November in Photos

 

Lots of foamy water and big driftwood from the high tides and storms on my beached bird survey this month

I took a day of nice weather to photograph birds on our farm

...and this cute chipmunk

The llama changed from Autumn leaves to Thanksgiving

The little dot on the peak of our barn roof is a Black Phoebe who has been here daily this month

Here is the Black Phoebe closer

A double rainbow on November 23

Johnny

 Johnny's brother Bruce complained that I never tell what Johnny does on the farm, so this post is all about Johnny. What he does is keep all the tractors and other equipment working and maintained, fixes everything that breaks which is everything, keeps 91 year old neighbor Irv in firewood, takes him to doctor appointments and to town for groceries now and then, fixes whatever needs fixing up at his place which, like here, is most everything. That's just the regular stuff. Ever since the February ice storm, Johnny has been cutting up the many trees that came down in that storm... after he got them off our roadways and paths. I walked around the farm today and took photos of his many piles of firewood in various stages of readiness. Some need to be cut into lengths, some need to be split, and all need to be carted to the wood shed eventually.

Those are just from trees that were blocking our access roads. We have more on smaller trails that still need to be cut up and carted off.

Plus all the big ponderosas that came down in the storm... 

And every time I walk a trail, I find another tree has come down. This one appeared today...

These are just the trees that blocked paths. If we ever run out of that firewood, the woods are full of downed trees...

There is one big tree that came down that I don't want removed. It makes a good sitting rest stop on my trail to the creek.

All the firewood Johnny is creating has to get into the woodshed eventually...

And then into the house as needed...

Johnny wanted me to take photos of him digging his potatoes today out of the old manure spreader where he planted them last spring...

And that, Bruce, is what Johnny does while I'm horsing around... Speaking of horses, all three were grazing down where I was taking photos today. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

 

Halloween, a Retrospective

 Halloween Day here was beautiful with sunshine and relative warmth. Our Sunday Ren Yuan group was able to be outdoors for our weekly practice. It is fun to have a pod of friends to meet with every Sunday, all vaccinated, all masked when appropriate... and all 6 feet apart. And this time back outdoors! 

Halloween is also my birthday... and the day I bought Mr. Smith, my beloved Morgan gelding, 26 years ago... on the day I turned 50. My plan was to groom him and the mares with help from my friend Mary, but we ended up spending the time hiking through the woods and birdwatching instead. We did say hi to the horses in the field as we went through. Jessie Anne and Nightingale came up for love and attention. Mr. Smith kept on grazing. It was a good day with happy birthday phone calls from friends and family.

The next day, I took down all my Halloween decorations. But I had taken photos earlier, so here they are: witches and bats and ghosts galore...

a wee ghost by the front door and a cat on the path

well, our ground *has* been soft and muddy since the rains finally began but not *that* soft.  I think this witch must have found a rabbit hole to fall into

the smallest bat here would not come off the wall so may fly there forever

there are 3 bats on this side of the house but you'll have to look close to see the third...

overseeing all was the Halloween llama

And now it is November... and raining. We are hoping to find two good weather days to do our first fall and winter raptor routes plus my monthly beached bird survey. It will be challenging. But we need the rain...