First, the brown, churning water - the circle of our river around us; inside that, the quilt
squares of our fields, which were turned dirt, newly planted seeds, the bright green
carpet of a field
just beginning to come to life, fences mended or falling down into the soft new grass, humped haystacks, our cattle herd, our sheep herd, our goats, bare birch trees pointing straight into the heavens; and in the center, in the heart, our cobbled and dirt streets, our red - tiled and gray - shingled roofs radiating out from the town
square with its statue of a long - dead war hero in the middle.
A sturdy, rope - covered upright post; a flat scratch pad of corrugated cardboard, the back side of a
carpet square or a small log with the bark still on can make excellent scratching pads (
just be sure that wood hasn't been treated with chemicals before bringing it inside)