More new arrivals......

The latest cat, Umalali, has been getting fat of late, and not that kind of squidgy fat that Cocktail has but the lumpy, containing babies fat that she shouldn't be able to have, as I had been lead to believe she'd been spayed........

This morning, she started following me around miaowing, which is unusual, she didn't even run away from Éowyn, which is VERY unusal, then at lunchtime I was just sitting down to me fishfinger sarnies and she starts having contractions......out pops a small black bundle, Éowyn finds the whole thing fascinating........

Bit more time goes by, another little black creature arrives, then after that a ginger one. How many, I'm wondering, thinking how am I going to find homes for a load of kittens? but thankfully she stops at three. And very cute they are too......

That must have hurt!!

The chickens like to make a lot of noise when they've laid an egg. I found one today that really must have made one of them squawk!!! It's bigger than a duck egg, here it is next to a duck egg and a normal size chicken egg........Aliénor, who is wise in the ways of chickens, says it'll be a double yolker. I shall save it for a breakfast fry up........

Day ride

Went for a lovely day ride in the sun today, Éowyn's Godmother offered to have both the kids all day so I made the most of my freedom!!

We found a new route to go to the nearby village of Vélines. We had to go past a field of cattle at one point, they started running towards the horses and the big jessies got scared and tried to run away.....oh dear.

We went up a nice steep hill which the boys found hard going, they're so unfit. Then had a picnic lunch looking out over the fabulous view.

Don't often get days off like this.....

Went to see some puppies......

A couple of weeks ago we took in a bitch and her pups that had been living right next to a local church. She'd whelped in a stand of pampas grass next to the road, it took me all afternoon to find the pups! Anyway, she belongs to a local shepherd, he came to take her and the pups home, she'd wandered off to have the pups and he couldn't find her, so had moved on with his flock and the locals had been feeding her. Pretty much as soon as we'd taken her in, he turned up to get her back. Today we went to see her at his farm and I was very plesantly surprised to find the bitch and her pups in a big airy clean barn surrounded by livestock. There was fresh straw everywhere, loads of hay, even salt for them. There were cows and very young calves, tiny lambs, some had been orphaned and were in with ewes that had lost their lambs to try to get them adopted, there were goats, chickens and an enormous black pig! Aliénor absolutely loved it!! None of the animals was scared of us at all.......

The Derby Winner

Not only does Sky have a Derby winner in her pedigree, but some research has found that Pinza won the 1953 Coronation Derby ridden by Sir Gordon Richards..........

The girl's got connections......

I was looking for something to read last night and I came across a book I'd forgotten I had, The Appaloosa by Ann Hyland. So I started to read it and I found a section all about the Capitall Stud in Clwyd, where Skyfaxa's sire, Capitall Hadrian, was bred.

Sky's great granddam (and also her great great granddam) was a mare called Chanson Bleu, a tri coloured leopard foaled in 1970, by an American stallion based in Ireland. Two of her best known foals were by the Thoroughbred stallion Paper Cap who was the grandson of the Derby winner Pinza. These are Capitall Cyril, Sky's great grandsire:

and Capitall Martha, Sky's granddam:

Capital Cyril sired Capital Hefin, who won the yearling class at the 1989 National Show:

And he sired Capitall Hadrian.

So she has a show champion and a Derby winner in her ancestry!!

Capitall Cyril also sired Capitall Harold, who was given to the Sultan of Oman by Prince Charles:

So her great uncle had royal connections!

Spring at last??

Well, compared to the freezing start to last week, today was lovely and sunny, maybe spring really is on its way......

Sky and Kinna had a bit of a run around in the sun.... Sky had to spoil it by kicking poor Kinna, she is getting to be a bit of a madam, hopefully Adam Shereston can give me some advice on dealing with her when he comes down next month.....