Autumn Fruit, Birds, Scenery, Flowers And Pastures

The pear tree seemed to have few blossoms this spring, but produced a bumper crop of handsome pears this autumn. I guess that I simply am no good at judging the crop by the amount of spring blossoms:

I ate a few, fed a few to the herd in spite of my previous determination not to, and allowed two Amish women to pick the rest of the fruit. The women left me a few branches of fruit for my own use and I will likely feed those pears to the herd when my sister visits:

The fantail pigeons seem to be doing unusually well:


This pair insisted on nesting on the ground in a place where opening the door would interfere. I put down a cake pan nest about a foot away, and moved their first egg into it. They were agreeable to the new arrangements and I soon saw cracked egg shells in the nest. I've only seen one tiny, fragile baby so far but have left them otherwise undisturbed so as not to interfere any more than I already have:

Another cake pan nest has two young'uns, nearly ready to venture out and learn to eat pelleted food. They sure make a disgusting mess of their nest, but these cake pans are easy to dump and clean:

One day I took this photo from an upstairs window, the view across the county road to the neighbors' barn and pasture. The corn field on the left belongs to a large farmer who buys up all available large fields, puts in drainage and grows crops in them, mostly corn and soy beans:

The Rose Mallows have been blooming abundantly, so much so that the stalks are falling over. A neighbor boy knocked on my door last evening to ask if he could photograph my beautiful flowers. They are amazing because they're so gigantic:

The miniature horses and cows are fat and comfortable, apparently living a life of ease:

Wild New England Asters began blooming early and abundantly, their purple color intensifying as time went on:

They attract butterflies, though it's difficult to get  good photo. This was a Monarch, the only photo it held still long enough for me to take. There was also a Painted Lady butterfly, similar to the Monarch but smaller, though it was nervous of me and I never got a picture:

The chickens are in need of another coop cleaning, though it may be that I can simply add pine shavings for now:

One last picture of the Rose Mallows in front of the house:

Moving Into Autumn On The Farm

The New England Asters which grow beneath some apple trees put on an especially impressive show this year:

And a few dramatically tall and shapely mushrooms sprang up in the unmowed lawn:

I'd thought the Rugosa Roses were finished blooming, but they began to bloom once again in September:

And the old fashioned rose which I saved also began blooming again:

Asiatic Lilies bloom in June - and they always have. Yet one day I was shocked to see bright red lilies blooming in my new little rock garden. They were about three times bigger, taller and more prolific than my other lilies, not to mention their vibrant color:

I'd kept the labels from the bulbs I planted in the spring, so I checked them and learned that these were Dolly Madison hybrid Asiatic Lilies - and they bloom both spring and autumn:

Two more fantail pigeon babies made it past the feathering stage:

The nest was close to the floor and the babies began wandering out of it. I carried them back and their parents immediately began feeding them "pigeon milk:"

They are pretty homely as babies, but their parents love them:

All summer long, as I mowed along the fence line, I'd see miniature pink flowers in the grass near a telephone pole. I'd plan to photograph them after mowing, but then learned that I'd chopped off the flowers. Finally, thinking it might be my last chance for the year, I stopped and took photos so I could identify them:

I almost gave up the search for their identity, but then found an online explanation of how their classification and scientific names were changed in 2004, many decades after my field guide was published. I found a perfect match in photos, then learned that they were a European species. Then I found a website which showed how they'd recently spread to much of the U.S., particularly in the northeast. They are European Centaury, a tiny member of the Gentian family. They bloom prolifically and I read that they are annuals, in spite of their taproot. It seems they'd make a great terrarium plant if only they were perennials:

My neighbor brought over what was probably the last load of grass clippings for the year. Remy was there in a flash, determined to get his fill before the pushy cows arrived. Jasmine, my sweetest cow, got there soon also, and probably for the same reason: