Red Poll Cattle

Jasmine is the sweetest natured cow and likes to lounge in the grass:

Scarlett is the most reliably productive cow (along with her daughter, Rosella):

And they are all living a good life, a well fed life, a life of ease:

Rosella's little bull calf is cute and healthy, but I've been reluctant to name him. I finally decided to call him Winston:

And the herd often hangs out on the waste hay near the horses' corral. Apparently they still consider the horses part of their herd:

Violet is an attentive aunt to the little calf:

Jasmine and Scarlett were hanging out together in the springtime sun:

Rosella and Amy kept each other company near the stock tank, where there is also mineral supplement available:

Gracie opted to keep company with the horses:

Rosella and Amy moved over by the gravel road:

It is shady there, and the waste hay from winter feeding has accumulated to such a depth that it is soft and dry, a fine place to take a nap:

Scarlett is due in early August:

Around The Farm - Part 2

The Daffodils in my lawn have outdone themselves this year. The first to bloom were the white and yellow variety:

Then the pure yellow variety:

Then the yellow ones with the orange center. All three varieties were then blooming together, putting on quite a display:

My internet went out and we had a warm sunny day. So, while waiting for a repairman, I tackled another big project:

I had an old stump in my lawn, four or five feet in diameter and covered with wild, thorny shrubs and grape vines. It had been too solid for me to remove with the tractor a few years ago, but I decided to try again:

Most of the giant stump broke into pieces, some of them nearly as big as the tractor bucket. I drove all the wood and brush across the north field and into the woods, where I dumped them on a brush pile:

Furthermore, as you may have noticed in the preceding photos, there was a cedar tree growing there which blocked much of the sun for the flowers I was planting. Cutting it down was problematic as it would have hit the power lines, but just then my sheep farmer neighbors stopped by with a better idea. He used my tractor to push it over, snapping the trunk. I then dragged the entire tree behind the tractor (using a logging chain) across the north field and into the woods:

I cut the cedar stump lower and then used the tractor to smooth off the ground. I filled the bucket with more brush and the cedar stump, then made one final trip to the brush pile:

But I wasn't done yet. I then used the tractor bucket to back-drag the gravel which road crews had pushed up onto my lawn. I moved it back out onto the road so I could safely mow. The grass was growing rapidly already:

And then I added more garden bed along the dogs' fence. I now have about 35 feet of garden bed, 4 feet wide and filled with 2 year old compost, in which to plant all the flowers I've purchased for this year. I also intend to plant where the old stump and cedar tree were removed:

And speaking of new plants, I have been hardening off the baby roses and Begonias by carrying them outside on nice days so they will get used to the sun, wind and temperature fluctuations. Then I bring them back indoors to where the seed trays are:

An Autumn Walk Around The Farm - Part 2

I was walking around the farm one chilly, windy autumn day (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and was in the south field. I pointed the camera across the gravel road to a site which once had a house trailer on it. This is the same site where I've previously photographed baby foxes and heritage roses:

We'd had lots of rain and the pasture was growing mushrooms:

The Pennsylvania Smartweed was red and apparently done for the year. It's an annual, but returns in abundance each summer:

The winter hay supply was lined up and ready. I will begin feeding it out any day now:

I had about 7 giant puffballs spring up along the fence line. I don't much like them as I think they're about as tasty as Styrofoam, but the Amish lady down the road asked if she could pick them and I said yes. I saw she'd left one and walked over to see why. It was truly ugly and kind of deformed, so I guessed it scared her away. I think I'd have passed it by also:

The view across the gravel road and north field to the autumn woods beyond:

I walked along the edge of the gravel road and looked back, past the cattails to my barn:

A few Small White Asters were still blooming:

Almost no New England asters were still in bloom, but I found this one plant. Alas, it must have been hit with a hard freeze because its flowers were small and curled up:

We had a lot of Monarch butterflies this year but apparently this one didn't migrate in time to miss the killing freeze:

I began wondering if there were any other flowers hardy enough to still be blooming and indeed, Bouncing Bet was still going strong beneath the towering Rugosa Roses:

I looked up at the top of the Rugosa Roses and they still had a few flowers on them also. Canada Geese were headed south overhead, the leaves were falling, the nights were freezing - but a few hardy plants were still blooming:

Beautiful October In The North Country

I traveled along Converse Road in Fort Jackson, New York to photograph this golden colonnade:

And on nearby Sheldon Road, I found a corner lot filled with these beautiful leaves:

There is a gravel road beside my house where I saw these red Sumacs:

Continuing down the gravel road, red and yellow trees towered above me:

I like autumn color when there is still enough green to highlight the red and yellow:

Along a neighbor's property:

A tree so red it almost glowed:

A small hay field between a stone wall and an autumn colored woodland:

Explosions of color all along the road:

Down toward the end of the road, this house was selling pumpkins:

The light colored bark of Aspen trees stood out among the brighter colors:

And colorful trees bordered the Amish farmer's pasture. It is down the road from his house and barn, and he takes a milk can down there in his buggy every morning, milks his cows and hauls the milk back to his family. New York's north country is beautiful all year long, but October is especially so:

The Last Days Of Summer

As our nights got cooler, the morning mists and dew grew heavier. This morning view is looking from the dog yard out over the Ninebark bushes, gravel road, north field and the trees beyond:

One pair of pigeons produced another baby. I feared it wouldn't make it, but it's been doing just fine:

The Wild Cucumber vines bloomed everywhere but were especially dramatic atop the old-fashioned rose bush. Alas, no photo of the combination turned out and I had to settle for just a photo of the Wild Cucumber blossoms:

Goldenrod, Burdock and Cattails abound along the fence line:

The New England Asters began to bloom. I hope they'll attract masses of butterflies like they did last year. There are a number of Monarch butterflies around but they won't hold still for photos:

One day I found half of my north field mowed:


And the next day my neighbor began tedding the mowed hay. Tedding is turning it over so it will dry thoroughly in the sun:

There was so much dew that he had to ted the mowed hay repeatedly:

And then, just before rain was expected, he and his uncle came to bale the hay. There were only 54 bales because the drought had kept it from growing for a month, but it was beautiful hay:

The best part for me was standing around afterwards and chatting:

The pink Rose Mallows began to bloom. They produce all their buds at the top of a big stalk which displays nicely outdoors, but renders them unusable for cut flowers, at least until the end of the season when there are just a few left. As you can see, the opening buds are gigantic like the flowers:

With the neighbors' barn and horse across the road, I thought they made a great late summer picture. You can see a red Rose Mallow bud on the top left, just about to open and add to the color: