It has been a wet and windy turn to the season for a while now. Omaha has the right idea about how to cope with it.

Peter is taking very well to being a house cat. He is amazingly affectionate, and he and Omaha have settled down fairly peacefully into a truce. They are not quite friends, but not really suspicious of each other either.

The lamb, number 12, died. We lost track of him one night, and the next day found him in a rather dazed state. We took him inside again so that he wouldn't spend another night outside, giving him hay, sweet feed and water, but it didn't help. The next morning he was glassy-eyed, breathing heavily, and after a little time died. We couldn't slaughter him for his meat because of the medication he'd received, so we buried him in the orchards where the trees could benefit.

Spring is well under way. The wild irises in the pastures are poking up their heads. The sparrows are multiplying despite the best efforts of the barn cats. The ewes are definitely showing signs of their pregnancy, and so we have switched from grass hay to alfalfa. It is more expensive, but has a higher protein content. This should help them through the final stages of pregnancy.

We bought fifty t-posts for fencing, but have yet to place them. While one has to work through rain in this climate, the combination of heavy rain and high wind has limited the amount of outdoor labour we have done. As soon as we have breathing space, we shall purchase more trees to plant, and then the lambing should be well under way.