And I do mean a hunt. There are at least 8 chickens in this shot across the barbican to the pond that feeds the moat. They're a little more obvious in this shot. Emphasis on little. And they'll lay just about anywhere, though we're beginning to decipher a pattern, which makes locating them easier. Yes, we know, we could fence them in, etc - but they're also part of our organic pest control, and feed costs go down dramatically as bug availability goes up.
Of course, in some places, rather than eggs, we find mostly meadow muffins.
There are new monsters in the woods, visible flitting about from tree to tree, as a mating pair of newly homeless peafowl found themselves as new residents of the demesne, and seeming to like the place, as they strut about. Perhaps we could interest NBC in a new reality show...
It has been a busy week at Castle Argghhh!, oddly in keeping with the season. We had guests from the Philippines in the early part of the week, as my Rotary Club picked up the Group Study Exchange team at the airport and got them started on their 30 day visit to our district. The work week began badly as it started with a death, but improved as we found ourselves blessed with unexpected life. From the middle-of-the-night sad calls by Little Orphan Annie looking for her best buddy Rest Stop, to suddenly having a great-grand-kid, literally, in that Serafina is the mother of Morgana who is the mother of the newest doeling goat, making SWWBO a great-grandma-by-extension. Unexpected? We had hoped that Sammy and Horus, the billy's, had done their manly duty last fall, only to be assured in February that none of the girls were preggers.
Then, Wednesday, SWWBO walks out to the goat pasture to find Morgana looking at this strange thing which had just plopped forth. Mother and child are doing fine... and yes, they sleep on hay.
I took the time yesterday to go down to the pond, to see if there were any signs of life other than the frogs noisily seeking cute frog-chicks to frolic with. The water is a little murky from the recent rains, but there were ripples here and there from the fish feeding on the waterbugs, out in the deeper waters where the frogs don't hang out.
Spring has sprung at Castle Argghhh!, as the cycle of life starts a turn anew. And that leaves us with the request for assistance.
Names.
The doeling goat needs a name. The peacock and peahen need names. Suggestions?]]>