No, renovation fatigue hasn’t turned my brain to mush and I’m not high on drywall dust and paint fumes. I do actually know what time of year it is. (Groundhog Day is just around the corner, right?)
The title of this post is in honour of our newest family member, Easter the kitten. Remember her?
Today is Easter’s five month birthday, and she’s starting to cross the boundary between kitten and cat.
She hasn’t learned her lesson about curiosity yet and likes to investigate everything–including the camera.
She’s learning to hunt, although her prey predominantly has six legs. She eats grasshoppers, wings and all. We’re hoping she’ll move up the food chain soon.
“Hello. Can I eat you?”
She has caught one mouse, although I think that was only because he was stunned and petrified after Wiley and I unearthed his home, and he made it very easy for her.
I’ll spare you the more graphic images of what happened next
She chased a vole this weekend, but, after running in circles around the driveway a few times, she was frightened into giving up the chase when the vole turned and squeaked at her.
It was a very embarrassing scene.
She’s very rambunctious and works hard to entice Ralph to play with her. Ralph’s been a very good Mom and often obliges, even though a wrestling match between a kitten and an experienced barn cat is really not a fair fight.
“Don’t you want to play with me, Mom?”
She’s even started to grow into her head, which as a kitten was her most defining characteristic. We only occasionally slip up and call her by her baby name.
Easter’s not-so-big-anymore head
Being an only child, Easter is a wee bit spoiled. She’ll come when Matt whistles, but that’s because she knows he’s a soft touch who’s good for a cuddle, a scratch and even a treat. I’m still working on training her that she’s not allowed in the house (she made it as far as the kitchen one day) or on the patio table when we’re having lunch outside.
In the family roles, I’m the enforcer and Matt’s the enabler.
Ahhh, the challenges of parenthood.
Home on 129 Acres 
That’s so funny about the six-legged creatures. I can just see her with the grasshoppers! Our dog is hilarious. He’ll jump straight up from lying still on his bed to snap his teeth at a fly. Once in a while he’ll even catch one. But then he makes the most hilarious face, pulling back his lips in a grimace, and delicately deposits the dead fly on the floor. Euwww!
She has progressed to rodents and birds, but she’s still very much a kitten–playing with her food before she eats it. I realize that’s probably a little gruesome to some people. I try to think of it as the circle of life and the nature of life on the farm.
Yeah, you have to have a bit of a thick skin when you share your life with animals!