Since You Asked . . .

Jean asked yesterday how the other animals are doing. I figured I should address that, because they all deserve some time on this site, don't they? They deserve some recognition! They deserve some respect!

Also, I didn't really have anything particular to write about this morning, so, you know, animals work as well as anything.

The Sheep: We spent yesterday morning fixing some fence so the sheep could go into a pasture where the Bamboo Forest is beginning to take over. The sheep love bamboo shoots. This makes me love the sheep. But only a little bit. The lambs are growing quickly, especially one of the boy lambs, who is enormous already. He obviously understands HIS purpose in life.

The Chickens: The Three Musketeers are still doing their chicken thing. The remaining rooster is a benevolent dictator and the hens seem much calmer. They're still laying eggs. One is very regular and lays her egg every day in the nesting box we provided. The other is incredibly stupid, even for a chicken, and can't seem to figure out where to lay her egg. Sometimes it's on the floor, sometimes in the nesting box. Once I even found it on top of the nesting box. She also sometimes will go a few days without laying an egg, which cuts into my supply. A clearly deficient chicken.

The Big Dogs: They're happy it's spring. They spend a lot of time dozing in the sun and hunting rabbits and chipmunks in the flower gardens. It's a good life. They're also all blowing their coats (meaning shedding large chunks of the underlayer they grow for winter), which makes it kind of gross to pet them.

The Puppies: The three remaining puppies no longer look anything like guinea pigs. Instead, they look like miniature and adorable dogs. They're still incarcerated in The Puppy Penitentiary, except for their daily walks with the MiL. All three of them have buyers, and will probably all be gone by the end of the month. I promise pictures before they go.

The Cats: Both cats are going outside more now that it's warm. Belle brought a vole to the doorstep the other day and ate it on the doormat while I sat in the chair nearby. Tasty. We were informed by my sister the veterinarian that Pitty Pet has ear mites, so he's been getting goo squirted into his ears every couple of days. He is surprisingly calm about this.

The Fish: Alfie and Buttercup are still in their tank upstairs. The feeder fish have been moved to the rain barrels to eat the mosquito larvae. That's pretty much all I can say about the fish.

I guess that's everything. All animals present and accounted for, and all glad it's spring.

Update--The Birds: Whoopsy--totally forgot about the lovebirds. Indicative of how I feel about them, I suppose. They are still in the MiL's bathroom, but will soon be moved to their summer home on the front porch when it's warm enough.