Nature, red in tooth and claw

So, it's spring here in England. The apple trees have bloomed and gone to leaf.
The lambs are out and frolicking.
And, of course, the local vixen has probably had her litter of pups. (The above photo is entitled, "Why I love my camera.") This means she takes chances to get food that she wouldn't otherwise, so once again, we're short one chicken. And again, this is due to the fact that the girls got sloppy closing the gate, leaving it open for only one day -- all it took for the fox to come and take Blondtilla. This also means that Ginger has watched as another of her roommates became dinner. We've renamed her the UnEatable Ginger Brown. On one hand, this is been beneficial as we were planning on giving the chickens away next week, and Blondtilla was going to be hard to shift as she stopped laying to molt (replace her feathers) and then went broody. She was really only good to eat. It might as well have been the fox since we certainly weren't going to eat her. Ginger is an excellent layer, having never slowed down, even in the winter. And since she's fox-proof, everybody should want her.

Lena believes that Ginger survived because Lena has been teaching her to fight. Lena calls her Ginga the Ninja. A ninja chicken is about the funniest thing I can imagine.
The egret returned to our garden to eat our koi from the pond. However, the fish are terribly smart (and they also are ninjas). So it's only frogs for the magnificent egret. (He's sitting on our back hedge in this photo).

Since the very first month that we arrived here in the UK, Lena has been planning her wedding to sweet Oliver. Oliver has been totally on-board with this, and they are dear friends, playing together almost everyday at school. We had him over to play today, and it was sweet to see them together.



When Ollie's mom came to get him, Lena gave him a little kiss on the cheek, embarrassing neither of them. It makes me sad to think that they may never see each other again. It seems cruel to move away, but then that's the nature of this job. It's what brought us here. It's what will take us away.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.