Around The Farm In Winter

The bantam hens seem happy and healthy, though a couple of them have begun molting again:

They have access to layer pellets and clean, thawed water at all times:

Some of the white fantail pigeons are looking fine also, but some others are very old and beginning to look their age:

I have had a couple of elderly pigeons die this winter, though I still have a flock of 36 birds:

Most of them have formed breeding pairs, though I have read that pigeons, like people, are prone to infidelity if they see the chance:

 

Cottontail Rabbit and Red Fox tracks appear in the snow every morning. In this case, it was perfectly obvious what the fox was hoping to have for dinner. I saw no signs that he ever got it, though:

A woman in choir made me this hand painted Christmas ornament and I hung it in my kitchen. Now I've decided to leave it up all the time as it's not overtly Christmas themed:

I go out early in the morning to do the chores. On this day, I walked out into the field and looked back. It was a pleasant sight:

The horses and cows share the hay. I never see any bickering over it:

The rubber cow stall mats with which I covered the cellar hatchway blew off in our strong winds, and I knew I had to fix them:

Alas, they are much heavier than I ever imagined, not to mention awkward and flimsy. But I managed to get them back in place - and this time I tacked them down with a couple of nails (left sticking up in case I need to move things around:

Speaking of strong winds, I discovered that one of the two apple trees alongside the road had lost a major limb. I will have to cut it into firewood which I'll give the neighbors, and then I'll haul the small branches out to the brush pile in the woods:

Around The Farm

Along a country road I observed this tableau: Jewelweed, Purple Loosestrife, Queen Anne's Lace and Sundrops, the day blooming version of Evening Primrose. Behind them is a corn field:

Although the dawns are getting later each day, I still often get to see these glorious skies:

I was surprised to find these calyx (sepals) reminders of June's flowering bonanza on the Mock Orange bush. I had not noticed them before. They are not as showy as the actual flowers, but lovely nonetheless:

The aptly named Butter-And-Eggs:

And my own little patch of Orpine, a wild Sedum. Those are windfall apples in the grass at their feet:

The baby fantail pigeon who had been so badly picked on is almost an adult now, and her injured head is nearly healed. I sometimes find it difficult to pick her out when I enter their room now:

The pear tree has resisted whatever disease struck the apple trees, and the fruit is getting bigger each day:

The only two trees which produced apples are the two alongside the road, away from all the others:

And though their fruit is smaller than usual and falling earlier, they certainly produced a lot of them. I fed them to the cattle a few times but then stopped because I want my cows (and horses) to lose weight:

The little bantam hens are down to only 3 or 4 eggs per day, but they are still pretty to look at and tasty to eat:

I discovered another baby fantail pigeon, this one strong and healthy (and not being picked on). I'm guessing it was ten days old when I discovered it and snapped this photo. They do look like they are related to dinosaurs:

The adult birds mob the water fountain every time I refresh it. I don't know if they are just curious or looking for fresher water (they rake shavings and dried poop into it during the day). They also probably would love a bath and I haven't provided one lately. It's time I did so:

Notes From Around The Farm

Most of this year's apples never developed but two trees near the road seemed to be the exception until these quarter-sized apples began falling off one day. I collected about two thirds of a bucket of them and fed them to the cattle. Of course I drove out into the field on the tractor because I didn't want to be out there on foot with the bull:

And when I started to drive back to the barn, this is the lovely scene which was displayed before me. I am blessed to live with such beauty:

And the morning skies seldom disappoint, a combination of pink and baby blue:

As the sun begins to peek up over the horizon, a golden yellow starts to infuse the pink and blue morning sky:

A pair of pigeons is using one of the new nests I made out of cake pans. They seem to like it:

Ladys-Thumb Smartweed, a member of the Buckwheat family, is growing abundantly near the barn door and the dogs' ramp. It usually has a dark triangle on each leaf but these show only a slight darkening instead of the triangle:

Wood-Sorrel also grows by the dogs' ramp, but beneath the Rugosa roses, where it has lots of shade:


The baby fantail pigeon who was so badly attacked by the adult birds is alive and growing rapidly:

The top of its head still looks terrible, as if there is no skin left there at all. I hope it will heal, but will be happy as long as the bird can live a normal life. So far, things look hopeful:

The bantam hens have reduced their egg laying to about four eggs per day. That's not many, but they were laying more than we could use before, so this is better:

The giant Rose Mallows seem even more giant than usual this year, perhaps because we've had so much rain. I counted 15 stems, each topped with about 7 flower buds. If things continue as they are now, it will be a magnificent display. They are so tightly packed that I think it may be time to split them up in the spring and replant them in more compost:

My Tree Hydrangea lost a limb over the winter but seems to be doing well in spite of it:

Birds, Fields, Fruit, Hay, Flowers And Skies

The bantam hens have slowed down their egg production and I usually only find three or four eggs each day now:

They still stand on the ramp which leads to their door, but I can't let them out because of all the hungry and sly foxes around here:

Speaking of eggs, one day I found a tiny egg with the others. It was about the size of a jellybean and quite a novelty. They do lay tiny eggs now and then, usually without a yolk. This one was interesting, but I didn't even try to use it:

We had so much rain that there was standing water everywhere, especially under this gate. There must be a short in the underground wire, because now the whole gate is electrified (as I discovered the hard way). I hope it will stop when the water dries up, but the only way to test it is to touch it:

We've had extravagant, blue and pink dawn skies. I never tire of their beauty:

The baby fantail pigeon is still alive and growing. His feathers are coming in and the spot on his head where he was attacked is slowly improving. Even his little fantail is developing now. I am hopeful:

The Rugosa roses are blooming sporadically but many leaves are turning yellow. I suspect they have some disease, perhaps the same thing which afflicted the apple trees this year:

One of my two Ninebark plants is growing at a great speed, but the other seems stuck in place, neither growing nor dying. I hope it gains strength before winter arrives:

The Elderberry flowers turned into green berries:

But the birds have been stripping them clean so fast that I may never see ripe berries this year:

Though the apple crop is pretty much ruined this year, I have some nice looking baby pears which are bigger every time I look at them. I love these pears and plan to eat as many as possible. The rest will go to the cattle and horses:

My biggest expense of the year is the annual winter hay supply. Just like last year, I bought 88 four foot diameter bales. They came on three deliveries, two trailer loads each. It's a major expense and a financial burden. My cows absolutely must produce salable calves this year or I won't be able to afford next year's hay supply:

Mid-Summer In The North Country

Even for this northern location, it's been a cool summer. It's also been a wet summer, with rain almost every day. Many corn fields are stunted. Most hay fields are growing wildly, but the farmers are having trouble finding two sunny days in a row when they can cut and bale the hay. It's been a wonderful summer for beautiful sunrise skies, though maybe that's largely because of when I go out to do the morning chores. Whatever the reason, I revel in the glorious dawn scenery:

 I've had a great deal of trouble identifying the swallows I've had this year. I know at least some of them are Cliff Swallows, and it's possible they all are. They began congregating in mid-July, perhaps preparing to migrate. I've already noticed flocks of Redwing Blackbirds and the disappearance of Grackles, Meadowlarks and other species. When the swallows collect into my yard, it's quite a spectacle. They sit on the wire for awhile, then begin feeding with dives, circles and swoops:

 I thought I had finally captured a photo of my baby Cliff Swallows, but when I saw this one fly away, thought maybe it was mother swallow, starting a new nest. They seem to feed the babies from outside the nest, clinging to the doorway, so it would be unusual for her to enter unless she had eggs or newly hatched chicks inside. But I haven't seen her in the nest since that day:

 The Rugosa Roses slowed their blooming, but the wild Bouncing Bet which grew beneath them took over, producing pinkish/white clusters of flowers:

 You can see why Bouncing Bet is sometimes called Wild Phlox:

 I decided that I would not cut the wild Catnip this year until it had flowered and seeded, allowing it to multiply. I haven't yet pulled out the Wild Cucumber vine growing there, but I should do that also to encourage the catnip. Besides making my cats happy, I years ago used to feed Catnip to my hens. The eggs they then laid were best I ever tasted:

 The old fashioned rose I rescued is still blooming (and so its baby, begun from a cutting). You can see that there's still clusters of buds to produce even more flowers:

 The baby Fantail Pigeon was bullied and pecked by the big birds, and I never saw its parents feeding or protecting it. Nonetheless, it had to have been fed because it kept growing. The black spot on its head is from being pecked, and so is the lack of feathers on its back. It was in a new place every time I entered the room, so I eventually built a little nest for it.

 One of the parents finally fed it while I was there, a blessed relief for me because I want the little bird to live. As of this writing, it is still living, growing and developing more feathers:

 I also prepared more nests which are up on shelves, as the birds nesting on the floor seems to be the basis of their problems. So far, however, they refuse to use them:

 Just as the yellow Asiatic Lilies began to fade, the orange ones began to bloom:

 We've had so much rain that mushrooms popped up in my lawn. This photo also demonstrates that much of my lawn is not grass. I'm happy to have a green lawn, whatever species it is composed of: