Moving a Drunken Pig...

No. That is not a typo.
I did say, "a drunken pig'.
Now, you may think that moving a pig that
is a sheet or two to the wind is a
bad idea and I can see where you may think that,
but moving a stone cold sober pig really
is much worse.
The time finally came to move PigPig
out of the barn and out to greener pastures.
Of course we waited until dark to do it.
Not intentionally, but time does slip away.

How does one move a pig anyway.
This took some thought. But Sweet Husband had it all
under control...... yeah. ok.
The plan involved feeding treats to the pig
and then slipping a rope around him and then a
come-a-long band under the armpits etc....
Nope.
Now, PigPig is a sweet pig, given to wanting belly rubs
and scritches when ever he can get them.
But PigPig just didn't get that we were trying to do him a great favor.

After half and hour or so of teaching all the barn
animals some new and colorful words Sweet Husband
realized that the plan needed some tweaking.
So, on to Plan B... slipping a rope around PigPig's back feet.
Plan B was no more effective than Plan A and the chickens
learned some more new and colorful words.
Now, at this point I need to describe the scene.
A big double stall just absolutely filled with pig filth
and several gallons of water in various puddles throughout.
Can you smell me now?
Take a moment and think about trying to capture
and unwilling 100 lb. unaltered boar in such conditions.
Now you get where Sweet Husband was coming from on this.
Plan C- Beer.
We stood and scratched and thought until we lit
upon the notion that softening up ol PigPig
would be advantageous.
So off I trotted to the fridge for a beer.
Three beers in we figured we were ready to give it all another go.

That was one beer too many.

And with the spoken prayer that the normally sweet
and docile PigPig was not a mean drunk,
off Sweet Husband went again into the fray.
What he found was a drunken pig.
Drunk pigs can scream, let me tell you.
What the neighbors must have thought we were doing, I cannot imagine.
So, on the rope went.. under the armpit and around the belly by the haunches.
It looked great, it was a sturdy get up. Pig on a rope. Nope.

PigPig was both unwilling to go and somewhat unable to go.
So, up went the back legs a la a wheelbarrow. Nope. Too heavy
and too short. Sweet Husband was killing himself. He made it about 50
feet down the barn before calling it quits.
So, there he stood with a screaming pig on a rope.
He called for the wagon. The little RadioFlyer that we use
for firewood etc... and off I go to fetch it.
PigPig is failing on his attempts to stand now.
Seriously drunken pig.
Up goes the pig into the wagon. This is a big pig
on a very small wagon. I had point with Sweet Husband
bringing up the rear and keeping the drunk on board.
Down we go through the barn and down the slope
and across the old pig lot... did I mention that it is pitch
dark at this point?
After a few stops to reposition the pig onto his haunches
and to giggle uncontrollably at what PigPig must think...
what with being good and wrecked for the first time
and on a wagon ride and all, we made it to the destination.
We did feel a bit bad about PigPig's coming morning.
We figured it wouldn't be pretty, what with waking up with
little or no clear memory on how he got there
other than a few snatches about a wagon
and floating on air.
Three beers is a hard road your first time out. gigglesnort



Pig love. Aaawwwwwww. Ain't it sweet?

And the small transport vehicle.

The end.

Jinx !!!

I cannot believe I am saying this in public.
I am going to jinx it and mess it all up.
Or, I will be wrong and look like a fool, BUT......

I think DaintyPig is going to give us piglets soon.
The guy said she might be bred when we got her,
but we have seen no signs of her being bred at all.

Until today.


I did the afternoon feed and noticed she looked very round.
Very round, indeed.

Panic insued!!! I mean full blown panic!
She is afield!
She is a 'touch-me-not'
and cannot be caught or coaxed!
And the coldest nights of the year are bearing down on us.
Highs near 20 with hard winds and lows in the single digits with a windchill!
Nothing ever gives birth during a warm spell... ever!

Tomorrow, in the wee morning hours, Sweet Husband is going to
build a farrowing house for her in the field. He would have waited until Thursday, his next day off, but the winds will be howling and it will be miserable out and, the best argument from me..
"WHAT IF THAT IS TOO LATE!!!!!!"
Poor Sweet Husband!

So.. Piglet Watch 09 is in session!
Either that or I am a moron.
A panicky, foolish woman.
Though I did drag Sweet Husband over and we stared at her belly for half and hour.
He agrees that she suddenly looks very round. Very round indeed.

Forward...Hoe !!!

Happy New Year to all!!!
I hope your holidays were warm and filled with joy.
Ours were good too. Thanks for asking.

I must mention how well Sweet Husband
did with his gift to me this year!
I got a WMA player (think Ipod)
It seems our library system has bought into
a digital library group and now I can download any book
I want to listen to while I work away in the garden or barn with just my library card number!
I read a lot of books, or listen.
It is just wonderful.. of course it plays tunes as well.
It is so nice to be able to be in the barn without having to
hear 80+ birds squawking at me. You just don't know.
Good job, sweet Husband!

And speaking of working in the garden,

it is that time of year again.

Oh joy!

I have been digging out and clearing out the new garden spot.

I know that digging up wild asters and yanking out miles of

intertangled honeysuckle may not seem like fun to most,

but it winds my clock!

In a few short months I hope this will be a neat and orderly

grouping of heaped beds, some with early crops already growing

and some with cover crops waiting to be turned under.

With nice woodchip paths intertwining and inviting me to walk among the beds.

I am leaving the one wild cherry tree at the back end. It has a nice shape and it will do well as a perch for wildbirds to hunt for tomato hornworms from. I will put a water feature under it as well to water my toads and beneficial bugs as well as the birds. You just can't have enough birds and good bugs and toads in a garden. ever.

This new plot sits in the foundation of an old chicken barn, one of the really big ones. The one that is still standing and that we use is 10,000 sq ft. 250 ft long and 40 ft wide. 5 times bigger than our house.

At one time this place had 23,000 birds. wow.

There is one barn still up and two foundations. We have plans to eventually clear and use both foundations...blueberries, blackberries, grain plots for feed, sunflowers, mangels and massive herb and wildflower beds to draw and feed beneficial insects.

You wouldn't have believed what this plot looked like this summer..a head high tangle of scrub trees, vines, weeds.. you couldn't even begin to walk through it. There were morning glories of every hue, goldenrods, the beautiful wild asters and other wildflower/weeds that I do not know the name of. It was a jungle and I know that I will have the devil's own time trying to keep new weeds from coming up all next summer.

We plan to till it up one good time and release the birds into it to clear up some of the weed seeds and then cover crop it and lay down feed bags and cloth and whatever else we can find the tamp out the new growth. I am under no delusion that it will be easy.

It is also a fairly clay-ey soil which is good in that clay soil is nutrient rich, but bad in that it is soggy and holds water. I am hoping by heaping the beds and adding garden/kitchen compost and composted manure and bedding that I can make it into a fairly quick draining garden.

I still have a way to go, but I have help. This is DaintyPig. She has been doing her best to get the beginning of the clearing underway. And as soon as we move PigPig down from the barn he can help. I think we are going to sell Dainty and PigPig in the spring and use that money to buy the

Tamworths that I have been wanting for so long. I met some nice folks that would be interested in these two and I think they would have a nice home with them. Especially considering the fact that we were going to eat them or their offspring.


Such a sweet girl. She followed behind me all the past two days rooting where I had been digging and just wagging away everytime I spoke sweetly to her.