Retired Show Girls

All our heavy snow is gone now. It lasted a little more than a day, and now it seems like spring again. The cold was a bit hard on the grape hyacinths in the yard. They are looking straggly this morning.


But the American Beauty wildflowers are springing up everywhere! Grandma-Great used to call them Good Morning Spring flowers.


It's been a bit tearful on the farm this week as we say goodbye to some of our piggies. It's time to send them to Uncle P's farm for breeding so we'll have some fall show babies. The pigs look on this adventure as a trip to the spa because they get very spoiled and pampered at Uncle P's place. Since My Girl is a senior in high school, this was her last show season. She is retiring from the show ring, and when our sows come back to us this fall, My Girl will be away at college and won't see them much. She is giving Happy the Hamp a hug. Happy wasn't worried, though, she's been through this trip before and she likes to travel.


Twiggy is very anxious to load in the trailer and is squealing to be turned out. She will run and hop in, just like she did in her show days. My Girl is telling her to be patient and let the other girls load first. All of our sows are retired show pigs and are very gentle and sweet.

Okay, My Girl, we're ready. Release the hounds! (I don't know what that means, but I always wanted to say it.)

Asta the cow is looking on. She can't believe pigs go to a spa and wonders if there is room in the trailer for her, too. Oh, that's right. We have a cow named Asta (no offense, Asta NY and Asta Down Under, she's a very nice cow).

It will be quiet on the farm now, with no squealing to be fed in the morning. Pigs are a bit noisy. Now, if I could just sneak that pesky rooster onto the trailer, too, I can sleep late in the morning...

~Tell

A Wee Bit Grumpy in the Morning?

We are still seeing lots of white ice on the ground, though thankfully our temperatures are getting a warmer and it should start melting soon. It's fun to skid around on for a little while, but personally I'm starting to get a bit tired of it. I need some grass to roll in. Even some mud will do.
In making the rounds on the farm, we came across two of our sows, Daisy Duke the Hampshire, and Mia the Duroc. They were bedded down on the hay in a nice, warm sunny spot in the barn. As you can see, Mia does not want to be disturbed before her first cup of coffee in the morning, much like certain members of My Family. hee hee

I'm thinking Australia looks pretty good this time of year. I hear it's warm weather down under right now.

~Tell

Move Over, You Know I Like the Window

Here in Oklahoma, we've been getting lots of rain this week. More expected tomorrow, too. It's been so wet that my grass allergies are terrible, so it was decided that I needed to visit the vet again. I don't mind going at all. In fact, I love any excuse to ride in the pickup. But this time was different. I got my feet and legs wet wading through the grass this morning on my outing, so I had to ride in the floor. Well, that's just no place for a dog like me. I know the leather seats are nice and clean, but that's MY spot you're sitting in. Even batting my puppydog eyes and making whistling noises through my nose didn't help. I was glad when that ride was over.

We soon got to the bottom of my itching problem. My new bottles of antigen came in, and there was a different schedule and dosage. Mom, being the goofy goose she is, didn't read the new instructions and underdosed me. Now I'm back on schedule and should start feeling better soon. Remember, always read the instructions! Ya listenin', Mom?
When we got back home, we found out our Yorkshire sow was having her babies. Yes, new porkers on the farm, and aren't they cuties? These babies are only minutes old. That little one hasn't even gotten his land legs yet, but it didn't take them long to find the heat lamp and cuddle under it. All together there were sixteen babies. Wow!

There were some closes guesses at last week's antique. That leather and chain combination is a set of bull blinders. They are used to cover the bull's eyes so he'll behave himself and be easier to manage. My question is, if you have a cantakerous and ornery bull, just how do you get the blinders on him? I'd like to see that!

~Tell

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Pig Show

Last week was the big district livestock show, and My Girl and My Boy were very excited about going. They picked five piggies to take, and those little porkers got a Spa Day! They were all washed, spiffed and shined up, loaded in the trailer and taken to school. Then they joined the group to be hauled to the show an hour away. By now those fellows had gone to enough shows that they were excited about the trip and were grunting and talking to each other on the way.

Then a bad thing happened. Mom got a phone call at work, and My Girl told her that the trailer of pigs only got about a half mile from the school when it caught on fire! Oh, Mom almost got sick when she heard the news! The group pulled over to the side of the road, and Mrs. School Principal acted quick and beat the the flames with her hoodie (which I sadly suspect is totally ruined now). My Girl grabbed a feed bucket and went to the ditch for water. Between the two of them and their quick thinking, they put the fire out and all turned out well. We didn't lose any pigs or kids, but alas, the trailer kinda melted.

Dad borrowed a friend's trailer and brought the pigs home. Boy, were they disappointed. That was the shortest trailer ride they'd ever been on, they missed the show, and they weren't ready to come back. We dragged the burnt trailer to town for repairs. The mechanic said that the electric brakes locked up, two of the wheels stopped turning, and the friction started the rubber burning. Rubber + Friction = Fire. I think I learned some physics from this. Anyway, the trailer was repaired and pronounced safe, but Mom doesn't trust it much now.

My Boy and My Girl go to so many shows with their pigs and goats, I always said that one day they would haul the wheels off that trailer. I guess they finally did!

~Tell

And the Winner Is...?

My Boy and My Girl went to an FFA livestock show yesterday. This was the big show that they have been looking forward to for months. All that special feeding, walking, bathing and shining up those piggies was a lot of hard work.

My Girl sat down in the pen and gave Tammy Faye the bluebutt pig a little pep talk before the show. It's funny, but those pigs actually like riding in the trailer (like I ride in the pickup) and have a great time at the shows. They're really not so different from dogs, when you get to know them. Tammy Faye was a little nervous at this big show, but she likes My Girl so she calmed right down and the butterflies went away.

When the kids and pigs got home, they had three Reserve Breed Champion trophies! All that hard work and exercise paid off well. Everyone came home tired and smelling funny, which was rather interesting to me. The pigs admitted that with this kind of success, they can't wait to load up and go to the next competition.

As long as they understand that pigs ride in the trailer. Riding shotgun beside Mom is MY spot!

~Tell

Walk Around The Farm

Taking a walk around the farm is always fun. Of course, it would be more fun if we were turned off-leash, but Mom got tired of all the bare-bottomed chickens we left behind, so any time we go outside the yard she insists on restraints. Still, sniffing around the homestead is a great way to spend time because there's always something new to discover.

Here is Cap looking over one of the barn cats. All the female cats are named after flowers, and this one is Pansy. Pansy likes to roll over on her back and swat our noses. This is catspeak for "Bite me".After that, we travelled on and ran into another of the barn cats. Her name is Naked Lady. She pretty much told us the same thing Pansy did. Cats appear to have a limited vocabulary.

We met some new friends in the barn. These are My Kids' new show pigs. They are a couple of sweet girls but they don't have names yet. My Kids like to have cute names for the pigs for good luck. We've had a Tammy Swynette, Marilyn Monroe and Norma Jean. We even had one named Honeybuns. The mama of this litter is called Hamlet. Any suggestions?

After exchanging sniffs from the pigs (they sniff surprisingly rough for babies), we headed back to the house for naps. Exploring is hard work and we never quite get it all done. It's best to leave some for tomorrow.

~Tell