It’s still busy, busy around here! Planting is underway but not quite finished. The weather has been uncooperative, but with three days of sunshine and warmth promised now, the goal is to have everything in the ground by the end of the weekend! I did find some time on a finally sunny afternoon to get out my camera and take some photos of the beauty Mother Nature has given us this late spring/early summer around the farm.
As promised, I was able to get a shot of the lady slippers in bloom! I was afraid I’d miss them during the rainy weather, but they have been blossomed for about a week now. Several are right along our trail that I hadn’t seen before, and I counted a total of 11 flowering!
The apple trees are in full bloom!

I almost missed the lilacs, they were just starting to go by. My favorite part of lilacs is cutting off some of the flowers to bring into the house. They smell so heavenly! I’m even working on a spring/lilac scent for my skin care products. I know I can never capture it perfectly though!

The farm birds love dandelions!!

Luke shows you the pretty purple flowers around our patio. I think I identified them at one point, but now I can’t remember what they are!

Last but not least, our rhododendrons. When we first bought this house, this bush was growing right into the side of it, and our contractor told us it had to go, or it would ruin our siding. The Dadz cut it way back, but it is recovering, as you can see. But the good news about this is that it is now growing AWAY from the house, so we’ll be able to keep it!
We did not forget we need to show you how the chicks are growing like little weeds! They will be headed out to the big coop probably in the next week or so. They are 4 weeks old now, and we’re just waiting for their feathers to come in all the way and/or for the nights to be a bit warmer. It’s difficult to get good photographs because they are always on the move! I did get a few though, and we’ll share some more next week. These were the best group shots, with all but about two visible.
The other problem with trying to get good photos is that when I open the cage door, they want to come out!

What’s in bloom or new in your neck of the woods?
Thanks to our friends The LLB Gang for hosting the Nature Friday blog hop. Please visit them and other blogs through the links below!
Mommy loves the smell of lilacs alas they don’t grow here.
We bet your have some other lovely smelling flowers though!
Everything is looking great! The chicks are so cute. Will the adult chickens treat them differently?
They will have to be slowly integrated into the flock, or the older birds will pick on them. So they’ll be in separate areas until they are the same size as the “big girls”.
I featured lady slippers today too, but my photos were not as clear as yours. They are so beautiful. I like the bleeding hearts too. We still need to plant corn and beans. Have a nice weekend!
I love that your hubby was the one to find your Lady Slippers!
Hope you got your corn and beans planted, ours are just starting to pop up now – it’s so exciting! 🙂
Wow, it’s so pretty where you live! We love seeing all the flowers. We had lilacs but now they’re on the way out. We wish they lasted longer.
Me too! Ours are gone now too. We just love it here too…I can’t get enough of all of the beautiful nature around us. ♥
What wonderful color in your corner of the world!!
Wow…What amazing color in your corner of the world!
The best part is there is much more to come!! 🙂
Ohh the chicks are getting big. Cute picture of the chicken eating the dandelion seeds.
She was the only one I noticed doing that, and it was so cute!
Your flowers are so beautiful and who can resist those cutie-pie chicks?! Loved all the photos, especially the lady slipper. Makes me think of Cinderella!
I love that thought!!
Spring blooms makes my heart happy. Love all those chicks. Noisy little buggers, but they are so cute.
I always enjoy seeing Luke.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to Luke. ♥
The chicks are funny though. Sometimes when I’m filling their food and water, they go completely silent as they watch me! But yes, that quiet does not happen too often. And when they grow up….gosh, the noises they come out with, and we don’t even have a rooster! LOL
Such wonderful photos and that sure beats the snow wall. Those wee chicks sure are cute!
Snow is a distant memory, and we’d like to keep it that way for a long time! 🙂
we love bleeding hearts… and we never saw a lady slipper for real in free nature… how happy you are to live in such a beautiful part of our slice earth…
I love the outdoors so much, and this home really is heaven!
So awesome. I love all your flowers. Lilacs are one of my very favorites too.
I especially love the flowers that I remember from my childhood, and there were always lilacs where we lived.
Oh my gosh! Those chicks look just like mini chickens! Pretty flowers. This time of year is pretty, but we don’t enjoy the heat at all, and we have had so much rain too. Enjoy your farm.
We haven’t really had a lot of heat yet, just a couple of days reaching 80 degrees. But it’s been hot out in the sun! It was so nice to get a break from all that rain.
What a treat to see the beautiful Lady Slipper! Thank you, thank you! Mom loves to bring Lilacs inside too but sadly, there is no lilac tree in our yard. You are such a handsome boy, Luke!
We never had lilacs at our old house either, and I was always begging other people to let me pick theirs. LOL
So glad you enjoyed the Lady Slipper!
Luke thanks you as well. ♥
The first chicks without Sam. She had such a huge heart. And her and the chicks was one of my favorite stories.
You have lots of flowers! It’s easy to get so into day-to-day life that you don’t see them anymore – but it sounds like you appreciate them.
We became complacent about the sunsets we used to enjoy at our other house, so I am trying not to do that with the beauty we have here.
I am sure Sam is watching over these chicks as well, but it has certainly not been the same without her physically watching over them. 🙁