You've Read the Blog, Now Meet the Cast!

This is Tigger. She's 14 years old and we've had her since she was 6. Her previous owner fell ill and couldn't care for her, so she came to live with us.

Tigger is convinced she's a princess and T and I are a pair of trained monkeys whose sole purpose is to wait on her. She won't even go out the catflap on her own if we're around to open the door for her.

Tigger's favourite things are sleeping and eating. She adores T and loves snoozing in a flowerbed on sunny days. Her pet hates are going to the vet, and other cats.

Which is a bit of a shame as we have two others.

This is Marley, hunting expert and part time ballerina (she loves standing up on her hind legs to demand strokes). Marley is now 3 years old and we've had her since she was a kitten.

Marley is dainty, ladylike and very much her own cat. If she wants to do cat-stuff we don't get a look in - but if she wants a cuddle, she will headbutt and climb up your legs until you respond.

Marley's favourite things are mice, voles and shrews, especially when they're rustling temptingly in the long grass. In the absence of small twitchy rodents, she will play with plastic bottle tops or her sister, Bear. Or Tigger's tail, which needless to say doesn't go down well with Tigger. Marley's pet hates are dogs and children.

This is Marley's sister, Bear, so-named because as a kitten she looked just like a little black bearcub. She is also 3 years old.

Bear loves everyone and everything. She's very affectionate and follows me round all day 'helping' with whatever I'm doing. Of all the cats, she is the only one unphased by my friend's little Jack Russell terrier, Poppy, and the two of them play together - although Poppy still hasn't figured out that Bear can't throw a ball for her and often drops it hopefully at a bemused Bear's feet.


Bear's favourite things are food, playing fetch with sweet wrappers, food, accompanying me down to the chicken run and food. Her pet hates are... well I don't think Bear actually dislikes anything - although she is a bit scared of grumpy old Tigger.

This is Bella, our Cream Legbar hen, who lays the most beautiful pale blue eggs. Bella's the youngest of our small flock and also the flightiest.
Like all the chickens, her favourite thing is wheat, or even better, maize, and her least favourite thing is anything remotely scary.

Here we have our three Light Sussex ladies, (l-r) Blodwen, Blanche and Bronwen (yes, I can tell them apart).

Blanche is definitely the head chook and is both smart and bossy. Bronwen keeps her head down and quietly lays plenty of delicious eggs. Blodwen is our pretty airhead.

The flock is quite small at the moment as we have recently lost the matriarch, Daphne, to old age and a younger White Leghorn, Lulu, to a chronic infection, so I'm hoping to get some more point of lay pullets in the spring to swell the ranks again.

This is Buffy and Angel, our pair of Brecon Buff geese. They are totally devoted to each other and view all our actions with deep suspicion. So far they haven't managed to successfully hatch any eggs, but we are still hoping for the patter of tiny webbed feet some day.

Their favourite things are being hand-fed grass, and swimming in their pond together. Their pet hate is the wheelbarrow, the appearance of which always elicits a storm of outraged honking.



We also have a guinea pig, Ted, but he's a bit shy so I don't have a photo to share. And the bees declined to be interviewed for this article...