much earlier this year (may?) i bought 6 fish for the wee pond in the back yard. half of them were assigned to the compose heap and were replaced with two new ones. now i have 5 fish and one of them is actually big enough to be a meal! if i wasn't veggie that is....
i have always had a weakness for morning glories and their sister plants, the moonflowers. this year i planted 4 blue plants and 4 red. the blues ended up being absolutely huge - the blooms were about the size of a tea cup plate. next year i can see the yard being absolutely covered with the damn things.
a spider took up residence on the front steps. she moved her web from the ornamental trees, to the flower pot and then back to the ornamental trees. at one point we were convinced that she was attempting to spin a web large enough to catch a person.... luckily, she did not suceed... then again, we do have a new postman these days...
the newest addition to the house is dear brat zelda. she has become a bathroom troll, seems you can't attempt to relieve yourself without a kitten passing you some toilet paper.
and just to show that i'm not playing favourites... here is the reigning king of the house - raja... the only male worthy of living with me, well, unless you are counting sushi, the betta fish....
and of course this summer i went back to my parent's farm. this is the old chicken barn, which has also been home to sheep, pigs and one of my horses when he needed to be weaned from his mummy. as a kid, i used to dare my city cousins to jump from the windows... and by city - i mean the town of 5,000! only once did one of them twist their ankles... heehee.
my lame attempt at an 'art' shot. it's just an old piece of farm equipment - i think it might of been a livestock feeder in another life. it was a lovely sunny day. there is just something about alberta blue sky and alberta blazing sun that just can't be duplicated.
my dad owns several hundred head of cattle in the summer (the number is much less in the winter, as they end up going to auction markets when canada is not in the grips of mad cow frenzy). this is one of 8 bulls that he has at the moment. it's something else standing 3 feet away from an animal that weighs about 1,800 pounds and is basically all muscle.
and here is one of the many calves that has probably either been sold already, or is wintering on my dad's farm. calves are just so adorable!
several years ago my parents planted hundreds of trees on the farm and at the same time, my dad put in some rose bushes for my mom. they are basically left to fend for themselves and as you can see, are doing quite well on their own.
while i was home, there seemed to be an absolute infestation of these pink, orange and brown butterflies. apparently they are called 'painted ladies' and come to alberta from california every 12 years or so. according to local gossip, the butterflies had missed the last migration because the weather sucked. they were out in force this august... i spent about an hour hunting butterflies with my digital camera.... but i won't subject you to all the shots![music | leonard cohen, "suzanne"]
No comments:
Post a Comment