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:

Around The Farm As Spring Has Sprung

Our weather had been swinging wildly between blizzards, rainstorms, thaws and high winds. We could have all four in a day, but the Red Poll girls just keep calmly eating their hay:

The snow and ice on the pasture began to disappear, making it (I hope) safe for the cows to walk out there:

But mostly the girls snoozed on the waste hay by the east side of the barn:

The pigeons' room badly needs cleaning, and I'll have to get to it soon. Nonetheless, the pigeons are healthy, happy and nesting:

The hens get more ventilation and mostly confine their poop to that corner under the roosts:

This is how the hens get ventilation - I can open the windows and the trap door. The pigeons' room window will open, but not easily and I don't want to remove the insulation around it too early:

Blue and Remy, like the cows, are now eating nothing but hay, and they seem to be thriving:

And they have their own personal pet, a Cottontail rabbit who has come to live in the barn:

He or she is not too afraid of me, allowing me to get this photo:

I thought I was just making a joke about the horses considering their rabbit to be a pet, but one day I entered the barn and found Blue lying down in the hay, face to face with his bunny. Alas, I didn't get my camera out fast enough to get the rabbit in the photo:

And speaking of wildlife, I was just pulling into my driveway one day when I saw this Ruffed Grouse right near me, on the lawn by a cedar tree. I stopped the car, rolled down the window and managed to get this picture as it took off for the woods across the road:

Around The Farm

The little horses and big cows continue to eat hay and lazily wait for springtime to arrive:

The white fantail pigeons are all excited and starting to build nests:

One female had a nest on the floor last year and repeatedly laid eggs which never hatched. She either had no mate or had a mate who didn't help her with the nest. This year she's built a new nest and I've seen a male with her a few times. Alas, they both leave the nest so often that there's probably not much hope for any eggs hatching:

The hens would love to go outside when the snow melts, and I might even let them have a few excursions out into the big world when the weather improves:

But they're safe from foxes inside right now and once I have new plants in the ground, the plants will need to be safe from the chickens. The hens will be indoors again once I've planted:

Two little hens are laying eggs every other day now and I can't even keep up with eating them. I'll soon be hard boiling them for the dogs again:

This is another item on my wall, antlers from a Black-tailed deer, a gift from my Oregon relatives when I was a boy:

The chainsaw bear was a gift from my sister, and sits atop an old milk can which came with the farm:

The welded steel bird was another gift from my sister. The painting is on boards and represents an old style:

The painting is an imitation of a painting from the 1800s and this explanation is glued to the back of it. Even the imitation is getting old now, and the explanation is becoming difficult to read. This painting was a gift from a woman I knew when I first moved to the northeast many decades ago:

I was coming home from the feed store and almost to my driveway (that's my north field up on the hill behind the trees), when a big flock of turkeys was trying to cross the road. I stopped to watch and take a photo, but then they stopped also, and began to retreat:

But they are big and bold, so changed their minds and soared above my car in a display of real flying power. These birds were at home in the air and not at all like domestic turkeys:

Do I Smell Spring In The Air?

It's still cold here and there's still snow and ice on the ground, yet on sunny days I smell spring in the air - and it makes me happy. It also gives me energy to get more done. This is the view across the county road from my upstairs front window:

Jasmine, Remy and all the other herd members have built up such a layer of wasted hay that they can always find something to eat and something on which to sleep:

Two of the little hens are laying an egg every other day, so I am averaging an egg per day. That may not seem like much, but it's more than I can eat. Soon I'll be cooking them (the eggs, not the chickens) for the dogs again:

Some pairs of fantail pigeons have laid eggs, but it's still too cold for them to hatch:

But they seem healthy and happy:

The cows and horses relax more now that the temperatures have moderated:

What the heck is this? It's last year's Day Lily flower stalks poking up through the snow. I have big plans for growing flowers this spring, though that will mean not letting the chickens out:

The feel of spring in the air has not resulted in me spending more time outdoors, at least not yet. But it has inspired me to do more indoor cleaning - which in turn inspired me to take some pictures of the memorabilia hanging on my living room wall. This was a collection of pieces of work horse equipment, nailed to an old barn board. They were souvenirs brought home from the abandoned farm in eastern Oregon where my maternal grandparents began their married life. We visited it when I was a boy, some time in the 1950s. My grandparents farmed there in the late 1800s or early 1900s:

I used to live near a dairy farm and had permission to hike on the land. I discovered the site where he dumped the cows who had died. I rescued a skull and spent untold hours scraping and bleaching it. Then I glued two horns on it and spray painted the skull white:

And this was a drum I made for shamanic drum circles. Atop it is a feather fan to use when burning sage:

A wooden mask, which I purchased on a trip to Taxco, Mexico. I was buying gifts for friends but got this one for myself:

More of my spring planting fever. I ordered six Yarrow Plants of various colors to plant somewhere (I don't yet know where). One of these days I'll have to post photos of all the plants I've ordered for this spring:

Winter On The Farm

Winter mornings are sometimes beautiful, the scenery inspiring:

And other times, winter mornings are disheartening, making me want to go right back to bed:

Inside the barn, though, the white fantail pigeons are preparing for spring:

They are pairing up and choosing nest sites. A few eggs have been laid:

 

  Their hunger and thirst seem to have increased:

And they look healthy in spite of the invading English Sparrows:

There are now only ten bantam hens left, and seven of them are getting pretty old (one hen died this winter):

But they are healthy and active - and they too are beginning to lay a few eggs:

I know they'd like to go outdoors when the weather turns nice, and I may let them do so - not for too long, though, because of our ravenous, bold foxes:

The horses and cows are getting a fresh hay bale every two or three days:

And learning to find piles of waste hay on which to sleep:

As for me, I am longing for spring more than ever and have succumbed to the temptation to order two fancy Peony plants, a variety called Coral Sunset. I will have a lot of planting to do this spring and I'm looking forward to it: