Sunday mornings...

I love Maine. I love mornings. I particularly love Sunday mornings in Maine. And if it's very, very foggy, like it is today, that is just frosting on the cake.  Fog makes everything seem mystical and quieter than usual. The reason I am so fond of Sunday mornings is that my husband likes to sleep in a bit on the weekends if he can. So I am up at the crack of dawn, taking care of animals, and have the place to myself.  It's a nice little slice of quiet time.

I took my camera out after I did chores and snapped a few shots to share.

The poultry are molting. This means they are shedding out their old, dirty, tattered feathers and growing beautiful new ones.  Harrison Ford, my handsome rooster, must be embarrassed. Normally he boasts a full compliment of glossy, arched tail feathers. Just now he has one sad little feather poking straight up where his former glory once was.  I wonder if his ladies are ashamed to be seen with him? 

Bravo hangs out with me while I do chores. I keep a little bowl near the milk stand, and when I milk the goats he gets a portion of sweet, warm, milk.  When I go to the front yard to water plants and such, I sometimes let him come out.  Cars drive fast on our little road, so I keep a sharp eye on him, but he never sets a paw on the pavement.  This morning I was distracted for a few minutes, and when I remembered to check I found him here. 

Sitting at the end of the driveway, watching me. I called him and he sprang up, happy to be out and about and ready to join me in whatever happened next. 

I like the way the arbor looks, all smothered in flowers. 

We crossed some more things of the wedding "to do," list. I found pretty fall-ish bandannas for the goats to wear. 

And our sweet, sweet neighbor made a special decoration for Abraham donkey.  I'm not unveiling that just yet. Chris set a sound system up in the garage, mounting speakers high on the walls and tweaking things until the walls are filled with sweet, sweet music at the press of a button. He will add another set of speakers outside on the day of the wedding. 

It's apple season, and I love having a bowl full of them in the kitchen. 

One final thing to share today, a picture I was delighted to catch.  Pileated woodpeckers are large, fairly shy birds. I often hear them in the woods, and see them from time to time, flapping over the pasture, calling their strident call.  One has been visiting the large dead tree on the edge of our property from time to time, and I had my camera all ready, hoping to catch him.  The other day Rachel said "Your bird is on the tree."  I grabbed my camera and started shooting. To my delight, another appeared from the back side of the trunk. Two pre-historic looking birds, caught in my frame.A delight.