Spring is giving way to summer, rather reluctantly. It has continued to be on the cool side, although not as cold so far as last summer had been. We have been keeping quite busy with consultations on wine label designs, animal management, planting and being completely dominated by cats telling us how adorable they are.

The bantams have been granted their own enclosure over the course of the weekend, along with some hens which proved to not be bantams after all being released into the general chook population. The sad news: both chicks have been lost. The first got itself into a water dish and drowned, prompting a revising of the watering system. The second was eaten by a skunk which was visiting the enclosure and may prove to have been the culprit who killed two of our hens a month ago.

The skunk was not allowed to roam free once more this time. A farmer managed to get off a shot from a distance, killing the skunk more or less immediately, although with predictable skunk results. The corpse has been put out for the ravens, who appreciate it and must have no sense of smell; the stench in the area in the enclosure is gradually fading.

Seedlings have finally been transplanted as well - cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins and beans being the primary but not only such. A lettuce bed is being planned, and there are some volunteer root vegetables - potatoes and onions - which will be planted soon as well.

Lambing has seemed to slow to a halt, although we are hesitant to say so for certain; we are at fifteen live lambs, which is all but 3 of the ewes in the breeding flock this year. As there is still our Miss Congeniality who jumped the fence this past winter, we cannot be entirely sure if we're done. But for now, at least, we have lambs aplenty. One of our ewes is vying for the title of Miss Congeniality in a more pleasant way - #15 of our flock is determined to get special treatment, coming up to us for treats, following us around (along with her absolutely adorable little ram lamb) and even once tugging on a pant leg when she felt there should be treats but weren't.

Onwards and upwards we continue - as does the grass. It's our hope to finish the big fencing project this summer, so that sheep may safely graze without constant supervision and running or swearing in their wake. And how exciting is it to think of preserves and stores for the following winter? We think it quite exciting indeed.