Around The Farm In September

The days and nights are getting cooler. Autumn is in the air. I stopped by my neighbors' sheep farm to chat, and we were joined by two sheep, a ewe and a lamb, who have become pets and have no need to fear becoming mutton:

I only have five or six pears this year, but they look mighty good:

I walked far out into the field and then turned back and snapped this picture of the farmstead. From left to right: The hay supply, the house, the stock tank, the barn and my neighbor passing by on the gravel road with a wagonload of hay bales:

Autumn brings with it an abundance of crickets, but I haven't seen a closeup of a grasshopper in a long time. I was happy that this one held still long enough for me to get a photo:

The Rose Mallows began to bloom more so I went out to snap a picture of them:

Alas, I didn't see the hornet's nest which had been built just outside my front door (which I seldom use). I only got stung once but then began spraying it until they were all dead:

Wild Hyssop has sprung up in the pasture, just as it did last year:

I brought a sprig of Hyssop indoors for a closer look and got this photo of its tiny flowers:

And Boneset is blooming in the south field. It was once believed to heal broken bones because its leaves (on each side of the stem) were connected, kind of like a broken bone which had healed:

Pennsylvania Smartweed is also abundant in the south field and is just beginning to bloom:

 Lady's-Thumb Smartweed is much prettier than its relative, and it grows all around my back door:

 I knew it was autumn when the first New England Asters bloomed. This was all there was at the time, but more are now beginning to flower:

Lady's-Thumb Smartweed is much prettier than its relative, and it grows all around my back door:

Scenes From Around The Farm

Daybreak as I looked across the road at my neighbors' fields:

And daybreak with the rising sun lighting up my neighbors' barn. Their animals were still sleeping in the barn:

I was working on the fence line shortly after the north field had been hayed and captured this glimpse of the new bales with the barn and house in the background:

Wild grapes grew everywhere, causing much trouble with my brush clearing. They were beautiful, but terribly, terribly bitter:

I was working hard but enjoying it greatly:

I said "Howdy" to a Praying Mantis:

I'd sprayed the perimeter of the field to kill the weeds but they hadn't fallen down, so I had to weed-whack the entire perimeter of both fields. The entire operation from brush clearing, fence repairs, two sprayings, weed-whacking and hanging warning signs took nearly the whole summer:

Another view of the north field, this time from the woods:

The chickens finally began coming out and going back in on their own, but spent most of each day on that step. Well, you can imagine what happened when walking in and out of that door and the messy, poopy shoes which resulted. I got three sections of garden fence at Home Depot and solved the problem:

I netted 35 bales for feeding my cattle this winter. Of course they won't arrive until later this autumn, but I'll be ready for them when they get here:

I got to know a bit more about grasshoppers this year. This one, I believe, was a male although I don't know what species:

And this lovely creature seemed to be keeping me company in the field as I worked. I later looked it up on the internet and submitted photos to the Butterflies And Moths Of North America site. It was identified as a Bronze Copper, Lycaena hyllus:

And here's the page redording my sighting:

And lastly, a short video of my Bantam Barred Rocks waking up and coming outdoors for the morning: