The Fair and the Pigs

Just look at those knots!!!  Who would have thought!!!  We're getting there little by little.  Not much to look at now but all I need is the seat and it will be a swing.  Poppy said the board I had planned to use for a seat is too narrow.  (Wonder why he thinks that???)  Tomorrow I'll run up town to Rustic Building Supply...for sure they will have the perfect board for a swing seat.

We had sunshine today!  It felt so good to piddle around in the yard.  After getting the second rope tied onto that high limb for the swing, whew!  I moved more pots of rooted cuttings into the greenhouse and cleaned up a bit in the yard...threw away a couple of leaky chicken waterers and moved a few pots and tools into the shed.

Speaking of the shed...that little red building back there is the shed.  You know how the chickens are with me, no matter what I'm working on.  Well, a couple of years ago, I was  outside and constantly bringing tools and stuff from the shed to use.  Finishing up, I put everything away and went inside.  The next day or so I needed something from the shed and when I opened the door, out walked an old dominicker hen.  She headed straight for the water bucket!  Good thing I needed something!  Now I am careful to check inside before closing that door!

The North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh opened yesterday and I am so excited!  Shelby and I plan to be there when the gates open next Wednesday, the 23rd.!  Every year we spend the day together at the State Fair.  We both LOVE the Fair!!!  What do I plan to eat that day???  Two ears of roasted corn dipped in butter, one candy apple (and bring home two extra), a large cone of NC State buttered almond ice cream, a deep fat fried blooming onion, and a plate of deep fat fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar.  :)

One of our first stops, after our first ear of roasted corn, is a building full of farm animals.  The baby pigs are such fun to watch.  This is not a good picture (from last year) but reminds me of a little pig story from our crazy days on daddy's farm...

I've posted before about how none of us kids knew anything about farm life when daddy  bought a farm and decided we would all become farmers.  One of the animals daddy brought home for the farm was a sow, that later had a bunch of baby pigs.  

After the baby pigs were born, daddy came in one day and said there was a runt in the litter, that it would not survive if we didn't take it from the mother and bottle feed it.  That's when Shelby took it upon herself to rescue that baby pig  and bring it to the house.  She waited until she saw that big mama pig way across the pasture, then she quietly slipped in, tiptoed to where all the baby pigs lay sleeping, reached down and grabbed the runt.  Little did she know how loud that runt, and all the other baby pigs would squeal!  It sounded like they were being murdered which immediately alerted that mama pig!  Well, Shelby ran as fast as her legs would carry her, holding tightly onto that squealing baby, with that huge mama pig almost at her ankles by now!  Shelby climbed the fence and jumped over, still holding to the little pig!  You don't know your own strength until your life depends on it!  Shelby never slowed down!  She did not run to the house, she ran in the opposite direction toward one of the ponds without looking back, and hid that little pig in the woods.  She feared for her life and I suppose, felt like that mama pig might have come on through the fence!  After things quieted down, Shelby brought the pig home!   Daddy said later that that old sow would have eaten Shelby if she had caught her!!!

Now this is where I come in...with my doll cradle and blankets and baby bottles.  I got to take care of this baby pig...after Shelby had done all the work and had almost been eaten by a sow!   

This little runt ate like a pig!! :)  She grew and grew and grew and became quite a nuisance.  She thought she should be with the family all the time.  When we were in the house she would come up on the back porch and with her entire 300 pound body, rock back and forth, bumping against the screen door saying "uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh" wanting in.  It drove mama crazy!

I couldn't say for sure what happened to this piggy.  Neither do I remember her name.  This was the late late 1950's.  Lots of changes were in store for all of us.  I believe this pig went to live with our neighbors, and well, I just really never want to know more. 

It was yesterday when I started this post.  Today we have rain again.  Thank you for stopping by.

Love,
Henny Penny