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Friday, February 17, 2012

Early February On The Farm


I thought you might enjoy a little walk around
the farm with me.

February isn't the best month for taking
photo's but I figured what the heck. 

Above are a few of my 'girls' doing
chores in the veggie garden. 
They are doing a fantastic job of scratching
 pecking and eating lots of weed seeds.  
Along with fertilizing ;)

Hopefully I'll have a WHOLE lot less weeds
this year.


Above is one of the doors on our 
chicken coop/garden shed.
This year the plan is to paint some
of our farm buildings.

As much as I like the old chippy look
it doesn't help preserve the wood
and we have to be practical.


The garden shed/chicken coop will
be painted it's original white with 
barn red trim.


Above is a photo of what my hubby 
refers to as our 'hog shed'.
He has no idea why he calls it that but
we think it was one of the original buildings
on the farm built after the chicken coop
and barn. 

We don't use this building and we're not
sure if we ever will. 
We could tear it down and save some
money on taxes but it seems a shame
to tear it down plus it blocks
the snow and wind from the north.


This old ladder was found right here against
the old elm tree. 

There was the base of what looked like 
an old tree house further up
when we first moved here
but part of it has fallen down.

I can imagine kids playing up there 
having a ball
back in the old days. 
Lots of laughter and fun.

I wonder if they had a tire swing?


Above is the view the kids would have had to the north east.


Here's one of our old plum trees.
They've seen better days.


This old corn seeder was left on the farm.
I can almost picture it being pulled by an
old work horse.

In the background is our porch swing 
waiting for spring.


The lilacs are starting to bud out.
Hopefully they don't get any larger
as we didn't get many blooms last year 
because of a late frost. 

Winter isn't over yet.


The mailbox will soon be sporting it's 
spring cover with Blue Birds and
will be surrounded with orange Day Lilies.


Rosey our old mare came out to say Hi.


Shep our Akbash following me around the farm.


Hubby moving our last round bale over 
to the horses. 

See the dirt in the foreground?
That is where our 280'X40' long building
was. We sold it and it was taken down and
hauled off last year. Hopefully we will get some
grass seed to sprout on there so we can use
it as pasture one day.


One of the cows that surround us.
Not sure if this one has had her calf yet.


Strawberry plants.


Mint above.


Rosemary...can you smell it?


We have Black Australorp hens and one rooster
the hen to the left is one of them. The yellow hen
is a Buff Orpington.

The hen in the middle is 
'Golda Meir'
and she is a mix between the two breeds and
one of the 4 chicks that hatched late 
last spring. 


The Girls on the compost heap along with Lizzy
one of the barn cats. 
Since this photo was taken the pile has been
turned.
This is 'gold' for the garden!


Last but not least is
Socrates.
He's seen better days but this year
he'll get a make over.
Those were my best overalls!

I hope you enjoyed your stroll around
the farm with me...and the dogs.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!  

26 comments:

CHERI said...

I absolutely love all your photos...made me wish I was right there walking around the farm with you. My husband would love to buy some land and move out of town...I'm hesitant about that. But guess it doesn't matter because I doubt we'll put our retirement money into something like that at this point:) My niece lives in a small nearby town and she has chickens...right there in town! Can't believe her neighbors don't complain. Recently I was looking at some site/blog?? and saw the cutest chicken coopes you've ever seen. Made me want one! Spring seems to want to come early here in GA this year. Everything is budding out. Hope we don't lose our blueberry bushes. Hope you are having a lovely day!

Country Gal said...

I enjoyed our walk what a wonderful place you have ! I love all the different types of chicken coops out there my fave is the red with white trim barn style ! Cant wait to see yours when it is all done ! My Lilacs are also budding as well as my Daffodils and Hyasinths are poking above ground ! WOOOHOO come on spring ! Have a great day !

Shabby soul said...

I enjoyed the tou!
I hope to see soon your marvelous farm in springtime
Hugs
Silvia

Mary G said...

Love your farm! Wish we had bought some land when we bought our house 4 years ago, but my husband was not in good health and we wouldn't have been able to keep up with a bigger property. I envy you the lilacs too. I guess they don't do well in the Dallas/Ft Worth area; at least they didn't for me.
Beautiful house, beautiful everything!

Elizabeth Edwards said...

gorgeous view. oh, i love the smell of rosemary. yum!! i'm ready for spring & your lovely flowers blooming. we have 3 daffodils in the house enjoying those ... waiting for them to open. wanted to save them before the were too cold. suppose to get snow this weekend. we will see?!? (:

My Little Home and Garden said...

I enjoy the walks around your farm, Maura. When I make it to the east coast, I always love seeing my uncle's grey barn and white fish house(both built by my grandfather)with their bright red trim!

Skogkjerring said...

Oh I want chickens...less weeds you say? Perhaps that would be a good enough sales pitch to the Captain? Hmmmm.....your farm is delightful and I can´t get over all the signs of spring you have! Here in Norway nature is still resting under the snow...it will be a long while before we see growth on the ground below us!
Have a wonderful weekend!! Kiss that sweet old horse of yours...such a sweet face she had!

The Bear's Blog said...

Hi Miss Maura,

I sure did like our stroll together. I love the horses.

Boy, that Rosemary is so fragrant, my paws smell so good cause I touched it.

Have a happy weekend. It's going to be very stormy here tomorrow so the family is planning on just staying cozy all day.

Heaps of Hugs
Prudence

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

wonderful stroll around the farm, I can smell the hay and spring in the air!

Leslie said...

Thanks for the tour. The photos are fantastic. Spring is sooooo close. Have a great weekend

GardenOfDaisies said...

I did enjoy walking around the farm and seeing your view. Yes, I can smell the rosemary, mint and hay. Too bad there wasn't a "weathered wood" color of paint. You know, paint it to look like it's old and chipped wood, but actually have it be painted and protected from the elements so it won't rot. Why not? The paint stores seem to have just about everything else these days.

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Hi Maura: A walk on the farm! I haven't done that since I was a little girl at my grandparents. I really miss those days. The 'girls' are so cute, I love them BUT (that's another story.) I'll tell it sometime. It's a shame you have to paint the coop but it does need to be preserved. Stay well and happy...Judy

Lynne said...

I love seeing your photos and a glimpse of your farm. The old buildings are my favourites.

Pondside said...

That was such a lovely February visit to your place, Maura!
I like the idea of painting that building white and red - won't it look gorgeous in the summertime, with geraniums in a bucket?

Neesie said...

What a lovely relaxing stroll around your farm ~ thank you Maura for inviting me.
I love all the old artifacts from days gone by and the stories they hold.
Do you know any details about the farms history, who lived there etc or have I missed them on your earlier posts?....I'll have to work backwards one day when its raining.
Have a wonderful weekend :D

Liesl said...

Hey Maura, I so loved this walk with you! Thanks for sharing...btw..Socrates just needs to brandish a chain saw! Yikes!

Anonymous said...

So! I loved early February on your farm!

Hearts Turned said...

I LOVED this walk around your farm, Maura--thanks for taking us along with you!

One of these days I'd really like to try raising chickens...just one of those things that stays in the back of my mind......

Wishing you a beautiful weekend, my friend!

Julie

wendy said...

Found you through Garden of Daisies. Also, looking at your comments, I also follow Vintage Chic, and Pondside. Funny how we all get around eh.

This was a fun stroll through your blog. I am always "drawn" to country type blogs, as I just moved to my 1/4 section here in Alberta....moved here from Salt Lake City.....a new marriage to a country boy.
Sheeesh, lots of adjustments, but quite an adventure.
Our house is teeny tiny, as hubby thought he'd not marry again, so it is only 950 sq. feet. Yikes.
We have 4 horses and a Standard Poodle. We are both retired now....hubby was a firefighter 2 years ago.
Anway, I am kinda rambling here. But I like seeing how other people do the "country thing".

❁Velma ~Down Our Country Road❁ said...

I loved going on a stroll with you around the farm, Maura. And especially love the fact that you're keeping all the old things around...the ladder, the corn seeder and such. I think it gives a farm much character. And even though I also love the chippy look of the barn, protecting it with paint is a good idea so that it will be around for many, many years. Your farm is a lovely place even in the midst of the blah look of winter. But spring is trying to eek its way in, isn't it? Thank you for sharing.

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

I loved the walk! We have so many flowers herbs starting to show and I just hope we don't have a late freeze and lose everything like we did 2 years ago! Today is 62 degrees again.
So strange!
I love that ladder up against the tree. Our cats would appreciate that!
We have a tire swing for the heck of it. Once in a while, we have friends over that have small children and they love it! I confess-I swing on it, too :)
Gold Meir! Hilarious :)
xo, misha

Cuby said...

I so loved the walk around your farm accompanied by such lovely music. The photos were such a lovely collection which transported me to your area of the USA. Socrates is a handsome chap and Golda Meir such a beauty.I invite you to come and see my pictures painted with words.

traci said...

i love when you take us around your farm. so beautiful. i could take photos in quite a few of those spots.

Catherine said...

a quick hello from Dubai! the weather is fine funny to wear summer clothes in winter. I am visiting and did thehot air balloon this morning, what fun to see the risen sun and to go so hi! again three more days... time goes so quickly! nice to see that all is fine on the farm! see you soon, hugs Catherine

serial tiller said...

I doubled over after reading the name of your scarecrow...good one! Enjoyed the walk around the farm...those chickens are gorgeous!

Kerin said...

What a fun 'field trip' to have by visiting your blog!
Love your 'girls'.. they're fab!

I CAN smell the rosemary, which by the way is my favorite herb ...ever.

Thanks for the day on the farm :)

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