Good morning. There is always a day once in a while when I struggle for words. Today is such a day. I sit in my study, listening to the three dogs and four cats stir as they shuffle about exchanging places on the verandah, waiting for the day to start with my appearance.
The chorus of birds high up in the big trees is still at its homogeneous height, no individual calls, except for Kupa and a rooster. All the other bird sounds whirl like a blowing multi coloured curtain through the air.
I dreamed last night that John had cut down the big trees. I could see their broken crowns where they had fallen onto the ground. Like when one of Henry the Eighth’s little Queens was murdered by her husband and her staff cut the ancient trees down at her ancestral home. Just cut them down one after the other in their grief.
But to my relief all the trees are still here this morning, standing strong in the dawn. And though my arms are tired from hand raking the last of the hay once again, lifting it off the new forage growing beneath it, I still have my head. I am hand raking (just lifting really) as the mechanical rake will knock it about too much. Thursday and Friday may be dry so I am aiming at Friday as our next big raking and baling day.
In the storm the other night Charlotte got very agitated and stood on another of her piglets. He had burrowed into her hay and was behind her. I thought he was OK but discovered yesterday morning that his skin is coming off one side. I think it was her but when he feeds the little hooves of the others standing on him cause the major damage. Yesterday I poured iodine onto the wound a few times and it is dry, the skin hanging in folds free of it, the little one is still moving about and drinking but how he has survived I do not know. But I cannot get too close. Charlotte will trample over all the other piglets to get to the one who is squealing. I have to say piglets are more nerve wracking than any other baby animals. I can see why they have such big litters.
I hope I am not being to graphic for you but as you know I have three promises for this blog. 1. All the images are from yesterday. 2. I will not hide the tougher stuff. 3. I will share with you every day the joys of farming, growing my own food the old fashioned way and the wonderful learning that this life brings.
I have decided that from now on I will not close Charlotte’s big doors when it rains (This makes her very upset), only feed her little bits of hay at a time so the piglets cannot hide in it, and only go to her pen at feeding times. She is highly strung. Both times she has stepped on a piglet I have seen it happen, so if I am not there she will be calmer. The feed bins are very close to her pen so I am quietly shifting these today.
Yesterday, after I had put on my clean clothes to go out to the supermarket with the Old Codger, I discovered that Sheila had once again got out of her pen down the back. She very happily will NOT stay in the back pen and will find a way to get out, and after she has hoovered up all the mulberries she will go and find Queenie.
Queenie, the Hereford heifer, does not like her one little bit but Sheila the maiden aunt, Hereford pig, loves Queenie. It was too late to go and change into farm clothes to return Sheila to her pen and do the necessary repairs so I made her promise to be good. And she was. When I came home she and Queenie and Daisy were all asleep in their field. Laid in a row in the shade like old friends. The pig covered completely in cow muck smelling like Queenie. Such a happy filthy pig. Sheila always comes when she is called so I am not really that worried about where she is.
On Sunday I shall get a man to help me with the pig panels, and repair the fences so while I am away she does not get into the corn. You and I are only in Canada for a few days and I will leave Queenie in the field beside her.
I shall go out now and see how everyone fared in the night. It is cloudy and rainy again. But the hay fields are growing as fast as the corn so that is good. There is just those last few hay rows to get off and eventually they will be dry enough to get into the barn.
Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
54 responses to “A highly strung Sow”
oh no…i am so sorry to hear about the piglet. maybe the magic will continue and it will survive? we finally got lots of rain. i and all of my veggies are sighing with relief!
I am so glad you got rain, that IS a relief, and the little piglet is still hooning about and is right this minute having a drink with his siblings, often i am amazed at what an animal can survive as long as infection does not set in.. c
What a horrible nightmare. The trees are so important where you live. Here the trees are so thick it’s hard to see very far through the woods. We never had any of our piglets get hurt but they always had access to going outside. I don’t really know if that made the difference or not but we’ve raised three litters with a total of almost 30 babies. Sure hope she settles down. And in a couple more weeks they’ll be bigger and safer. Have a great day Celi!
They can get out to their run which is outside the big doors but maybe it is time to open the gate to the big grassy area?. … Their inside space is as big as my kitchen and dining room so they really are not short of space.. But they follow their Mum about .. c
Glad your nightmare was just that—a nightmare!!! Don’t they seem real sometimes, though? Your little piggie has been through a lot but it sounds as if you have a good solution to it all—limiting your time in the pen with Charlotte and the piggies will be hard but maybe that is exactly the answer. Keeping my fingers crossed for you that rain holds off and that you can do all you need to do to keep the farmy in good shape!
So far this morning all is well, everyone eating and chatting, even the little scarred one. Son far so good.. morning beth ann.. c
Aww shucks Poor Sheila – she’s lonely! I’m surprised she has not tried to introduce herself to her nephews and nieces – or has she and Charlotte has chased her? Hope the littely survives. Laura
She cannot get over to that side of the barn yet but if she comes out into the garden she will, Lets hope she stays put, i cannot imagine the babies surviving that commotion, one set of hooves is terrifying enough. c
Oh my, how nerve-wracking taking care of piglets! It sounds as though you are making progress with the hay, hooray! Have a good one…
It is nerve wracking, such a steep learning curve, I keep reminded myself that I have never even seen a newborn piglet before let alone raised them! c
kind of how I felt when my son was born! If there had been more than one, I would have been sunk
Oh I know that feeling! have a lovely day natalia, honey.. c
Wow, a daymare followed by a nightmare. Good luck to little torn piglet for quick healing. I hope you get the dry weather you need to finish the hay. We’re off this pm to sign the (binding) compromis de vente for the house, and then the house-hunt begins in earnest.
