Week's End - Rains End

 And so we come to the end of another week.  

We've had enough rain this week, that I could cross "watering" off of my list.  

This weeks' comments included a question about this big grey building.  It's an indoor riding arena that is used for just about every purpose.  We store some of our farm equipment... tractor, hay elevator, hay wagon, etc. there.  Over the years it has seen a lot of play... baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, etc. as well as horse back riding.  The littles refer to it as the sandbox, and they love to play there with sand shovels and Tonka trucks.

The cicadas grow louder with each passing day.  I can hardly imagine what they will sound like in the near future.  In the orchard around Maven Haven, their song is almost deafening.  The above photo is representative of what this entire tree looks like.  It is completely covered in cicada nymph exoskeletons.  If there is any nutritional value in those empty carcasses, then the ground should be very fertile after this year!

Looking up into the trees, you can see swarms of them landing and taking off. 

This has been an extraordinary experience.

While in the orchard, I amble over to look at the cottage garden outside of my shed. 

 Now blooming are:

pink peonies...

yellow yarrow...

rose mallow...

perennial geraniums, foxglove, and the first of the coreopsis...

pink balloon flowers...

and the most wonderfully scented of all flowers (I think) - lavender...

It looks as though we may one day have another barn kitty.  For now, however, we have a kitty who has claimed the yard around the old log cabin his/hers.  Several times I have spied her it on the porch of the cabin or running into the forsythia forest next to it.  I have been leaving a can of cat food next to the porch each day.  I am assuming it must be quite hungry.

Last evening, I quietly tip-toed up to the cabin and caught a photo of it.  Kitty's quite lovely, I think.  I am eager to know its gender so that I can give it a proper name.  Perhaps a neutral name will come to me.

Next to the old log cabin is a magnificent rhododendron.... filled with lovely pollinators.

Not a single honeybee... but lots of bumblebees...

I eventually made my way around the entire farm - checking on everyone.

In the goat yard - I found it funny that one chicken was sitting there between two goats.  Animals are generally very social, and don't seem to mind spending time with other species.

Now that the rain had stopped, I filled the goat's feeders with their chow.  Sally ate enthusiastically,

while Sissy... well, I'm not quite sure what she was saying here....

And in the front pasture- busy, busy, busy!

It looks as though hot weather is returning this weekend.  We'll be attending an arts festival in one of our local college towns.  How wonderful it is to once again have these outdoor events to attend!  Next week is going to be very exciting as well.  Amanda is coming home from Colorado  to visit for a week, and our North Carolina Wren and her family are also coming for a visit.  What a difference a year makes!