Here And There, Around The Farm

The fantail pigeons seem happy, healthy and thriving. They haven't yet produced any babies this year, but that may be a blessing. I have 27 birds and really, that is enough:

 But some of them keep trying:

 Little Elvis gets fed a big bottle of milk twice each day. He has grain, hay and water available at all times but hasn't yet tried them. Well, he has stepped in his grain bowl and spilled it, but that doesn't count:

 I weeded the new plantings (the old plantings have to fend for themselves). This Dandelion came up in one piece, its taproot clearly illustrating why they are so difficult to eradicate:

 Wild Strawberries have filled the lawn (along with the Violets and Dandelions). I usually miss the opportunity to eat the fruit, but I'll try to be more watchful this year:

 The wall by my back door began to wobble whenever I entered or exited, so I removed the interior chipboard and discovered everything inside was soaking wet and rotten. The studs were so deteriorated that they crumbled when I touched them. I climbed up on the roof and found 6-8" of Cedar needles and cones, which had been damming the water during rainstorms. I removed all that, but caulking the roof and rebuilding the wall remains to be done:

 The two apple trees on the north side of the house began to bloom, but the trees in the orchard weren't doing so well. This was one of the two trees:

 And the other. They sure smelled nice:

 Two neighbors rode by while I was working out in the yard. They rode their horses over to chat for awhile:

 I covered the exposed roots of the Magnolia and returned to photograph its one and only flower:

 Just about the same time, I noted that the Lilacs were about half open. I figured they'd be fully in bloom and perfuming the yard very soon:

 Two farmer neighbors, an uncle and nephew, have been very helpful to me and one day, they introduced me to their three little bottle fed heifer calves named Rose, Mary and Thyme:

Spring's A Poppin'

Our much delayed and much anticipated springtime, once begun, burst upon us like fireworks. These bi-colored Daffodils were among the first signs of real spring:

 The lawn filled with Common Blue Violets:

 The hated and pernicious Japanese Knotweed began to pop up in all the usual places:

A surprise Grape Hyacinth (or a cluster of them) emerged among the Daffodils:

 The second plum tree blossomed and there was a brief couple of days when both plums were blooming simultaneously, giving me hope that they were cross pollinated:

 Plum blossoms are pretty flowers, and a pleasure to have on the property:

 Pear and Cherry blossoms among the still emerging apple trees, with the farm house in the background:

 The cherry blossoms were not abundant, but there were enough of them to provide hope for eating cherries this summer:

 Dandelions suddenly appeared in the lawn and pasture. I know many people hate them, but I think they're gorgeous:

 The pear tree blossomed and I decided these were the nicest flowers of all - at least so far:

The old fashioned Lilac bushes budded, almost ready to burst into bloom and fill the yard with their perfume:

 Wild Shadbush flowers all along every road were almost done for the year, but I found a couple of them to photograph:

Miniature Horses Without Cows

With the Red Poll girls all in the north field, Remy and Blue had the south field all to themselves. That meant that the grass got to recover, growing taller by the day:

 With so much more grass than they could eat, the little equines got to pick and choose. Wildflowers began to bloom all across the pasture:

 Nobody likes Buttercups anyway, but they do like Dandelions. Blue became very choosy about his diet:

 From the looks of things, they may not have been eating the Dandelions either, though the field was so big that it was hard to tell:

 The old, wasted hay in spots where the bale feeder was last winter became sleeping spots:

 Or, when they're in the barn, they just sprawled out and relaxed:

 I've been locking them out of the barn on pleasant days and I coated their favorite chewing spots with Ivory Dish Detergent mixed with bitters and red pepper. Still, to help keep them from boredom, I hung their Jolly-Ball from the ceiling:

 Remy found it only mildly amusing but Blue didn't care at all:

 But they are an attractive pair out in the pasture:

 I tried to fill a bucket with compost for a planting I was making. When I diverted my attention and began tossing rocks out of the compost pile, Remy decided to "help" me. He'd have tipped over the bucket and run away with the shovel if I hadn't stopped him. He's a playful boy:

 They, like the dogs, watch my every move. I guess I never need to feel alone:

 Life is good for two little horses in June:

Moving From Spring Into Summer

The apple blossoms lasted only five days but the Lilacs went for weeks. They began winding down about Memorial Day:

 They were both beautiful and fragrant, so I wanted a few more photos of them before they were gone for another year:

 I covered the Bush Cherry with bird netting. By the way, that's an Apricot tree just to the left of it, which has not yet produced a flower. The Bush Cherry and two plums, planted at the same time, are producing nicely:

 Here's a closeup of the tiny cherries getting started under the netting. I don't yet know if it will prevent the birds from eating them all, but I'm hopeful. What I can say for sure is that the netting is difficult to mow around:

The Prairie Rose flowering crab didn't bloom much this year and the other flowering crab barely bloomed at all:

 Only one side of the tree blossomed, but that side was nice:

 There were so many gaps in my new perennial garden that I bought more Iris and Asiatic Lilies to fill in the gaps. While planting them, I was shocked to discover that I had lots of roots and bulbs underground which were starting, but not up yet. I planted around them as best I could, and smoothed out the soil. I'll leave it alone now:

 Since I was on a planting binge this year, I went down to a local nursery and purchased a Variegated leaf Weigela. It had survived a rough winter, unprotected in that pot at the nursery, so I figured it would be hardy. It will have bright pink flowers soon (I hope):

 I liked the Weigela so much that I also bought a Magic Carpet Spirea. It has golden leaves with bright pink tips where the new leaves are forming. It too will have bright reddish pink flowers when it blooms - and it too is hardy:

 And speaking of Spirea, the old fashioned Bridal Veil Spirea began blooming just as the Lilacs began fading. This bush was just getting started when I snapped the photo:

 Here's a closeup. These bushes are very old and very hardy, blooming faithfully every spring. They are the old fashioned type, not the type with double flowers, but I can't see how there would be much room for improvement on these beauties:

 The yellow Dandelions faded and turned to magical seed heads. Spring is turning into summer at a rapid pace. I keep thinking that my farm, with its plants and animals, is a place which my mother would have loved if she were still alive. In fact, I think I am subconsciously aiming to please her. Maybe she's looking down and smiling her approval:

Springtime In The Country - Part 1

It wasn't long ago that I was having trouble finding things to post on this blog. Then springtime arrived and now I can barely keep up with it. The giant old Lilac bush in front of the house bloomed less than usual, but enough to perfume the whole yard:

And the fellow up the road once again began bringing his grass clippings for my cows to eat:

Jasmine and Remy were the first to arrive at the grass clippings. We pulled the wagon away and then the other cows arrived, pushing Remy away from his easy grass dinner (not that there wasn't plenty of grass growing everywhere):

I rolled the bale feeder to the front of the barn, hoping the local welder would do some repairs on it. I called him but haven't yet heard back:

All the other Daffodils were gone when these pure white ones burst into bloom. I don't remember them from previous years, but surely they must have been blooming every year:

And my "lawn" is largely Dandelions and Wild Strawberries in some places:

This is why I love Dandelions. They are beautiful, hardy and edible:

There are three large, old Lilac bushes around the house with a few more wild seedlings started:

They are the old fashioned, super hardy, wonderfully scented kind, just like your grandmother used to love:

I came across these tiny flowers while mowing the lawn. I remembered them from last year but couldn't remember what they were called:

So I took a closeup of one and used my field guide to identify it. It's Birds-Eye Speedwell, a member of the Snapdragon family. They are sure tiny, but exquisite: