Not much to report really....

It's all been a bit quiet in the last few days. The weather's been ok, the kennels aren't very busy, my 'proper' job, where I have to look and smell a bit better than I usually do these days has been fine and Edward & Tubbs are coming along nicely. They seem to be a lot less reliant on me now - they're very happy in their barn and spend most of the day outside, especially when it's sunny. I obviously go in a couple of times a day to feed & brush them (I'm finding the brushing is making their hair & skin a lot better), but other than that, I'm leaving them to themselves. Jeff threw a couple of old footballs in with them this afternoon & said that Edward was really funny with them - picking them up with his teeth & tossing them into the air. I wasn't here to witness this - I've been out this afternoon, but if the weather's ok & I can get in with them tomorrow without getting eaten, I'll post another video. If the truth be told, I am trying to distance myself a bit - if I spend too much time with them, I know I'll find it even harder to part with them in a few months. I even managed to check them all over with my hands this morning (while they were eating of course - I can do anything then!), to make sure they have no lumps or bumps that they shouldn't have and that their flesh feels as it should. I don't know for sure how it should feel, having never done this before, but they feel ok! And not for the first time, I found myself wondering what they'll taste like....

Took some pictures of Buddy & Halle Berry last night. For some strange reason, they were being very friendly towards eachother. Ahhh....


Grandma, what big ears you have....

Speak soon.

VP x

I sense another death at the Burn....

Took a booking today for August. Twinkle, a little cat who has been near to death the last few times she's been to stay. Her owners drop her off with detailed instructions on what to do should she peg it while they're away enjoying themselves on what's usually a very long holiday. Luckily, burial isn't involved. Anyway, Twinkle survived her last 'vacation' and it turns out she's still alive and kicking. Well, I don't know about kicking, she could barely walk when they took her home last time, but apparently she's 'full of spirit' at home. Yeah, right. Poor little thing, she's incontinent (not nice for her & especially not nice for me when I have to clean her out every day), her food has to be cut up so tiny because she practically has to suck it down and she drinks loads - a sure sign her kidneys are failing. I really hope they do the decent thing and put her to sleep before she comes. It's horrible to think that people are prepared to leave their pets when they know they're fragile and could possibly die. It's very selfish of them and it makes me really angry.... grrrr...

VP x

Thank goodness the wind has stopped!

Thought for a minute there we were all going to get blown away! I swear I saw the wicked witch of the west cycle past the window last night. Or was that just the scary lady from the Co-op in the village?

We have had some hair-raising weather here the last few days! Literally! But, we've all survived and the buildings are all still standing. Phew. Hopefully, it's settled down now. Luckily, we didn't have rain with it this time. Now that would have been interesting....

We had a good old clean out of the barn today. The pigs evidently have some rodent friends keeping them company at night. I suppose where there's food and livestock, you're always going to get mice and rats, but today Jack put some galvanised metal over the hole they've been using to burrow in from the outside & we hosed everywhere down and put feed bags & veggies in bins so that the rodents can't get at them. We cleaned all the straw off the floor of the barn so it'll be easier to see any bits of food that have been tipped over the edge of the trough & I know Edward & Tubbs clean their trough. They just have a big pile of straw on their raised bed area now. I'm hoping that doing all of this will discourage the rats from coming in. We'll see.

They seem to be growing by the day at the moment - I took some more pictures of them, as well as the barn so you can get an idea of where they live. The barn looks dingy in these photos - it must just be the camera flash, it's a lot brighter in there than it looks. There are a few windows that let natural light in & I'm leaving the hatch open permanently now, so E & T have constant access to the outside. The seem a lot happier & are definitely a lot less messy. Praise be!

VP x

My mood & the clouds have lifted!

Woo hoo! The sun is shining! For how long, I'm not sure, but Edward, Tubbs & me are enjoying the moment while it lasts. I've been away for a couple of days, in spirit as well as body, but I'm back today and we've been having a whale of a time out on their patch. I took a horse brush out with me this morning and gave them both a good old going over with it. At first, I was a bit worried because they were a bit flaky and I though that they must be a bit poorly, but I realised after a little while that it must just be the external layer of dead skin, because when I'd finished, they were gleaming! Tubbs really enjoyed it and was really leaning into the brush, wanting more and more! Little slut. Edward must have sensitive skin as every time I touched him with the brush, his skin moved - inadvertently, because he enjoyed the brushing too, but I think his little nerves must be a lot more sensitive than hers. Ahhh, and then when I'd done brushing them, he laid down in his straw and let me stroke inbetween his eyes and all round his chin and he fell asleep!

When I went outside, they came running out after me and were really sniffing at the clean sunny air - they seemed happy to not be getting wet for a change. Their moods seemed a lot more cheeky once they got outside too - they were both trying to eat my trousers, just above my wellies! They're still small enough to fend off, but I'm not looking forward to the day when they don't respond to my 'scolding voice'! I think I'm going to leave their hatch open tonight - they have plenty of straw to keep them warm and it means they'll (hopefully) go outside to pee & poo so there'll be very little mucking out to do in the morning. I've checked the perimeter of their area to make sure they've not started digging their way out, Great Escape stylie, but they seem to be quite happy, so they should still be there in the morning! If they're not, they wont have got far - there's a garth one side of their patch and a fenced field the other, which is our field and which doesn't have any livestock in it at the moment (a family friend sometimes puts his sheep in there), so if they do manage to make a bid for freedom, I'll be able to round them up from somewhere tomorrow.

I have to go get showered now - yes, I know it's nearly 11:30, but when you have to muck out pigs and scoop dog turds, it seems a little silly to get clean first thing... I'm off to my 'proper' job this afternoon where I have to look and smell like a human.

Speak soon.

VP x

This weather's getting me down now....

Saturday was a lovely sunny day, but a day of sunshine isn't enough to dry everything out as it had rained for so long before then. Sunday rained on & off and today, the rain's back with a vengeance. It's really miserable and makes working outside so difficult. I realise the ups far outweigh the downs when it comes to non-office work, but on days like today, it's hard to remember that!

Edward & Tubbs seem like different pigs since they went outside - they make far less mess than they did and, miracle of miracles, they no longer tip their water over! They have been eating a bit more than before, and that obviously makes sense as they're burning up a bit more energy with all that scooting around like maniacs! I'm feeling ok about the whole process again today - I've done a bit more reading about pig husbandry & am more interested - I can't say excited, because it's not the right word really - to see what they are going to taste like. I've decided to buy myself some cuts of pork from the farm shop in order to experiment a bit with different cures for bacon and hams etc. Hugh's (sorry to harp on about Hugh, but he's really the person who got me into all of this!) Meat book and River Cottage cook book both have sections on this and I thought I'd see which I like best before the day of reckoning comes. It's a shame Edward & Tubbs'll go to slaughter in the spring, just as the weather's getting warmer. It's going to be more difficult to keep ham etc cool. Another lesson learned.....

On a completely separate note, I've had a bit of a film-filled weekend. On Friday night, Jeff & I watched 'Tell No One'. Bloody brilliant French film, well worth a watch. Saturday night, we went to the flicks on a rare 'date' and saw 'No Country for Old Men' - fabulous. Totally messed up and with very very black humour, but the acting is superb and we both loved it. And then last night, I went to see 'Lust, Caution'. I can't say I thought it was great, but I'd read a couple of reviews where it was slated, and it was actually pretty good. The cinematography was superb and I do watch a film for the 'whole' film, sometimes the story itself isn't the most important part. It was a bit unnecessarily explicit though, which annoyed me. It's an 18, so that tells you it's going to be a bit naughty I suppose.. Anyway, I wont ramble on anymore about films - I'm not Jonathan Ross in disguise, but it's not that often I watch 3 films in 3 nights and I felt I had to comment!

