A veritable animal husbandman

January is drawing to a close, as is my work on the dictionary. I figure 5 more days of 500 words each, and it’ll be done. I’m looking forward to the break. For the last 12 days straight, I’ve worked for at least 5 or 6 hours on it. I could use a weekend.

We got a new little ram yesterday. He’s no Bean, but he is a textbook “fine specimen”: pure white, long ears, dangly neck waddles, sturdy build. We got him for the same price we sold the mother for, so I’m back to my original investment. If he accrues some value (which he should, barring any more acts of God), I could break even. I named him Prince, since his little horns look like a crown. Oumar’s ram, whom I’ve named Frank, seems happy to have a friend. At least he bellows a lot less now. Oumar let them loose around the courtyard for a while this morning, and they both stuck their heads into the house to say hi.

Yesterday was market day, and my stomach was not happy about it. Well, I figure my stomach didn’t care either way about the market, but something greatly displeased my digestion. I spent the morning in my room looking at my grammar in despair (there is so much to do) and napping with the kittens, but by the afternoon, I was back and at ‘em. I think maybe the dried fish we feed to the kittens made me sick, having it on my fingers, that is. At one point, I broke open one of the little fish to feed to the kittens, and about a half a dozen squirming insects spilled out. That was first class gross.

The kittens are otherwise as pesky as ever and looking well-nourished. It seems that the only time they’re awake and sitting in one place is when they’re using the litter box. They’re little terrors, but I love them.

Warren seems to be gone. I haven’t seen him in days, so either he crawled into my suitcase and died somewhere, disturbing me even in death, he’s vacated the premises. The kittens are hardly a threat right now (though they ate the thoraces off of some flying termite things yesterday), but I guess the wiring in Warren’s little brain sensed feline and told him to flee. Plus ten points for my kittens.