The Fullness Of Springtime

The north country may seem as if it's all snow and cold, but springtime and summer are glorious. My PJM Rhododendron began to drop its flowers but the old fashioned Iris right behind it were getting ready to bloom:

I found these wonderful wildflowers, called Bird's-Eye Speedwell, in my lawn:

They are showy and hard to miss:

Growing all around it was its miniature relative, Thyme-Leaved Speedwell:

My red Flowering Crab, which is intertwined with a wild Golden Delicious apple, put forth buds:


So I clipped some off, put them in a vase and took them to church:

The Lilacs not only began to open, but also to perfume the yard. Some of them also went to church:

The little chickens are happy and healthy:

And very friendly:

The first apple in the grove to bloom was the tree in the corner, next to the power pole:

Apple blossoms are surely one of the greatest joys of life on the farm:

And then the whole grove began to bloom. I took this photo from inside the horses' corral. The farm house is on the other side of the grove:

Dogs And Cats Of Home

Bugsy was my first test subject for a new camera. He was sitting on the blue yoga mat, next to the blue dog food bin:

 Seamus, Daphne and Jack hung out at the ramp while I mowed their lawn. You can see the plum tree in blossom in the background:

 Fergus moved away from the lawn mower and over to the back of the house while I mowed:

 Clover prefers the north end of the yard, where she can nap on the warm rocks and be surrounded by tall grass:

And then Clover moved inside the dog house. Usually Daphne is the only one who goes in there:

 In the farm house kitchen - a typical scene with Daisy, Sammy and Clover:

 My sister brought me some mitten type hand puppets. I filled them with catnip and the cats went wild:

 Jack watched as the cats got stoned:

After dumping the catnip out of one puppet, Sammy began rolling in it and got totally wasted. His eyes sort of crossed and he began "catching" his own tail:

 On the other side of the house, Daphne and Seamus rested quietly in the computer room:

 The big green floor pillow in the kitchen corner is always the most popular place in the house for napping:

 Another blue photo, a result of blue yoga mats and a blue dog bed: