Our Peaceable Kingdom

Reflections, spring, The Farm

Visitors to our farm often talk about how peaceful it is there and my husband often refers to it as ‘Our Peaceable Kingdom’. You might see that in some of the following pictures.

Peanut, the cat, likes to hang out with the chickens. The chickens have gotten use to him and have learned that he is not a threat.

We had one hen who was old and crippled but the others did not pick or peck on her. She needed some extra assistance but continued to live with the rest of the flock. (she died last week 😦 )

The chickens have also gotten used to Ranger. He shares their food and they share his as well. Ranger and the chickens will be happy to clean up Peanut’s plate when he is finished.

We lost all of our bees again this winter but honey bees were showing up from somewhere to forage honey and wax that was left in our hives. There may be wild bees in our area or other bee keepers whose bees survived the winter or there there may be both.

Early spring, before the trees leaf out and flowers bloom, can be a bit dull looking, but it can also be a time of discovery. Last summer this nest was hidden amongst the leaves and we never even realized it was there.

I wonder who came out of this cocoon.

We did get some much needed rain but the U.S. drought monitor map continues to show our area as abnormally dry.

The North-West corner of the farm is always very wet in the spring and it is where the frogs/toads hang out this time of year. Even though I didn’t see any I’m sure they were there because they quieted down as I approached.

Yes, I do walk through all that water, but not without appropriate footwear.

Normally this time of year the pond is overflowing it’s banks and there is very little beach sand that is not under water. The lighter area along the edge shows how much the water level rose after the last rain. The dark areas are leaves that have collected along the shoreline. We will eventually rake them out of the beach area but since my husband spotted an egg nest (likely frog or toad) we will wait awhile to give them a chance to hatch.

Even though it has been mostly dry we have had lots of wind. When I took the picture above I could not see the individual blades on the windmill because it was spinning so fast. The camera, however, was quick enough to partially capture them.

When the pond is bubbling like this we know the windmill is turning. One of it’s purposes is to aerate the pond.

There were no babies rocking on the tree tops but I was still a bit concerned that the bough(s) might break. The branches in the foreground are maple and the ones toward the rear are poplar. As you can see both are budding.

The wind was really rocking these spruce trees. Good thing they have strong roots.

Momma oak is likely the oldest tree on our property. She is surrounded buy her offspring. She does not waver.

Nor does our eldest shagbark hickory. I often ponder the stories of these two trees. How long have they lived there? If they could talk what stories would they tell?

Sadly our oldest crab apple tree became the target of a wood pecker. I wonder how long she can survive these wounds.

I learned something about my crocuses this year. Last year I only had three or four come up.

This spring I had more come up in a different area. I was thrilled to see them but wondered why they came up this year and not last year.

The day after I noticed and photographed them the blossoms were gone. Apparently eaten by a hungry bunny. (I can’t blame the deer this time because there were no deer tracks in the wet soil where they were growing.)

I now suspect these crocuses did come up last year but became bunny food before I ever noticed them.

I will now reconsider my plans to plant more crocuses.

I also learned that this beautiful little primrose bears some of the first blossoms of the season – but only if the chickens leave it alone.

It was even earlier than the daffodils that were just beginning to open as I took these photos last week.

We have more and more daffodils blossoming each day so I will likely share more pictures in an upcoming post. Why so many daffodils? Because the deer, bunnies and chickens leave them alone.

Last but not least the garlic is up and off to a good start. 🙂

What’s blooming in your neck of the woods?

21 thoughts on “Our Peaceable Kingdom”

  2. Thank you Ruth, I enjoyed this walk around your farm, it is very peaceful. We have a whole bunch of things we are trying to grow right now but with the heat who knows how long they will last. I do have some pretty blooms that popped out but I am terrible at names. The only bloom I know are the Aloe flowers. Have a beautiful week and I hope you get some new bees, I know how sad that is. We lost our bees a few years back and now my husband is starting over.

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    1. You’re welcome. So glad you stopped by. Boy I sure do hope you are able to get some produce before the heat gets too bad. We are seeing more buds and blossoms every day here. I have never seen an aloe blossom. I grow aloe in the house and they do quite well but never blossom. We have two packages of bees coming in May to try again. Bee keeping sure is frustrating. I hope you have a beautiful week too!

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  3. I enjoyed the trek with you around the farm. It is peaceful. I like the quirky traits of your pets, even the chickens. All kidding aside, I’m sorry to hear about your hen. The recent rains have helped out, I’m sure … Mother Nature’s gift to you.

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    1. Thanks Linda. It is always sad when we lose a chicken but this one was one from our very first batch of chicks she was 8 years old so had lived a good long life. Now we only have one left from that first group out of 18. The one that is left is Honey. She has been a favorite from the beginning and it will be a really sad day when she dies. The rain has helped but we are not getting as much as much as was forecast. Today was supposed to be rainy but now they are saying tonight. We will see.

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      1. I hope that Honey has a long life Ruth. It is pouring here right now – the third day in a row for rain and they forecast a storm as well … that’s not happened so far. I wish I could share it with you – we have a rainy day on tap for tomorrow too.

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      2. For her age Honey seems to be doing well. She is the queen of our flock. We had rain most of the night. It has stopped now (5 a.m.) and is not supposed to begin until the overnight hours. I like when it rains at night and is sunny during the day. 🙂

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      3. Honey reigns over the rest – that is nice. Yes, it was a better weekend than they predicted. I just went to Council Point Park as no matter how much rain we get, it never floods or gets water on the asphalt path. The shoreline parks would have water on the path and the more rustic trails are often muddy. I have rubber boots, but you don’t want to have to walk too far in them.

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      4. or Honey reigns over the roost LOL! You’re right wearing those rubber boots are not good for long walking. I began having foot pains after wearing them for a couple of days.

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  6. It does look very peaceful Ruth! I love early spring before it gets too hot. It’s early for us here with daffodils and some tulips out already, but we need rain too!

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  7. Your farm is a very peaceful place. I enjoyed the photos, knowing some of your next ones will be much more colorful. It’s great to see all seasons, because we don’t all bloom perfectly all the time. Thanks for the tour today.

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