Dogs In The Snow

I snap photos around the house and farm all the time and then use them when I collect enough for a blog post. That becomes a problem when the seasons are changing. In this case, I had a collection of "Dogs In The Snow" photos which I wanted to use even though most of our snow is now melted. This is Clover in the back yard:

Jack, also in the back yard by the maple tree (which I've pruned to be more of a bush):

Seamus in the back yard. He loves the snow and cold:

Daphne is small, but she hops through the snow like a miniature St. Bernard:

Jack and Clover between the dog house and the ramp which leads to the house:

Fergus, Jack, Clover and Daphne:

Fergus, Seamus and Jack (who is running, as usual):

Springtime and our late thaw presented me with a dangerous problem. As the huge ice jam on the back roof began to inch ever closer to falling, I tried to keep the dogs from going beneath it. I put up a baby gate and eventually three baby gates, held up by pushing them into the snow. The dogs, however, seemed to be drawn to the forbidden part of the yard as if by a magnet:

All five dogs, waiting on their ramp for me to let them back in:

Seamus, feeling playful in the snowy back yard:

All five dogs during a surprise, late snowfall:

Fergus, Seamus and Jack:

Red Polls In The Snow

It ain't easy being a bovine in the north country, but these hardy gals (and one boy) seem to handle it without much problem:

 Their hay consumption went from a bale every three days to a bale every two days. When our third nor'easter hit, they consumed an entire bale in one day:

 After I moved the bale feeder away from the barn and out into the bigger field, they had no protection from cold, west winds - but so far the winds have been mild. I wish I could say the same about the snowfall:

 But between snowstorms, we have had some lovely weather:

 And a fat cow or two has been been known to find a comfy spot and sprawl out for a nap:

 March brought lots of snow, and this is a typical morning scene when I ring the bell to call them in for a bit of grain:

 Another nice day, with the cattle happy and comfortable between snow storms. The mud is another story altogether:

 Amy was smaller than the other cows when they arrived and kind of strangely shaped. She's grown into a very large cow and most of her odd conformation has disappeared. She was not fed well as a heifer and they all looked starved when I got them:

 Well, they sure don't look starved now. In fact, I have the opposite problem with most of them obese:

 Little Rocket has decided he likes grain but it is difficult to get a bowl to him without one of the big animals stealing it:

 I used to drop the hay bale into the feeder and then try to split off the frozen and/or water logged exterior layer. I'm now trying a new technique. I set the bale on the ground outside the feeder and then use the bale spear to split off the outer layer. It usually falls to the ground and opens up, exposing the fresher hay from the inside. The animals run right to it while I drop the main part of the bale into the feeder:

 And of course some of them also run right to the feeder to feast on the new bale:

Snowy North Field Perimeter - Part 2

I was driving around the outside perimeter of the north field to see and photograph the wintry beauty (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). I stopped when I saw this snowy pine. It looked like a Scotch Pine, though I've never taken the time for a closer look. I didn't do so this time either, but maybe I can remember it in the summer:

There are remnants of a stone wall along the perimeter, though they are so old that it is now difficult to discern:

And there are still piles of old farm refuge - tires, farm equipment, pipes, etc. I removed close to a hundred old tires, but more keep appearing:

I came to the two big Sugar Maples which provide such nice color every autumn:

I own the woodland off to the right in this spot, and it did my heart good to see an Eastern White Cedar growing there:

Some giant rocks were piled along the woods, apparently removed from the field before it could be used. I have heard a story of how the former owner had someone clear the rocks but never paid them. He also never paid for his new silo, so they came and dismantled it - which is why I now have a silo base but no silo behind the barn:

One lone Beech tree still held onto its golden leaves:

This was my path. The north field lay to the left and the woods to the right. I had a narrow path between them, a path which I have to bush hog each summer in order to keep the weeds down. But this photo shows the great beauty I experienced as I drove the perimeter:

In places, remnants of an old barbed wire fence still separated the field from the woods, and Birch trees began to show along the edges:

Another shot of an old, leaning barbed wire fence, with woods just beyond:

The brushy places had such an abundance of small branches that they appeared extra white:

I think these dark, withered berries were those of the Shadbush, sometimes called Serviceberry. They should be blooming again this spring:

I turned left, heading back to the house and barn, with the county road to my right. There is a row of cattails along this section of road:

The most beautiful sight of the trip was this Foxtail Grass. The seed heads were so white from a coating of snow that they looked like extra fancy, hybrid ornamental grasses in miniature. Alas, the photo doesn't do them justice. They were exquisite. They were also my final photo. I put my camera away and began using the tractor to remove the snow which the town had piled at the end of my driveway:

Snowy North Field Perimeter - Part 1

We missed one nor'easter, but got caught by the second one. The morning after, I decided to get on the tractor and drive around the outside perimeter of the north field to see the snowy sights. I drove past the cattle and horses in the south field as I headed up the gravel road for the north field:

Just past my north field are the remains of a former house trailer. This collapsed shed used to be their front entrance. It also sheltered the fox kits which I photographed  last spring. You can see those baby fox photos here:

That trailer used to have old fashioned pink roses which grew by this fence. They still bloom each year, though they are now in so much shade that I'm not sure how long they can continue:

I turned left to travel along the outside of the north field fence line. I planned to photograph the snowy beauty which surrounded it:

This open field used to be connected to mine, but they were separated when the property was sold:

I often drive down the gravel road after a snowstorm to photograph snowy pines, but hardwood trees are also pretty after a snowstorm:

I stopped to photograph this wild grass, which offered a bit of wintry beauty:

These brushy woodlands, with lots of small branches to collect the snow, looked dazzling:

I came to the corner of my field, where I'd turn left at the gate and follow the back fence line:

White birches didn't look quite so white with all that glittering snow around them:

At the corner of the property was the apparently dead trunk of an old tree which had sprouted and is now growing up again. It occurred to me that I'd never bothered to notice what kind of tree it is. I'll try to do that when the leaves are on it:

I passed an old lane which leads down into the woods and off into another field, a tiny portion of which I own. I've been piling brush along the side:

As I traveled along the edge of the field, I looked back toward my barn and house, with the neighbor's red barn across the county road:

The tractor is the best way to travel in deep snow. I sit high up where I can get a great view and it can pretty much go anywhere. If, however, I did get stuck, I could use the bucket to push my way out of a tricky situation (I've had to do it before). There was more to see along the perimeter, though, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: