The Circle of Life

Some sad news here at the farm. The 2nd batch of kittens never made it. We're not quite sure what happened, but last week Wednesday we noticed right away in the morning that Fireball had her kittens. Of course the kids followed her around trying to find the kittens, but they were never found. Fireball never went into hiding throughout the day either. That would be the normal thing for a nursing mama cat. She just walked around meowing sadly and laid under the truck for a good portion of the day. But after a few days of moping she decided to take matters into her own paws and jumped in by Diamond's kittens and started nursing them. I don't know if this is somewhat normal, but it sure is sweet. Diamond and Fireball take turns nursing and cleaning the kittens. "Losing" the 2nd batch of kittens was a difficult blessing, if you know what I mean.



More sad news at the farm. Yesterday we woke up to find that something, most likely a fox, had come in the night and ran off with 9 of our 12 laying chicks. Feathers were everywhere. Tears were flowing. Adults were revamping the chick housing to avoid another mishap. Lou, who is our tender hearted animal lover, still kept a good perspective on things. After counting the broiler chickens, "1, 2, 3, 4, ........24, 25", she blurted out, "Good, all the meat birds are still here. I really have a taste for fried chicken."

The girls found this while swimming in the reservoir. None of know what it is. Lot's of guesses flying around though. Maybe a fish swim bladder, innards of an egg of some sort, intestine material. It's shaped perfectly like a heart, which immediately made me think of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, being June and all. If any of you readers know what this might be please leave a note in the combox.