animal farm

New choocks! The Cockerel was crowing all day long, desperate for some more women, so we obliged and bought him more. Now he is royally satisfied and finally shut the hell up. I do *like*, in truth, to be woken up to his crowing (even at 5.30am, it's a pretty sound and I think - am I on holiday? I often wake thinking), just the one of two crows is fine... but all day? He certainly keeps us alert and all, but to the nerves-in-shreds point where I felt like wringing his neck (were I so capable, which I am not, I could only think murderously).



Instead we just bought more hens. An easier option. But oh (since I am on this thread of chicken talk) the white hen, sole survivor from our last flock is being bullied to death by the new brown ones. They practically tear all her feathers out if she goes near them. Luckily our garden is big enough for her to escape. I read it's the same in Nature (with a capital N, not my domestic garden) that an oddly coloured in a species will be driven out from the pack (like a black fluke wolf in a set of all grey). I guess animals don't like difference. Sometimes they are cruelly like people.



We visited a friend and I had such a shock when a couple of lambs skidded in from her barn and ran around the kitchen table.


(photo credit to Tchad)

It felt totally bizarre to see lambs out of context like that! These two were orphaned, my friend found one huddled against it's dead mother in a field and the farmer gave her another to keep it company. Now they won't have to cut their grass ever again :) They were models of cuteness and I could have stolen them there and then. The boys and girl were equally enamoured of these woolly, soft, tame babies.


(photo credit to Tchad)

The hammock washed dried and re strung for the warmer months. It's getting lots of use. I swear I think the two trees we have it tied to were planted *just* for the purpose of a hammock! I can't prove it, but I think it's possible. The previous people here had one up here too, I always wanted a house near running water and when I lie in this and hear the stream it's pretty blissful. This is one of those perfect times of year I feel when there's so much life again you start feeling full of it yourself. Like you might skip around or something.





I saw a pale, tattered butterfly, survived the winter and ready to propagate, beating away it's wings in the flowers near me. It twirled upwards in this shaft of light amongst the pine trees and it was one of those eternal moments, where stands still for a few seconds and you feel like you might have stood there forever, or that life might just be so incredible: everything comes down to this one butterfly, it's personification of life, the struggles, the surviving though the impossible, the desire to live, the joy in just being here. I love it when you get those flashes of illumination. It makes you remember to actually LIVE! Right now. Because it's our forever. Or at least the only thing that is truly here.

Less metaphysical, but no less amazing, this girl is so wild and pure. She is a tree climber and adventure and animal lover (with NO fear) who I have to coax into dresses. Mostly she'd prefer wellies and trousers (with pockets, pockets! How come more girl clothes don't have pockets? They are her wish for every clothes item, including socks and undies).



Esmé and the guinea pigs. The conversation was a bit like this:





Me: it looks like you are squeezing that guinea, are you? They don't like being squeezed.
Her: I am not!



Me: OK... well maybe hold it a bit more gently.
Her: I love him! I will hold him like this, he is my baby.
Me: Lets put him down now, before you kill him.
Her: I like all guineas!
Me: Even the dead ones?
Her: This one is the BEST guinea pig, he is just like a baby! Shhhhhh baby Harry! (rock, rock, squirm squirm) Don't scratch me! Swing up like this! And down like this. And fly all around.



Me: Well luckily for him you dropped him and he's ran away.
Her: I can get him again! Look!



Me: Come on lets go and look for more chicken eggs, the guinea pig is really really tired.
Her: I've got him! I've lost him!

Me: He doesn't like to be held that way I think, that's why he keeps trying to escape. Just leave him! He looks so worried don't you think?



Her: No! he LIKES it!



Then the cat started pretend pouncing too, just for fun. The cool thing about these things and cats are that the guineas just freeze (good defense mechanism really, if you are a guinea pig), the cat gets bored and wanders off. If it so much as quivered the cat would so love the chase. But really they could not care less about him. Or Esmé, thankfully.....

Animal survival around here at all time high I think, all considered.