Flowers, Pigeons, Chickens

August this year brought abundant flowers, so many that one Sunday I brought four vases of them to church. This one contained four colors of Daylilies and Blue Sea Holly (looks a bit like thistles):

Yellow Heliopsis, red Echinacea, blue Delphinium and red/green leafy branches from a Ninebark bush:

All wildflowers from alongside the road: Pink Joe-Pye-Weed, yellow Goldenrod and Purple Loosestrife:

White Tree Hydrangeas, multicolored Sunflowers and pink and red Yarrow:

Meanwhile, the little hens were living comfortable lives in their coop inside the barn:

They all get along well together and I never see any fighting. They have no rooster, but I sometimes hear crowing coming from their coop. I looked it up and learned that sometimes, in the absence of a rooster, one hen will become more masculine and began crowing:

It was me, and I keep everybody on their toes!

Egg production is way down, which is fine with me. This day I had only two small eggs, one pink and one green. Soon, as we head toward winter, there will be none:

The white fantail pigeons in the adjoining room are multiplying at a fast clip:

This mother had a nest on the floor with a six day old baby:

A nest up on a shelf had two recently hatched babies. The parents are on them so much that I haven't been able to get another photo since this one:

Everything's Coming Up Flowers!

The Iris finished blooming a long time ago, and then the yellow Asiatic Lilies began to bloom. When they were through, the orange Asiatic Lilies bloomed - and then the red lilies took over - along with the Blue Sea Holly:

 The red lilies are taller than the orange, which are taller than the yellow. Perhaps that's why they bloomed in the order they did:

 They made a spectacular display:

 And the Blue Sea Holly is putting on quite a show:

The pink Yarrow was the first to bloom, but then the red also began to bloom:

 And my new Heliopsis is also blooming (with purple Veronica on one side of it and Chives on the other side):

 The Lupine seedlings (on the left) are still babies, but the new Gloriosa Daisy is spectacular:

 And then the Cherry Rose Sunflowers began to bloom:

I planted six assorted Yarrow plants, but I seemed to be getting multiple colors out of each pot I planted. I think the nursery scattered seed in the pots and I actually got more than one plant, therefore more than one color, in each pot. At any rate, they look like they may become one of the best, most reliable, most hardy flowers on the property:

 Some more cut flowers I took to church - This one included red and orange Asiatic Lilies, Gloriosa Daisies and white (wild) Bouncing Bet:

 A second vase included old fashioned roses, pink and red Yarrow, and white (wild) Bouncing Bet:

Around The Farm

Summer is a busy time. Remy has mostly been a good boy, staying in his corral and not causing trouble except sometimes when he balks about returning to the barn in the evening. I don't think he objects to the barn, but sometimes freaks out when we walk through the opening in the electric fence. He doesn't mind going through in the other direction and he doesn't mind if I tie him to a fence post for a minute before leading him through the opening. I have no idea why that helps, but it does:

 Blue is more easily frightened but is also more compliant, so he's always (well, almost always) a good boy:

 They still get lots of hay in their corral and it's time for me to start worrying about the Box Elder tree in their yard, which is covered with (poisonous) seeds. When they start dropping, the horsey boys will have to stay in the barn until it is safe in their corral again:

The Red Poll herd makes frequent trips from the pasture in to the barn because that's where the stock tank is located:

 But mostly they eat grass and lounge around the pasture, always swatting at the pesky flies:

 Violet is timid and easily frightened, despite her large size:

Indoors, Sammy and Bugsy relaxed on one of the yoga mats:

 Clover, Fergus and Daphne napped on the big green floor pillow:

 Daisy hopped up on a chair and rolled over, begging me to pet her. I rubbed her cheeks, which she likes, because I know better than to rub her belly:

Flowers, both wild and cultivated, are blooming prolifically, and I try to bring a vase full of them to church each Sunday. Last week I brought three vases. This one included orange Asiatic Lilies, Blue Sea Holly, wild Cattails, a Ninebark branch with burgundy colored leaves, and white (wild) Bouncing Bet:

 This vase had two colors of Asiatic Lilies, purple Veronica, pink Yarrow and yellow (wild) St. Johnswort:

 This vase contained two kinds of roses, orange Echinacea and white (wild) Bouncing Bet:

Its All About The Flowers And Plants

It's summer flower season, and the extra rainy spring and extra hot summer have helped things bloom. My little rock garden passed beyond Iris season long ago and now, in midsummer, the yellow Asiatic Lilies boomed on the south side of the little garden:

Orange Asiatic Lilies and Blue Sea Holly bloomed on the south side of the garden:

I was mowing the lawn when I noticed seedlings springing up around the productive plum tree. I mowed right over some of them, then thought better of it:

I went into the barn and got some bright yellow tent stakes to mark the little seedlings. I may need to select a couple of seedlings and move them, but for now at least, there are six plum seedlings which are safe:

And the mama tree is producing plums as she does every year:

The sunflowers I planted, at least the tallest ones, began producing buds and will soon be blooming:

The six multicolored Yarrow I planted produced buds and the first flowers to open were pink. I don't yet know what other colors I'll get, but it looks like the next ones will be red:

 The baby Carefree Delight rose is blooming freely:

And so is the Emily Carr rose:

 The little Sevillana rose has almost as many flowers as leaves:

 The Morden Sunrise rose is continuing to bloom:

 The first Daylily to bloom and so far the only one, is the Chicago Arnie's Choice. All in all, there are a lot of flowers blooming around the farm house, and the little plum seedlings are a bonus:

July In The North Country

The Red Polls spend their days and nights in the pasture, and sometimes I don't even see them. But they come back to the barn regularly to drink from the stock tank and lounge on the hay they wasted last winter:

Blue and Remy have had their yearly vaccinations and their hooves trimmed again:

 They are looking good, and staying inside their corral (so far):

 The small chicken door I originally made was simply a square, cut from the barn wall. It finally got so rotten that half of its guts just fell out, leaving it mostly hollow. I brought it into the barn so I could try to repair it:

I'm certainly no carpenter and was distressed at the poor job I was making of the repair, but when it was finally done, it at least worked for its intended purpose:

 And it closed more or less tightly. I may want to add some kind of weatherstripping in the winter, but all in all, it serves the need:

 The strip of sunflower seedlings is growing faster each day, to the point where I can sometimes see a difference from one day to the next. As the sunflowers get taller and leafier, the dogs are losing their view of me when I'm working around the front of the barn:

 The little rock garden began to glow with bright yellow Asiatic Lilies:

And the two Blue Sea Holly plants are so huge that they threaten to take over the entire space. They seem on the verge of becoming "The Beast That Ate Cleveland:"

 But they are fascinating, an odd plant with an odd flower:

 The red and orange Asiatic Lilies, the first to bloom, finally petered out with this final burst of color:

 The six multicolored Yarrow plants are beginning to take off, and one of them is sending up a flower spike. The buds look white, which I hope is not the color they're going to be when in flower. Just to the right of them are the Chives, one of the only seeds which grew successfully. Behind the Chives are unknown plants which might be weeds or might be Globe Thistle. Only time will tell: