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A few weeks ago I was on a trek in the jungle not far from the farm and I heard a quiet ‘meow’ from some bushes near-by. I am always very careful in the hills but this sound was very docile and so I decided to investigate. I parted the branches and staring at me with such big soulful eyes was a cat!…at least that was my first impression! What a strange colouring; tan-brown with big black spots! It immediately reminded me of a baby leopard! But we don’t have leopards around here…do we? For sure we have had tigers a few years back but they seem to have retreated back into the hills…but leopards? So very carefully and slowly I reached down and picked-up this weird looking kitten! It obviously was not very well and was very thin. Maybe the mother was around here too? No, I thought not, this little kitten was lost and needed help. So I took him back to farm, fed him warm buffalo milk and kept him in the dark to keep him relaxed and calm. The next day those big eyes gleamed much more healthily and so I fed him some raw meat and more milk. I contacted my friend at Chiang Mai Zoo with a description and some snaps and an immediate response confirmed that he is a Leopard Cat! (Prionailurus bengalensis). Not an endangered species but quite common in these parts of Asia. I have called him ‘Micey’ and everyday he improves and gets stronger and I can now hold him without fear of being scratched or bitten! My friend at the zoo told me that Leopard Cats inherently hunt birds but can be tamed so we will see how it goes…I would so much like to keep him if I possibly can and so in this case I really hope that this Leopard can change his spots! 
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We’ve been planning to upgrade The Farm House kitchen for some time now but not wanting to disturb our guests with noise and the smell of varnish, we had to wait until we had a lull in visitors. We still didn’t manage it in one go!...and it took a full month to install and even now it’s not quite finished as we have to put in ceiling lights, which we have ordered from Bangkok, and a new fridge. But it is a great improvement and allows more floor and storage space and is easy to keep clean and tidy. We think that even Gordon Ramsay might approve! We were thrilled and very privileged to host All Saints Church, Chiang Mai, for their Harvest Festival Celebration Service. All the animals were all on their best behavior and we decked out the alter with bales of hay and some vegetables! (...which hadn't been used in the curry!). Iain, the All Saints cleric, gave an inspiring Sermon some of which was lost amongst the sound of cow and buffalo bells and squawking Guinea Fowl!...but it was a very ‘homley’ gathering followed by a simple lunch of freshly picked herb salad and vegetable curry and rice. We have a Herd of Cows, a Gaggle of Geese, a Confusion of Guinea Fowl and now we are very honoured to have been graced by the Flock from All Saints!
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