Around The Farm In Winter

The bantam hens seem happy and healthy, though a couple of them have begun molting again:

They have access to layer pellets and clean, thawed water at all times:

Some of the white fantail pigeons are looking fine also, but some others are very old and beginning to look their age:

I have had a couple of elderly pigeons die this winter, though I still have a flock of 36 birds:

Most of them have formed breeding pairs, though I have read that pigeons, like people, are prone to infidelity if they see the chance:

 

Cottontail Rabbit and Red Fox tracks appear in the snow every morning. In this case, it was perfectly obvious what the fox was hoping to have for dinner. I saw no signs that he ever got it, though:

A woman in choir made me this hand painted Christmas ornament and I hung it in my kitchen. Now I've decided to leave it up all the time as it's not overtly Christmas themed:

I go out early in the morning to do the chores. On this day, I walked out into the field and looked back. It was a pleasant sight:

The horses and cows share the hay. I never see any bickering over it:

The rubber cow stall mats with which I covered the cellar hatchway blew off in our strong winds, and I knew I had to fix them:

Alas, they are much heavier than I ever imagined, not to mention awkward and flimsy. But I managed to get them back in place - and this time I tacked them down with a couple of nails (left sticking up in case I need to move things around:

Speaking of strong winds, I discovered that one of the two apple trees alongside the road had lost a major limb. I will have to cut it into firewood which I'll give the neighbors, and then I'll haul the small branches out to the brush pile in the woods:

Historic Homes Of Malone, New York - Part 2

I was taking another driving tour of Malone's historic homes (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and stopped at this lovely home for a photo:

This large, brick home had everything - gingerbread trim, balcony, porch, gazebo. It was amazing:

I remembered this home from a driving tour a year or two ago. How could I forget the exquisite painting?

A historic brick home with modern updates:

A huge carriage house out back helped this home to look much as it probably did in the 1800s:

Another fancy paint job and a wonderful, well kept front porch:

The kind of home one might return to for Christmas dinner:

Christmas decorations gave me the impression that children must live in this big home:

Another porte cochere on this impressive home:

I began to drive home but felt compelled to photograph two of Malone's impressive churches. There are more, though, and some day I might try to photograph them all. This one, I believe, was an Episcopal church:

And a Roman Catholic church. The huge home attached to it must have been the rectory:

A Small Town Christmas - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of historic homes in the small town of Malone, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and came upon this house with an elaborate stone porch:

This very large home was quite elaborate:

I can only guess, but I supposed that this home had extra windows added during a restoration:

A mustard colored house which had, like most of them, a large fireplace chimney and a front porch. The Christmas garland and snow helped continue the holiday theme:

A smaller house with elaborate trim:

No need for extra Christmas decorations when your home is green and red:

I thought that this home looked to be of recent construction, but then decided that it had instead just been restored. It looked just right for a family to return to for Christmas:

A simpler house, but still it showed some fancy trim from its original construction:

A comfortable, friendly looking home:

Another large fireplace chimney;

A hip roof, a front porch and a carriage house out back:

My last photo of the day was of this peach colored home. I kept thinking how the town of Malone looked like a scene from a Christmas movie:

A Small Town Christmas - Part 1

A while back, I photographed some large, historic homes in Malone, New York. I've intended to go back and photograph more such mansions ever since. I finally did so, but these homes were not quite as grand as the former post. Nonetheless, they were beautiful, historic homes surrounded by giant old trees. All covered with snow and just before Christmas, I thought that they illustrated an old fashioned, small town Christmas:

Malone is a historic settlement and former home to William Wheeler, U.S. Vice President from 1877 to 1881. From what I've seen, most of these homes were standing then:

Big spruce trees, wrap-around porches, screen doors, small town life:

A stone porch and a tree, covered with both red berries and snow:

A perfect porch for greeting the neighbors as they stroll down the street or kids as they throw snowballs:

Brightly colored and looking inviting for Christmas:

A formal looking house in lime green:

An even more formal looking house, this one with huge pillars and a balcony. The Christmas decorations helped with my holiday mood:

This house had a sign which identified it as "The Hale House." The date on it was hard to read on my photo, but I think it said it was built about 1880:

More formal white pillars:

I called this a gingerbread house for Christmas:

Holiday decorations helped brighten up this home, which was larger than it at first appeared. I took more photos and I'll post them tomorrow in Part 2:

Notes From Around The Farm

Our nice weather held out longer than usual, so I continued to let the fantail pigeons out whenever the weather was warm enough:

They truly enjoyed it:

But there were two babies inside, and they don't handle the cold well, so when the temperatures became more winterlike, I closed their window for the season. I won't open it again until springtime:

The babies continued to grow feathers until I felt assured they'd make it through the cold:

The chickens also got to go outdoors when the weather was nice, though those times became less frequent and shorter:

I took down my lighted Thanksgiving cornucopia from the front door:

But there was no need to do anything with the Halloween pumpkins. This is all that was left of them by December:

I put up new Christmas decorations: Three candy canes, a blue and white snowflake, and a string of five, smaller snowflakes:

And speaking of roadside signs, my farm sign appeared in an ad for the sign maker and a man who saw it tracked me down and purchased my three oldest calves. As of this writing, however, he hasn't yet picked them up:

I looked out the back door one day and saw Seamus and Fergus harassing one of my hens. She must have fluttered over the fence, but why she would do that I'll never know. The dogs apparently didn't hurt her but she was so terrified that she lost a great many feathers. I got her back inside the coop quickly and she's been fine ever since:

I cleaned out the pigeon and chicken rooms, carrying out the shavings and poop to the tractor bucket:

Then I drove it around to the other side of the barn and dumped it on the manure pile. I also scooped up what was left of the previous year's manure pile and dumped it on top of this year's. A big pile of nicely composted manure and hay is a wonderful thing to have when doing any gardening or landscaping: