Winter Arrives On The Farm

Autumn in the North Country was pleasant, and the new hens made friends with the old hens. They enjoyed their freedom together:

 They pecked and scratched for food in safety now that it appears the foxes are gone:

 Four of the new hens:

 All five of the new hens. As "Easter Egger bantams," they should lay blue and green eggs. They are smaller bodied than my Barred Rock bantams, however, so I suspect their eggs will be smaller:

 I ended the season with 21 white fantail pigeons:

 They too enjoyed the autumn as long as it lasted:

 The cattle and horses have been getting hay for some time now but they still found some grass to eat in the field. To my surprise, every big windstorm brought down more apples and the herd always got a treat the next day:

 And then one day it began to snow. The winds howled out of the west, driving snow through even the smallest cracks in the barn walls and causing the herd to shelter on the east side of the barn:

 And as the storm strengthened, I saw two foxes playing atop my hay bales. They ran when they saw me (you can see one behind the gate) but I was alarmed. Luckily, I'd had to lock up the birds for the winter because of the storm anyway. The calves chased the foxes playfully and it would have been cute except for my worries for the chickens and pigeons:

 My one yellow apple tree retained many apples up in its highest branches and they glistened like Christmas tree ornaments as the snow landed on them:

 The storm blew for two days and I spent many hours shoveling and plowing with the tractor:

 And of course I put out the bird feeders for the winter, much to Georgette's delight. Now she has birds to watch through the window to keep her entertained:

Walter Pratt Picnic Area, Brasher State Forest

The first day of my sister's weekend visit was warm and sunny, almost like summer (see previous two posts). The next day, however, was cold and snowy with strong winds. We decided to make a quick trip with the dogs to the Walter Pratt Picnic Area before the weather got too bad. It was snowing steadily, but not yet much of a problem. We parked along the road and let the dogs out. They ran wild, overjoyed with being out again:

They seemed to know better than to try going into the water, but instead traveled along the reservoir's edge, making sure to not get too close:

The pooches ran up a hill and my sister followed them:

And then they all walked along a ridge, looking down on the water and on me:

Fergus, Seamus and Daphne ran ahead:

And then we turned back toward the road. This was intended only as a short excursion:

But it was quiet and beautiful as the big, wet snowflakes fell all around us. My sister gazed out over the water:

And everything was calm and lovely, almost like a Christmas card:

The dogs ran in big circles as my sister and I slowly made our way back toward the car:

With occasional stops to appreciate the scenery:

We did, however, make one side trip across the dam. The dogs thought that was lots of fun:

But we had to stop and turn around at the spillway. It was an enchanting afternoon, the calm before the storm (a two day blizzard), and a perfect last day of my sister's visit: