Around The Farm

With the foxes apparently gone, I took a chance and let the chickens out again:

They were excited to get outdoors to spend their day:

Some hens immediately ran into the barn and some ran to the orchard:

One of my $5.00 roses began to bloom:

The fantail pigeons came out, as if to say "Welcome back" to the hens:

And the Rugosa Roses formed a myriad of new buds in preparation for a new flowering extravaganza:

The baby chicks at 21 days had grown so big that they were becoming difficult to house, to handle and to clean:

At 25 days I gave up and let them out of their brooder to live with the pigeons. So far, all is well:

The big hens made a new burrow into the hay inside the barn and laid their eggs in it:

I found a baby sparrow in the stock tank. I previously have found a hen and another sparrow, drowned in the stock tank but this one wasn't dead yet:

I lifted it out and set it in the sun to warm up. An hour later it was gone, so I am hopeful it got its chance to live a normal sparrow's life:

I snapped this photo one morning of the eastern sky, just as the sun was about to slip above the tree line. Rural life can be cruel sometimes, but it can also be peaceful and beautiful:

A Busy Summer On The Farm

The fantail pigeons sure enjoy their two birdbaths. They make an awful mess, though, and I learned the hard way that I should move that red feeder before putting down the birdbaths:

Here's the real action. Besides the obvious splashing, notice the birds who attempt to roll onto their sides in the water:



And, when they'd had enough bathing, this is how they dried off their feathers:


A local lawn was filled with Wild Thyme's purple flowers:

And a closer view, this one with Black-Eyed Susans in the foreground:

I had a pair of House Sparrows (formerly called English Sparrows) living in my barn and a pair of these plainly marked sparrows, which I have been unable to identify. If you know what species this is, leave me a note in the comments (no marks on their breast). Both pairs of sparrows vacated the barn after their babies were on their own:

The chickens spend each day pecking and scratching:

And they sure do cover a lot of ground:

Their favorite spot is beneath the apple trees:

The pears are looking promising:

I bought four loads of hay to see me through the winter. I have more cattle than before and they are eating machines:

Hay is predicted to be in short supply this year, so I want to be prepared. I still hope to get some hay from my own fields to add to the supply:

Summer Idyl, But Certainly Not Idle

Yes indeed, it was a beautiful and busy summer. The apples began to redden quite early in August:

I had plenty of apples of various varieties. I really have no use for them now, but plan to feed them to the cattle when they arrive. I tried cutting them up for the chicks, but they weren't interested. This week, however, several neighbors (including the young Amish couple who harvested my cherries) have asked to pick all my excess fruit and I agreed:

And the pears were lovely. I plan to eat as many of these as possible:

The house, as seen through the apple trees:

The dogs on the ramp in their fenced yard. They loved to sit out there in the sun and watch me work. This photo was taken before PeeWee's arrival, which is why you don't see him:

I spent many long, hard days clearing the grass from beneath the electric fence:

This is what the final stretch looked like when I started. Weedkillers had killed the grass and weeds but they were still standing, shorting out the fence:

And this is what it looked like when I was done. I'd cleared just past that elm tree when this photo was taken:

The baby chicks were growing like weeds:

They were beginning to act like chickens and lose their cuteness:

I kept lights on for them at night and provided a lean-to where they could huddle if cold:

I often find birds trapped inside my barn. Apparently, they get in but can't figure out to get back out. This little sparrow was so panicked that he kept banging into windows. So I caught him and carried him outside: