Porcupine Hill

ALERT

• There is another new post further down the page, from April 16th. Scroll down if you feel like reading a new entry from the past.

There is an angry robin that pecks on the highest loft window of our bedroom every day. We're pretty certain that he sees his own reflection and feels a need to constantly defend his territory from the mirror-image robin in the window. We all felt kind of bad for him so yesterday we put a ladder against the side of the house and wedged some cardboard between the window and some abutting vines. This morning the robin was still at it in the upper corner of the window that was not covered over, but he didn't peck and flap for very long. We'll have to wait and see if further action is required.

Otherwise life is going well at Porcupine Hill. I've been spending time with one of the horses, Beau, who seems to just need a friend. He was rescued from becoming dog food and probably didn't live that great a life in his early years. He's skitzy and sensitive and can't be ridden, but we are becoming friends I think. Heather seems happy that Beau is getting some extra attention.


The other horse, Blackberry, is the boss of the pasture and tries to herd Beau and I away from each other. He's much more outgoing and I think he's used to getting all the attention and doesn't know what to make of my behaviour. I make sure he gets treats whenever Beau does though, don't worry!


Other than playing with horses, we've been doing lots of spring chores around the farm. We spent an afternoon earlier this week hauling around hay bales and mulching over a garden. That's a lot of work! We also pruned some apple trees and they look beautiful and very zen now. I can't wait for the buds to bloom - I hope they do so before we leave.


Heather was at work today so we took one of the dogs and poked around the unexplored corners of the property. There is apparently a half-built cabin in the woods that her old farm-hand had started, but we couldn't find it. While we were out we found some old patches of snow in the woods. It's hard to believe it's there - the weather has been beautiful and sunny all week and we are both wearing sandals and are slightly sunburned. Cuinn the pup decided he would roll in the snow: