7/26/10

Sharper than a serpent's tooth is an ungrateful goat

July was full of wild flowers.
The meadows sported all kinds of shapes and colors.
Fauna proliferated as well as flora -- especially bugs
including this monster
that haunted the clothesline.
It looks to be another bumper year for apples.
Cherries abounded, but the birds got to them before the Farmers could.
The blueberries are disappearing just as they ripen -- probably at the hands (paws?) of the gophers.
Almost as prolific as the ground squirrels this year were baby birds of all varieties.  Tree swallows hogged all of the bluebird houses, but the bluebirds, orioles, red-winged blackbirds, et al., found plenty of other accommodations.
Again this year barn swallows built a nest in the Gentlemen's Club.
In a few short days the nestlings grew from geeky babies
to handsome youngsters.
After fledging, they spent a day pooping in the gentlemen's water bucket

and learning to fly from rafter to rafter before heading out of the door for good.
Meanwhile phoebes built a nest in the garage attached to the does' barn.


This crop stuck around longer and were on the verge of getting too large for their nest
when Mom and Dad finally coaxed them outdoors;  we hope they remain nearby and help keep the fly population down around the barns.


The goose family still makes its daily rounds; stops include our front lawn and the goat barns.
Dad remains vigilant
and leads the clan down to the pond



where the youngsters have begun exercising their wings by splashing noisily.  Pretty soon they'll be practicing their take-offs and landings in the pond.
A deer doe and fawn make regular trips through the meadows on three sides of the house.
They look longingly at the considerable new area the Farmers fenced off for the goats this year.  Are Dream and Alba grateful for all of the money, time and labor the Farmers put into this project?
NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
They'd rather stay indoors, eat hay and rest.


They do venture out occasionally on their own to browse in the old area just outside of their barn
but they will only go into the new expanded area if Barb leads them out into it and sits with them
even though once out there
they do enjoy the rich browsing opportunities.
The Farmers also just fenced off a new expanded area for the gentlemen


who are much more appreciative and need no prompting to get out and munch on the abundance.
Mr. T likes to settle down on his tummy in the middle of the field and eat while he rests.

Of course, the grass still tastes better on the other side of the fence.
Early in July a neighboring farmer made the first delivery of this year's hay crop for the ladies and gentlemen.   There's much more room in the barn now that Dodger, Loki, Dancer, Crema, Luna and  Rosa have moved on to new homes.
Barb enjoys visiting the latter three at the kind invitation of their new goat-mom, Laura.  (Here they do their Alpine climbing thing on bales in their nifty new barn.)  But Barb has been suffering cute-young-goat withdrawal; she has arranged to buy two youngsters who will join us at the end of the month.
The Farmers celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary on July 19.  Sentimental romantics that they are, they gave each other the traditional gift for that occasion (between the silver of the 25th and gold of the 50th):
a new toilet.