Around The Countryside...

On May 20th, I took this picture of the phoebes in the rafters, and discovered not four, but five of the little birds! The next day, I went out to capture more photos, expecting them to be exploring a little and perhaps catching them in the act of learning to fly. They were gone. The nest was empty.  This was the last shot, before they left the nest for good. 

Five little phoebes.

 

The off and on again rain has made for some pretty cloud cover. Sometimes we only have a little, other times fluffy puffs float across the sky. Sunrise as we head to the bridge.

A puffy cloud is outlined by the sun.

A closer shot of the puffy cloud.

Buddy surveys the kingdom while Sammy gets a back scratch from Richard. 

This little guy tucked in as soon as the dogs got curious!

Porch sitting at Mom's and Pa's.  The little yellow finches are dominating the South Pole feeder.

Went to The Cook Shack (https://www.facebook.com/TheCookShack/) for dinner and a Luna moth had parked on the window screen all day.  Thanks to proprietor, Pam, for taking the picture for me!

We had to run an errand in a nearby town and took the scenic route home.  The cows in the pasture and the clouds in the sky made for a pastoral scene.

This old barn holds the timbers of its former glory, faded with time. 

The peach tree is fruiting out and is growing tall, too.

The raised beds - left is the potatoes and right is the lettuce, radishes and green beans. We hope to enclose the entire garden area, including the fruit trees and bushes, in a covered cage to keep the wild critters from eating our food!

First harvest of the strawberries. There was only one, the others are still ripening.

A Perfect Horizon...

Usually, when we leave the homestead, the sun isn't visible. It's sunrise, but we can't see it due to the high horizon and trees. But occasionally, we leave a little late, and then we can see it.

 

Sunrise over our trees and driveway.

Going around the bend and down the hill, the sun disappears again, but leaves a coral glow in the clouds.

 

Sammy is so joyful about being out, that she and I run ahead of Richard and Buddy. But every few feet, she stops suddenly, and makes sure that they are still behind us. 

Every year the swallows nest in the crevices under the bridge.  When we approach, they start flying about, trying to chase us away. It's hard to tell in the photo, but there's a cloud of black spots in the air in front of the trees, and one swallow to the left, between the rail and the cement barrier. 

Pa has left a portion of his yard wild, a small patch we call the jungle. It is home to a host of birds, bunnies, and probably other wildlife. There were two bunnies, but one ran off. This one stood still as a statue for several long minutes. When my camera flashed, it took off.

Several turkeys nest just behind the parents' property.  Pa puts out corn for them daily. This young hen came up by herself yesterday. They usually come in groups.  

As we walk down my parents' private road, the scent of roses fills the air. These are wild multi-flora roses, they do not have the big, tight buds or numerous petals of modern roses. The scent is richer, with a slight cinnamon overtone, that accompanies us all the way home.  

We know Spring is here when the robins arrive. Usually, they are fat from winter feeding. As they take to nesting, the birds tend to slim down a bit, from all the work of building a nest and raising their young. This robin was hopping about the yard yesterday. 

We always have butterflies, and though I've seen quite a few, they've not been settling down so I can get pictures! However, this Red-Spotted Admiral finally allowed me to get a photo before it flew off.  

A late-blooming iris.  Just FYI - we planted only light lavender irises. I'm not sure what causes them to change color, but everyone up and down the road now has some white and deep purple irises, too. 

 

A walk about the property revealed that the lilacs I planted to honor the memory of Richard's mother, Alma, are finally blooming. One of them struggled for a couple years, but both are now doing well.

The potato bed is thriving. Yes, we know the bricks need to be re-pointed...all in due time!

The peach tree is thriving, we were worried about the late frost killing the blooms, but we covered it with blankets (and damaged quite a few blooms), and somehow, most of them have turned into peaches! Still have to figure out how to keep the wildlife from eating them before we can harvest!

1rst Week Of May...

We've been taking our daily walk with the dogs, stopping in to visit with Mom and Pa and taking pictures of the scenery and the wildlife. We're working on a number of things in preparation for the visit from family this summer, doing some building, and also planning some surprises for various people! :) There's always a birthday or anniversary to celebrate.

A few years ago, Pa planted a whole bunch of light purple irises along their driveway. With cross-pollination of our local bees, some of the irises have changed colors as the years go on. In this picture there are three colors - dark purple, bi-color, and a golden iris. None of these irises are the original light purple that Pa planted!

The golden iris.  You can see streaks of purple through the petals.

The bi-color iris. 

 The dark purple iris.

The valley we walk through on our way to the bridge has a hay meadow for the neighboring farmer's cows. We've seen lots of critters in the field, skunks, possums, and rabbits, mostly. Occasionally, we are surprised to see low lying fog as we go by, and when we turn around to come home, the fog has burned off  already!

Buddy enjoys the sunlight at the bridge.

Sammy snags a snuggle from Richard at the bridge.

A gathering of daisies in the ditch.

The Missouri primroses are blooming in the rocks and poor soil.

A monarch landed in our yard!

Sammy Takes A Walk...

Richard and I have had an exciting couple weeks.  We were invited to two revivals (and went to both). We've been working inside and out, Richard mowing and cleaning out ditches, me cleaning, writing and even a little sewing.

In the course of talking  with one of our neighbors she mentioned her German Shepherd was jealous of our walks to the bridge with Buddy, so of course, I said I'd be more than happy to walk Sammy with us! Today was the first day Sammy got to walk with us, since we've had rain all week!

Spring is definitely springing, we've had some wild visitors and the green things are growing. 

 

Vanessa Atalanta dropped by. We've had painted ladies, checkerspots, duskywings, swallowtails, a few I don't know the names of, and even a Monarch. However, Vanessa is the only one who stayed still long enough for me to grab a camera. 

 

A blue jay hides in the pines.

     

There's a woodpecker nest to the left of the bird.

 

The irises bloomed.

My peach tree has fruit! We had covered it for the unexpected frost but were afraid we'd lost the blossoms anyway.  Apparently not! Now, if I can only harvest before the deer get the ripe peaches!

 The potato be Richard planted in mid-February, we weren't sure they'd made it through the surprise frost a couple weeks later. They did, and we have very healthy plants growing!

   

Fog drifting in the valley as we walked to the bridge a few days ago.

 

 

Sammy gives Buddy a kiss at the bridge. She enjoyed the walk very much and we'll be walking her with us a lot more often. 

Sunrise And Some Wild Life...

We take our walks early in the morning, often walking out of our driveway before the sun is fully up. The pink stretch is the sun below the horizon, glowing off the clouds. 

It's an odd thing, but through the mile to the bridge, the sky changes colors, and the surrounding area can look completely different in the light just a few yards away as we walk.

 

Pink sky at morning.

 

As we continue down the road, the sun starts comping up.

 

Halfway down the road, the sun plays peekaboo.

 

Along the way, the domestic life takes a peek at the strangers in their midst.

 

A ground web is covered in dew.

 

Not sure of the genus just yet, I'm guessing it's a duskywing, but I'm awaiting confirmation.