Excellent news, you will be relieved. but Oh God househunting – ,ghastly, I do look forward to seeing what you find, something lovely with a bright kitchen, a flagstone porch, a sweet little garden, and a creek and a picket fence, i will send you hollyhock seeds, Do you think you should have a donkey in a little field too though and maybe a few chickens. lovely.. c
It’s more likely to be a flat (apartment), and not much garden – we are truly too old and decrepit for gardening! But there are loads of donkeys in the neighbourhood. And I love hollyhocks.
It’s more likely to be a flat (apartment), and not much garden – we are truly too old and decrepit for gardening! But there are loads of donkeys in the neighbourhood. And I love hollyhocks.
Morning, c. I love the photo of the borage. Do you freeze it in ice cubes for pretty lemonade drinks? When I grew borage, that’s what I did. At the moment, the flipping “men” have decided that I won’t have a kitchen garden this year. I wanted a raised bed for my veg. Andy and Peder have decided that it will ruin the look of the new garden’s layout. I’m kind of seething at the moment. Sending healing wishes to the wee one. Hope he mends well.
I do freeze the borage in still water ice cubes, they are tasty too!! I would be seething too, raised beds are so easy to manage and you can sit on the sides when you are picking and weeding.. hmm, can you put your foot down? on their heads? or maybe bribe them somehow.. what are their favourite veges, it is your garden after all.. but i am sure you have a plan! c
It’s just hard sometimes, but we always get through it. It’s like each day is a lesson. I do hope you get your hay up before any more rain. And that the little piglet heals.
You are so right, each day is a lesson and I need to keep my eyes wide open so I keep learning the lessons. Sometimes though i would like to sit in the big chair, ignore all the lessons and just read a book! c
Your three promises are a big part of what makes your blog so irresistible to us, C! Good day.
Morning Bella, honesty and truthfulness make things easier to manage, to pretend that i am Pollyanna and every day is bright and shining would destroy our relationships and wear me out!! But actually every day has a brightness to it and every day i can say OK Good, i got that, i can fix it and The Felllowship is a huge resource and major network of support and good sense, frankly. To break that trust woudl be dreadful. All of you bring something to me when you visit, you are my gifts. Have a lovely day bella.. c
Well good morning Celi ; we are finally getting some rain here. I am sorry to hear about another piggy being hurt. I do hope he recovers .the skin hanging down don’t sound good. here the trees are a renewable resourse but it takes time to renew that it where land management comes in.
have a blessed day mike
Good Morning,
The odds things we dream about. I checked with my dad when we were picking cherries yesterday about the rake. We had two rakes, one like yours a side delivery and a wheel rake with four wheels. The wheel rake was much easier to use to fluff (it is the one that I used the most and was the most fun to use) not a tedder but it helped. Dad really liked it and actually wore it out. The side delivery he still has and uses. He pointed out to me that the side delivery is around 60 years old, my grandfather bought it new in the early 1950s. Made me feel old. He replaced the wheel one with a bigger wheel one that he doesn’t like as well. Anyway to make the side delivery kind of fluff he put a hydraulic cylinder on it to be able to control the rake differently. I wasn’t sure from your photo but your rake does not look to be pto driven and his rake is, not sure if that would make a difference. If you are interested I can ask more questions. Dad is one of those people who can create/modify tools and machinery to work the best for him. He can envision what he wants it to do and create the modifications to make it happen most times.
Drat I can hear another thunderstorm coming. The weeds will rule the garden soon. Maybe I should try aquaculture.
This one is wheel driven but so far I can be the fluffer, the fields are not big.. c
Pigs are very social animals and NEED others to find enjoyment in everyday. I’m glad you letting here be with the cows! A nice comforting move on your part! Well done!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Sorry to hear of the piglet’s accident, Celi, and I hope your changes in Char’s stall and feeding will help ensure this is the end of her piglet stomping. Your dream reminds me of the tree-trimming that Zia’s area endures every 5 or 6 years. The men come through and just chop off the sides or tops of trees, giving power lines a clearing of a few feet. It is a real shock to see the once beautiful trees mutilated like that. Still, in less time than one would think, new growth appears and soon they’re back as they should be. It’s amazing. Why they don’t just put the tree trimmers to work digging ditches and burying the power lines, once and for all, is beyond me.
Anyway, I hope you have a great day, Celi.
I know just what you mean John – they do the same thing here. There are beautiful trees with huge great holes through them that you could drive a bus. Or trees (mostly firs) that have had three of their sides striped! Coming from England where most of our electricity is underground, it took me a while to get used to all the telegraph poles here!
absolutely! c
Learning curve for piggy mom and farmer. Somehow it will work out for the best. It’s funny about the “odd couple” friends. We once had a Westie and a large mostly white cat – on warm early spring days they would sun together on their sides in the backyard – looked like 2 beached whales. Maybe farm inhabitants could teach humans a thing or two?
Have a lovely day!
I have been thinking. In a few days Celi will be in Alberta. Just a province away. Sounds close but it is two days long driving. Or.. two hours flying. It’s pleasant thinking you will be that close. V.
I know..so close and yet so far! But one day .. one day.. c