Spring has sprung right into summer, and despite a brief time away from the farm, the farm continues apace. The volunteer apple trees on the property are all in full and glorious bloom, promising blowsily their potential charms. Wimsey and Shelley's trees have had blossoms on them as well, and the result of those blossoms on Shelley's tree, at least, suggests that it is a self-fertile kind of cherry.

A new lamb was born while we were away, but it was sickly and though our farm-sitters called in our veterinarians, the lamb was unable to be saved; no suckle reflex, and it died under their care despite their best efforts. Hard-won experience suggests that even if it had been saved, it would be much more prone later in life to any number of health issues. Our neighbours were saddened and told us this is proof they could never be farmers - we thanked them muchly for their services.

The cats were delighted to see us again, and the house cats in particular purred all over us so hard that they kept choking and coughing over it. Things have begun to settle down a little bit since then, but the barn kitties show every sign of having missed us almost as much as the house cats - despite not having been allowed out for the duration of our absence, they have since our return preferred to hang out in the house with us rather than outside. While the rain today may have contributed to that, yesterday was a gloriously sunny day and they still wanted to stay inside if they could, playing and being with us.

The goslings are putting on weight fast, and have already gained their first set of pinfeathers. They chirp to one another and to the adults constantly. The nest on the porch has been abandoned, alas; evidence shows something or other, probably possum, had been coming for eggs in our absence. We intend to put a rather final stop to that. She has, however, apparently begun a new nest.

Yesterday was a tree day, and began with the purchase of 51 new trees: 7 Fameuse apple trees on M7 rootstock and 41 Michelin apple trees on the same, and 3 new trees for the garden area. The 3 trees are what the nursery calls seconds: good enough to be sold but not good enough to withstand shipping through the mail. We purchased thusly one Turkish quince, one Mirabelle plum, and one tree which is completely and entirely unknown to them or us as to what it is! We suspect it might be some variety of apple; in a couple of years, we may even find out. Even so, it was still a bargain, at $2.00 for the unknown tree.

Today's rains have proven a boon to the trees and a bane to farmers. The trees, new and old, have gotten a good, solid watering, while it's been sufficiently hard rain to keep farmers indoors and from pursuing outdoor projects. The philosophy of the farm remains consistent, however; no matter the weather, there's always work to be done, and there's always tomorrow.

We have reached about the end of the lambing season, with what we believe to be our final lamb born today to Jojo by Bolivar. A single, sizable grey ewe lamb in good health and as cute as a button, bringing our total to ... somewhere around 32 or more.

The ones born already are getting gradually bigger, and we've seen no signs of ill health, which makes this a particularly successful lambing season so far.

Over the weekend we had a very pleasantly sunny day - so much so that this very small snake was sunning itself in the sheep pasture. It didn't like being photographed much, but it suffered a few shots, although it's a trifle 'Where's Waldo'ish! The sheep seemed utterly unbothered by its presence - if they even noticed.




Here you can witness the sheep being unbothered. There was alfalfa in the offing - what care they for tiny snakes? The lambs, as you can see, are large, healthy and viable. We're very pleased, and we'll be culling in the fall to bring our flock back under the current numbers, emphasis given to those who have some small defects (one lamb, for instance, has shown signs of something wrong with his gait, which would make him not a good choice for breeding and potentially a symptom of something more wrong with him). We'll

likely also offer the sheep for sale live, but whatever's left at the end of the season will need to be sold in a hurry or turned into meat.

The geese having been taking the goslings everywhere, including to the pond although not yet upon the pond that we've seen. Anyone who gets too close is given the stinkeye and hissed at in a way which clearly says 'approach closer at your peril'. Even farmers

with feed scoops in hand are far from immune to this threat.

And with May came a birthday, for which occasion a cake was baked. A sachertorte made with almond flour instead of all-purpose, chocolate ganache frosting, and glazed dried apricots soaked in liqueur decorating it. Truly, the joys of spring are worth mentioning and reveling in!