Cats And Dogs

July was too hot here, but August has mostly been quite pleasant, a time for old Seamus to hang out on his ramp by the Rugosa roses:

And indoors, the dogs and cats like to snooze together in the kitchen corner. This collection consisted of Bugsy, Clover, Fergus and Jack:

Sammy and Daisy in the farm house kitchen:

Caspar, planning more mischief:

Seamus and Daisy near my computer:

Jack dug a hole beneath a small maple tree, but the last time I was out there, it had been taken over by Daphne and Seamus:

Life is good, sunning themselves on the ramp: Fergus, Seamus, Jack and Daphne:

Little Clover likes to curl up in the tall grass by the fence:

Another kitchen corner collection: Caspar, Fergus, Clover, Jack and Daphne. Jack and Fergus are wearing belly-belts because they began peeing in the house again:

Seamus, hanging out by the Daylilies:

Its All About The Flowers And Plants

It's summer flower season, and the extra rainy spring and extra hot summer have helped things bloom. My little rock garden passed beyond Iris season long ago and now, in midsummer, the yellow Asiatic Lilies boomed on the south side of the little garden:

Orange Asiatic Lilies and Blue Sea Holly bloomed on the south side of the garden:

I was mowing the lawn when I noticed seedlings springing up around the productive plum tree. I mowed right over some of them, then thought better of it:

I went into the barn and got some bright yellow tent stakes to mark the little seedlings. I may need to select a couple of seedlings and move them, but for now at least, there are six plum seedlings which are safe:

And the mama tree is producing plums as she does every year:

The sunflowers I planted, at least the tallest ones, began producing buds and will soon be blooming:

The six multicolored Yarrow I planted produced buds and the first flowers to open were pink. I don't yet know what other colors I'll get, but it looks like the next ones will be red:

 The baby Carefree Delight rose is blooming freely:

And so is the Emily Carr rose:

 The little Sevillana rose has almost as many flowers as leaves:

 The Morden Sunrise rose is continuing to bloom:

 The first Daylily to bloom and so far the only one, is the Chicago Arnie's Choice. All in all, there are a lot of flowers blooming around the farm house, and the little plum seedlings are a bonus:

Summer On The Farm

There are ten little bantam hens now, seven Barred Rocks and three Easter Eggers. They aren't laying many eggs, but there are still more than I can use:

A pair of fantail pigeons successfully hatched two babies in their cubbyhole nest:

The babies were doing well for several days:

And then one morning, I found one dead and the other missing. I'm afraid this is a common occurrence and I've become accustomed to dealing with it:

I'm glad to say, however, that there are some successful nests in which parents raise healthy babies to help make up for the sad losses. These two are so close to adulthood that I feel confident they'll make it now:

They are growing rapidly and don't mind being held:

Flowers have been blooming in abundance and I collected two colors of roses and three colors of lilies into one vase to bring to church on Sunday:

I also collected an armload of Elderberry blossoms and put them in a vase, then stuck a couple of Ninebark branches in for color variety. Alas, by the time I arrived at church, the Elderberry stems had wilted so badly that I had to dump them in the weeds by the church parking lot. I know now that Elderberries, like Oriental Poppies, should not be used as cut flowers:

A new color of Asiatic Lilies, planted just this year, have been blooming copiously:

You may remember the photo of baby apricots in a previous post. There is now only one marble-sized apricot left and I don't expect it to last. But at least I now know that the tree can produce fruit:

The always productive plum tree is producing nice looking plums, but the other plum tree has lost its fruit:

I planted a whole row of seeds in an area where other seeds didn't take. I now have lots of baby Lupines emerging. They're awfully close together, but I think I'll leave them alone and let nature take its course:

Red Poll Reverie

Livin' is easy for the red haired gals of Windswept farm this time of year. Grass is plentiful and most of the weather is pleasant:

Gracie may look crabby but she's really a well mannered lady:

Rosella is taking good care of her boy, Winston, and has begun to come into heat again so it's time for me to get her bred for next year:

Winston ran across the field to greet me the other evening. I momentarily wondered if he was showing some early aggression but it turned out that he was just curious and friendly:

Jasmine is my friendliest cow and one who shows the most dairy type body shape:

No worries, no hassles except for the flies. Life is good:

Last winter's spots of waste hay are still favorite spots for lounging:

And Jasmine certainly knows how to make herself comfortable:

Nap time:

Violet and Scarlet are friends:

A trio of bovine beauties:

Jasmine again:

Notes From Here And There

The pigeon parents with the cubbyhole nest raised a healthy baby:

The baby did so well that one day I found it on the floor, attempting to begin its adult life. It was, however, being bullied:

I put it back in the nest, but it jumped right back out again. It's doing fine, though, and already indistinguishable from the adult pigeons:

Another pair picked an awful place to nest, crowded under a beam and full of poop:

But so far they've been excellent parents and their two babies are growing rapidly:

Both parents take turns keeping the babies warm and feeding them:

The little hens would like to get outside, but I can't let them because the foxes would eat the hens and the hens would eat my seedlings:

I get a few green and pink eggs each evening:

A friend from choir is an artist and, after visiting the farm, painted this for me to hang on my wall:

The Mock Orange finished its blooming season and began dropping petals so fast that it looked like it had been snowing:

Apparently this bi-colored Iris was the last Iris of the season:

The Morden Sunrise rose began to bloom: