A SEA CHANGE
We have sun. A sea change. A striking change. A sun change ” … into something rich and strange.” A sunny day. Not a warm day particularly. But after such a gray and dark winter – the appearance of sun leaves us gasping with delight.
“a profound or notable transformation”. We are all affected by the sun. And this morning has dawned clear and full of birdsong. The light is glorious. I cannot wait to get out and into today.
John completed the first prototype summer water fountains for the pigs though I know that is too early to hang these with it going down to 20 something last night. But I am in getting ready for spring prep mode and that cannot be walked backwards. It is a impatient state of mind that will not entertain defeat.
I drew the design for these on a piece of paper after seeing them in a friends barn. Then I set Our John free in the plumbing aisle. The inside water nipples are attached to buckets with a hose. I hang the bucket high on a pole. Then refill the bucket.
It stops the naughty pigs from unending all their water over the barn floor and ensures a steady stream. Often it is hours before I realise their water has been spilled. John will make one for Molly and Sheila today. And one more for the new piglets who I will be buying next month. Then we will be set until early summer when they go back out into their fields.
Now, I am not going to chat longer as that sun beckons. It is 29F at the time of writing and I have no-where to go but here. On with my woolies and out into the sun I go.
I hope you have a good day.
Love celi
WEATHER: Abundant Sunshine. Love those words.
Monday 02/26 0% / 0 in
Abundant sunshine. High 53F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
Monday Night 02/26 0% / 0 in
A clear sky. Low 36F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
Sun
6:31 am 5:40 pm
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 84% visible 2:02 pm 4:00 am
53 Comments on “A SEA CHANGE”
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Isn’t it just amazing what a little sunshine can do for the soul! Enjoy!!
Yes – food for the soul!
Wow! I just love the summer water fountains for the pigs!!! How fabulous that they’ll be able to get water without upending their water containers, or sitting in them, as our pigs do! 🙂 Well done!!!
They are still learning the process I think as the level has not gone down much but someone is drinking it. c
Sun is amazing! After a week of heavy rain, cold and FLU for me -> the sun came out and so did I yesterday. The water taps look very interesting and isn’t it great to have such a handy man? Three Cheers for “our John”…..
So – the photo of the pig – I think that is Molly? Made me look up the phrase “in a pigs eye”
What’s the meaning of the phrase ‘In a pig’s eye’?
An expression of emphatic disbelief.
What’s the origin of the phrase ‘In a pig’s eye’?
When compared the human’s eyes, pig’s eyes are relatively small and the expression ‘a pig’s eye’ has been used to denote small eyes since the 17th century. The British poet Richard Flecknoe put that usage into print in 1658, in Enigmaticall Characters:
She have the spirit in her of twenty school-mistresses, looking with her Pigs-eyes so narrowly to her charge.
In a pig’s eyeThe phrase ‘in a pig’s eye’ emerged in the USA in the 19th century and, while it is used in Australia, it hasn’t travelled to the UK and its meaning is generally unknown there. The expression’s use to indicate incredulity could be related to the earlier ‘pig’s eye’ meaning but, if so, it isn’t clear how. It is in the same linguistic area as ‘pigs might fly’ – so it might also be related to that.
Enough of speculation. We do know that ‘in a pig’s ear’ was a variant of ‘in a pig’s eye’ and that the first known example of the phrase in print is in Jacob Oswandel’s Notes on the Mexican War 1846-1848. Oswandel was a volunteer in Pennsylvania’s First Regiment. He seems fond of the ‘in a pig’s eye’ expression and used it five times in his account of the war, for example:
The Publicanos de Mexicanos were all anxious to see the new arrivals, they having been informed that our regiment was a whole division of about eight thousand men (in a pig’s eye).
Confusingly, the pig’s ear phrase also has more than one meaning; three to be precise.
Wow – this was interesting – and sent me down a english-language-rabbit-hole of my own! 🙂
Hmm – well that is definitely Molly with her pigs eye..
Sunshine and snow flurries here today. Big Man would have loved a project like that to tackle!
Snow! by the sea? Goodness.. c
I know, it’s all been very exciting!
It looks sunny like that here, though we are getting intermittent snow showers.
Snow for you too? In London. I never saw snow in London. I am sure we will get more before winter gives up but it is just so nice t have a sunny day where I am not shivering through chores.
That last pig portrait made me laugh out loud. Those animals have a sense of humor, I swear they do. Love all the neat and tidy organization and thinking. Designing your way around naughty behavior. Such a clever farmer.
MOlly is a great eye catcher – such a naughty pig that girl.
The sun has emerged here too. I’m finishing up a few chores and dashing out with the camera to go for a walk… looking for antler sheds. I hope I get lucky!! The ground will be soft from the recent rain (thankful for that!) so maybe I can be sneaky in my walking, and manage some photographs of wildlife out enjoying the sun too!
I look forward to seeing the photos!!
Pig-sized Hamster cage bottles… Brilliant!!
Yes! They are the best way for water for pigs – nowhere near as messy
Enjoy the sunshine. Laura
Yes! We will.. c
I grew up on a farm and your photos of farm & animals, mud and all, are sunshine to my poor soul stuck in the city.
That makes me feel so good that you can feel the sunshine on the farm
Oh, lovely sunshine, balm for the chilled and chillblained winter soul. On with the woollies and out into that sunshine, let all that marvellous light and modest warmth shine red through your closed eyelids. Summer will be here again one day soon.
exactly!!
“The entry for pig in the Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for the phrase, in a pig’s eye: colloq. (chiefly N. Amer. and Austral.). (in a) pig’s eye (also ear, arse) : used as a derisive retort expressing emphatic disbelief, rejection, or denial.”
From phrases dot org dot uk: “As an expression of scorn the expression was picked up in 1872 by Petroleum V. Nasby (David Locke) in one of his satirical newspaper columns: ‘A poetical cotashun.which.wuz, — ‘Kum wun, kim all, this rock shel fly From its firm base – in a pig’s eye.'”” This one sounds totally Scots to me; )
Thankful for the lovely sunshine and no more rain at the moment here in farm land central Illinois!!! Yeh for the Piggies ~~designer water drinkers!!!!
I hope you get some time in your garden today Carol
I’d always heard “In a pig’s eye’ and ‘when cows fly’……….Isn’t language fun? I wonder if the Chinese, French, etc. languages have derivitives and phrases such as these and what their origins are.
That lamp is off and looking clse due to an optical ilusion or that Molly would eat it!
Giggle! Is that piggy warming her snout with the heat lamp? She looks very content!
Poor Molly – always in trouble
I SOOOOOOOOOOOO understand that feeling…for like you, I adore the sun!
it is beautiful today – really lovely
Good…it’s time!
Pigs look fascinating to me; I hope they are as curious as your photos make them seem to be.
They are – the water spout was in there only about 30 minutes before they had found that it contained water – I guess curiosity is essential after all
J > Piggy water : a clever idea, and a triumph of teamwork, too!
JOhn has a knack for this kind of thing – and it is working really well so far
a sunshine.. it warms the soul as much as it does the skin 🙂 love the piggy water system.. outstanding idea.. love piggies do love to spill the water and then at check.. no drinking water..
Exactly and if they spill it the moment you go around the corner it can be hours before I am back .. lets hope this works
I feel the seasons changing too, as much as you are looking forward to warmer months, I’m looking forward to cooler and a respite from humidity that has delivered little rain. I’ve always loved the words of Ecclesiastes… “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…”
yes and here we go again looking forward to the changes
It’s not a lifestyle I would cherish, but those pigs do have a wicked glint in their eyes. 🙂 🙂 Many thanks for your visit.
HUllo Jo and welcome – certainly a far fetch from your beautiful wanderings.. I did enjoy your blog this morning
Thanks a lot for your visit 🙂 🙂
Sheila! What a beautiful picture that captures the look in her eyes. My! I LOVE it!
That is Molly – Sheila is not much of a jumper.. she is too long i think
Hang onto and give your John a big hug. My John was always a great at inventing helpful things. Sadly I finished making final funeral arrangements for him today. He died, quietly and peacefully on Saturday, damn the cancer.
Sherry I read this very early this morning (my time) and thought I had dreamt it 🙂 So sad for your loss, wishing you strength in this sad and difficult time xx Laura
Thank you, it is still seeming unreal.
Oh NO, darling – I knew he had been in and out of hospital but did not realise he had reached a critical stage. I am so sorry. Poor you – what a time you have ahead of you. I am glad he was peaceful in the end and that you were with him. Keep writing to us and letting us know how you are. The Fellowship is right behind you during this most difficult time.. so sorry.. cecilia
I was in it yesterday. Every beam I could soak in was mine. Today, it was through the windows of an office building, a car, and then the fleeting sideways beams of twilight in the backyard where I saw the potato sprouts (finally, to my impatient self) poking through.
A great water idea! Lovely pig shots too Celi … 🙂