It is officially spring; and thus we begin to have many many pictures to post again, just like last year. Today was grey and gloomy for about half of the day, coming and going, and the barn kitties largely wanted to stage another invasion - which we sometimes allow, provided that they are well-behaved kittens and do not give our elderly Omaha-kitten any grief. As you can see from this picture, Slightly and Tink would never DREAM of causing her any stress. She's grudgingly giving them the benefit of

the doubt.

We had a newborn lamb today - the sex and status is unknown until both farmers are around to handle that, but it was lusty and upright in fairly short order, suckling eagerly. There were limits to how close the camera could get before the mother got stressed, so it was a bit of a distance shot, alas. The full examination will likely take place later tonight.

During one of the periods of better weather, Tootles and Peter went hunting together, lurking from underneath a green canopy. Whether they caught any of the various birds tormenting their senses is unknown, but Peter has been known in the past to catch swifts on the wing; here's hoping he'll teach Tootles the same. How Tootles, such a massive, healthy cat has the spirit of a tiny, terrified kitten remains beyond us. Peter has confidence to spare!


As you can see, even though Peter wants to express dominance, he knows better than to give Omaha a hard time! At least, not when a farmer is watching. Nibs is perhaps the safest of the lot, carefully keeping his distance during his bed-nap. They were well-behaved whenever they were under observation, at least, and eventually went back outside to enjoy the weather once the skies had somewhat cleared.


The older lambs are doing well. We've had one stillbirth - out of eight births. This is already better odds than last year, and the lambs we're seeing (and their mothers) are in much better condition, and larger and fatter, with thicker fleeces than last year. They also are quicker to become fully energetic and playful - one of the older lambs, not much more than a week old, was racing Bolivar down to the lower paddock for the joy of it. (Bolivar was racing because of a farmer with a load of alfalfa.)