Bye for now,

VP x

Do do dooo, do do do, do do do doo, do do do do doo (to the tune of Film 2007)

I'm doubting my ability to follow this through....

It's happened. Today, for the first time since I got Edward & Tubbs, I properly thought about their inevitable end and I really did wonder whether I'll be able to eat them. It happened because they were being really cute and funny. Little bastards. How very dare they.

I went in this morning & opened up their hatch - they have a hatch, Jack's really gone to town on this little set up - I think he's more in love with them than I am! Anyway, I opened their hatch & they didn't go out. I stood in with them and tried to point to the outside & was making encouraging noises, but no, they weren't budging. So I went outside round to their bit of land - I'll have to take a couple of photos of the barn & the set up here so that you can understand how it's all laid out - and stood outside the barn, the other side of their hatch. I called them out and Tubbs was the first to step outside - she's so brave. She followed me right over to the other side, but Edward was still refusing to leave the safety of the barn & was making some very loud noises - obviously protesting that he'd been left all on his own! Tubbs & me wandered back over to the hatch & she went in and must've told him in piggy language that all was ok and out they both came! They were oinking and squeaking and running around like little crazy things. Totally excited that they were out with their mum. They kept coming up to me, almost as if they were wanting reassurance and I was giving them a little scratch and off they'd go again. To see them doing what comes naturally, rooting around and pushing their little noses into the soil was absolutely brilliant. It's just a shame the patch they're allowed on is the old potato & bonfire patch, so there's no greenery for them to get their teeth into. Having said that, there are obviously a lot of old roots under the ground and it didn't take them long to start munching on them! They found a potato too & I left them for a while snuffling around under the couple of trees that are at one end of the patch. I had to go get them some more pellets and while I was at the supply store, I got a huge bag of pony carrots and when I got back I scattered a few over the ground for them to find and munch on. They really are so funny - they want whatever the other one has and Edward'll wrestle a carrot off of Tubbs if she has one & he doesn't. He's a terror.

The rain stayed away mostly today - makes a bloody change - but they are absolutely caked in mud because the ground is so soggy. I was half tempted to give them a warm bath before I tucked them in for the night...

Following my mate Malc's tip, I'm going to get them a couple of footballs to play around - the speed at which they travel when they get going, I reckon I might be able to save them from death & sell them to Kevin Keegan in a few months. I hear he has a bottomless budget....

As promised, I took a few photos & a video. I apologise for the extremely high-pitched voice on the video. Yes, it's me but I didn't realise my little camera actually recorded sound as well. Be careful you don't have any fine crystal glasses near your speakers when you play it. Jeff's in one too, trying to give Tubbs a kiss. He nearly lost a nose when she realised there was no food in his mouth for her to steal. I apologise for the formatting, I know I must be able to move these around a bit and turn them the right way up, but I'm rubbish with a computer....

Free At Last!

Yay! Edward & Tubbs have finally gained access to the outside! Unfortunately, I wasn't here to witness their first tenatative steps outside, but I understand from John that Jack had some 'fun' trying to get them back inside when it was getting dark! I can't wait for the morning - it'll probably still be raining (it's rained solidly for 3 days now), but I don't care. I'm here tomorrow (today - I had to go to my 'proper' part time job at the doctor's surgery) and I'll let them out all day. It's my intention to give their barn a good old scrub out in the hope (probably vain I know) that they'll not smell their poop in the barn and will start crapping out by the midden. Hmmm, we'll see. But, batteries are charged, so I shall be out their papping away and will post you some photos tomorrow night.

I'm here alone tonight - Jeff is out all night. Buddy's keeping my spot warm on the sofa and my little glass of red is calling out to me. Will write more tomorrow. I'm sure with the new found freedom, something typically out of the ordinary will happen....

VP x