Monday, October 22, 2012

Chickens and Piglets and Blackbirds and Cows ~ a Lively Sunday Ride

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Larches setting the fields aflame
Piglets taking their Sunday tea
Blackbirds singing an evening song

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Another windy Sunday - but a warm southeast wind this time (much more pleasant than last week's biting winds out of the north and west). The sun is shining and temps are in the 50s as I set out.

Autumn's colours have shifted once again, from copper and bronze to shades of chocolate and tawny. Everywhere is the rich brown of oak leaves...


...and the dark gold of larches. During the year, this stand of trees fades into the horizon, but in fall they come into their own, and light a flame across the marshy fields:


More larches, slightly off my chosen road but well worth a short detour:


Around the corner, the road is lined with cocoa-coloured oaks:


A few miles on, I find some birch trees that have decided to enter into the spirit of the season and turn gold after all. (Most of them have been fading to brown and dropping leaves without any fanfare whatsoever.)


Just up the road from the birches, I pass the house of P, our egg supplier (who is also a co-worker). She's out hanging laundry on the line, so I pull in for a quick hello and a short farmy tour. First we visit the chickens, who have just been moved into their winter barn. Some are perched on the feeder trough, one is sitting in a laying box, but most have clustered in the bright sunshine streaming through the large open doors.


(It's hard to get good pics of them because the sun is so very bright.)


The chookies are calm and friendly and clucking contentedly as they soak up the afternoon sun. P points out the oldest chicken ("the Boss") and other notable flock members, giving short accounts of their health and habits and personality quirks.

Next we step over to the porcine maternity barn, where in a deep bed of hay these adorable little creatures are climbing over each other and snuggling up to their proud Mum...


...who slowly rolls over to give them their Sunday tea.

Purebred Red Wattles

Mum looks rather pleased with life, doesn't she? When the little ones are old enough to leave the barn, they will be put out to pasture (no concrete pens for these lucky pigs), and eventually wind up on the tables of happy diners in Madison and the surrounding areas.

Though P works where I do, we're always scheduled separately, so whenever we get together there is much to discuss. We stand in her front yard trading news, admiring the sunny day, and listening to the finches that sing from her feeders and trees. Sheep are cropping the stubble field across the road; a large bird (turkey vulture?) floats over them on its way to a less lively meal.

This pleasant converse makes it hard to get back on the bike, but I manage it at last. At the top of the rise beyond P's house, the verge is thickly carpeted with aspen leaves:


The road rolls up and down and around the countryside. Clouds are moving in overhead:


Shy but friendly cattle slowly approach when I stop to take their photo.


(I love that belt of green lane going up the hill behind the silos. Where does it lead?)

A mile or two up the road, I have a choice. Turn for home? Or go a little farther? Farther wins the day, and a good thing too, or I'd have missed an avenue of bare trees filled with singing blackbirds.


A somewhat fuzzy close-up

It's time now to head for home and dinner. On the way, a shadow shot:


And one last photo of glowing larches against a backdrop of rusty oak:



An unplanned, unmeasured route. (What freedom!) And a very good ride. :)

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28 comments:

  1. Lovely blue skies and Autumn colour with you. Pretty piggies too!

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    1. Thanks, Anne! I'll be reading your ride post in a few minutes. :)

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  2. Fantastic ride! Again, thank you for taking me along with you. Me, who couldn't ride for 2 feet. -gigggles-

    Oh and I love how you find the words to appreciate the darker colors of Autumn. Less flashy, but still lovely. The chocolate description was especially precious.

    "Auntie"

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    1. Thank you, Auntie. And really, chocolate is the best word for the prevailing colour - or possibly café au lait. (But I prefer chocolate.) :)

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  3. The picture of Mama Pig and her piglets is the sweetest. Thank you for taking us with you on the farm tour. Have a nice evening (afternoon?). Regula

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    1. Thank you, Regula. Those baby pigs were very sweet. :)

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  4. I love the piglets, they're very cute looking....my sister in law has chickens and sitting in her garden one day, I found the clucking so therapeutic.

    Your bike ride pictures are lovely the colours are glorious.

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    1. Thanks, Faith! Yes, the clucking was very soothing. They sounded so relaxed and happy. And the piglets were even cuter than their picture. :)

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  5. The piglets are my favorite too. The 'Sunday Tea' oh so cute. Thanks for taking us riding with you.

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    1. You're welcome, Beth. How's your fall going? Are you making leafy quilts? :)

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  6. Chalk me up as yet another "Sunday Tea" fan! Awwwwww! So cute!

    I, too, love the decription of your autumn colors, and how awesome to have such huge chocolate trees! Our mountains had the gamut of chai-tones in the scrub oak this year, but none so towering and majestic as yours!

    We still have tiny bits of color here and there down lower, but I'm sure this week's forecasted snow will take care of that...

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    1. Our colour seems to be coming in successive waves this year, with each new wave being rained out or blown away in just days. But they're all very lovely.

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  7. How lovely, especially the piglets.

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    1. Thank you, T-a! I could have watched the piglets all day. They were so funny and tumblesome.

      :)

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  8. I saw some color on my trip to Ohio, although much of it was browns and yellows, just like you. I loved every minute of it, well every minute that wasn't biting wind and rain.
    Lovely pictures,
    Meredith

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    1. Yes, the weather hasn't been precisely pleasant this year. Hope you had a good trip despite it!

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  9. Those piggies, oh those piggies I adore them, I want to squeeze one right now! When I was 8 I saw piglets being born and have always loved them since then. If I had a garden and my way we would have a pig as a pet I think they are amazing creatures, thanks so much for sharing a lovely slice of your world xox Penelope

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    1. They ARE very appealing. And smart, and clean, and more careful of their young than they're given credit for. (Not to mention delicious.) :)

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  10. I am in Heaven..so beautiful. Thank you.

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  11. Another lovely ride. Sure wish I was there to tag along. Those little piglets are so tiny compared to their mama. So cute! Hope you are having a good week. Tammy

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  12. Those little piglets are so adorable! I've never seen brown fuzzy pigs before. Gorgeous ride!

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  13. Hey Sue, this post is full of beautiful, golden hued pics......love the pic of the sow feeding her babies. She looks so happy and contented....
    The Larches against the Oaks ....beautiful, what a lovely ride.

    CLaire x

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    1. Thank you, Claire. (And you with spring on your hands!) :)

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