Pigs back again

It seems amazing now that we have almost been here a year and those spring jobs are starting to appear again. The lawn mower and strimmer have both been dusted down, removed from the workshop and been put into action. The grass is growing which is great for the sheep, but not so good for the strimming, mowing etc. I haven't yet tried out the tractor as a mower. Our little tractor has a bit of history and my grandfather got it back in the early '80's to mow his Paddock and partly to take us Grandchildren for rides in. He used that until he became to ill to manage it. My Uncle got it back into working order recently for more Grandchildren rides and now it is here working hard. I don't know if it is upset that we can no longer buy the 2* petrol the instructions (which I have) state should fuel it. It was originally a mower so I should be able to get the blades back on and use it for some mowing. I need to do all around the vegetables. It's an area I don't really trust the sheep to do. I know from experience they'll just eat the strawberry plants which will greatly upset me as I am looking forward to my strawberries this year. We have to get enough to make some jam for Harriett this year even if it is just one jar.

Having pigs back again is great now that they are in and settled. Those following our facebook and Twitter accounts will probably know the tale (story not curly thing at the back of a pig) about the new piglets. Zoe and the girls collected them from a lovely smallholding in Hull where they were well looked after. Most of the pigs were kept outside, but these weaners (weaned piglets) were kept inside as they kept escaping. They got driven in the dog crate in the back of the car back here. We lifted the crate into their new run which was fenced off with electric fencing and let them out. They ran all together to the fence, touched it, got a shock, then ran through it. We then for 5 or 10 minutes had them coming back in and then out and finally they headed onto the road for a trip up to the village. It then took a long time and required the help of some willing volunteers to get them back. Once caught we had to carry them by their backlegs back to the house (they are pretty heavy) and quickly lock them in the barn. There they lived for a week or so causing chaos. They were living in our feed barn and proceeded to knock over buckets of feed, steel bags of carrots and generally be a nuisance. Clearly pigs need to be outdoors where they can enjoy the sunshine and have plenty of things to keep them entertained. In the meantime we built a second fence around the pig enclosure so they now have a metal mesh and electric fence to keep them in. The other night I tempted them into the dog crate (food at the back and wait by the door). We then drove the crate down to their run, put the crate in their enclosure and let them go for a second time. I was worried, but, all went well. The weaners didn't even bother to try and run off like before. They just ran around the grass enjoying themselves and then found an area to root. They did go near the fence once or twice and the odd squeal meant that they were learning not to touch it. Unfortunately the pigs learnt this quicker than Harriett who managed to give herself quite a belt from the fence. So the pigs are now happily in their run, enjoying the outdoor life and not escaping. They are quite cute in a morning if you go over as they are all cuddled up together under the straw in their house.

On top of all of this I have now started doing some supply work a couple of days a week and some tutoring so suddenly time is at a bit of a premium. As usual it is probably the garden that is loosing out here as the weeds start to creep in, but I have mowed the lawn once. As the lambs are getting bigger they are taking more and more of an interest in the plants of the garden. They have another few weeks on the milk but I think they are going to have to go into their own area of field soon. 

The Humber Bridge Market is back around again at the bank holiday and we should be there again selling bread and preserves, so it's going to be a very busy week ahead. I am looking forward to a weekend in the vegetable garden and polytunnel, planting, weeding, mulching and communing with the plants. I still haven't put that comfy chair in the polytunnel.