I was sitting on the veranda steps in the afternoon, head down, tying up the laces of my work boots when a large slow moving shadow passed across blocking the sun. “Out Boo,” I said, “you are in my light.”
“Grunt” said Sheila steaming past me and disappearing by slow degrees around the corner.
Boo moved up behind me and sighed. Ton immediately took off in hot pursuit of the resident farmy whale.
“Ah.” I said. (Luckily Inaki was close by and took this shot for you with his phone.)
Sheila is a very good pig. But she is also a PIG – headed pig. She will only change course if she believes this is the best direction for her. And when she is steaming along in a particular direction, like a large ocean going liner, it takes her a long time to negotiate a turn. And she has to really, really want to turn. Unfortunately the direction she was heading in was to one of the newly planted vegetable gardens. So a turn had to be engineered. (Do you know those buses that are so long they have like a concertina wheeze box middle. Sheila needs one of those).
To turn she leaves her back feet in one place, kind of treading water, while she slowly moves around with her front feet – sideways -following her head, her front feet taking bigger steps. Like a compass I guess, her back feet being the sharp end and her nose the pencil. After a couple of apples and the power of the bucket I was able to get her to turn all the way around and then we led her back to the barn with the promise of a nice cold mud puddle.
I do love this pig. It was warm yesterday – lovely and warm. Perfect day for mud and pigs.
And today is Saturday – today we hope to sow four acres of pasture. A busy day for the tractor driver.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
42 responses to “Pigs like buses”
Oh my word! That photo of Alex and Txiki – seeing her size compared with the chooks makes you realise she is really, really tiny. Small, but perfectly formed. Unlike our darling Sheila, the Queen Mary of pigs, whose stopping distance must be many, many times her length. Wonderful description of her turning technique, and an even more wonderful photo of her blissful wallowing expression.
Happy summer days … Sheila smiling in her wallow, a tiny Txiki in the sun and Tima and Tane consorting again. Have a lovely weekend. Laura
I love the photo that Inaki took! And I especially love the perfectly-arranged bouquet of chickens at the end!
I remember mud and pigs from when I was a child on our farm.
Yes ! Every pigs favourite – now I need to make a mud puddle for Poppy.. c
Oh my gosh! The perfectly arranged ‘chicken bouquet’ as Anna has appropriately named it is fabulous!!!
yes! I must go back and file that in my christmas book file.. How is our ella mae? and her babies?
Ellie Mae has finally come out of the farrowing hut and is eating and drinking, thank goodness! And the three babies are doing well. A plus is that they are all girls, so no castrating this time. That is a horrible process, that I hate with a passion!!!
Lovely pic of you and Sheila. Pigs and mud, a combination made in heaven!
Pictures today are inspiration for a book, perhaps a first reader for the granddaughters…See the BIG pig! Funny pig…muddy pig! Jump Boo, jump! They will love these pictures 🙂
Yes. Every year I make all the small children within my realm an animal book but without the words, their parents make up the stories as they go along.. I hope! c
Every single picture today ~~~WOW.
A colourful garden of pictures!! Love being able to see you and Sheila in one shot. And what was making Ton jump so high? Spectacular shots. Thank you!
Morning Mouse. Boo is jumping to catch a stick – he does this wild flip in midair which is entertaining. c
Every one at treat, specially Inake’s pic of you, and the two kune kune lovebirds. Does that four-headed chicken lay eggs with four yolks? Jock asked. He was peeling spuds when I took your fabulous pictures over to show him, and that’s no yoke, he added.
love,
ViV xox
I love Jock! c
What a delightful post filled with prose. Sheila the articulated pig could be a lovely children’s story along with Sheila the whale of the farm. You made me smile today. Every photo tells a wonderful story.
Yes. They all turned on the charm yesterday.. c
What a happy pig!
She is such a good girl. She saw Inaki with the hose later on and tried to gently take the hose off him – we think she was going to fill her own pond.. c
She is an inspiration 😉
Wow, that is a massive pig! And so, so sweet.
She is tall! And you only see how tall when she is next to a point of reference – Me in this case! c
amazing photo! your words would have painted it, but it’s nice to see what a pig by the porch really looks like.
All the photos are great today, especially the one of you and Sheila. Good heavens, she’s a big one, and your description of her changing course is priceless… loved it. Hope you have a great day too ~ Mame 🙂