New neighbours

I've had new neighbours in the paddock this week. Or, to be more accurate, previous neighbours have returned and some new ones have moved in as well. This year's calves were in the paddock beside the house a couple of weeks ago but they have grown and returned, cuter than ever.

For the first time ever the horses are grazing in the paddock around the house. For a long time the only horse on the farm was this beautiful blonde,Nugget.

She came here to be Krystal's horse but Krystal's craving for a horse diminished with familiarity and her twin sister Shayde is now the horse rider.

My daughter-in-law recently bought another horse for herself, Flint. Flint and Nugget have obviously fallen in love.

I love how she accepts his adoration so demurely.

but on other occasions protests if his attention is unwelcome

Yesterday Heather took Flint off on a cross country trek and Nugget was unhappy all day. She trotted up and down the fence line, looking up the road in the direction Flint had disappeared and calling for him.

I tried to distract her with lawn clippings but she refused to even look at me.

My daughter and her cat, Lola were visiting last week. If Lola looks a bit strange it's because she doesn't have a tail, it was missing when she was found, abandoned in a quarry, aged about 6 weeks. Now a little city cat she's never seen a horse before and was a bit dubious about going out the door until she'd checked them out.

A few days later she was perfectly at home in the garden watching the birds in the trees, completely ignoring the horses just a few feet away.