Tane

Pronounced Tahnay. Tane Mahuta is my small kunekune boar.  He has a Maori name – from my homeland New Zealand.  Like many ancient cultures the Maori culture had many gods, Tane is the God of the forests and birds. (Though in New Zealand we call the forests the BUSH). The word also means boy or man. Tane was the God who pushed sky and earth apart to let light into the world. His trees hold the sky UP.  We have few birds here on the praires and no forests close by – maybe this is why Tane has not thrived.

But Tane my little kunekune boar still has the twinkliest eyes. His spine and hips have let him down and he has devised an awkward but springy way of getting about. He will not put leg number four on the ground at all. And hops his body up with Leg Number Three. Sometimes balancing on his two front feet when he is eating.

The latest anti inflammatories have not changed much though it is still early days.  When  he sees me coming out with half a banana (containing his pills) he has quickly learnt to open his mouth wide, wide.  And he has a dramatic mouth when wide, like a sharks but with four tusks.

I am not sure how much of his walk is not habit though, it is hard to tell.

Then yesterday I saw him laying down with his head in the bowl finishing his dinner.  But he looked so sweet doing it that I could not feel bad for him.

But he is a worry.

He seems better when it is cooler.  I am looking for a few old duvets to put in their bed or maybe a really big dog bed – I might put a note on the grocery store board to find a second hand one. It will need to fit two little pigs. It will help him to have more softness to sleep on.  The straw seems to move out from under them as they root down at night.

Geraldine still follows me everywhere with her soft clucking. A very persistent pea hen.

The cows are still showing no signs of dropping their production so  I have begun training John to milk the cows.  He was reluctant at first as this is not his department at all and he still has memories of being kicked by Daisy when she was sick. But I am going to Canada for Christmas with my son and will be away five days so he will have to milk the cows while I am gone.  The good thing is that these cows have been managed by different farm students all through the summer so they have no problems being milked by beginners. They are there for the food!

By mid December he will be feeling more confident.

Today we say Goodbye to Gayle one of the Fellowship of the Farmy . She was always kind and chatty and flitted down through the comments with a kind word for many. I know nothing of her death nor should I and thank you to the readers who alerted us to her passing yesterday – she died on Friday.

When Viv died I was so shocked that I asked for no comments. I made a mistake, and I regret writing that – we must all have a chance to speak if we want to and say goodbye to Gayle who I did not know in the real world but was touched by her kindness here in the cyber world.

Thank you Gayle for being a part of our team and God Bless. I hope you bump into Viv up there in the World of Spirits.  We miss you both.

I hope you have a lovely day.

celi