Category Archives: Pond

Bird Identification

Belted Kingfisher, Birds, Pond, Reflections, , , ,

For several weeks I have been seeing a bird that I did not recognize at the farm. I never got a close look, just observed it in flight before it disappeared into the treetops surrounding the pond. It had features similar to a large woodpecker. The pileated woodpecker is known to live in our area but try as I might I could never see any red on this bird like the woodpecker would have.

It wasn’t until today that I realized that this was the same bird that my husband witnessed diving into the pond and coming up with a fish dinner. Today I saw the same. While I wasn’t able to get any pictures of it, I did get a better look. I already knew that it was mostly grey and had a black head and long beak. Today I was able to see some brown markings underneath and a white ring around its neck. I made a mental note of that so I could search for it on the internet when I got home.

Mystery solved! I discovered it is a Belted Kingfisher, and I will say that it lives up to its name. At least six times over the course of an hour I saw it dive from the top of a tree into the pond and come up with a fish. One time it stopped and hovered in the air, wings flapping, then dove down into the water. Each time it came up it would fly to a high branch of a nearby tree, presumably to consume its prey.

You can click on the link below to see photos and learn more about the Belted Kingfisher.

Belted Kingfisher

If I ever get a photo of it I’ll be sure to share it with you.

Thanks for visiting.

The Last Days of Spring

Cherries, Cherry Tree, Chickens, Dogs, garden, Killdeer, Nature, Pond, Power Outage, Rain, Reflections, spring, The Farm, Tomato Weaving, Tomatoes, Weather, , , ,

The Pond

Hot weather moved in before summer actually arrived. It was time to make the pond more welcoming, so on Monday, June 16 I started by raking some of the weeds and leaves out of the beach area before rototilling the beach.

My husband brought out the beach chairs and I cleaned them up. Then we set up the chairs with the umbrella and a small table on the beach.

Ruby enjoys the pond as much as I do. She brings her ball the beach so we will throw it in the water for her to retrieve.

And Ranger, AKA our beagle fish, goes for regular swims just to cool off.

I’m not really a swimmer. I like to be in the water, but I don’t like my head under water..

I use this floating ring as my watercraft. With my upper body floating on the ring and my legs kicking in the water I find I can get a good lower body workout. Probably as good as the recumbent or stationary bike. So, my goal, as often as possible this summer, is 30-60 minutes in the pond each day.

My first time in the pond this year. In spite of my objections my husband took my picture. At least he didn’t figure out how to use the zoom.

Chickens

My husband gave the chickens a mound of fresh topsoil to bathe in. We had a very happy flock.

Prayer Garden

Abundant color.

So pretty.

Killdeer Update

I didn’t get any pictures, but on Tuesday afternoon we saw our young killdeers take flight. They are still hanging around the garden area which is fine with us because they do eat a lot of bugs.

Despite the storms that brought high winds and torrential rain both of the other killdeer are still dutifully sitting on their nests.

Sweet Cherries

The second sweet cherry tree that we planted last year was more productive than the first. I harvested these on Wednesday morning. Enough to have with lunch. And that concludes our sweet cherry harvest for the year.

Except for this lone cherry that my husband discovered on our youngest tree (third tree). I never even saw any blossoms on that tree this year. I did pick and eat this last sweet cherry.

Before The Storms

With heavy storms in the forecast for Wednesday afternoon we wanted to make sure the tomato plants were supported. Last year my husband discovered a method called tomato weaving. No more cages or staking each tomato to keep them upright.

To weave tomatoes, you need a stake at each end of the row. You also need a spool of twine or heavy string. You tie the twine/string to the stake at one end of the row then string it out weaving it in and out of the tomato plants. (On the right side of one plant then the left side of the next all the way down the row.) Make sure that the string is up against the main stem of each tomato plant. At the end of the row pull the string tight, wrap it around the stake a couple times, then weave it back down the row in the opposite direction, making sure that the string is on the opposite side of each plant and up against the stem of each plant. At the end of the row pull the string tight wrap it around the stake and tie it off.

As the plants grow taller you can add another layer of weaving higher up on the stake.

Once we were done with the tomatoes I spent about an hour pulling weeds in the garden.

Here are some views from when I was on my knees in the garden.

This storm went to the north of us. It was after we went home for lunch that the storms hit our place.

A baby tomato, I would not have noticed had I not been on my knees in the dirt. 🙂

Sweet Peas

In April I planted sweet peas in two planter boxes on our deck.

This week’s harvest.

After hulling. We normally don’t grow peas because you have to grow a lot to get a decent yield. I ate these raw with my lunch. 🙂

After The Storms

On Wednesday the storms dumped three inches (7.62 cm) of rain on us. We didn’t have any flooding, but the ground was saturated with standing water in areas. We got more rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Our gardens that were doing so well are now struggling. We will likely lose some tomato plants – hopefully not all.

The water level in the pond is up. It is littered with cottonwood seeds but the water is refreshing.

We are currently in the middle of a heat wave, experiencing record high temperatures and intermittent power outages but that’s a story for another day.

Thanks for visiting.

A Good Week

Birds, crochet, Fencing, Flowers, Horses, Nature, Pansies, Planting, Pond, Reflections, Ruby, The Farm

Hello and Welcome!

Spring Has Sprung

This week turned out to be much like I expected. Robins and red winged blackbirds have returned to the area and the daffodils are poking up through the ground. The garlic had actually sprouted last fall but it has now resumed growing after its winter break. I have yet to hear the frogs sing.

Last year I made this bird house out of corks. We hung it in a tree at the farm. It was late spring, and I suspect the birds already had their nests built so this house went unoccupied. I am hoping someone will make it home this year.

Crafting

I finished the afghan I was crocheting (picture above) this week and started another. The one I am making now will be bigger than this one. It is the paw print pattern that I like to crochet. I intend to donate it to the Humane Society so they can raffle it off at one of their fundraisers.

When the Grass is Greener

Last spring our neighbor decided to expand the area where he lets his horses graze. Our fence is their barrier where our property meets his.

Colby Jack has discovered that this time of year the grass on our side of the fence is greener and tastier than what is in his pasture.

The problem is that he is not quite tall enough to reach the grass without bending the top of our fence.

Here’s a closer look. Can you see how the top part of the fence is bent over? Last year the owner strung an electric wire to keep Colby Jack away from our fence, but it didn’t stay in place very long. We haven’t complained because we feel bad for the horses that they are not provided better quality feed. At least the fence still keeps Ranger in.

A Dip in the Pond

It is way too early for me to go in the pond. There was still ice on it yesterday,

but that didn’t bother Ruby who had to go looking for minnows or tadpoles.

Playing in the Dirt

In the last several years it has become sort of a tradition for us to pot up some pansies in early spring and set them in the flower bed along our deck. They are bright and cheery and add some much-needed color while we wait for everything else to come back to life. On Thursday my husband made my day by going the greenhouse and coming home with two flats of pansies.

So, I got to play in the dirt. 🙂

There were 36 pansies in the two flats, and I divided them into 12 pots. Oh, so pretty. We may still have a few nights when temperatures drop well below freezing, but the nice thing about have these in pots is that we can bring them indoors to protect them from the cold.

While I was “playing in the dirt” I planted some spinach and pea seeds that we will grow in containers on our deck. I don’t think it’s too early since these are cold season crops.

My husband spent a little time with his hands in the dirt as well. Since we grow most of our plants from seed, he started eggplant and several types of peppers that we will grow indoors under grow lights until late May when we can get them into the garden. He will be starting tomatoes next. Planting season has begun!

Overall, it was a good and productive week and now that spring has sprung it only gets better from here. 🙂

Thanks for visiting.

Catching Up-Farm Update

Apples, Blueberries, Chickens, Chicks, Flowers, garden, Gardening, Grapes, Pond, Reflections, The Farm, Wild Flowers

To get caught up on my posts I’ll start with a look around the farm These pictures were actually from last week so I’m still a bit behind. 🙂

Chickens

Our youngest chick hatched on June 29th.

My husband named her or him (it’s still too early to tell if this is a hen or rooster) Strawberry because when he took the flock some strawberry tops that I had trimmed she grabbed one and gobbled it up. Strawberry was probably less than two weeks old at the time. He or she still sticks close to momma, not necessarily because it is still being trained or cared for by momma, but it doesn’t have anyone its own age to hang out with.

These are 2 of the chicks that hatched on May 12. They are beginning to look more like adult chickens and we are certain that one is a rooster. My husband even heard him try to crow one day.

Rex is our roo from last year. He is the daddy of all the chicks that hatched this year. He is a bit of an odd bird. He does the normal crowing sound of a rooster (Ur Ur Ur Ur URRRRR!) but also makes a loud cawing sound (Arrrr!) that I have never heard a rooster (or any chicken) make before.

What’s Blooming

Hibiscus in bloom.

Cosmos.

Wild flowers

The Pond

On some of these hot days I’ve found a dip in the pond quite refreshing and a pleasant way to get in a workout.

Garden News

Keeping the gardens alive has been a huge challenge this year. The weather has not been kind. Both June and July were very wet and all of the plants have been stressed at best. My husband has spent many hours weeding and fertilizing. Doing anything he could think of to keep things alive and growing.

I think he’s done an amazing job. I really thought we would have more crop loss than we have.

Acorn Squash

Another type of winter squash.

Sweet corn and Melons

Tomatoes (they may be small but they taste great!)

Sunflowers

Cucumbers and Eggplant

Green beans and Beets

Fruits

We had an amazing blueberry crop this year. We began picking in June and just finished picking last week. I lost track of how many we harvested as we were eating them fresh, freezing some and having friends and family pick and take what they wanted.

We have some apples that are looking good and if we can keep the birds away, we should have a decent harvest.

We also have a lot of grapes that are looking good.

We have put netting over them to try to save as many as possible for us. Homemade grape juice is one of our favorites!

Thanks for visiting.

A February Walk at the Farm

Chickens, Dogs, Eggs, garlic, Horses, Pond, Reflections, The Farm

Hello and welcome.

We been having some nice weather this week so I thought maybe you might join me for a walk at the farm.

One of the first things you might notice is that our neighbor to the east, who has horses, extended their corral. The fence that my husband put up last spring is their barrier to the west, so they come right up to our property line. For the first couple of weeks Ruby and ranger would go over and bark at them, probably thinking they were doing something they shouldn’t. But Ruby and Ranger have since gotten use to them being so close and while Ruby and Bernard might touch noses through the fence, she no longer has an issue with them being there.

Ruby greets Bernard and Colby Jack

My husband said that every morning when he goes to open up the chicken coop Bernard and Colby Jack greet him at the fence. He likes to have a couple of carrots or other treats for them.

Bernard

They are very friendly horses, especially when there are treats to be had.

Colby Jack

The chickens out enjoying the nice weather. The hens started laying more eggs this week. For several weeks we have only been getting between zero and two eggs a day, but in the last four days we have collected 18 eggs.

Rex, our rooster, is one of the chicks that we got last spring. Unlike roosters we have had in the past he not aggressive toward people or the dogs. It’s nice not to worry about turning my back on him.

Garlic Sprouts

They are a bit difficult to make out in the above picture, but the garlic is about 4 or 5 inches high. I spotted daffodils, lilies and irises sprouting as well.

While things have started to dry out a bit this week the pond is still running over its bank. This is the highest we have ever seen the pond this time of year.

Most of our beach is under water.

As I walked down the west property line I loved this view of the barn.

The thin layer of ice that covered much of the pond early this week has since melted since temperatures reached up into the 50’s and 60’s F on Thursday and Friday.

There is still plenty of time for winter weather to return but we will certainly appreciate these nice days while we have them.

Thanks for joining me.

How’s the weather in your part of the world?