Dogs And Cats Of Home

Bugsy was my first test subject for a new camera. He was sitting on the blue yoga mat, next to the blue dog food bin:

 Seamus, Daphne and Jack hung out at the ramp while I mowed their lawn. You can see the plum tree in blossom in the background:

 Fergus moved away from the lawn mower and over to the back of the house while I mowed:

 Clover prefers the north end of the yard, where she can nap on the warm rocks and be surrounded by tall grass:

And then Clover moved inside the dog house. Usually Daphne is the only one who goes in there:

 In the farm house kitchen - a typical scene with Daisy, Sammy and Clover:

 My sister brought me some mitten type hand puppets. I filled them with catnip and the cats went wild:

 Jack watched as the cats got stoned:

After dumping the catnip out of one puppet, Sammy began rolling in it and got totally wasted. His eyes sort of crossed and he began "catching" his own tail:

 On the other side of the house, Daphne and Seamus rested quietly in the computer room:

 The big green floor pillow in the kitchen corner is always the most popular place in the house for napping:

 Another blue photo, a result of blue yoga mats and a blue dog bed:

An Autumn Mackerel Sky

When I went out to do the chores one morning, I immediately noticed the strange clouds, which I knew from pictures was called a Mackerel Sky. I took some pictures and Googled it when I got back in the house. I learned that a Mackerel Sky is supposed to indicate that rain will arrive 6 to 12 hours later. Here's a photo of it (with cows visible out in the field). It did, in fact, rain that night:

 Flocks of Canada Geese were passing overhead, honking loudly and announcing that autumn had arrived:

 The best view of the Mackerel Sky was to the east, where the rising sun would spoil the photo. But I tried anyway, and the sun gave depth and mystery to the picture:

The cows and horses are enjoying our cooler temperatures:

 The grass still grows at this time of year and they are certainly not going hungry:

 The cold hardy Wisteria vine I ordered arrived, and I planted it in much compost at the base of a power pole:

 I did not collect any Catnip for the cats this season so the plant(s) outside the eastern barn door could produce lots of seed. It looks to me like they are dropping plenty of seed right now:

I opened the door for the pigeons again and their interest in the outdoors seems to have been revived. Many of them were brave enough to explore the big world outside:

 Remember the baby pigeon who got picked on so badly and I feared she wouldn't live? She lived and has thrived. That's her in the window, considering going outdoors for the first time. It won't be long before I won't be able to pick her out among the other birds, but it does my heart good to know she made it:


 It has seemed to me that I needed more pigeons, but this picture sure makes it seem like there is an abundant population:

 An attractive threesome:

Mid-Summer In The North Country

Even for this northern location, it's been a cool summer. It's also been a wet summer, with rain almost every day. Many corn fields are stunted. Most hay fields are growing wildly, but the farmers are having trouble finding two sunny days in a row when they can cut and bale the hay. It's been a wonderful summer for beautiful sunrise skies, though maybe that's largely because of when I go out to do the morning chores. Whatever the reason, I revel in the glorious dawn scenery:

 I've had a great deal of trouble identifying the swallows I've had this year. I know at least some of them are Cliff Swallows, and it's possible they all are. They began congregating in mid-July, perhaps preparing to migrate. I've already noticed flocks of Redwing Blackbirds and the disappearance of Grackles, Meadowlarks and other species. When the swallows collect into my yard, it's quite a spectacle. They sit on the wire for awhile, then begin feeding with dives, circles and swoops:

 I thought I had finally captured a photo of my baby Cliff Swallows, but when I saw this one fly away, thought maybe it was mother swallow, starting a new nest. They seem to feed the babies from outside the nest, clinging to the doorway, so it would be unusual for her to enter unless she had eggs or newly hatched chicks inside. But I haven't seen her in the nest since that day:

 The Rugosa Roses slowed their blooming, but the wild Bouncing Bet which grew beneath them took over, producing pinkish/white clusters of flowers:

