{slightly off key humming} 🎶 Doh, dee, doh…🎶 Um…good morning, Wilson here. Let me welcome you all to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we’re joining our hosts, Rosy and Sunny from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Don’t forget to click on the link to see what other folks have shared. As of today, there are officially 4 days until the official arrival of the autumn equinox but we’ve been enjoying much more mellow temps . Color Mum and me elated. We’re happy to be in the home stretch toward moving into our favorite season. Nothing says autumn like the changing temperatures we’ve been experiencing this week. And the few sprinkles of rain we received have been a bit of a bonus. Although not nearly enough moisture, we’ll take whatever Mother Nature is willing to gift us.
The Mum: Good morning, House Pony, how are you doing this fine day?
Wilson: I’m doing great Mum. The morning walk was lovely and quite enjoyable walking in the upper 50’s every morning now. I’m just loving this time of year. The leaves aren’t changing quite as much as I expected in this new neighborhood but nearby mountain roadway s are starting to turn a brilliant gold which means there are lots of leaf peepers out on the roads.
The Mum: Guanella Pass (located about 50 miles to the west of the metro area is ablaze with golden aspens. If gas wasn’t so expensive right now we might have taken a drive out there yesterday. But for the high the cost of gas as well as crowded roads, we could have gone out to check in person. I still recall last year’s outing and don’t want to have to deal with that cluster again any time soon. You can read about that outing here. Oh well. We still have a few pics from the recent outing to Finding Nectar Farms that we wanted to share today. In case you missed our post from that outing, you can see it here.
Wilson: That chicken was quite a capture, Mum. What kind is it?
The Mum: I think that’s a Golden Laced Polish chicken named after the Polish army’s feathered caps because that plumage on it’s head resembles that feathered crest. They are pretty docile but pretty skittish but very even tempered but because of their limited eyesight due to the that crest limiting their eyesight, they are vulnerable to predators. This one was very apprehensive and wouldn’t stand still, instead nervously moving around the coop.
Wilson: Seems weird looking to me but whatever. I never have understood chickens anyway. I see you have found another chicken while you were there.
The Mum: Yes, I think this one is a Sussex chicken, a heritage breed from England, originally developed as a dual-purpose bird for both meat and eggs. They are fairly friendly and a consistent egg layer and relatively each to maintain. Their origin goes back several hundred years, but they became fairly widespread in the 1800s. She watched me like a hawk.
Wilson: Maybe she was just making sure you didn’t bother her Polish buddy.
The Mum: You may be right about that. She did seem fairly protective of that guy.
Wilson: I see you couldn’t refuse posting another goat photo.
The Mum: Yeah, I’d admit it-I’m a sucker for goats.
Wilson: They are fascinating as they bounce around and play, I’ll give you that and they seem fairly jovial.
The Mum: They really are. I just love them.
Wilson: And pray tell what is this thing? I noticed it because there are usually bunnies at this house that I’m always seeing.
The Mum: That’s a mushroom that had been turned upside down. I noticed it yesterday. It’s a fairly large one, proving once again even a little bit of moisture can sprout mushroom spores around here.
Wilson: Do they taste good?
The Mum: Ha! Leave it to you to inquire about how something tastes. I don’t know, I don’t trust eating wild mushrooms since I don’t know enough about them but these popped up practically overnight which is surprising since our so-called showers can be measured in drops rather than inches.
Wilson: Well if you ever need a taste taster, just let me know. Well that’s it for us this week. Google sent us a warning that we’re close to exceeding our space limit. Anyone know how to minimize the size of photos? Mum’s gonna have to figure out how to minimize her ever growing library of photos.
The Mum: We hope you have a terrific weekend and get out there to enjoy the last days of official summer but more importantly, we encourage you to enjoy all the beauty Mother Nature provides this time of year.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Fancy chickens and bouncy goats, what’s not to love about this place.
As for the mushroom, it is likely poisonous. Grandma always said they were toadstools, stay away from them.
I totally agree about the chickens and goats. They are so entertaining in their own special ways. Your Grandma sounds very smart. At any rate, I’d never eat one that I found. I couldn’t tell one from another but they are fascinating to see pop up overnight. Hope you have a great rest of the weekend.
We love that golden laced chicken! Mom has never seen one of those that she can recall. Enjoy the cooler weather, we have been for sure!
Yes, I’d never seen one of them either so he was a quite a sight to behold. A small shower moved through a bit ago-it was paradise. I’m hoping the forecast comes true with another shower later this evening. Have a great weekend.
Glad to hear the weather is getting cooler Monika and lovely to see more photographs from the wonderful farm. As for reducing the size of images, it depends how you process and export them. For example, if you process them in Lightroom, you can select the size and dpi before export. MS Windows programmes such as Paint, can also help you reduce the size: you open Paint, select the image, reduce the size, use Save As .jpg and away you go. There will be different ways of reducing them on your phone or on a Mac. Hope this helps and happy Fall Equinox to all 🤗🧡🍂 xxx
Many thanks for your suggestions. 99% of my images any more are shot from my phone (carrying a big camera on our walks isn’t all that fun as I’ve aged).
So glad you enjoyed more photos from the farm. It’s such a lovely place to visit-I know I’ll be back again soon. Have a lovely weekend.
Isn’t it great!? Cooler weather, beautiful leaves, and goats. All the best things in life!
It was 54F this morning…sheer paradise for us. Glad you enjoyed the goats. I’m so smitten with them-they are wildly entertaining and I’m looking forward to going back to the farm. Have a terrific weekend and give Chester a good belly rub from me.
Chickens are fun creatures, and some will bond with their humans, almost like a cat or a dog! They are fairly intelligent too.
There are all kinds of various mushrooms in our yard right now, from all the (way too much) rain we’ve been having.
Some trees are changing colorhere now. Hooray for Fall’s arrival…can’t be soon enough for me either!
Thanks. He was so striking in appearance, I couldn’t resist trying to catch a pic of him even though he was quite reluctant to be photographed. Mushrooms fascinate me. The literally pop up overnight around here and this one really surprised me since we’ve had so little rain. Anyway, its appearance was cause for revelry. We hope you have a marvelous weekend.
That is a cool chicken. 🙂
Thanks. He sure was showy! Hope you have a lovely weekend.
We’ve had enough rain here to push up some serious mushrooms. I don’t know good from bad, but I like seeing them. I hope you guys get some rain when it cools down. Autumn is my favorite season, too.
Thanks, Dan. We seem to be on the border of feast or famine with the majority of time being famine. Finding mushrooms on our walks always leaves me in awe. May you have a wonderful autumn-like weekend!
We’re heading into the 40s tonight and tomorrow night. Then heavy rain on Sunday. I wish I could send it to you. Thanks for the offer. Appreciate the thought.
Oooh, rather jealous. Love brisk walks in those temps!
That Golden Laced Polish Chicken would have serious Vegas potential if not for the skittishness. I could see it starring in a musical review, no doubt about it.
Fall is what???? Four days away? Officially? I know the mornings have been absolutely delicious here, jacket weather mornings. This is when I miss running most of all but oh well, at least the more agreeable temps are right around the corner. Ish. And good news for youse guys, getting some precipitation.
I love mushrooms but I’m with you, not gonna take a chance with the wild stuff.
Wilson is an adventurer at heart, I love it.
Here’s hoping you have a wonderful weekend
Many thanks, Marc. That chicken looks like it was an extra from Moulin Rouge!
It’s hard to believe summer is so close to being over. 70’s & 80’s are just fine with me though nature could be a bit more generous with the H2O. I think 12 drops fell today despite the 60% chance of rain forecast. As far as I’m concerned this whole super El Niño thing has been a big time bust, at least in our neighborhood. We hope your weekend is full of lovely runs in beautiful Indian Summer weather.
Hahahaha! YES! That’s it right there.
I agree, I think that’s the sweet spot and yes of course, add some H20 into the bargain and a deal can easily be struck.
El Nino was a right fielder for the Mets in the ’80’s, also very overrated.
Thank you mama
Love the baseball reference. Just like the dog-breath Mets to mess up the meteorological mojo.
I know right?
Wilson, tell The Mum I have no experience with reducing photo storage on Google, but before AI kills us all I did ask Google AI Mode “how to compress google photos storage”…and…”what to do when google photos storage is full.” It provided a few options. I know that kind of thing can be very frustrating, and on occasion time-consuming. That first picture of the Golden Laced chicken shows one beauty of a bird. I love the idea that the Sussex chicken is playing protector for it. Have a wonderful weekend! (Wilson, if you don’t know already the Avalanche start their pre-season this weekend…get ready, buddy!)
Thanks, Bruce. I queried Google and I swear the answer came back in Yugoslavian! It will be a long drawn out process I think.
That fancy chicken really fascinated me. When I looked it up, I felt badly for it. They were bred for show not egg production. Seemed sad.
Oh yes, mum has been counting down the days for the Avalanche season. There are a couple of things that need to be resolved (like will they extend Bednar’s contract and what will be done about Lehkennen. I sure hope he doesn’t get traded. Have a great weekend!
That is some fancy clucker you shared with us Wilson! I hope you and Mom have a totally fabulous weekend!
Thanks, Terry. That was one colorful clucker! We hope you likewise have a most enjoyable weekend.
Wilson, I really enjoyed seeing those chickens!
Why thank you, Carole. That one with the poof on his head sure was weird looking but Mum thought he was kind of cool. We both hope you have a wonderful weekend and are able to enjoy some splendid autumn temps.
Your fur-iend,
Wilson 🐾
we like the show star chicken…walks in fall are just wonderful… the smells in the air tell us the bestestest stories
I almost expect a chicken like that to twirl a hula-hoop. They sure don’t produce a lot of eggs. 😉 We think Autumn is the best time of year. Between the earthy smells and golden light, it’s hard to beat. We hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Charlee: “Whoa, that is one crazy chicken. It looks like it fell asleep at the railyard and the taggers painted graffiti on it!”
Bwahahaha…oh Charlee…you have a very vivid imagination. You cracked us up. We hope all of the Oceanside ani-pals has a great weekend.
You and Wilson find the most amazing pictures!
Aww, thanks, Jacqui. That’s very kind of you to say. We hope you have a terrific weekend!
I’m with you on the wild mushroom tasting. No, thank you. When I was in my thirties (dinosaur era), I had a farm. We had chickens, geese, and ducks, and about three of each kind of animal. I would have to tell all the fowl to get into the coop at dusk and shut the door, since the foxes would love to have a winner-winner chicken dinner. I enjoyed the tour, Monika.
Thanks, John. We’re glad you enjoyed the tour. When it comes to mushrooms, I’ll get mine from the grocery store. When my daughter lived in the mountains, she raised chickens. They were not the brightest of birds. There were bears and foxes who would periodically break into the coop a couple of times and they lost a few over the years. Have a great weekend.
There is something about a farm in Autumn that is almost as beautiful as the leaves!
xoxo,
Rosy & Sunny
Thanks, Rosy & Sunny. We agree. Mum loves the golden light this time of year which makes ordinary photos look so much better. Have a wonderful weekend!
Love that crazy crested chicken, but clearly it wouldn’t survive without humans protecting it. About saving space on your blog, other than deleting old posts, I download photos from my camera after editing, access Preview, than go to Tools drop down menu, click Adjust Size. Select largest pixel (like 3200 or like) and change to 800. The other size will automatically adjust, Save and close. Then you are ready to upload into your post. Saves a lot of space.
You’re so right. It seems bizarre that humans bred those chickens as ornamental creatures. They aren’t great egg producers. Maybe there’s a market for their feathers? 😉
Thanks for that tip. Do you have to do that to each one separately?
We hope you have a beautiful weekend.
Yes, I do each photo that way. There may be a way to set the pixels in the camera, but I’m not all that tech-saavy, ha!
Re: chicken fanciers show and trade decorative poultry just like any other breeder, I guess. 🙂
Thank you! Appreciate the help.
Can’t help with photos but I’m also a fan of goats. So cute and entertaining.
Thanks, Kate. Goats are simply adorable. I love watching them bounce around. Too cute. Have a great weekend.
First, yes, Monika. I minimize all my photos with PicMonkey. They may have a free version, but I pay not very much each year for it. It’s extremely easy to use. On the left side under “Edit” you’ll see the “Resize” button. Click it and use percentages. If you decide to use it, just give me a call and I’ll be glad to talk you through it. After one time, you should be a pro at resizing! (I’d of been out of space long ago if it weren’t for making the pics much smaller. It doesn’t seem to affect how they look on the blog, though.)
Those chickens are something else. And I love the little goats, too. But not the big billy goats, that used to chase me out of the barn! Lucy is smiling and says “Hi!” to Wilson.
Thanks, Amy. I already pay for my WordPress site so don’t want to incur more expense. I’ve used the free version of PicMonkey to add emoticons and the like. I’ll have to play around to see if I can reduce my photo sizes. Wish me luck-I’m pretty lousy when it comes to computer skills. LOL I thought WordPress resized photos with one of their plugins but they all seem to be fairly large. Since the majority of all my pics are from my phone, I have to convert them to JPEGs because WordPress won’t permit HEIC pics. Sigh.
Wilson sends his best to Lucy. Hope you guys have a great weekend!
…slightly off key humming…
[…wonders if the choice of adverb is accurate…]
You wouldn’t want to hear him actually singing.
The first chicken, the Golden Laced Polish, is something else. But what a nuisance to have one’s eyesight limited by all those feathers. I know beauty requires some work sometimes, but still…
I know, right? Seems vain breeding chickens for ornamental reasons since they aren’t great egg producers. Maybe it’s nature’s way of completing the circle of life and providing predators with a few easy dinners. We hope you have a lovely weekend.
We humans do some less than kind stuff with breeding sometimes…more about a look than the wellbeing of the critter. Sad.