Around The Farm

This flower sprang up among my Irises, almost directly below where the bird feeders are each winter, so at first I assumed it had grown from a missed seed. On the other hand, it doesn't look like much of a commercial seed producer, does it?

 The baby fantail pigeon continues to grow and appears to be completely on its own now:

 It has even grown a fantail. Its damaged head (from being pecked) still shows, but it is certainly a hardy survivor:

 I have at least one (and probably more) barn chipmunk, probably meaning that the Least Weasels are gone. Otherwise, the weasels would probably have eaten the chipmunks by now:

 Several pairs of fantail pigeons have made use of the cake pan nests I made for then. This bird was busy turning an egg when I snapped the picture:

 Another bird, moving around in its nest. Male and female pigeons both care for the eggs and babies, and it's not always obvious which is which:

 This bird got defensive when I tried to photograph it. A protective parent is a good thing:

 The bantam hens have reduced their egg laying to almost nothing, sometimes only one or two eggs each day:

 The seven bantam Barred Rocks are getting rather old now (as chickens go) for egg laying, so I consider them to be in retirement:

 The four Easter Egger bantams are younger and still laying, though one day I found this miniature egg next to the bigger one. I give the eggs to my neighbors, so I included the tiny egg just for fun:

 This is merely a sprig which fell from the Eastern White Cedar which towers over my back door and porch. I was struck by its beauty and mix of textures and colors, so I photographed it. There is beauty everywhere - one needs only pay attention:

 I thought all my Tall Garden Phlox had died last winter and indeed, most of them did. But a few plants struggled up this summer and, though they stayed short, I at least got a few flowers this year:

Around The Farm In July

My little garden continues to fill in, and I hope that all the crowding will keep down the weeds. I have seen evidence of some animal sitting on them during the night, but at least whatever it is hasn't been digging in there or eating the leaves. The yellow Asiatic Lilies are left over from the woman who lived in this farm house before me, though I've moved them several times. Moving them seems to cause them to grow stronger and to multiply:

I have several Chipmunks living around the house and barn:

Since it's summer, I go out extra early to do the morning chores. I turn on the lights inside the barn while I'm in there and sometimes, if it's going to be cloudy and rainy, I'll leave on the lights for the pigeons and hens:

And many times I enjoy the spectacular morning skies. On this day, the colors were muted but still beautiful. This was due north:

And looking southwest:

 Northeast:

But one day I was feeling down and discouraged as I mowed the lawn. Then I noticed that I was being watched by a vulture on a fence post. I thought that perfectly summed up my mood:

The bird let me snap a couple of photos before it flew away, apparently deciding that eating my carcass would raise its cholesterol too much. That bit of humor and the beauty of the wild bird helped lift my mood:


And the town put down fresh gravel on the road. Thankfully, they graded it and carefully pulled the stones off of my lawn - unlike what they did last time:

What is this, you may wonder - Sadly, it's a cornfield after several months of excess rain. Not all fields are this stunted and wet, but some are. The farmers who don't have enough money to install drainage systems are more influenced by the wet weather:

The old fashioned rose I saved has continued to bloom, though its June extravaganza is now past:

And wildflowers spring up everywhere. Here by a post, where the mower couldn't reach, Black-Eyed Susans and Oxeye Daisies sprang up to brighten the yard:

Around The Farm

I had twenty white fantail pigeons when the season began. Two died and no babies were born. Then two babies were hatched and began to grow. Then this mama bird built a nest on the floor next to a bucket of water. I'm still waiting to see if her eggs hatch:

The first of the previously mentioned babies (not from the nest on the floor) successfully left the nest and learned to eat pelleted food:

The second baby was a couple of weeks behind, but it too has now left the nest and is on its way to becoming a healthy adult. Now I'm back up to twenty birds and hoping that the floor nest will produce a couple more success stories:

They all looked pretty ratty in early October but I think they were molting, getting ready for the long, cold winter. Now they're looking better again:

The New England Asters bloomed all along the roadsides for a month. They seemed to be getting more intense color as time went on but are mostly only a memory now:

Even the old fashioned Peony plants turned vivid colors this autumn:

My little weasel family must be gone because I now have a large population of chipmunks. They are as destructive as mice but much cuter:

I made a regular afternoon routine of giving apples to the horses and cattle. Little Tabitha has developed a powerful curiosity about what kind of strange creature I am:

And the fly population has dropped sharply. The cool and colorful afternoons are quite lovely as the animals graze:

The little roosters (13 out of 18 chicks) developed into lovely birds and began to explore the yard around the house, moving farther each day:

One morning they moved out under the apple trees and discovered the joys of eating apples:

They seemed to be everywhere and I enjoyed seeing them. Of course I can't keep so many roosters, but I enjoyed them while I could:

Around The Farm

I thought the fox problem was solved until one day I lost yet another hen, leaving me with only eight. I began keeping them locked up both day and night. Three days later, I found a chicken wing (again!) on the concrete floor of my barn. This could only mean that the fox had come back inside the barn and finished off the chicken it had killed earlier. I knew I had a problem then, but a day or two later I actually saw the fox in the barn. Neighbors are also having problems, so I'm hoping that someone will find a solution:

I was just about to mow along the edge of the gravel road when I saw these tiny flowers. I stopped and photographed them so I could look them up when I got back inside the house. It turned out to be Centaury, a naturally miniature plant and not just a product of being mowed over:

The weasels have mostly taken care of any small rodents on my property but I did find this friendly chipmunk eating crab apples on the apartment stairs. I hope he or she can avoid the weasels:

Another miniature plant turned out to be Dwarf Cinquefoil:

The fantail pigeons got their windows opened all through our hot spell even though I worried about the foxes. The baby chicks in the brooder are in with the pigeons and I didn't want them to get overheated, so I kept the window opened whenever I could during the day:

White Clover bloomed first, but the Red Clover, which began a few weeks later, was bigger and more colorful:

And Queen Anne's Lace began appearing all along the roadsides:

The baby chicks at 15 days old. They've easily doubled in size and and still growing rapidly:

The local teen came back to finish painting the barn trim:

The fantail pigeons continued to make nests and lay eggs but there has not yet been even a single baby:

But they seem happy as childless couples. Maybe it's a blessing for them and it's certainly less work for them:

One of my clearance sale roses began blooming. It's doing well although the other one is still struggling. The big question is - will they live over the winter? I'll just have to wait and see: