August On The Farm

The pure white Morden Snowbeauty was the only rose of the six I planted this spring which had not yet bloomed. It finally began to flower, and right next to the pink Carefree Beauty:

 In the pasture, the wild Butter-And-Eggs began to flower:

 And the white fantail pigeons were having a good year:

 They produced more successful nests and babies this year than ever before:

Newborns in a cake pan nest:

 A newly hatched baby being fed "pigeon milk," which is partially digested food, regurgitated for their babies (by both parents, who share the caretaking):

 Another wildflower bloomed, in the lawn and pasture - Birdfoot Trefoil:

 The Rugosa roses continued to bloom and the wild Bouncing Bet continued to add its white flowers to the extravagant display:

The neighbors' Narragansett Turkeys still roam the county road and strut their stuff for passersby. I imagine their displays will come to an end near Thanksgiving:

 I had left the barn uncleaned for longer than usual and took a picture to illustrate how badly it needed cleaning - but alas, the picture makes it look rather clean. OK then, let's just say I've been keeping an immaculate barn! Really though, I hauled 6 or 7 loads of sodden bedding out of there with the tractor:

 And a heart shaped sunflower appeared, perhaps a good omen:

 Green Elderberries began to form by the millions, and the Wild Cucumber vines began flowering on top of the Elderberries:

Chickens, Flowers, Turkeys

The little hens were closed up for the night when I snapped this photo. I made sure they had lots of food and water, then I collected the eggs and went back to the house for my own dinner and evening ritual:

 I never did learn what this mysterious Daylily is called, but it sure looks pretty in the early morning light as it begins to open:

 This Daylily I know the name of. It is called Paradise Pink:

 My favorite planting this year was the multicolored Yarrow. It's so thick that it's crowding out the weeds and so floriferous that I have a constant supply of colorful flowers:

And the red Yarrow is my favorite:

 But there are plenty of other colors and combinations as well:

Just a couple of days after I deadheaded the baby roses, I was shocked to see this Sevillana rose, barely 10" high, loaded with flowers again:

 I am still bringing flowers to church, including three vases full this Sunday. This was a collection of white (wild) Bouncing Bet, three colors of Daylilies, and Rugosa roses:

Several colors of Yarrow, yellow Heliopsis and blue Delphinium:

 Multicolored Sunflowers and Gloriosa Daisies:

Up the road from me is a pair of Narragansett turkeys, a male and female, who march out into the road and sometimes stop traffic. The male seems to be trying to assert his dominance as he displays to each car. I find this one of the delights of country life:

From The County Fair Back To The 1950s

My sister was visiting, and we were attending the Franklin County Fair in Malone, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). We'd already seen the goats, cattle, horses and most of the poultry. This white turkey was our last stop before exiting the poultry barn:

We ambled over to the midway, but it was too early and too rainy to find much excitement there:

Next we headed to the 4H Barn, where we saw a sleeping pig named Legend. The sign said he was a registered Berkshire boar, four years old. It appeared to me that Legend didn't care about anything but getting his sleep and food:

There were lambs and baby chicks and honey bee exhibits:


We treated ourselves to a maple milkshake and I liked this egg size display. We walked through the commercial barn, stopping to look closely at a leather working booth where I bought a new wallet:

Then we walked out to the arena and grandstands, where there appeared to be some kind of horse competition. Like the children with goats we saw earlier, though, this turned out to be a practice session for the real judging yet to come:

It was lunchtime by then, so we left the fair and headed to Bokie's Diner, just up the road a couple of miles from the fairgrounds. Bokie's is a pink and chrome recreation of a 1950s drive-in, a favorite summertime stop:

Even the parking lot was fun. My sister tried out being Marilyn Monroe:

And we both joined in as ice cream scoops, though my head didn't fit into the hole:

My sister as Betty Boop:

We headed for the door to see what the menu had to offer:

Inside was decorated in 1950s style, with period music playing on the jukebox. The menu was big on hamburgers, fried shrimp, etc:

The tabletops were covered with 1950s newspaper clippings, postcards and old class photos:

We enjoyed our lunch and left for home, but first I wanted to try being Marilyn Monroe. Perhaps this was my true self:

A Thanksgiving Visitation

A couple of holiday turkeys stopped by,
To wish you all Thanksgiving joy,

They were Ruby and Meghan, the Guinea Pig girls,
With costumes they wished to employ:

Franklin County Fair - Part 1

I'd already missed the St. Lawrence county fair, my neighbors told me, but the Franklin County fair was just beginning. I made plans to go on Thursday, Senior Citizens Day, for the discount. I drove to the town of Malone, parked and began my tour in the riding horse barn:

These, it appeared to me, were dearly beloved pets. They traveled with their humans and their stalls were decorated with pictures, plaques and curtains:

I next went into the dairy barn, where jumbo Holsteins were being groomed to impress the judges:

There were a variety of breeds and ages of cattle:

But Holsteins were far and away the most numerous breed:

Then there were these American British White Parks, a beef breed whose farm I visited several years ago. In fact, I might be raising them now except that their owner told me I'd never find any for sale:

Outside, the cattle were being given showers and full beauty treatments:

I went next into the poultry barn. Having raised so many types of poultry over the years, I always enjoy looking for familiar old breeds and surprising new breeds:

There were Golden Pheasants:

And golden colored chickens:

Guinea Hens:

And turkeys. There were lots more kinds of birds, and I'll present just a few of them in tomorrow's post: