Later, I went out again and Farah came over to eat some more. She's making all sorts of vocalizations I've never heard from her before, and she runs back and forth between the food bowls and the kittens every time they mew, which is frequently. Almost the only time they're quiet is when she is with them, or when they are asleep. She's going to have to sneak her meals. I gradually eased closer to them, so I was able to count them. They were all balled up in one heap, as kittens are wont to do, and one particular kitten insisted on staying at the top of the heap. He (I'm just assuming it's male) is the loud one. A troublemaker, for sure.
Alger hasn't turned up yet. Farah has the kittens only a few feet from Alger's favorite patch of tall grass, where in recent days he has napped while he waits for me to come out and feed him. Farah certainly won't let him use that spot now. Poor Alger's life is about to get much more complicated.
The sky has been gray all day, and it looks as though it will rain again tonight. I hope the eaves of the house and those bushes provide the kittens with enough cover to keep them dry.