Bountiful Beauty

The day began normally, with me going out to check on the livestock as soon as it was light. Everything was fine, but I also noted that the baby fantail pigeons were hopping in and out of their nest on the bottom shelf, while all the while their mother kept a close watch on them. Their scraggly tails were trying to feather out, giving them a comical appearance:

 Back in the house, I noticed just outside the front door that the Rose Mallows were looking uncommonly beautiful. I took a photo of them from the front door, while they were still in the shade of the house. Everything seemed to look unusually beautiful:

 I hopped in the car to drive to town but was stopped alongside my own lawn by hundreds of Painted Lady butterflies. When I got out of the car to try to photograph them, I noticed these minuscule flowers at my feet, the plants barely 3" tall but covered with blossoms:

 They were the European Centaury which I'd discovered and identified only a week earlier. Apparently they are spreading across my lawn. I may yet dig some up and try them in my terrarium:

 I walked over to the New England Asters, which appeared to be the main attraction for the hundreds of Painted Lady butterflies. I noticed that there were also Monarch butterflies. They were much less numerous but easier to photograph because they were bigger and less flighty:

 The Painted Ladies were more difficult. Whenever I moved, a cloud of them would rise into the air, making photography difficult. I did manage to get this photo of a Painted Lady, top left - and a Monarch, bottom right:

 Three Painted Ladies, one in flight (the blur). As if the New England Asters were not themselves memorable enough, a cloud of orange and black butterflies surely added to the extravaganza:

 I walked around the house and noticed the Mandarin Honeysuckle, planted this year. It had grown enough that I had to tie it up to the slats on the trellis I'd built. They are reportedly super hardy, so I expect to see it grow much more next year:

 And the new Dolly Madison hybrid Asiatic Lily was still blooming profusely:

 I did some weed-whacking and then collected some windfall apples, half a bucket full, to give to the herd. Yes, I know I had decided not to give them any more, but I figured a half bucket wouldn't hurt:

 And the cows and horses were appreciative. Apples to them are like candy. Yes, it was a day filled with wondrous beauty. It's always there, of course, but easier to see on some days than others:

Autumn Fruit, Birds, Scenery, Flowers And Pastures

The pear tree seemed to have few blossoms this spring, but produced a bumper crop of handsome pears this autumn. I guess that I simply am no good at judging the crop by the amount of spring blossoms:

I ate a few, fed a few to the herd in spite of my previous determination not to, and allowed two Amish women to pick the rest of the fruit. The women left me a few branches of fruit for my own use and I will likely feed those pears to the herd when my sister visits:

The fantail pigeons seem to be doing unusually well:


This pair insisted on nesting on the ground in a place where opening the door would interfere. I put down a cake pan nest about a foot away, and moved their first egg into it. They were agreeable to the new arrangements and I soon saw cracked egg shells in the nest. I've only seen one tiny, fragile baby so far but have left them otherwise undisturbed so as not to interfere any more than I already have:

Another cake pan nest has two young'uns, nearly ready to venture out and learn to eat pelleted food. They sure make a disgusting mess of their nest, but these cake pans are easy to dump and clean:

One day I took this photo from an upstairs window, the view across the county road to the neighbors' barn and pasture. The corn field on the left belongs to a large farmer who buys up all available large fields, puts in drainage and grows crops in them, mostly corn and soy beans:

The Rose Mallows have been blooming abundantly, so much so that the stalks are falling over. A neighbor boy knocked on my door last evening to ask if he could photograph my beautiful flowers. They are amazing because they're so gigantic:

The miniature horses and cows are fat and comfortable, apparently living a life of ease:

Wild New England Asters began blooming early and abundantly, their purple color intensifying as time went on:

They attract butterflies, though it's difficult to get  good photo. This was a Monarch, the only photo it held still long enough for me to take. There was also a Painted Lady butterfly, similar to the Monarch but smaller, though it was nervous of me and I never got a picture:

The chickens are in need of another coop cleaning, though it may be that I can simply add pine shavings for now:

One last picture of the Rose Mallows in front of the house: