A Day In The Sun

The sun came out, the skies were brilliant blue and the temperatures soared. It was such a pleasant relief after the rigors of winter. I walked out into the pasture and found the cows lounging in the hay they'd wasted:

They were soaking up the sun and chewing their cuds, happy to be alive and comfortable:

It was a friendly scene:

The wind was strong and gusty, but the warm temperatures meant that it felt pleasant. Remy walked under the Box Elder tree with his mane and tail blowing in the wind:

Blue must not have like the heat because he stayed in the shadow of the barn and didn't want to leave:

Inside the barn, the pigeons cooed and built nests:

And the hens roamed all over the yard:


I began picking up the winter's accumulation of dog poop, nearly filling two empty feed bags. There was still more to be picked up, but I got most of it. The grass will be growing soon, especially in the dog yard where it is so very well fertilized:

Then I walked around the yard to see what might be coming up. The tulips I planted last autumn had pushed up through the soil:

And my hardy Magnolia was putting out shoots. Will it bloom the first year? Probably not, but it was fun to imagine it might:

The old Daffodils in the middle of the lawn were coming up and already had buds on them. I'll be mowing around them for a month or more:

The old fashioned Iris by the Cedar tree were up, but the new Iris I planted last autumn hadn't come up yet. Spring has finally come to the north country:

Dogs And Cats In Winter

Winter is upon us full strength now. We get mild days, but we also get frigid days and snow days. The dogs go outside frequently but I don't leave them out there for long. Clover and Daphne looked like they wanted to come inside when I took this photo:

They all spend most of their days lounging on the floor pillows and dog beds in the farm house kitchen. This collection of canines was Clover, Fergus, Jack and Daphne:

Little Bugsy is happy to fraternize with the dogs, Clover in this case. He has the eyes of an owl and the tail of a black raccoon:

Seamus should always use the big floor pillow as in this photo, but often chooses the small dog beds instead. Only he could explain why:

You've heard of the Trail Of Tears, well this is my "Trail O' Poop." The dogs seem to like to walk and poop where the snow has been beaten down. I try not to think about how much dog poop I'll have to clean up in the springtime:

I love seeing the dogs and cats comfortable and collected in the corner of the farm house kitchen. This group was Fergus, Jack, Daphne, Clover and Rocky:

Clover, Bugsy and Rocky:

Daphne joined Seamus on the floor pillow:

Clover and Fergus. There is plenty of room for everyone, but they prefer to cuddle up together:

Rocky, sitting atop the dog food bin. Needless to say, I have to buy very large bags of cheap dog food:

Despite appearances, Clover was not pooping in this picture. She was trying to sit, but her butt was cold:

So I got her quickly inside where she could get warm and comfy:

Farm Update For April

Is this a photo of the farm in December? No, I'm sorry to say that this was taken at dawn on a day in April. Our winter has lingered and, even when we thought it was over, has returned to put the bite on us:

The view across the road on that same snowy morning:

And speaking of unpleasantness, I had an entire winter's worth of dog poop to clean up after the snow melted:

Rosella began escaping from the fence and I rushed to get the electricity flowing again. I fixed many shorts in the south field fence and then crossed the road to the north field. There, I found numerous small shorts plus one giant problem. A dead tree had crashed to the ground, taking the wires down with it. A chainsaw, hammer and fence staples solved that problem:

The fantail pigeons lost their first two babies but otherwise seemed happy and healthy:

The chickens were the big winners this spring, reveling in their freedom to go outdoors each day, peck and scratch:

Until one day when I found this pile of feathers and discovered I had one less hen:

The next day I discovered the culprit, a red fox who had become so emboldened by the ease of obtaining a chicken dinner that it had little fear:

It was beautiful and fascinating, but could not be allowed to kill all my chickens. I spent an entire day trying to shoot it, but failed:

It returned at least 20 times that day in search of a chicken dinner. While my aim was not good enough to kill it, I did manage to keep chasing it away until I could get the chickens indoors for the night:

The fox kept coming back, looking for hens to eat - but I kept them inside. The chickens were not happy about that but they have no defense against such a predator:

I set a live trap for the fox and the next morning before dawn, I heard it barking excitedly out where I'd set the trap. When I went to collect it, I found it had turned the trap upside down and escaped:

Here it is, sneering at the live trap with no intention whatsoever of going in there again. As of this writing, the hens are still locked indoors and the fox is still loose and seeking a meal of fat chicken. I can't let the birds out until the fox has been disposed of in some manner: