When I said good morning to you yesterday, this was the dawn I was seeing (above). Worth being a header I think? After I had quietly fed Charlotte, visited Sheila, fed the chickens and moved the sheep to a new pasture, and checked the cows, the dogs and I went for our walk around the boundaries. 
This is why Daisy is not popular with the fencer!
Charlotte and I opened the big door in the Barn Pig Pen yesterday (it has always been her job to open the doors so she has taken her confinement with ill grace) and out tumbled all the babies. Honking gently like ducks in the water. Steaming about on their jerky puppet legs like the indefatigable Thomas the Tank engine. 
She took them all back inside after the milking and settled them back in their back room so I jumped in and closed the doors back up against the night. I will open them again later this morning once the sun has gone from the run, we don’t want sunburnt baby piggies!
Good morning. Today the painter comes. And over the course of the next few days we will add colour to the Tiny House. So I cannot linger. He will begin on the wall repairs in the existing house and furniture needs shifting before he gets here. I have too much stuff. Some of it is going to be shifted straight into the garage sale pile!
A Peachick ( or the Chickpeas) is due any day now from Giraffe (the chook) and Tui’s (the peahen) are due at the beginning of next month. I am not sure about the remaining egg under Giraffe but Tui has been sitting solidly and I have high hopes.
Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi.
I am linking this up with Five Little Homesteaders for their independence challenge!
The Kitchen's Garden 
60 responses to “Gentle mornings”
Fantastic opening landscape. I love that sort of picture.
That has always been your favourite Point of View Roger, if I had had sheep in the foreground it would have been perfect.. c
Looks like a lovely, calm morning…wishing you another for today – painters and all! 🙂
What a sweet morning! The air here is also gentle and beautiful…I know the excessive rain is problematic, but I love the softness and freshness in the air. Leandro and I are enjoying the piggies and looking forward to more little ones breaking through to our world. Have a wonderful day!
Fingers crossed for little Chickpeas!
Chick peas – how wonderful! The piglets are looking so well and happy….
Lovely dawn shot but you know that I’m a sucker for those dark grey skies and vivid foregrounds! Had to smile at the Daisy picture – Ton Ton looks like he just KNOWS that she’s going to be in trouble!
Christine
I know you love those stormy clouds, maybe we should pose The Big Dog in front of some next time, actually that would be an amazing painting! c
A great idea – I’ll check on my greys!!!
Christine
I will have sweet hay scented dreams tonight, having shared your dream for a few minutes. Thank you.
Hay is like barn air freshener, i can’t wait to get some in there! c
aint that the truth!!!! 🙂
So cute – Thomas the Tank Engine – this post is beyond adorable. A very happy and peaceful day to you and the farmy, c.
Beautifully serene post with equally restful (to us) photos. I enjoy each one of them. I hope you don’t mind me asking… what about those animals, is it not hard to get close to them by taking care with the eventuality of having to slaughter them later on?
I am vegetarian but most eat meat and this would be the healthiest & most ecological way to do it but you seem, through your writings to be close to each one of them, hence my question.
It is a good question. My belief is that even though some of the animals are destined to become the food in our sustainable cycle I am firmly of the opinion that they still deserve a kind, loving and gentle raising. Just because they are in the fattening line does not mean they have any less value than the breeding stock. So I am happy to ensure that they are treated with care and the utmost of respect. I am sad when I see animals destined for slaughter treated as though they are somehow lesser. Or second class. Not so here. I am very lucky to be able to feed so any people with good wholesome well grown food, and the pats and calm movement of the animals makes my job easier rather than harder. Does that make any sense at all? celi. When I am away from the farm I seldom eat meat either..!
It totally does make sense! If people would be doing what you do the meat industry wouldn’t be the way it is today.
Yesterday I got a post from a blogger who re-blogged a video from an amazing website http://newsforanimalwelfare.com/2013/03/15/over-consumption-within-the-meat-industry/#comments that showed elephant cruelty which I re-blogged too and as it was a new site I scrolled down and found a video on the meat industry which I just gave you.
That’ll give you a VERY good feeling about your farm 🙂
All my best wishes for further success!
I have found a great farmers market and in the process of making friends with the farmers who produce meat (Beef, Pork, Chicken and Lamb). Over the past two weeks I have eaten only grass fed, kindly treated animals and not only do they taste so different (in a wonderful way), but I feel in no way cruel for my omnivore ways! After reading about the ways some animals were/are treated in these ‘feed lots’ and how chickens have their beaks cut off so they don’t peck each other, I was on the verge of becoming a Vegan! Well of course I would still eat my girls eggs though. However now I look forward to trying the various cuts of meats my farmer friends provide and stocking up my freezer for the winter months. Now if only I could find Raw Milk without buying a cow!!
Such a shame you are not down the road Lyn.. c
Chickpeas! You’ve given me giggles this early in the morning. Love the piglets.
Chickpeas! Can’t wait to see ’em. And those darling piggies and getting bigger. Thanks for the photos!
Charlotte’s snout says everything–almost–one needs to know abt mothering. The Art of the Nudge. I think I’ll pint out that last photo and carry it with me as a reminder. The morning light is truly beautiful Celi…and, yes, “gentle” is the best adjective.
How lovely to have a gentle morning stroll after recent dramas (except for naughty Daisy, of course!). I’m longing to see the chickpeas.
i can’t wait to see the colors you picked for the coupe. the piglets get cuter by the day and it is wonderful to see what a good mummy charlotte has turned out to be!
Good Morning Celi,
Have so enjoyed learning all about pigs from you.
I would like to ask you when Charlotte will permit you to handle her babies?
When I was a child my aunt had a sow with babies and she was the meanest thing. Just walking by the barn door sent her into a rage. Sure kept us kids on the run. :o)
well i picked one up today who had wandered the wrong way and she did not even pause from her munching, though the little squealer told on me! c