Random Shots Around The Farm

The Sunflower seeds were the first to come up although the bed had a big bare spot where nothing came up:

 The new Day Lily roots began to grow, but the reason I took this photo was to illustrate how fast the weeds grow here. This bed was weeded less than 24 hours earlier, and just look at all the new weeds coming up!

 The new baby fantail pigeon is looking good!

 And many other adults are nesting:

Out in the pasture, Buttercups and Common Fleabane are in bloom:

 A close-up of Common Fleabane:

 The shoot I rooted from the old fashioned rose I saved is blooming, though the parent plant is not yet flowering because I cut it back to about one foot high this year (as I also did the Rugosa Roses):

 I thought my little Magnolia died over the winter, but it has slowly come back to life and even produced one flower - a month or so late, but I'm still happy to see it:

The bigger of the two Ninebarks began to bud and put on quite a colorful show. I remember thinking last year that the buds were prettier than the flowers:

 I cut a vase full of Buttercups from the pasture and a vase full of purple Iris from beside the door and brought them to church:

 The little hens seem busy and enjoying life. They may not get out anymore, but life is otherwise very good for them:

 I planted the six new roses along the road and they are not yet growing much - but this one, called Carefree Beauty, has already bloomed. Apparently it really is carefree and that's a good thing, for I'm not much for providing a lot of care:

Spring's Sudden Arrival

Just one day after a snowstorm, we were warm and snowless. Spring was in the air, so I walked around the yard, searching for anything green. The first signs of growth I saw were the Bearded Iris coming up:

And to my surprise, I had a Crocus in bloom:

And one Crocus almost in bloom:

The Daffodils were emerging:

And the Magnolia had one green bud which looked promising. This happened last year, though, but the bud fell off when I touched it. This time I kept my hands off of it:

Jack, Daphne and Clover watched my every move from their back yard run:

Seamus and Fergus watched from the other side of the yard:

The Lilac beside the barn had buds which were very swollen, as sure a sign of spring as the blooming Crocus:

In the field, the cattle were lounging comfortably and didn't want to move. When I brought them a new hay bale, only Jasmine had the energy to walk over to it:

Blue was sleeping with the cows, but Remy walked over to see me:

And the most important miracle of all was the appearance of some green grass. Grass is an important crop here, the basic feed of much livestock - not to mention its function as lawn:

One of the apple trees by the road lost a major limb and a second big limb appears dead. Both of them have been stripped of bark, probably by porcupines. This will be a big job for me to take care of soon:

What The Thaw Revealed

After an early, snowy and frigid beginning to winter, we had a surprise thaw, so I went out to see what the snow melt had revealed. This is my Blue Moon Wisteria. It's not much taller than when I planted it, but it's sturdier and has already survived one harsh winter, so I have high hopes for more growth this summer:

 The pear tree produced so much fruit that branches began snapping off and falling to the ground. Even after letting the neighbors take all the pears they wanted, there were still plenty of them on the ground:

 And I could tell that the cottontails had been eating them. I see their tracks each morning when there's snow on the ground and sometimes I see them scurry away when I turn on the back porch light at night:

 There were windfall apples too:

 I thought the Coppertina Ninebark bushes were unchanged by winter's cold - until, that is, I got a closer look. The leaves were dry and dead, despite retaining much of their coppery color:

 The Iris and Asiatic Lilies (and all their little weed friends) were asleep for the winter:

 And, on the other side of the house from the main apple grove, the Golden Delicious tree had dropped fruit. I could see that the rabbits had been eating them also:

 The Variegated Weigela and Magic Carpet Spirea looked dead, but they are hardy enough for me not to worry about them:

 The peonies had lain down for a long winter's nap:

 But the Tree Hydrangea will keep its dried flowers all winter long:

 The Mandarin Honeysuckle is in its first winter here. The last one I planted didn't make it through its first winter, but this one grew much better - and they are reportedly Zone 3 hardy:

 The Red Hydrangea and hardy Magnolia were dormant, and I could only hope they will survive this winter. This is the Magnolia's third winter here but, as you can see, it hasn't grown very tall in three years:

 My biggest surprise was the Morden roses. When they told me they were super hardy, I guess they weren't kidding. They still looked like they'd bloom again if we got some warmer weather:

 The Rose Mallows were done for the year. I'll cut them down to the ground in the spring:

 But the Rose Mallows had a surprise for me - pods filled with seeds. I tried planting some last year without success, but I saved these seeds and plan to try again in the spring:

 Another surprise, an Eastern White Cedar seedling growing in an ancient tree stump beneath the big clump of Lilacs. Alas, I won't be able to let it grow there because of the Lilacs:

 And speaking of Lilacs, they too had seed pods, not to mention green buds, all ready to burst open in the spring. Our surprise thaw was short lived. It's now fully winter again:

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: