ebb and flow

Its been the usual, rather unpredictable life here on the farm, especially in the last few days. Yesterday I walked out to the mailbox about 8:30 a.m. to find two total strangers mowing our front pasture... one fellow asked who I was and when I said "I'm the owner" he had a clearly perplexed look... the previous owners of the farm, it seems, had a long standing agreement with these brothers to mow and bale a small section at the front of our farm - and the adjoining 15 acres or so owned by an absentee person. The brothers were unaware that the farm has changed ownership. They whacked the tops off of some of the lavender test plots and mowed the small pasture that we were going to commit to keeping wildflowers for the bees and butterflies - and the turkeys who nested there and deer who bed there... Gosh, imagine my surprise...

We had a call yesterday from a young couple who were referred by our veterinarian. They sought an orange female kitten for their three year old daughter. "Come on over" we said - as we quietly wondered if they could ever be good enough to have one of our kittens...or whether we could survive the separation trauma. An hour later the three of them arrived and were duly invited inside to meet the kittens. The little girl, "Mack," could win any "cute kid" contest and was remarkably careful in playing with the kittens. Mom and Dad were truly good people and experienced cat and dog service staff. Mom really liked Mrs Tweedle, who is probably the best companion of the litter but Mack had her little heart set on Bluebeard, the runt of the litter, the only short hair, and the most independent of the bunch. Although our trepidations were diminished, it was still little short of heart rending to watch them walk out with Bluebeard.

With good fortune, there will be other good homes appear for three more of the kittens. We will keep either one or two. With certainty, Butch will live out a long and happy life with us. He was until recently the largest of the litter, probably the soppiest, and what a racket when he purrs (which is often). He seems to be apprenticing to Jack Tar and learning from him. Butch spent part of last night sleeping with his head on Jack's flanks. Jack has been a superb uncle to the kittens and watches over them when they are outdoors and frequently holds them down and cleans them when indoors. Butch has taken to Jack's habit of jumping in Mr. Fuzzy's lap as soon as he sits at the computer... see attached photograph.

Mr. Fuzzy is the photographer for the local humane society and visits the local county pound once a week to photograph the poor new denizens in order the post them on the society's web site where they have a far better chance of being seen and adopted. Last week, there were two new occupants, a very sad and stressed beagle and a young black & white male... This morning, Mr & Mrs Fuzzy journeyed to the Pound to inspect the young guy... and we came home with him. He's maybe three or four months old, seems to know what a leash is for, and learns VERY quickly. Jack Tar was pretty uncertain at first but after a few minutes, Jack and Lily were watching from just a few feet away as the puppy explored the house. We were not going to get another dog so soon after Nutmeg's demise but when you see a great one... no more good night's sleep for another month or so. Our tentative name for him is BISCUIT. Tomorrow he goes to the vet for that most unkind of cuts.