Goodbye May, and a Mystery

 After experiencing all of the past years of life on the farm, there is a certain amount of predictability to life.  Years of observation assures that at any one given time, we can pretty much predict what our animals are up to.  Weather, time of day, and season are considered, and the rest of the picture is easily painted.

Now that hot weather has arrived, afternoons are spent (after cool mornings of grazing) seeking shelter from the sun and all the biting nasties that drive our animals crazy.  This means, the horses will be crowded into one stall (even though there are two identically equipped stalls) - standing in front of a fan.  The fan serves the purpose of keeping the flies off their backs.  As for cool... the barn is significantly cooler than the outside.  

In addition to the barn stalls, there are two available run-in sheds that sit in the shade of some large trees.  So, one would think that the donkeys would claim one of those cool, shady spots.  

But no, I would tell you... you will find the donkeys in the sunniest part of their yard - just soaking it in!

The sheep, goats and pigs also gravitate towards the shade in the heat of the day.  The pigs compromise and find shade in the pasture, so that they can continue munching at will.  Between snacks, though, they find the bare earth beneath this patch of wild growth and seek the cool soil untouched by the sun.

Even though life on the farm is completely predictable, it is not without its mysteries.  

Mysteries are those unusual things that happen when our eyes are not there to see.  Most of these mysteries involve the wilder animals that call this land their home.

Lately, there has not been much perceivable action at the duck pond.  With all of the wild ducks gone (they leave every summer and return in the winter), our two domestic ducks are living quite quiet lives.  I am thankful that they have each other for company.

Each morning, the first stop on our morning chores tour is the duck pond - to pour a scoop of feed into their large bowl.  One scoop lasts the entire day.  Perhaps a whole scoop is more than they need, however, the bowl is often empty by the next day.  During the winter, when 80 ducks were dining regularly, we filled the bowl to it's tippy top (heaping, in fact)... sometimes twice a day!

Last week, one morning, the bowl was missing.  We searched all around, but no bowl was to be found.  Later, Hubbs took another bowl to the pond, only to find that the original bowl was now floating in the pond.  A few days later, the bowl had been moved again - this time just short of taking a plunge.

It was yet another mystery that could only be solved by one means... our trusty trail cam.  Hubbs set up the camera and trained it on the area of the bowl.  Several days later, this is what we found:

As expected...

Our resident doe (I am guessing she has a set of twins hidden in the woods...

grabbing a snack?

And back at night (so much happens under cover of night!)...

Someone's curious about the camera...

and the food...

repeatedly...

and several more repeats!

Naturally, these opportunistic masked bandits were most likely responsible for the bowl ending up in the pond. 

(Adorably cute, but into everything!)

If you've been visiting since last summer, you might remember the trees that we planted at the end of the summer.  I had cut a few branches from our willow tree and rooted them in pots.  They grew in the pots through the summer.  When autumn arrived, we planted them around the barn and the chicken coop.  These trees have taken off and are now over 6 feet tall.

Yesterday, I cut a few more branches to root.  If all goes well, we'll be planting an additional four trees this autumn.  You can't beat free trees!

Yesterday was mowing day.  Hubbs and I work together... finishing a lot of acreage in a fairly short time.

As I mowed inside the garden fence, I was amazed at how big all of the plants have gotten.  I am awestruck by the speed at which growth happens at this time of year.

 I noticed that the squash are all filled with blossoms.  Before long we'll have zucchini coming out of our ears!