Autumn Notebook

Both Ruby and Winston enjoyed hanging out near the horses:

And Rosella tried to touch noses with Remy, though the electric fence prevented it:

The very last flowers which went to church. It was communion Sunday and all three vases were placed on a small table with a white cloth underneath. The vase on the left held pink Morden Blush roses. The vase on the right held neon red Emily Carr roses. The vase in the center held yellow Heliopsis, red Yarrow, magenta Rugosa roses and Peony leaves which were turning red:

The trees bordering my north field began to show some gorgeous color:

And I purchased a lifting harness for Seamus. He hasn't needed it much yet, but I know he has periods of lameness when it will be helpful for both him and for me:

My sister brought a new toy for the cats, and both Sammy and Daisy like it very much:

Caspar, Clover and Bugsy like to sleep together on the big, green floor pillow:

Blue claims the morning hay and won't let Remy have any, although he softens once his belly is full:

Remy likes to sneak a bite of vegetation from beneath the bottom electric fence wire:

The Box Elder tree finally began dropping seeds, so I've had to spend much time picking them up twice each day. There is still too much green grass in the pasture for me to let the horses out:

Blue and Remy, my mischievous boys:

I finally got a buyer for Winston, so the next morning I was able to trap him inside the barn. He bawled for his mother and his herd, but was not as upset as previous calves. The buyer also wants to buy Ruby when she's old enough:

Getting The Red Poll Cattle Ready For Winter

I now have most of the Red Poll cattle crowding the barn door for a bowl of grain each morning - unless I'm a bit later than usual, that is. If I'm late, they leave in a huff:

Ruby and Scarlett, in for a snack:

Ruby and Winston finally began to follow the big cows into the barn. Winston has tasted grain and decided he likes it, but Ruby is still wary of it:

The morning rush. I can't let them in, though, until both horses are walked, one at a time, out to their corral:

The girls eat their two cups of sweet feed so rapidly that I don't have time to put a bowl down for the calves. Luckily, the cows start eating the hay on the floor as soon as they've finished their grain:

Ruby watched while Winston tasted his first bowl of grain:

Jasmine:

Rosella, Scarlett and Ruby

This was midday, not morning grain time - so they didn't get any. Nobody needs grain, but I am trying to train them to come into the barn so I can have them inseminated, get vet care or trap the calves when it's time to sell them:

Winston and Amy playfully butted heads:

Scarlett and Rosella both needed minerals and salt, perhaps because they are both producing milk:

Breakfast time:

Cold Winter Touches The North Country

Of course I knew it was coming, yet still I was surprised to see the frost all over the Rugosa roses when I went out to do the morning chores:

 The leaves were frosted and the magenta buds were covered with icy crystals:

 Some of the flowers had wilted to the point of being unrecognizable:

 Fergus and Seamus watched me from their frosty yard as I began the morning chores:

There were only two open Daylilies left, and they were wilted and covered in ice:

 And the grass crunched underfoot as I walked to the barn:

 Sadly, the sunflowers, which had put on such a late season show, were done for the year:

 I walked the little horses out to their corral and discovered that their stock tank was covered in ice. Remy and Blue were not amused, but I figured it would melt once the sun was fully up:

The cattle were hungry and collected at the barn, demanding grain:

 I let them have some, then shooed them back outside as I carried hay to the horse corral. Most of the cattle followed me to the corral, hoping to steal that armload of hay. I guess they did not want to eat frozen grass:

 I tossed the hay in for the horses without giving the cattle any of it. Ruby knew what to do, and immediately went for a breakfast of warm milk:

Getting Cattle Inside The Barn

I need to get Scarlett, Rosella and their calves to start coming into the barn so I can have the two moms artificially inseminated again and so I can tattoo and sell the calves. I began by tempting them close to the barn with bowls of grain:

I don't care if the other cows eat any grain, but I decided to give them some if they come close enough:

Rosella and Scarlett are both producing large amounts of milk, so they are always hungry and ravenously eat any grain or hay they find:

Rosella was the bravest and the first to begin coming into the barn, returning to her former regular stall:

Then Jasmine, Rosella and Amy began coming into the barn. That giant on the right is Amy. She was smaller than the others when she arrived six years ago, seemed a bit oddly shaped and was sometimes bullied by the bigger cows. Now she's a giant, albeit with a docile personality:

Because Rosella couldn't reach the bowl on the floor as easily as the other cows, I made a little stand for her bowl of grain:

 Ruby and Scarlett in the rosy light of dawn, as they came in for a drink of water:

 Scarlett and Ruby by the salt lick and trace mineral feeders:

The girls became so accustomed to early morning grain that they often now come as a herd to the barn when they see me enter it:

 Jasmine, Amy and Rosella:

 Winston, Scarlett, Ruby, Violet:

 Winston has resisted coming into the barn, but he's getting closer:

The End Of Summer

The Red Poll cattle are looking happy and healthy:

 Little Ruby has not yet had her ear tattoos but she seems to know I'm a suspicious character so she hides behind her mother, Scarlett:

 And Scarlett usually hustles her away when I get too close:

 Blue and Remy are doing fine, but their Box Elder tree will drop its poisonous seeds any day now, and I will have to lock the horses in the barn until I get the seeds all cleaned up:

I walked into the barn one morning and found the two boys together in the hay, head to head and looking cute. It's apparent how attached they are to each other in spite of their quibbling and mischief:

 The sunflowers are almost finished. I've cut the tops out of many of them and others are going to seed already:

 Another photo of a Monarch butterfly in the Frans Hals Daylilies. It's ironic that the only place I can get a photo of a Monarch is on flowers of the same color:

 The littlest sunflowers, barely 6" tall:

I put the fantail pigeons on Craigslist, offering to sell 20 out of 43 of them. Alas, I've had no response, even after cutting the price in half:

 I took three vases of flowers to church, possibly the last of the season. This vase contained three colors of fragrant roses (orange, dark red and magenta), smallish sunflowers and red Mountain Maple leaves from the side of the road:

Blue and white wild Asters plus Birch leaves, all from the side of the road:

 Various colors of sunflowers plus red Mountain Maple leaves and Cattails from the side of the road: