I found her

The happy medium Alex that is. I think I was just feeling particularly emotional on Tuesday. Time of the month & all that... Anyway, I feel much happier now. Still not over the moon about the whole thing, but certainly able to see everything for what it is. I've spoken to the lady at the local agricultural college as well and I'm going to go to see her piglets when we get back from holiday & reserve a couple. I'll have a good clean out of the barn once E & T go and then the weaners can move in a few days later. I'll then take them to the age that I wanted to take E&T to - about 9 months and they can be ready for Christmas. I can't wait to have some piggies through the summer - I'm sure it's going to be so much easier - not that it's been difficult keeping Ed & Tubbs, but with frozen pipes and ground, it's not been very enjoyable on some days... I tell you what though, I've either been very lucky, or H F-W is absolutely right and keeping pigs is a breeze. Once we'd sorted out the hatch & the outside area and they had access to the outside all of the time, I've gone through hardly any straw and have to do very very little mucking out. They eat & drink & poo & wee outside. Brilliant. I do think they're getting a bit big for their raised bed now - I tend to find them on the floor in the barn with all of their straw around them - I might move the bed out of there now & just keep them on the floor. The bed can be disinfected & moved back in for the weaners.

The rats seem to be back with a vengeance at the moment. Not sure why - we managed to get rid of them for a while. Not completely I'm sure, but there was definitely no sign of them for a good few weeks. I don't mind them munching on the odd bit of food that escapes the trough, but what I do object to is that they eat their way through the bags of feed that are in the barn unopened. I'll get Jack on the case when he turns up - he's the king of the rat trappers.... What I need is Malc's Spike for a few days - I'm sure they'd bugger off pronto then!

Jeff & I go to register our notice at the Civic Centre this afternoon & we're then going to have a look at the hotel's private dining area where we'll be having our wedding supper after the ceremony. I'm really excited - it's a lovely sunny Spring-like day & it'll be nice having a wander through Newcastle - it's a beautiful little city for those of you who've never been.

Well, I need to go get clean for my Jeff & our appointment - I'll speak to you all later.

VP x