Glorious June!

When our daytime temperatures slipped into the 80s, it was time to put the air conditioner into my bedroom window:

 But first I had to move the house plants to the guest bedroom. They live there every summer and seem to like it just fine:

 Apparently all the yellow Iris died over the winter, but the purple Iris outdid themselves. This was the last rush of flowers, as seen from my kitchen window:

 Just about the time the Iris stopped blooming, the Rugosa Roses started:

 Two days later, the Mock Orange flowers began opening:

 And that same day, Swallowtail Butterflies were drawn to the Mock Orange. Oddly, I can't smell any fragrance from them, but apparently the butterflies can:

 The bush was alive with Swallowtails:

 And with gorgeous flowers:

 They are so spectacular that I felt I had to take another photo. Several years ago, when I was renting the house, the tenants chopped this bush to the ground (they just thought it was a weed). I told them to let it grow back and it sure did. As with the Spirea, I think the severe pruning helped instead of hindered:


 More Rugosa Rose photos. I may not be able to smell the Mock Orange, but these roses perfumed the whole area around the house:

 Even when I stood on the porch, my view was bordered by Rugosa Roses:

And just so this post isn't entirely about plants, I also nailed up two bird houses which someone at church was selling as part of a fund raiser. I'm not sure the birds will be interested because they have so many other nesting sites, but the birdhouses look good there anyway:

Small Animal Swap Meet In Louisville, New York

The Northern New York Poultry Club morphed, over the winter, into something called Country Thyme Living. There were several changes of name and purges of former members. I kept my head down until it was over and was eager to attend their first function this spring, a swap meet. Last autumn's swap meet was filled with small animals - chickens, ducks, goats, pigs and rabbits:

This year's swap meet, however, had only five people with animals. There were three tailgate venders outdoors, including this one with lovely Roller Pigeons. I was still hoping to find some Fantail Pigeons, but this man had none:

This woman had crossbred roosters and two Turkens (bald chickens). I suspected that neither would be hot commodities, but I kept my opinion to myself and wished her well:

Three of her roosters. They were handsome birds, but people with chickens usually already have more roosters than they know what to do with:

The third and final outdoor vender had three cages of chickens. I thought the white ones might be Phoenix because of their long tails, but the guys were so busy chatting that I never got to ask. The little black hens in the center were a breed unknown to me:

I went inside to see what else they had and was surprised to find that it was a hockey arena. This is far northern New York, almost Canada, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find that hockey is a major sport here:

There were vender's booths set up everywhere. This one had plants for sale:

A woodcraft booth:

Birdhouses and lamps made of birdhouses:

Wool, yarn and wool crafts, with a woman spinning:

Alpaca wool and crafts. I wished I'd have looked at this one more carefully:

There were only two tables with animals. One had fish, mice and hamsters. And this one had baby chicks and Ameraucana (a chicken breed which lays blue and green eggs) eggs, sold by the dozen. But that was about all there was to see, so I walked back out to my car and headed for home:

Northern New York Poultry Fanciers Association Swap Meet - Part 2

I'd seen about half of the swap meet, and continued on my way, stopping to take a look at this Speckled Sussex rooster:

This table was selling all manner of horse tack (equipment):

These two black baby pigs had just been sold and were squealing loudly as they were transferred to their carrier:

Two Angora rabbits, very cute indeed:

An unidentified bantam:

Muscovy Ducks:

Chicken coops and rabbit hutches for sale:

Elaborate birdhouses and barn board picture frames:

White Silkies:

Turkeys:

Wood Duck nest boxes:

I went indoors where they were selling coffee, meals and raffle tickets:

I'd secretly hoped that someone would be selling Fantail Pigeons, not that I needed any more. But there were none. So I walked back to my car. The pickup truck behind me held a family who had just bought a bunny and were cuddling it when this woman walked by with a pet goat. It too was for sale, and the family with the bunny decided to buy it. But it was time for me to head for home, so I didn't wait around to see the transaction: