I was just beginning to test the idea of setting up a remote-controlled camera to photograph the variety of birds that come to our bird feeders.  I found that in my first test, it worked quite well.  The very next day, a big black bear knocked down every bird feeder we had.  I will put my idea on hold until this coming winter.

On any farm, there is an explosion of life in the Spring, ours is no exception.  Birds, animals, trees, flowers, and vegetables are multiplying and budding all over the place.  I have kept tabs on a bird nest in our Barn and watched the chicks from when they were eggs until they thought they could fly.  One morning when my wife and I were feeding the animals, we noticed one of the chicks hopping along the floor of the barn near the sheep feed.  He could not fly so I caught him and returned him to the nest while my wife put the cat in a crate.  A close call but all they needed was another day to grow before they flew away.

We have 8 new lambs, some born on the farm and others bought or loaned from other herds.  Our 4 older ewes were shorn for the summer and look pretty naked.

Curious Sheep

There are other transitions going on like Poppy the indoor cat is becoming Poppy the barn cat.  We are hoping that Chloe and Poppy play well together in the barn. They are still welcome in the house in small doses.

My garden is taking off.  After a mole gobbled up half of my snow pea crop, Chloe visited me in the garden and within 5 minutes, dispatched the mole who was burrowing beneath my pea plants.  She’s my hero.

Photography by Alicia Crisp and J Crisp