While the first official day of autumn is still over a week away, we can feel it creeping in here on the farm, with cooler days and nights. Daylight seems to be shortening by the minute, as it seems we put the birds to bed earlier and earlier every night. However, summer does still linger. We have some warmer weather coming next week, and I think our barn garden looks as pretty as ever!

Fall shows up more in the vegetable garden, where many plants are starting to die off; the pumpkins are turning orange and are almost ready to pick for display on the front steps.
Look, the sunflowers in the chicken coop herb garden are finally blossoming! I can’t believe how tall they are!
There’s our handsome rooster Charlie in the foreground. One of my sisters has been bugging me for an update on how things are going with our new guy. I’m working on that and hope to have some stories about Charlie to share next week. The short answer is that all is going well – he’s still here, and he gets handsomer by the minute! The longer answer is far more interesting.
In this week’s edition of “Meet the New Girls“, here is Jill:
Jill is Roxanne’s sister, who you met previously. I say “sister” just meaning that they are the same breed, Rhode Island White. Jill has been spending more time with her sister lately than with Charlie and the flock. More on that with our Charlie update!
Also, meet Tiffany:
Tiffany is distinguished by her high tail feathers. She is a White Leghorn. She should lay white eggs, and a lot of them (we sure need that!). We are still impatiently waiting for the first egg from one of the new girls! There is one more White Leghorn, but she’s a little more shy, so I don’t have her photo yet.
Remember Luke’s morning sunshine photo this week? Here’s what it’s been looking like for our morning walks since then!

It may be rainy and cool, but it’s still bug-free!
What’s the first sign of autumn coming where you are?
Thanks to our friends The LLB Gang for hosting the Nature Friday blog hop. Please visit them and other blogs through the links below!
Jill is beautiful and your garden looks lovely. It’s still really hot down here but the days are getting shorter. I can’t wait to be below 90 degrees cause this heat is killing me 😉
Luke looks rather cute in his rain coat 🙂
xoxo,
Bell Fur Zoo Mama
Thank you! We’re getting a bit of Indian summer this weekend, and it’s made me realize I really am ready for fall! I’m going to enjoy the warm sunshine though….but the bugs came back out and they are so annoying!! 🙂
Your farm photos are so beautiful!!! Hi gals!! Nice jacket Luke!
Thank you, JoAnn!
Charlie really is handsome rooster, and your girls are growing up quickly!
The feeling of fall is in the air, despite the temps. Leaves are falling, and some of the fall colors are just starting to appear. It’s the darkness that I notice the most. Especially in the morning when I let Todd out for the first time and it’s still dark at 5 ish.
The dark mornings are the hardest for me – I have so much more trouble dragging myself out of bed when it’s dark out!! 🙂
I love your farm! It is so pretty and just like I imagine a farm should be. Pumpkins will be fun! Do the chickens eat them?
The chickens LOVE pumpkins, and the seeds are very good for them. They work as a natural de-wormer.
Whoa…Charlie sure knows how to strut his beautiful self, doesn’t he? What a handsome dude. Our mornings are cool and crisp (48 yesterday) but the days are still warm. Indian Summer seems to be here with this weekend’s temps in the low 90’s. Where is sweater-wearing weather?
We’ve had that sweater weather here lately! However, I think we’re headed into Indian summer now. We’ll take it, since it’s only supposed to last a few days (ironically including the first day of fall!).
I’m not big on the outdoors … but with a backyard like that, I’m pretty sure I’d be persuaded! I’m continually surprised at all the different breeds of chickens!
We’d turn you into an outdoors lover in no time if you came here! 🙂
Oh, Love the sunflowers! And seeing Charlie, and meeting some more of the girls! Was Farrah’s character Jill??
Yes, that’s right, Lynn, it was!
Your farm must be such an exciting place to be right now with all the colors and chickens and hens. What fun!
There’s never a dull moment around here! 🙂
Tiffany is beautiful. Everything looks so nice, I love the sunflowers.
Thank you, Ellen!
your farm is sooo much fun and so charming! Wish I could see it in person, LOVE the sunflowers!
We would love to have you here and give you a tour! ♥
yes… we love the rain too for a bug free and wasp free time ;O) the first photo is like a painting by Bob Ross just much much better ;O)
Thank you! No bugs is always a good thing!
I’m ready for autumn, but apparently it’s not ready for us. Still warm and humid here during the afternoon /early evening hours. And I – not Ducky – had a bee pestering me this morning. That’s when I decided it was time to go inside.
Luke looks handsome in his raincoat! We could use some rain here, so feel free to send us some of yours!
Thankfully, the mosquitoes and deer flies have mostly left, but the bees are still around here too! There seems to be an awful lot this year! Good for the gardens, if you can avoid getting stung. Some of them fly right at us too – yikes!
Don’t remind me of this when rainy season gets here, but I’m actually looking forward to a few rainy days 🙂
Happy Weekend!
That probably falls under “be careful what you wish for”, right? 🙂
We can feel it here too, and that’s okay with us. We’ve had enough triple digit weather this summer.
Hi Luke. You’re sure a handsome pup.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to Luke. ♥
I don’t think we ever reached triple digits here, but we rarely do! 90’s is about the highest, and we didn’t even have a lot of those days.
Your place sure is colorful and Charlie and the girls look great. Hey Luke, you always look great pal!
Thanks, Brian!! I’m as handsome as that rooster, right?
Woofs, Luke
I can’t wait for Autumn to finally come. It has been a hot and humid summer here. I love seeing the chickens.
We’re so glad you enjoy seeing our flock! ♥
We had rain yesterday, Luke, but today, the sun is shining brightly! Your barn garden is just beautiful!
Thank you! It just keeps on giving, all season long! 🙂
Your chicken coop looks so adorable! We are thrilled to see summer go, although this year it was not very hot at all which was nice.
I think it was definitely your kind of summer! 🙂