A Summer Evening at the Farm

Apple Trees, Dogs, Dragon Flies, garden, Nature, Pond, Reflections, Summer, Sunflowers, The Farm

Tuesday evening as we headed to the farm I didn’t really have a plan as to what I was going to accomplish. I knew there were things that need to be done, like cutting some grass, weeding in the prayer garden and cleaning garlic, but I didn’t feel an urgent need to get any of those things done.

So, I took the evening off and just enjoyed being at the farm on a beautiful summer evening. It was a great time for picture taking so grab your favorite beverage and join me.

*For anyone who is burned out on nature pictures you can play a game as you read ” Count the tennis Balls” let me know in the comments how many tennis balls you saw in the pictures. *

As we arrived at the farm shortly after 6:00 P.M. the first order of business was to feed the chickens the kitchen scraps we had collected throughout the day. As usual Ruby had to sniff though the goodies to see what she might like. Since it was mostly watermelon rinds and peach peels (I canned peaches that morning), I’m not sure if she actually found anything good to eat.

The weather is still very summerlike but there is a feel that fall is fast approaching. Late summer/fall flowers, like these black-eyed-Susans and purple loosestrife, are in bloom.

The hibiscus are beautiful this year.

I’ve been waiting all summer for these volunteer cosmos to blossom. I am reminded of my maternal grandma, who loved these flowers.

I’ve also been waiting for the opportunity to photograph a dragonfly. As I wandered through the prayer garden, this one posed on a lily leaf to oblige me.

The balloon flowers continue to blossom, but I think I need to add deadheading them to my to-do list to keep them flowering longer.

After photographing the balloon flower, I looked toward the beach and was pleasantly surprised to see our green heron. Long time followers might remember that each year in late summer we begin seeing a green heron dining along the edges of our pond. In past year I have speculated that there were a pair perhaps living in our woods since on some occasions I had seen two of them.

A couple weeks ago my husband first mentioned seeing “that bird” and he has talked about it, and how good it is at catching fish, a few times since then. Until Tuesday night I had yet to see it this year.

My husband and I agree in thinking that this is not the same bird we’ve seen in past years as it looks younger.

It also did not seem as skittish as in past years.

I was probably within 15 feet when I took this photo,

and as I stood on the edge of the prayer garden it continued to comb the shoreline making its way right past me,

on the hunt for a minnow or a frog.

Check out that hair do. Looks like a rock star. LOL!

After my rock star friend flew to the other side of the pond, I began making my way to the main garden, AKA puppy playground, to take some photos. I passed this patch of wildflowers near the beehives. I’m not sure what they are but the patch has spread each year and they make a grand showing.

When I got to the main garden and was approaching these sunflowers, I noticed two hummingbirds that seemed to be playing near the flowers. Unfortunately, they flew off before I could get my camera.

A few weeks ago my husband noticed that birds had begun eating our unripe apples. He at first was blaming it on crows but we have since witnessed sparrows flying out of the trees as we approach. He chose the tree with the most apples on it and put netting over and around it. While none of the apples are visible in this picture rest assured, we can now leave them on the tree to fully ripen.

We did leave the rest of the apple trees un-netted, so the sparrows have plenty to eat (unless the crows get there first.)

Before I continued my garden tour, I had to play a game of fetch with Ruby.

I threw the ball several times and each time she brought it back to me to throw again.

When she decided to take a break, I continued on my way.

The sunflowers, a beautiful variety that we had not planted before, were buzzing with bees.

Melons (not tennis balls)

Cantaloups were planted late and are not yet ripe, but we should get a few nice melons from these plants.

Green Hubbard

The squash are still growing as well. I expect it will be at least another month before we harvest any.

Some pumpkins are beginning to turn orange.

After leaving the garden my husband and I sat at the picnic area for a while. Ruby decided it was time for another game of fetch.

The chickens don’t play fetch, but I have seen a curious hen walk up and peck a tennis ball.

I have seen Peanut play with a tennis ball, but fetch is not his game either.

When the flies started biting my ankles we decided to relocate. We sat on the beach to enjoy the scenery. Thankfully there were no flies there.

The wind was calm, and the water looked like glass.

Until my husband threw some fish food in. The minnows began feeding almost immediately leaving rings on the surface of the pond.

The sun was setting in the west. The green heron was still fishing along the edge of the pond but was beyond the cameras reach. It was peaceful feel just relaxing and soaking up this environment.

Then the entertainment began.

Ruby and Ranger began ruff-housing.

Running and chasing each other, barking and kicking up sand.

It’s funny to watch them play like this knowing they are BFF”s.

My camera battery went dead after this photo, but you really didn’t miss any of the good stuff. I hope you enjoyed our evening at the farm. Thanks for spending time with us.

One last photo for those who are counting.

Are you making the most of the last days of summer?

How many tennis balls did you count?

33 thoughts on “A Summer Evening at the Farm”

      1. I thought you deserved a smile with this five-minute reading break from your hard work. Well, let’s see if the Royal bees listen and produce as much honey, then you two can start with a few encouraging words to your bees. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Hi Ruth – I found six I think … Ruby was crunching down on one in one picture. Peanut doesn’t play with them? Those melons are tiny, so hope they are growing big on a beautiful day like today. It looks fun on the farm as we walk along with you, but we need to be mindful of all the work you and your husband do in conjunction with the farm. I liked the green heron’s spiked do!

    Like

    Reply

    1. There are eight tennis balls. Two pictures they are in Ruby’s mouth (may be hard to see). I’ve seen Peanut play with a ball, but he doesn’t play fetch. Some of the melons are pretty good size. We’re hoping for enough decent weather yet for them to ripen. I do think most of our visitors realize that there is a lot of work that goes into the farm – gardening, up-keep, and even keeping chickens and bees.
      Most of the time when we see the heron the hair is not standing up like that. I’m glad I got a photo of it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Oh, I messed up … but I was close anyway. 🙂 It is a lot of hard work – you get a bit of a rest over the Winter which time you can devote to crocheting and sewing before you start it all again. Well that heron was hysterical with its spiky ‘do.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Yes, I was but looked as you mentioned it. I’m no fan of Winter either, but I do seem to have a little more leisure time inside. After the hot day today (and tomorrow), Fall is sounding nice.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. What beautiful pictures Ruth! My husband and I always say we need to stop working every time we step outside on our property. We work so hard making it look nice and then don’t take the time to enjoy it! Kudos to you for doing so Ruth.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I know Diane. There is always work to be done but what’s all that work for if we don’t take time to enjoy it. Sometimes I have to remind myself the work can wait. Thanks for stopping by.

      Like

      Reply
  8. Pingback: Common Vermiculture Questions – Earthly Comforts

  12. I counted 8 balls.
    These ‘come on a walk with me’ posts are great for our eyes and minds. Both of these things relax somewhat. As I didn’t see any tennis balls in the first several photos, I thought you were playing a joke on us – that there weren’t any and you just had people looking at the photos anyway 🙂 Crafty. But then I saw the balls.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yep! 8 balls. I’m glad you like the walk -with me posts. I decided to do the count the balls after seeing how many photos I had with tennis balls in them. Since Ruby moved in it seems we have tennis balls everywhere and she usually knows where they are. That would have been a very deceptive way to get people to look at my pictures – never considered it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

I would love to hear from you.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s