Evening Stroll Around The Farm

(You can click the pictures to make them larger)

Yesterday evening the animals and I went for a stroll just as the sun was getting ready to set.

It was a beautiful evening.

Looking towards the fruit trees

All the dogs and cats came with me

Lots of lawn to mow around the farmhouse and lots of good rabbit trails to follow.

Our lane heading out to the dirt road that passes our farm.

I like that our mailbox is on our side of the road...most farmers have to cross the road to get to thier mailboxes but we are at the end of the route on this road so we're spoiled!

Bubba and Shep

Heading back down the lane looking into one of the pastures.

Olly watching for grasshoppers and butterflies.

On the prowl

Shep getting a little rough for Lizzy's liking. Better watch out Shep.

Olly our house cat

Brother and Sister. Olly in back and Lizzy out front.

Grasshopper hunting

Back to the coop to put everyone to bed.

The yellow birds and one black one in back is part of the group of chicks we bought at the end of March. They're nearly full grown.

One of the young cockrels.

Priscilla telling me she's not ready for bed yet.

Shep waiting for me.

It was a fun stroll around the farm and everyone had a good time.

Now it's time to head inside and read my email and have an apple cider.

But first there's treats for everyone!

What do you like to do in the evenings?

Around The Farm Mosaic

Have a wonderful Sunday!

My New Baby!

It's been HOT here in Kansas...close to 100 with humidity in the 80's!

After all the rain and now the heat everything is growing like crazy

including our lawn and pastures.

My old lawn mower (I still love her)

So I've been mowing once a week and I'm sure I could have done it more often than that.

Last Friday my lawnmower broke down. It's been doing that a lot lately.

So we had to make a choice...order the part and then fix it and have it struggle to do our large yard or buy a new one...fix the old one and sell it to someone with a smaller acreage.

We chose the later.

So here's my new 'Baby'!

It has a roll bar!

It has a cup holder!

It has a seat belt?

Ya...a SEAT BELT!

I'm in lawnmower heaven!

Log Homes and 'What If's'

(You can click on the pictures to enlarge)

Before I moved to Kansas...as most of you know.. I lived in the mountains of British Columbia. It's a beautiful province with mountains and lakes and ocean and orchards vineyards and even rattlesnakes and tumbleweed.

Love all the stone and those huge windows!

In the area I lived in we were surrounded by mountains and trees...LOTS of trees. Logging was the #1 industry there and because of that there were a lot of log homes built. Some were just cabins but some were beautiful huge homes.

We stayed in this one in Arkansas

I've always loved log homes and my dream at one time was to build one on the side of a mountain beside a lake. Well life happens and things change and I am now living my dream on this little farm in the country surrounded by wheat fields and corn. I love Kansas...it has it's own beauty and the people are so friendly...especially here in the country. There are times though ...especially when it's hot and humid like it is now in Kansas that I think about that log cabin in the cool mountains of BC. 

This is one of my favorites

I think we all have our little 'WHAT IF' dreams...like what if we won the lottery. Well if something like that were to happen to us...my dream would be to build that log home on the lake near my children up in Canada and live there 4 months out of the year.

The HOT HUMID months. 

Love the front porch

I like the walk out basement

Wow

This looks more like a post and beam with stones...love it!

My log home would have a wrap around porch...large windows...screened porch...dormer windows...Huge fireplace with wood insert and the master bedroom would be on the main floor.

Dream's of grandeur? Yes...but it's only a dream after all.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has 'what if' dreams....do you like log homes?

What would your 'what if' dream be?

The Garden Gate

(you can click the pictures to make them larger)

Do you love old garden gates? I do. The right garden gate seems to add such character to a yard or a garden. If they squeak that's even better! My husband made a gate for our arbor in the city and you had to walk through it to get up on the front porch to our door. We had so many compliments from people who loved the feeling that it gave them as they walked into the front garden...one person said it was like stepping back in time. What a wonderful thing to say!

This one reminds me of a secret garden entry

I love the color of this gate

 I hope that one day here on the farm we'll give people that feeling again but we have a LOT of work to do before that happens.

this one would look nice for a vegetable garden

 In the meantime I'll keep looking at pictures of gates and get ideas for our screened porch and garden. It may be a lot of work but the end result will be worth all the effort.

I love this one...it reminds me of our old one

This one looks very Zen

This one has a cottage feel

I love the double gate

Do you have a garden gate?

(photo's from the internet.)

Goosey Goosey Gander Part 2

Back in April I think it was... I posted on the two little goslings that we had just brought home (you can see that post( here ). I named them Percy and Priscilla.

 They were the cutest little things...all yellow and gray fluff balls who took to my husband and I quickly.

They followed me everywhere I went.

Well now they're nearly all grown up...they're no longer little yellow and gray fluff balls!

They don't like my new garden shoes or my hat.

But they're still cute. To me.

I wasn't so sure I was going to like geese but it was love at first sight for me. Now I go out several times a day just to sit and visit with the geese and watch their goosey antics.

Percy giving the cats a piece of his mind and he'd like a little piece of them too!

Priscilla joins in

Priscilla is the more outgoing of the two. She's the first one to chase the cats (they don't like the cats AT ALL or dogs for that matter)  They're also very protective of me and if any of the chickens come around when I'm visiting them..they better look out! 

When visitors come they're not too friendly...you can tell they don't like these other 'critters' with their Momma but so far they haven't pinched anyone. 

Every night the chickens go into their coop by themselves although sometimes I have to go chase in the odd straggler. The geese however do NOT go into the barn by themselves. Every evening around the same time I have to round them up then starting with Percy...pick them up and put them in for the night. Percy is getting quiet heavy.

If he keeps this up I'll need a wheel barrow to get him into the barn!

The hardest part is keeping him in the barn until I go back for Priscilla

he sometimes get's upset that she's not there with him.

I hate the thought of what would happen if we lost one of them.

I think the survivor would pine away for the other.

This is a picture of a full grown African Goose

Males can get up to 20 pounds! 

Percy is getting the bulge on his upper beak, Priscilla has a bit of a bump but not much of one.

Morning time here on the farm is pretty exciting.

First the dogs to out. Then we head over to the coop to let the chickens out.

That's always a noisy time as everyone wants to get out the little chicken door at the same time!

Then I head to the barn for the geese.

OH BOY do we LOVE to be let out!

Percy is the first one...he starts flapping his wings and then they're both running like they're going to take off.

 WOOHOO I yell every morning as they do this. I think they like it because they run back to me.

Most every time I go out to visit with them I ask them if they want to FLY

and we all take off running (YES...me too...and I flap my arms) (I never professed to be sane) and they usually pass me on the 'runway'.

My husband says one day he's going to get a picture of us doing that.

Hmm....I don't think so.

I hope you have a WONDERFUL Monday!