Spring Storm!

What a storm we had! No one forecast such a sudden onslaught --the dogs started panting half an hour before, and I put it up to the heat.  But they knew what was coming.  No doubt.

Where's the Smell-o-Vision?

Temperatures hit 80 today, and the lilacs burst into glorious bloom.  Though these two bushes are near the road, I could smell the scent clearly as I left the barn this afternoon.

There are three other lilacs in other places in the yard, kind of surrounding the house.  Now that the windows are open, I'm aware of them everywhere.

Believe it or not, this morning before I left for work I stuck my nose straight into this bush and smelled nothing!

I didn't include anything in this photo for size, but these two side-by-side lilacs are about a head taller than my 5 foot 4 inches.  And this year they're just blowsy and elegant!

 Oh, alright!  I couldn't resist adding myself so you can see just how tall they are!

Roosters

The rooster problem reached a sad climax today.  Multiple times I heard commotion in the barn, but each time I went to investigate I found nothing wrong.  Finally I stopped checking and went on about my business.

Sadly, when I went to close the barn tonight I discovered Eggy Jr. dead.  The food and waterer were spilled, and two of the white roosters were bloodied.  And as I cleared up the mess, the two roosters began fighting each other.

I've been preparing to rearrange the chicken housing, but am not yet ready to create any more separate pens.  So I took one of the roosters and boarded him with the ducks for overnight.  He can roost up high to stay away from the drakes' probing bills and it keeps him away from the aggressive rooster.

Tomorrow I'll have to give serious consideration to the options.  They aren't many.

Hummingbird!

This morning I saw my first hummingbird of the year!  (That's not it, that photo is from last summer.)  Others reported hummers in Michigan since early April.  I replaced my broken feeder, boiled up some sugar water, and then waited.  And waited.

I did notice that the water level was going down -- but the storms and wind might have been responsible for that.  At least that's what I thought. 

Until this morning!

I sat on the back step, drinking my coffee with Luke warming my lap.  Suddenly, ZIP!  BUZZ!  And there helicoptering around the feeder... a hummer!  It drank and drank, then zipped over to the clothesline and perched for a minute.  How I wished I had my binoculars in hand.  Or my camera.  But all I had was a cup of delicious coffee, much needed after last night's Cinco de Mayo margarita. 

Oops, that's another story.

After a rest on the clothesline, the hummer zipped back to the feeder and then off across the yard.  Where did it go?  I hope to tell the other hummers it's time to get back to Busy Solitude Farm!

Can summer be far off?

The Nose Knows

Just a couple of weeks ago, on April 18, this is what we had to contend with.

Then the rains came.  The grass greened up.  The days got longer. 

And now there're just a few drips of water from the drink bucket decorating Oskar's nose.  Will the weather ever warm up?

The nose knows!