Flowers And Birds

The Snowball Bushes which were given to me by a friend, now deceased, were blooming up a storm this year. That's the neighbors' barn across the county road:

And they were incredibly beautiful, a fitting memorial to a beloved friend:

And the old fashioned yellow Iris, always later than the purple, began to bloom. These plants were on the old farm when I bought it, though I've moved them around and added compost to their soil:

The little bantam hens seem content and comfortable:

And their egg production is low this season, a blessing for me because I can't use them all, and not many people want small bantam eggs:

The Bridalveil Spirea in front of the house began blooming:

These too were part of the farm when I bought it, but were overgrown and not blooming heavily. I cut them back almost to the ground one year and, though it took several years, they rebounded in dramatic style:

This is the front of the old farm house, showing two of the Spirea and one Snowball bush. The funny looking ladder thing on the left is for the Mandarin Honeysuckle to climb on and the big bush on the right is a small part of the giant Lilac bush at the edge of the driveway:

The fantail pigeons are doing well although the one female who tried to make a nest on a narrow shelf below other nesting pairs still shows the poop stains she received for her poor choice of location. She's now nesting on the floor beneath a table, where she is mostly safe from the poop-storms:

And these couples made nests in cubbyhole near where I keep the egg cartons:

I've had three dead babies this year, but this one is doing well. I caught a parent feeding it one day:

They both became self-conscious at being photographed and stopped their feeding, turning their eyes on me:

Baling Hay And Cutting Flowers

My neighbor mowed half of my north field, but it was tall and thick, unusually slow to dry - so he raked and tedded the field for two days:

I was wrong when I said there had been no baby fantail pigeons to survive. I found this youngster in a nest on a shelf:

Hello, little one. Welcome to the world:

And then my neighbor and his uncle came to bale the hay. The baler has a kicker which tosses each finished bale up into the hay wagon as it is finished:

The uncle's job was to catch each bale and stack it neatly:

Being an old hand at this, he was usually able to direct each bale toward its final resting place, thereby saving himself from needless work and possible injury:

The hay dust was so thick that I itched and coughed for a day after taking these photos. I only got half of the field cut and baled, and the field produced less than expected, so there is much more haying to be done:

And the next morning, the purple Iris began to bloom:

They are indeed a flower of exquisite beauty:

The Bridalveil Spirea also bloomed:

Their tiny flowers are produced in such abundance that they are amazing:

They are also pretty, so I put some branches in a vase with those from the Snowball Bushes and brought them to church. I gave the flowers to a woman from choir when church was over:

Flowers, Spent And Otherwise

Once the flower petals fall to the ground, some plants still continue to offer a kind of beauty. This is Ninebark, prettier after the flowers were all gone than it was when they were in bloom:

 The remnants of the Snowball Bush flower clusters:

The Old Fashioned Rose, with a few rose hips already forming:

 The Bridal Veil Spirea, like the Ninebark, is bright red after the white flowers are gone:

 The Peony remnants are always big and colorful. But are these sepals or specialized bracts? I suspect they are the sepals, but I can't be sure:

 Green stars left behind on the Mock Orange bush:


 I was out in the pasture, searching once again for one of the horses' muzzles, when I spotted a small wildflower which was new to me. I took some photos, then looked it up in my old college field guide:

 It was a member of the Snapdragon family with the unfortunate name of Swamp Lousewort:

And in the same family, an especially healthy Butter-And-Eggs plant grew by the fence:

A closeup of the Butter-And-Eggs flowers:

The Morden Sunrise baby rose was blooming again:

 And so was the Morden Blush baby rose right next to it. These two roses seem to be prolific bloomers. With their cold hardiness and relative lack of thorns, I think they will be favorites for many years to come:

Summer In Full Swing

The Snowball bushes were at their peak, blooming extravagantly and, I suspected, nearing the end of their season. So I collected some branches and put them in a vase. I'd intended to bring them to church, but they were so top heavy that I gave up and left them at home. At least I got to enjoy them:

And speaking of flowers, this early morning shot was taken looking over the tops of the Rugosa Roses, out into the pasture. You can barely see some cattle out in the field. They were coming in for some morning grain:

It hasn't all been good news. My Bush Cherry died over the winter. I gave it plenty of time to revive, but it was dead, dead, dead:

I'd sunk cedar fence posts in the ground to use as a framework from which to hang bird netting last year, so I hooked a chain to each one, and tried lifting them out of the ground with the tractor bucket:

To my surprise, they slipped right out of the earth:

Then I used a weed-whacker to clear the long grass so I could see, and a chainsaw to cut off the bush at ground level. I tried to cut it low enough so I could mow there, but not so low I'd ruin the chainsaw blade:

When I was done, I had a neat patch of lawn:

And right next to the Bush Cherry was the plum tree which bears fruit every year. It's doing well again this year, though the other plum tree had no fruit which I could find:

The fantail pigeons seem happy and healthy:

And have an elaborate social structure:

When I top off their food and water each night, they congregate at the feeders and waterer with great excitement:

The old-fashioned rose which I rescued is doing well in spite of the fungal damage from last summer:

Plants And Birds

Wild Blackberries burst into bloom everywhere I was unable to mow - or were they Black Raspberries? I went to the internet for some ID pointers, but found them scarce and difficult to use. Then I found a website which was wonderfully helpful and easy to use. It confirmed that I have Blackberries, not Black Raspberries. I highly recommend this site:

My north field was getting very tall and my neighbor decided it was time for its first cutting:

 It was so thick and heavy that it was slow and difficult to mow:

 This was some seriously tall, thick, lush, heavy hay! As of this writing, the first part of the field has been cut and will be turned over to dry (tedded) today. About 3/4 of the field remains to be cut:

 My Rugosa Roses suffered badly from a fungus last year, along with the apple trees and one of the Ninebark bushes. But this year they continued blooming faithfully:

 So far, I see no fungus except on the one Ninebark which was affected last year:

 The Variegated Weigela was a dead looking stick a few weeks ago. Now it is blooming!

 The white Peonies (and one new red one) are building up to a flowering frenzy:

 And the Snowball bushes are doing extraordinarily well:

 I had no Cliff Swallow nests under the milk room eaves this year - until now. I found two adjacent mud nests, filled with birds. As soon as I snapped this photo, 6 to 8 birds burst from those holes and flew around, scolding me. I hope they keep the biting flies in check. The cows and horses (and I) will be grateful:

 In the lawn and pasture are many of these tiny white flowers, each petal split into two. They are Lesser Stitchwort, a kind of Chickweed. The grass head is Redtop:

 And of course the big, beautiful Red Clover. 'Tis the season: