Presents in the Field

A cold, windy, blistery day.   Its the end of April and Christmas has begun in the field.

Today I found a huge bull calf zooming around the field.  I couldn't get a decent photo of him because he was going so fast and his mom, Gwen, was chasing him the entire time.

He stood still for 1 milisecond.  He is one big solid calf with 2 teardrop ring eyes, speed and flexibility.

Then he ran over to meet his grandmother, Google. 

Here are the 3 generations in the field:

After running around for 45 minutes he collapsed in a heap.

Now was the time to tag, band and weigh the brute.  109 pounds. He was probably 112 when born and ran the other 3 pounds off!

A few other herd mates dropped by to see what all the fuss was about.

Then he fell asleep on his moms leg while she grabbed some supper at the hay rack.

He is sleeping amongst the herd tonight.

The youngest and smallest member.  And the most exhausted.

I need some good "G" names for this boy.

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Chicks & Seedlings

Perfect day today so I brought the entire flock outside and put them in my dogstyle chicken tractor.
The ducklings and the growing chicks got along great.
They grazed, cheeped and slept.

All my indoor seedlings are growing quickly as well.
I was able to obtain a few seeds from a giant white pumpkin and its growing like King Kong.

Tomatoe seedlings coming up nicely too.

The peepers all came out loud and clear 2 weeks ago up at the pond. Its a great sound and lulls me to sleep at night.
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Cow Talk and New Calves

The herd was chewing on their bale and chatting about the green grass that is just growing outside of their reach.

The rest of the herd was trying to get me to drop the fence so they could eat all the grass that is starting to grow on the other fields.
They are very persistant.

I went and visited the neighbors cows and discovered a new calf.

He soon figured out how to get some nice warm milk on this chilly morning.

Then he came running over to me.

Nothing like cute calves in the morning!

You got any favorite calves running around your area yet?
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Covered Bridge- Bath, NH

Around the corner on a very muddy, frost heaved road I came upon a covered bridge I had never seen before.

On the other side was a quaint village Church, a waterfall and a General Store.

On my side it was raining.

 

This bridge was one of the lucky ones that survived Hurricane Irene when she roared through Vermont and New Hampshire and took everything down the river with her.

This covered bridge is one of the longest in all of New England.

The beams inside are huge and very beautiful.

 

The view of the raging river from the windows are great.

 

I may come back and do some fishing here.

I can hear the trout calling my name.....

 

There is an ice cream shop just up the road.  Perfect place.

 

Not too many horses remain in the area, but I have heard a recent story about a herd of cows that took a stroll thru the bridge several summers ago.

Finding really neat places on my drives around rural areas are the real pleasures of my life.

Seen any really old bridges lately?

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Sharing The Bathroom

My latest guests in the bathroom have been 2 rare Appleyard ducklings.

They were the 2 tiniest of a group of 7 ducklings I picked up 2 weeks ago.

They have been cleaner than the chicks were, yet much more demanding to get fed by 6 am.

The Vermont/New Hampshire Appleyard Duck Preservation Project is going well.
 20 new ducklings have been added to the dwindling population and 14 more are in an incubator.

"Agnes and Ruthless" are growing and are getting better socialized.

These 2 beautiful duckings will be my frontline on the war against garden snails.

Last week I got to visit with the other 5 ducklings I had delivered to a friend.

They are much larger than mine, but hatched at the same time.

And one of them is extremely goofy.

I am really enjoying these unsual and vibrant ducklings.

If you live in NH or Vermont, have some experience raising ducks and are interested in joining the Appleyard Preservation Project, let me know.

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Dead Whale in the Field

I had a small stroke when I walked out to the field the herd is in.

This is the first thing I saw:

The biggest cow in the herd, dead and bloated.

Of course I screamed and said uncatholic things.

My thunderous voice has been said to raise the dead,....... and it did.

She rolled over and got up.

She had been in a deep sleep in the sun and didn't hear me or Mavis whistling and talking all the way down to their area.

Further on up the field my big old cow was also napping in the sun.

She gets bigger every day and I just KNOW there are twins in there.

Even Gracie was laying down soaking up some rays.

99% of the cows were napping.

Its a great day to be with calm, gentle, pregnant cows, in the warm sun.

Hope we have lots more cool, sunny days.
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Wagon Graveyard

Its sad to discover old horse drawn wagons rotting in fields and under barns.

I found this one in a field in Northern New Hampshire.

I paused on the side of the muddy dirt road to snap a few photos and wonder what this wagon must of hauled when it was in its splendor.  I also thought of the horses that must of pulled it.

What color, what breed, what age ? How long did the horses work on this wagon.

I imagined a scene from a hundred years ago with 2 large black horses pulling the wagon full of hay to the barn.

Through the years the wagon had been modified to be hauled by a tractor, the wheels changed and the siding removed and replaced.

Nearby was an ancient manure spreader. Still in use.

Most rural farms are still using equipment that should be in agricultural museums.

Made to last 3 life times.

Have you got an old wagon ?

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Rhubarb & Chives

When the rototiller man came in March he started tilling the garden up quickly once he arrived.

Unfortunately, I was not at home to tell him where the parsnips, tansey, chives, rhubarb or perrenials were.

By the time I arrived home the damage had been done.

I rescued a good number of the mangled parsnips and made them into parsnip cake.

The tansey was gone forever, as I thought the rhubarb was too.

The chives popped up 9 days ago.

Then today after 10 hours of rain, I saw some rhubarb shoots sticking out in various areas of the garden.   Lots of them, all spread out in the garden.

I quickly dug them up and rearranged them in the garden in a proper place.

A few garden club members came and got a few shoots too.

Everyone wants sweet rhubarb for pies and jams, and this rhubarb is the very very sweet type.

Thanks to the rototiller man, lots of folks have the beginings of a future rhubarb patch in their gardens and I have 3 great sprouts that will grow wide and plentiful.

All the rain we got yesterday has made the fields green and the soil soft enough to dig out weeds and replant "lost" rhubarb.

More rain coming tomorrow.

The other surprise is the 200 sunflowers that have come through the soil too.

They self seeded after the birds knocked them out of the giant sunflower heads that I had all over the garden last year.

I love working in the soil and can't wait to start planting all the plants I have started in the house.

Last week there was a frost and there will be another on May 5th, so I am trying hard to use some self control.

But the wonderful smell of sweet spring soil is impossible to ignore. 

Have you been playing in the dirt lately ?

Have any of your 2011 crops re-seeded in your garden?

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Calf Condo

Calving season is just around the corner and the cows have been out in the field for several weeks. 
The barnyard turned into a quagmire with mud so the herd was moved immediately to small patches of well drained areas while we waited for green up.

We are still feeding hay as the grass grows.

In anticipation of calves coming, a metal hut was brought out to the field so the new calves will have a place to escape the elements.

The big cows like it too.

Did you know there is really a cow "at the end of the tunnel ?"

Its suppose to be nice and warm tomorrow, possibly with more rain.

I love the blue skies!
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The "S" Photo Assignment

The photo assignment for today's daily Farm Photo contest was to take photos of things that began with an "S."

We needed to have 4 "S " subjects.  So that works out to a maximum of 4 photos.

Instead, I took ONE photo that captured 4 "S" subjects.

Put your glasses on and find the 4 "S" things.

Still can't find all 4?

Here is a hint for 2 of them:

His name is "Shorty."

Have you found all 4 now ?

List them in the comments section.

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Mobile Wisdom

Just when you think you have seen and experienced just about everything possible, you get blindsided by one more thing.

The day I left work shaking my head in puzzlement, this license plate was right in front of me.

If I only had a crystal ball......

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Humbleness

An interesting bumper sticker in the parking lot yesterday:

I have been a longtime admirer of these dogs and had always hoped to go to Ireland and then come home with a few.

Even more interesting is the fact that this bumper sticker is on this kind of vehicle, dont ya think?

Would love to have a photo of the dogs when they are inside of this vehicle.

Are any of you owned by an Irish Wolhound?
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