Around The Farm In September

The days and nights are getting cooler. Autumn is in the air. I stopped by my neighbors' sheep farm to chat, and we were joined by two sheep, a ewe and a lamb, who have become pets and have no need to fear becoming mutton:

I only have five or six pears this year, but they look mighty good:

I walked far out into the field and then turned back and snapped this picture of the farmstead. From left to right: The hay supply, the house, the stock tank, the barn and my neighbor passing by on the gravel road with a wagonload of hay bales:

Autumn brings with it an abundance of crickets, but I haven't seen a closeup of a grasshopper in a long time. I was happy that this one held still long enough for me to get a photo:

The Rose Mallows began to bloom more so I went out to snap a picture of them:

Alas, I didn't see the hornet's nest which had been built just outside my front door (which I seldom use). I only got stung once but then began spraying it until they were all dead:

Wild Hyssop has sprung up in the pasture, just as it did last year:

I brought a sprig of Hyssop indoors for a closer look and got this photo of its tiny flowers:

And Boneset is blooming in the south field. It was once believed to heal broken bones because its leaves (on each side of the stem) were connected, kind of like a broken bone which had healed:

Pennsylvania Smartweed is also abundant in the south field and is just beginning to bloom:

 Lady's-Thumb Smartweed is much prettier than its relative, and it grows all around my back door:

 I knew it was autumn when the first New England Asters bloomed. This was all there was at the time, but more are now beginning to flower:

Lady's-Thumb Smartweed is much prettier than its relative, and it grows all around my back door:

Spring Lambs!

I'd meant to go visit my neighbors' new crop of lambs for a few weeks but had been delayed. One day, though, I finally stopped by and took a tour:

The sheep were divided into numerous pens, some with many sheep and some with only a few. Old ewes, new mothers and handicapped mothers were usually put into small pens. Mothers with twins were often sectioned off so they could easily tend to and bond with their tiny babies:

The biggest, healthiest lambs in the large pens were having the most fun:

A blind ewe and an elderly ewe were given special consideration:

And all the animals were given exacting and merciful care:

The lambs, of course, were adorable. Some seemed afraid of me and some seemed to regard me with great curiosity:

There were two rams in the two biggest pens. One was dangerous and I was not allowed in that pen, but the elderly ram in the other big pen was used to people and oblivious to visitors:

The farmer went in to check on the sheep in one pen:

The ewes didn't mind her, but the lambs bounced around playfully:

There was much activity:

She told me that she had 48 lambs, only two of which needed to be bottle fed this year. One of the bottle babies had been rejected by its mother and put in with a ewe so old that she didn't do much of anything anymore. She had no milk to feed the baby, but served as a warm mommy substitute for the little one. The two of them had their own pen but the photo I took of them was not usable:

We chatted and watched the lambs. I said hello to Doug, her friendly horse, and then I took my leave:

A Visit With My Sister - Part 3

Despite the bad weather during my sister's visit, we had a lot of fun. While passing through Malone, New York, we noticed that Bokie's 1950s chrome and pink drive-in diner was open for the season. Of course we stopped and ate lunch there. Bokie's is always fun and we always have a hearty meal:

We also visited my neighbors' sheep farm, less than a day after the first lambs were born:

Twin births mean tiny lambs, so the farmer puts mother and babies in a small pen to protect the little ones from being trampled by the flock and to help the ewe and lambs stay close while they bond:

We didn't dare enter the pen with the young, dangerous ram, but this pen had an old man of a ram who was content to ignore us as we visited. That's him lying down. He never even turned his head to see who was entering his pen:

On the other side of the barn was another group, this one without any rams, and all of the ewes were ready to give birth at any moment:

Doug, the friendly Morgan Horse, was loose and accompanied us wherever we walked. He likes people, sheep, dogs, cats - and nearly everybody. He likes company:

This mother had two lambs, though one was behind her when I took the photo:

Another pen of ewes. The colorful markings, like the red blotches, are used when giving medications so the farmers know who has been dosed already. Imagine trying to keep track without marking the animals!

If you remember a couple of earlier photos of two lambs born ahead of the others, they had by this time grown rapidly to an amazing size. We stopped and said hello to them before we left:

Spring Chores

Our weather is finally improving although we just had snow again yesterday. The little hens are laying eggs again:

 The Barred Rock bantams are getting too old to lay very many eggs and there are only three Easter Egger bantams left, so I'm not getting the flood of eggs I used to get, at least not yet:

 I stopped in at the neighbor's sheep farm and watched as they put out a new hay bale for this group. The old ewe is blind, so they separate her when she first lambs to help her bond with and identify her lamb:

 A woman at church wanted Pussy Willows, so I went down to where I knew I had some growing, and indeed they were just beginning to open:

 They looked like they're going to have a good year:

 A closeup:

 I vacuumed up all the dead cluster flies and Asian beetles in the back room, then filled my 144 seed cups with potting soil. It's still too early to plant seeds, but I'm ready:

 The Rugosa Roses had grown so tall and spindly that I decided they needed to be cut back severely:

 I sharpened my chainsaw and began cutting. Alas, the canes had so many small, sharp spines that they were painful to even get near:

 The small spines stuck in any exposed skin and even pushed through thick, lined gloves:

 But I got the job almost done and was planning to tackle another chainsaw job when the chain accidentally hit the steel wire fence and was ruined. That ended everything for the day:

 But I had a big pile of thorny rose canes to dispose of. I carefully put baling twine around them and then dragged them off to the side, for disposal later in the year. I don't know if I helped or hurt the Rugosa Roses, but I believe they will burst forth with much new growth this spring:

Spring Surprises

Spring has been full of surprises so far, including two early lambs at the neighbors' farm:

And of course snow melting off the roof of the barn, then freezing into long, crystalline icicles:

I started opening the pigeons' window to let in fresh air on days when it's not too cold:

And the little hens are beginning to lay more eggs:

The farm gets covered with snow, then it melts:

Even the snow piles beside the driveway are almost gone:

And the melting snow revealed these amazing plants by the back door. This is not new growth, but Bouncing Bet, wildflowers in the Pink family, which stayed green all winter beneath the snow:

And then, just as I was feeling all the glories of spring, we got buried once again:

I found the cattle's backs covered with snow and icicles hanging off their sides:

I had to drive through deep snow to bring out a new hay bale:

And I had to plow and shovel snow once again. You can see how the piles alongside the driveway grew overnight:

And inside the barn, the snow which had blown through gaps in the wall revealed animal tracks which went up into the hayloft. I suspect they are cats from across the road, and I think they are hunting my infestation of English Sparrows, for which I am grateful: