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| This year's May brought three times the average rainfall. |
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| The seasonal stream on the east property line became a river |
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| and turned the back pond |
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| into a lake. |
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| Wurst Day in Mahtowa -- a highlight of spring locally -- was wet, cold and windy. |
Even the Wurst Band seemed a bit under the weather.
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| But the abundant rain (coming after a mild winter and early warm-up) |
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| produced spectacular apple blossoms |
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| and prompted hopes for a healthy apple crop this fall. |
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| Even the Sweet Sixteen blossomed for the first time since it was planted in 2006. |
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| Ferns are shooting up in the back woods |
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| making for difficult strolls. |
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| Soon the neighbor's meadow car will be greened over. |
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| Maybe it's the rain (or all the hay, grain and mother's milk they consume), but this spring's babies have been growing apace, too. Ping |
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| Big Mac |
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| and Arabica are all teenagers now and will probably soon be headed off to college. |
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| They still like to hang out with their mama. |
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| Lassi's girls, Raita |
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| and Cheeky, sport green ears from the tattooing required for their registration. |
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| Alba's kids (the Mexicans: Cajeta, Burrito and Taco) take command of the truck topper |
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| while Juju's kids, Momo and ChouChou, are looking for trouble, as usual. |
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| The entire herd loves to get out into the large meadow |
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| eat grass |
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| and especially to nibble on trees. |
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| Juju offers to show Cheeky how it should be done |
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| You just tip the tree over, then run over and munch on the needles. |
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| Damn! It sounded so good in theory. |
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| All right, Mr. De Mille, we're ready for our close-ups. |
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| Mr. T surveys his realm from the lofty heights of the stump pile. |
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| Soon Ping, Big Mac, Taco and Burrito will be joining T and Niblet in the Gentlemen's Club meadow, which should make for some interesting social dynamics. |
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| In non-caprine news, the feral cat continues her war on rodents, with regular visits to the barn for fresh goats' milk. |
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| The geese on the front pond had six goslings |
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| but then they all vanished two days after making their first appearance in the open. |
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| An apparently demonic fox explored the compost piles |
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| and an oriole spent a couple of days tapping at the study window -- either fighting with his own reflection or trying to get in out of the rain. |
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| Taco looks forward to a drier June. |
