An unexpected snowman & four more cats join the family 🐱

samstonehill (73)in #climate • 2 years ago

Following on from my last post (in which I mention the Grand Solar Minimum and how it is making our winters longer) I wanted to confirm that we did get some snow in the end and while it was not enough to make snow angels it was enough to make a baby snowman!

The day before was April 1st, known here as 'le poisson d’avril' (the fish of April) because everyone sticks little fish on each other's backs for a laugh. Even Fifi was the brunt of this joke with a little cat stuck to her back for most of the day.

Little did we know that she was just 24h away from giving birth at this point!

On the morning of April 2nd I woke the children early and had them dress up warm. The idea of going for a walk in the cold, directly after getting out of bed is acceptable to children, purely due to the presence of this wonderful white stuff!

So yeah, it wasn't exactly a 'blanket' or indeed the 1-3cms my weather app had indicated but it was still snow.

Fifi came with us. As did Roger (previously known as baby cat).

Roger was acting weird with Fifi. Perhaps he could sense the babies were coming?

At the garden the snow had collected on the trampoline. A bonus find!

This meant we could build the snowman :)

No problemo.

As a small snowman he had the added advantage of being able to travel home with us.

Esteban found this bucket which was perfect.

I then had a quick run around the garden just to see where the snow had collected.

I don't think this peach, plum & pear tree mind a few cold flakes.

Nor the baby lettuce.

Even the delicate flowers of the strawberries should be okay.

These two nasturtium on the other hand I forgot to bring back to our courtyard and I am not sure yet if they will forgive me for spending the night like this.

Peas looking great! Just a few more weeks now...

At this point Fifi started to make weird noises.

So we continued onward to check how the other garden looked.

Nothing much to say about that. The few things planted here will be fine.

Past the play park to see if the snow tasted any different there.

It didn't Esteban said.

Once home Fifi seemed keen to get into this cupboard where she would not be disturbed by Roger.

An hour or so later she decided she wanted to be in the middle of the room (better viewing for everyone!) and the birthing process began.

Here is the second kitten to join the party (the first one was ginger).

Roger all the while watching suspiciously.

Esteban got in there too, to have a good look and give Fifi some encouragement.

Meanwhile we had dinner with the amazing @amico who dropped in to say hello on his way from Italy to Portugal and before the end of the evening we had four kittens.