But so far at least, they haven't been biting flies, just the annoying kind which cluster on their faces:

The Fantail Pigeons have continued to stay indoors despite the big, open window they have each day:

They also have not been raising any babies. Maybe all the failed attempts during the winter wore them out:


Gracie was due in 20 days at the time I took this photo. Her udder was already swollen with milk and looked painful. Her belly was similarly swollen. Luckily, her sweet nature remained intact:

Then one day I noticed white sprinkles in the trees behind the cattle, and I knew that the Shadbush were beginning to bloom:

And bloom they did. Clearly, the horrible winter we'd just lived through had not set them back:

All along every roadside and scattered throughout every woodland were Shadbush, blooming profusely:

I bought two red Azaleas half price at Home Depot and planted them in the front yard. They both had plenty of buds so I am hoping to see flowers any day now:

The Shadbush at the edge of the north field blossomed fully and I began looking for nice ways to photograph the cattle with the Shadbush in the background. This picture was taken on my side lawn, standing beneath the Eastern White Cedar, and looking across the dirt road to the north field. That yellow square, by the way, is an "Electric Fence" sign, hanging from a fence wire:

Violet is my least friendly cow but she likes me enough to watch me from a short distance. In this case, she looked quite striking, standing in front of the white Shadbush flowers and white Birch trunks at the edge of the field:

I continued to give the cattle bowls of grain each morning, though it's a bit more tricky when they're not in stalls. In this case, Gracie (note the giant udder) and 9 month old Rosella were wrestling over a bowl of grain:

Travelling The Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike

One of my favorite routes through the northern Adirondacks is the series of small roads, some unpaved and seasonal, which began in the 1800s as a major thoroughfare. This important development in the opening up of our country's wilderness lands ran from Port Kent, on the western shore of Lake Champlain, to Hopkinton, a frontier town in northern New York. My farm is just a hop, skip and jump from Hopkinton, so it's a grand experience for me to take this route. The scenery is wonderful and there's almost no one else on the road at all:

And one of my favorite picture taking spots is this glorious, unspoiled wilderness wetland which abuts the road. On the day I passed by there were Orange Hawkweed, Hieracium aurantiacum, in bloom along the edge of the road:

These are the waters where I often see and hear Loons:

The water level comes right up to the road, covering the base of many of these trees. So I really can't go hiking in and exploring. The "Private Property - No Trespassing" signs, however, seem to have vanished:

The marshy edges which had many Wild Azaleas in bloom in May were now sporting red bunches of Sheep Laurel blossoms. If you click to enlarge this photo, you can see one of them. Or, for a closer view, click on the label, "Sheep Laurel" label below:

We traveled on and stopped once again at another tiny lane taking us deep into the forest alongside the waters of Grass Pond. The dogs were, of course, all excited:

Crabby little old Winky had a bit of trouble keeping up. It's hard to know with him if he has trouble walking that fast or is just being contrary. With him, it could be either or both. He seemed to want to stay near the car, but I urged him on:

Deeper and deeper into the forest:

And then back to the car to continue on our way. As you can see, turning around to head back to the main road is tricky business sometimes:

Scenic Beauty Along The Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike

I was driving home through the Adirondacks with my six dogs after a weekend up at the farm. We were driving along the seldom traveled roads comprising the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike. The traffic was almost nonexistent and the scenery was world class:

I'd been making many rest stops to give the dogs (and myself) a chance to stretch their legs and explore the Adirondack wilderness. I knew this would be a lengthy journey because of all the stops:

The Adirondack Park is filled with wetlands, marshes, streams, ponds and lakes - water everywhere, and mountains too:

There were wild Azaleas blooming in the bushes at the edge of this pond:

And Loons calling out on the open waters:

I kept driving, my car windows open to allow in the aromas of Balsam Fir, Pine and mossy forests. Clouds drifted slowly across the tops of nearby mountains:

Even as we drove through pine forests, mountains rose up on all sides. This scene reminded me very much of my childhood days with relatives in Oregon. Those are happy memories:

We passed through some flat lands where water lapped the shores adjacent to the road:

On back roads such as these, one can view the wilderness from a car window, or just park the car on the road and step out to explore. There really was no other traffic:

Mount Everett, Part 4

This is the final post of my hike up Mount Everett. We were on our way back down the mountain when these photos were taken. This first is of all three dogs, Fergus, Seamus and Daphne, at the rocky shoulder which provided such grand panoramas:

You may need to click to enlarge this photo to see the dogs. Seamus is resting next to the trail on the left side of the picture and Daphne is cavorting, puppy-like, just beyond that big rock in the trail. And of course there's more wild Azaleas in full bloom:

Hey, Seamus is resting again! This big boy is not a ball of fire, but he sure is a companionable hiker as long as it's not too terribly hot and sunny. So we all took a brief rest on our way down the mountain. Descending is often more grueling than ascending because of the wear and tear on leg joints and the bruising of toes. At least it is for me, though the dogs seem just fine with the trips back down the mountains:

This picture demonstrates the dogs negotiating the large, sharp boulders in the trail. This seems to be par for the course when hiking in the Taconic Mountains:

And we arrived back at the stone lean-to with the nice view. The dogs were inspired by the large expanse of mowed lawn to run and play (as you saw in the video two posts ago):

Bluets and wild strawberries bloomed together in the grassy areas:

And violets mixed in with the wild strawberries in other places:

After we'd passed the stone lean-to, the trail was again a dirt road and much easier on the feet and legs. And still the wild Azaleas blossomed nearly everywhere I looked:

We continued hiking down the dirt road (which is closed to vehicles and therefore safe for dogs):

And I set the camera on a stump to get a self portrait. I'd wanted the dogs in the picture, but they were too busy playing:

Seamus did, however, pose in front of a large patch of Interrupted Ferns:

And also blooming was Clintonia, Clintonia borealis:

And Starflower, Trientalis borealis, aptly named as both flowers and leaves were star shaped:

When we reached the bottom of the mountain, I passed by our car and headed down to beautiful Guilder Pond. The dogs could get themselves cooled off and I could get myself all muddy:

The beavers had dammed up a corner of the pond, though it looked like they hadn't been active recently:

But the dogs surely enjoyed the muddy edges of the pond. Here's a couple of videos:



And a very brief video I'll just label "Mud Puppies:"