Getting into the zone with a piglet.....

"Stand there, and guard the fence",

this was the instruction hurled at me by Lester,

as he rushed off to get his tools from the house.

 

So there I stood,

with three mucky piglet boys milling about at my feet,

with all of us sharing the joys of paddling about in mud,

it now starting to rain again,

and me without a coat,

and the wind starting to lift the hem of my skirt,

I can't say that I felt in the most joyful states of mind.

 

But on guard I had to be.

So what was I guarding?

The hole in the fence,

or to be more precise,

the hole UNDER the fence,

made by these same boys,

thus giving them a possible escape route from their paddock,

back to the mum sow and the little sowletts.

It would seem that the darned electric wire did not have enough welly

to zap those boys enough to convince them to stay put.

Good job we arrived when we did,

otherwise they would have bust through again.

 

But I must say that trying to keep three boy pigs,

who were not yet full grown by a long way,

yet had the strength to give me quite a barge if they had a mind to,

well.....I must say that I did feel a teensy bit of panic,

mostly to do with not wanting to find myself flat on my face,

in the mud,

and the wet,

and oh strooth, 'hurry up Lester',

that is what was on my mind.

 

So I stooped down and rubbed the backs of one of the boarlings,

and then played along his spine with my fingernails.

And then I gave him a tickle behind his ears.

And he stood dead still,

no movement,

well at least one of the lads was stopped from making a dive under the fence,

that is what I thought as I continued giving him my attention.

And then his rump collapsed.

And then all of him collapsed sideways,

totally in the zone,

that is what he was.

 

Ah, but no!

Quick as a flash that little ****** recovered,

seemingly re-energised by my attentions,

and he jack knifed himself towards the fence,

under it he went,

by now squealing with full force,

because he was receiving mild zaps from two strands of electric fencing,

plus I was trying to grab hold of his plump, solid little body

but could find nothing to hold on to,

so could feel him slipping away from me,

and oh so here was Lester walking towards me,

trying hard to contain his irritation

because I was not able to keep the boarlings in the paddock,

even though I did my best,

and it was raining harder,

and we were getting wetter,

so, quite simply,

we gave up,

and let the other two boys back in with the others.

 

And the kitchen is needing our attention because our builder friend will be back soon,

and things need to be done before he does.

And the pig paddocks must be sorted out because the boys are growing,

and we don't want them getting on board the females,

and we are feeling that we are sort of going round in circles,

but not to worry,

I am sure everything will sort itself out.

At least the dishwasher is back in place,

at least the place is not festooned with piles of washing up waiting to be done,

and we are going to plank the bottom of the fences,

which will stop those little hooligans from going under the wire,

and I had a very happy hour late afternoon today,

out in the big field,

digging up some of the newly growing thistle plants,

which are starting to make quite a population of themselves here,

interspersing this activity,

with breaking up some of the numerous cow pats

donated on to the pasture by Bonny and Lissie,

who may or may not be expecting calves,

but we shall know shortly.

 

There are a lot of joys to be had,

that is what I thought as I wheeled the wheelbarrow back home in the dusk,

with the dogs bouncing around me,

and Lester walking towards me in the half light.

 

 

Vx