Meanwhile, Back on the Farm . . .

As if to remind me I needn't go lusting after the exotic flora in DC's Botanic Garden, one of my tree peonies opened with an exquisite ruffled bloom, the size of a small cabbage.

And this is our latest calf -- a little bull whose mother had neither milk nor maternal instinct. He gets fed milk replacer from a suck bucket and, if hit lives (as the old farmers always cautiously say of any young creature, including human babies), should be a fine healthy fella. We've generally had good luck with bottle-raised calves, though there have, in thirty years, been some sad losses. But that was when the calves were weak and sickly to begin with.

This two day old boy, here seen resisting being moved to another barn, is strong enough to put up a struggle. A good sign for his survival.

Nice to be home!