 You can see why Bouncing Bet is sometimes called Wild Phlox:

 I decided that I would not cut the wild Catnip this year until it had flowered and seeded, allowing it to multiply. I haven't yet pulled out the Wild Cucumber vine growing there, but I should do that also to encourage the catnip. Besides making my cats happy, I years ago used to feed Catnip to my hens. The eggs they then laid were best I ever tasted:

 The old fashioned rose I rescued is still blooming (and so its baby, begun from a cutting). You can see that there's still clusters of buds to produce even more flowers:

 The baby Fantail Pigeon was bullied and pecked by the big birds, and I never saw its parents feeding or protecting it. Nonetheless, it had to have been fed because it kept growing. The black spot on its head is from being pecked, and so is the lack of feathers on its back. It was in a new place every time I entered the room, so I eventually built a little nest for it.

 One of the parents finally fed it while I was there, a blessed relief for me because I want the little bird to live. As of this writing, it is still living, growing and developing more feathers:

 I also prepared more nests which are up on shelves, as the birds nesting on the floor seems to be the basis of their problems. So far, however, they refuse to use them:

 Just as the yellow Asiatic Lilies began to fade, the orange ones began to bloom:

 We've had so much rain that mushrooms popped up in my lawn. This photo also demonstrates that much of my lawn is not grass. I'm happy to have a green lawn, whatever species it is composed of:

Around The Farm

The pigeons are social animals, and the 21 of them in their room have a busy society with lots of activity and interactions. I guess that's why they aren't interested in going outdoors:

 The chickens would like to go outdoors but I won't let them because we have so many hungry foxes:

 The Rugosa Roses are still blooming:

 And the horses and cows are living a summer of leisure:

 Remember the stray kitten I presented a couple days ago? His brother, looking like an identical twin, showed up at the door two days later. Luckily, the Potsdam Shelter was so pleased with the first one that they were happy to take kitten number two also:

 And wildflowers are blooming everywhere. This is Common Cinquefoil:

 Catnip by the barn door. Last year I harvested most of it for my cats, but this year I'll at least wait until it drops seed. It'd be nice to have more Catnip around:

 Heal-All, a member of the mint family which grows in the lawn:

 And White Clover, also abundant in the lawn:

 Northern Bedstraw, one of our most abundant wildflowers. In this case, it was draped over an old tree stump so artistically that I thought a photo was in order:

 Pineapple-Weed, which grows in the gravel driveway or where concrete is cracked - basically where nothing else wants to grow. It really does smell like pineapple when stepped or driven on:

 The tiniest yellow flowers are Least Hop Clover. You can judge its tiny size by the White Clover and Pineapple-Weed also in the photo:

Midsummer Pets

Bramble seems to have mellowed since Draco, his old buddy, died. He's certainly become more affectionate to me and suddenly, in his older years, seeks attention:

I found a big patch of wild Catnip growing by the barn and brought in an armful. I left big chunks of it downstairs by the dog food bin and upstairs by the cat trees. My cats enjoyed it but in their mature, quiet way. They are dignified, older citizens and not wild-eyed stoner cats:

Daphne, as you can see, is not ashamed to be seen with Fergus wearing his belly-band:

Clover, Fergus, Jack and Daphne on the ramp which leads into their fenced yard. It's a favorite resting place for them but there wasn't much shade on this day:

Seamus lay in the tall grass by the fence but he too missed out on getting any shade. I'm careful not to leave them outside very long when it's too hot or when there isn't much shade:

Seamus seemed to be wondering why Georgette is allowed on the table but he is not:

Comfortable summer afternoons while I'm out doing chores:

Daphne, Clover and Bramble sharing the wealth of doggie beds:

Daphne in the kitchen, probably wondering if I'm going to give her something to eat:

"Did I hear the words, 'Something to eat?' Move over, Daphne, and let a big boy do the begging:"

"Why does Dad take so long to climb up the stairs?"

Fergus and Seamus watched me as I worked around the barn: