As the pictures can attest, we've been getting quite a bit of late-season snow and ice. The barn kitties have enjoyed a bit of exploration, but by now they're like the rest of the animals - more than ready to see the advent of spring.

Peter has been stricken as of Friday with a bad UTI (urinary tract infection) and is at the vet's, on antibiotics and on and off with a catheter in to help drain him out. It appears to be a very ongoing

situation and he's currently on valium as well as antibiotics, the vets say, in order to further relax his urinary tract and enable the passage of what amounts to 'sandy urine'. Lots of uric acid crystals, apparently. He's been charming the vets with his friendliness, though, and when he's not on a catheter, he gets to roam freely with a few other cats accorded that privilege, as he plays well with others. This suits him fine and he comes looking for love regularly.


When he does come home, he will be a house kitty from now on, however; he'll have to be on a special diet. The vets are checking to see whether his diet and Omaha's have any overlap, as that will make feedings easier; how she'll handle the INTERLOPER will be determined whenever he gets here. The barn kitties, thus far, seem to be coping with his absence; less well are they coping with being kept indoors, although it's cold, wet and windy enough that they're not inclined to roam much, either.

Tonight we found a hypothermic ram lamb in a state of near-collapse. His wool was soaked and while he is still responsive, he was very weak. We've brought him inside and put him in the bathroom with a bowl of warm water and a separate bowl of sweet feed; he is tolerating being toweled off with the heat cranked up. We're debating whether or not to keep him under cover for the night and trying to keep him in enough sweet feed to generate energy without giving him bloat.

Either way, right now he is about as cooperative as he's ever likely to be in his life, lacking the energy to struggle or fight when we take pictures and towel him off. Look at those big brown eyes! Give him a few hours and he'll probably become too much trouble for us to be able to keep him inside, even though the odds are poor for his survival if we don't keep him in for at least 12 hours. Time, and fate, will tell.

Today we installed and cemented into place six gate-posts for where the new paddocks eventually shall be. The barn cats were enticed to come along, to some degree, although what interested them more at first was the ripped-open corpse of the possum shot the other week. While a scavenger has obviously been at it, it has yet to be muchly consumed or carried off.

Mitey is doing fairly well, but has a strange bald patch on his chest where it looks as if a strip might have been pulled off. We theorize either he got caught on something or it's from repeated beatings by Hercules and Bolivar.

We are having difficulties with the ducks and geese. A goose has been trying to nest right next to the silver duck; unfortunately, lately that has turned into trying to kick the silver duck off her nest and take over the nest for itself. We're monitoring the system but while it might end up with very confused muscovy ducklings, it obviously indicates a need for additional nest space. The silver duck has been on her nest for easily a month now, so we might get ducklings any day now - or we might have many goose and duck fights.

The oldest inhabitant

It has been a while since our last update. The end of Winter was fairly tranquil, with rain and frost discouraging most outdoor work which wasn't strictly necessary, and the inception of Spring has brought the opportunity to catch up with a lot of important work.

Today we set to work in earnest, gathering hundreds of pounds of concrete and hay, as well as eighty pounds of bird pellets and three galvanised gates. The gates and the concrete will go to building paddocks for the sheep.

We built an experimental space for the birds to nest, out of five bales of straw laid out like a capital E, covered with a tarpaulin which was then pinned to the ground through its grommets by tent stakes.

Today, during our work, we found that Double Nickel had died. It appears that she died of heart failure - there was no sign of violence, predation nor overt signs of disease. We butchered here but we shall wait until we hear from the USDA whether they wish us to deliver any part of her for testing. If we are given the all clear, we shall not waste her.