Ralphie, taking a break on a hot afternoon.
Photo by LauraP
I looked up from weeding the perennial bed and caught Ralphie, the English Shepherd, doing his thing. He works nights, protecting the poultry and livestock from coyotes and various lesser predators. The older dogs still help, but over the last year, Ralphie has taken over the [...]

Tubby Bunny Foofoo and mama.
Photo by LauraP
Yes, it’s a dumb name. But hey, if you can’t have fun and be goofy around the barn, what’s the point? Usually we don’t name the kits from the meat rabbits, but this one’s an only — only one in the nest, only baby bunny in the [...]

Jennifer and Tubby Bunny Foofoo. He’s huge and just 10 days old in this picture.
Photo by LauraP

Seabright banty roosters, spoiling for a fight. Note the dropped wing on the middle rooster. He’s getting ready, but . . . so many targets – who to attack?
Photo by LauraP

Mama Seabright up close.
Photo by LauraP

Golden Seabright banty chicks – 3 weeks
Photo by LauraP

Blackberry blossoms and a promising berry.
Photo by LauraP

The blackberry patch, a few days past the peak of bloom.
Photo by LauraP

Nineteen years ago, Mr. Sayles, the elderly man next door, gave me a few robust thornless blackberry plants. His own patch was mature, well-filled, and spreading too vigorously. He’d dug my gift plants from the space between his second and third row of beans, some fifteen feet out of bounds from the allotted space for [...]