Txiki has inherited her ears from her red head mother. Txiki’s mother is Alex, the little red cow who looks like a shaggy mountain pony – Alex is spending time with Carlos the Tiny. Both are Dexters. Txiki (Alex’s daughter) is a cross between a Dexter and a low line Angus, she looks like a shiny shaggy mountain pony, and when the light is right her ears have a fringe of red. 
Tane was having a good day yesterday. But he will not go outside. It is too cold or his legs hurt too much. Either way he is still happy to beat up on Tima if it looks like she is getting a bigger share than he is.
Poppy’s piglets.
They are almost grown out of the overturned fish tank house so today I am building them a straw hut. Bigger, roomier and airier with lots of deep straw.
Imagine them being so small they all fit in the cats house.
Molly’s four.
I am leaving them in the barn until I come back from Canada. So feeding time is easier for their minders. Plus there appears to be an awful lot of snow on the way in the next week (quite a bit this weekend ( 2-6″) and a forecast of 8-12″ next Friday which I do not believe, we never get that much snow down this way) but slogging down the back through snow drifts with water buckets three times a day is a bit too much of a work out.
These gloves are frozen solid. 
Today I am going to have to force myself to the supermarket to stock up the store room. I hate going to town it is such a waste of my time!
Lady Astor has an extra set of teats!!
I hope you have a good day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
54 responses to “In-Heriting those ears”
The thing about going to town to shop or anything off farm really is that you have to look clean and that is really hard to achieve when you are a pig farmer and annoying if you have to go out more than once as it neccessitates lots of showering and changes of clothes. Especially, (and ironically) if the pigs have access to a good bath as all that mud and water transfers to everything else they touch like their bedding and at feed time, me. It has been really hot here so my pigs are in the wallow first thing, so I actually creep quitely out to the pen to try and get the feed on the ground before they hear me and head in at full pelt for breakfast with all that mud attached. It just saves me so much time myself in the shower later checking my legs to see how much mud has managed to adhere itself to me. I cant tell you how many times I have got to town and realised that I have neglected to satifactory wash off those little round piggy snout marks that seem to get on your legs even though you thought you got out unscathed! My dad used to have these heavy duty cotton overalls that completely covered him from head to toe, they had poppers all the way down the front and you wore them over your regular clothes. that what I need but for health and safety reasons they only make them in bright orange now. Hopeless as you will never get them clean and I dont want to wander around looking like an extra from orange is the new black.
Thats a Boiler Suit. My Dad had them too but not for pigs. I call it Being PigGED. Two syllables. As in “Dammit I got PigGed and now I have clean my legs before I go to the shops”. I see what you mean about the bright orange though – i am going to try finding a painters one – white is better.
Yes a boiler suit, so it is, I had forgotten that.
How interesting so many of The Fellowship dislike in town shopping. Me too. Even today which was going to be a markets day out we’ve parked the idea for a quiet Sunday at home. Once we go out the gate we lose the day. Sometimes I miss the city online grocery shop & delivery but only the postie comes out here a whole 30 kms from town, even the couriers will only drop things in town. Once the big shop is done though it feels good to be stocked up… like a doomsday prepper 😆
Yes – it DOES take the whole day – I could just spit sometimes at the travel time – but there you are – needs must
We city folks have to go to the grocery store twice a week minimum if we want fresh veggies. Hate it too
yes, now that most of my ‘fresh’ is gone! I am at the shops too
We live next to a barn and I help out. Only one horse and barn cats which is a lot more work then what most people think. I’m not much of a towns person myself and when I do have to go to a store for supplies I put it off for as long as I can. Awesome pics! Thank you! ❤
You are like me AmyRose – I am always caught short – Wonderful that you can help out in a barn – i would love to have you as a neighbour!
My neighbors don’t do right by these animals so I step in to do what I can. They know they are loved. That is a given. And I make sure those cats are fed and kept warm diluting the winter months which as you know can be very hard on barn animals in an unheated barn.
….during …. spell check has been atrocious!
I laughed out loud at Lady Astor’s second set of teats!! I sure hope you don’t get all that snow!!! Stay as warm and dry as possible my friend! ; o )
it is coming done now – we will see what happens!
I do dislike grocery shopping myself. My John loves it but I don’t dare let him fill the cart! I would love to do an online shopping but we have a smallish store nearby. It is a chain but it’s locally owned/run and they are good people so I do like to patronize their store. I guess I can’t have it both ways, convenient for me but supporting the locals.
I am thoroughly enjoying your blog for I have no experience in animal husbandry. I like the piglets the best so far.
Fealing a bit odd as I read the exchanges about shopping. Though I agree with others about plastic bags and before-holiday crowds, I rather like seeing the different people, some intent on their lists, some calling home to check brands or content labels,, some strolling, some (like me) wandering as if lost, some pushing sled-like carts with children in them, their mothers trying so hard to be their best motherly selves as they respond to endless questions or demands from the sled.
Also, since my dear hates food shopping, I get to pile up new things in my basket, unlike Sherry’s shopper John. All those treats that I imagine everyone will like often get lost in the pantry or the back shelves of the icebox (as my mom called it) because I’m a buyer not a cook. That is, I would like to fix nice meals, but if left to myself I’d be satisfied with eggs, beans, broccoli, and a beer.
P. S. Who’s that standing forlornly next to the old car with hay (usually) in the boot. Is she shopping? She looks a bit sad, as if the shelves need restocking.
That is Aunty Del – doing her best to look starved to death! c
Sheila knew all this was coming! She started getting ready early.