Pigs, Gophers, and Other Critters

We have had some really beautiful weather lately,  but not today!

Big wet flakes this  morning, cloudy, damp, and chilly the rest of the day.

Backing up a couple of days, I have to take a minute to relate an anecdote about my husband.  We both took Friday off from our paying jobs to do farm related things.  I was in the kitchen that morning when through the window I saw Kevin stride purposely by.  He was carrying a shotgun and had the look of a man on a mission.  Probably crows, I thought.

Later, he appeared at the kitchen door.  "That's it, we're going to have to kick Lily back outside!" he declared.  I stared at him - what???

You may recall that after 12 years or so as an outdoor/shop cat, Lily moved into the house and rarely ventures out of it.

"The field is FULL of gophers!  We never had so many gophers out there before!"  He had concluded that Lily must be the gopher extermination expert from among our 3 cats.  Funny guy, that Kevin.

I pondered his logic for a moment before responding.  "You must be right - I haven't seen a single gopher in the house since she moved in."  Ha!

We took part in an Earth Day event yesterday afternoon and then went to pick up our new piglets.  We knew they would be small, just one week over weaning age so we had brought along just 1 large crate in the back of our Suburban put them in.  They are indeed smallish, but 6 of them in that crate was a very tight squeeze and instead of settling in for a snooze for the hour or so it took to drive home, they kept up a pretty constant squabbling and ear piercing squealing the entire time.  So along with their characteristic odor, the racket made it a pretty unpleasant drive home.  All good now though - they are pretty shy of us so far but seem to be enjoying the accommodations.

There are 3 black pigs 2 red ones, and one that is a little different - brownish, sort of furry,  and smaller than the rest.  That's the one the smiling farmer is holding above.

Other critter updates:  The little turks and kids are growing fast and there is still no sign of impending birth from Echo.  I have eggs in the incubator again from the hens, but after candling them today, I am thinking we will have a very poor hatch from this batch.  They have a couple of weeks to go and I will be reloading as soon as I can to start a new bunch.

I'll be back in a week or so with a new post for this blog.  Until then, be well friends.