Easter or Christmas?

The calendar reads spring, but it's been fairly wintry of late.

The front pond was still icy on the morning of April 12; by afternoon the ice was gone.

Nearby Spring Lake has been open for several weeks now

but we keep slipping back into winter

with a healthy dusting of snow

on April 16

for Steve's customary Saturday morning walk around the block.

The weather has kept him from trying his new bike out on the Munger Trail.  Maybe white wasn't the best color for this area, and snow tires are still appropriate.

The Cloquet bunny proclaims Easter, but lately it's seemed a lot more like Christmas.

On icy and snow days

the herd stays inside 

to climb all over the wood pile and hay bales.

For a few anxious days, Kona's boy developed droopy ears

which can be a sign of weakness and abnormal development

but by the time he went to his new home on April 11

his ears were standing straight up again

and he was full of vim and vigor (thanks probably to the Vitamin E shots Barb gave).

Juju missed her penmate and playmate for a bit

but has been having lots of fun cavorting with Terra and Freya.

Every chance they get the girls race out of the barn

to see what new greenery is springing up in their pastures.

The babies are especially enamored 

of racing around their truck topper like Nascar speedsters

and jockeying for position as Queen of the Hill.

A wooden pallet also makes 

for prime real estate to be fought over.

Despite the weight disadvantage, Juju holds her own --

for a while, anyway, until Freya nudges her along.

Even the slightest elevation becomes a launching pad.

Barb uses a tape measure to keep track of the babies' weight gain

and receives lots of advice from the Peanut Gallery.

Juju is the friendliest of the newbies

and likes to sit on Barb's lap.

Lassi and Terra try to convince her she's a goat rather than a puppy.

After a hard afternoon's romp, Freya and Terra literally hit the hay

while Juju relaxes in her cave (which she has pretty much caved in from jumping on it).

There's spring in the steps, too, of our resident mink-squirrel population

and inevitable deer.

The geese are now nesting

and a flock of turkeys checks out the west meadow

but then heads back into the woods because the weather is just a bit too reminiscent of Thanksgiving time.