Wednesday 18 June 2008

a pig, a sunset and new things to play with!

last night we took the doglets to the forest for a mad sprint and on the way back we popped in to see this guy.....


remember dear Jo the pig?
he became ours before we had even moved to Scotland - who else would own a pig and live 750 miles away from it?

saved from becoming bacon :)


he currently lives with our wonderful neighbours but we have great plans for creating Jo a palace with which to reside in!

in the lower part of our field we have a great area which is boggy - it has been covered in marsh marigolds for the last few weeks and has looked beautiful.

it is this area that will become the new pig palace!
after fencing off a large area with really hefty fencing, for Jo has been known to follow cars up the road, we will test to see how deep the bog actually is (!), install the pig house and add a few large objects to be used as scratching aids and then try and tempt him down the fields to his new home
a home fit for a pig x
at this stage we have no plans to increase the number of pigs but who knows.......

here is Captain Jo enjoying yesterday's kitchen scraps
favourite..... whole bananas with skins on
leave to last..... sweet potato skins
not eat at all...... celery
as you can see he is a marvelous pig for not only did he manage to be selective with his supper and fight off the hens, he still managed to smile for the camera!



after counting cattle, horses, llama, hens,cats and visiting our own sheep, we travelled the eight miles home and enjoyed a supper of lentil chilli and roasted veg - yum.

being this far North we are experiencing the strange nights of very little darkness
i took this picture at 10pm and the sun was just going down - it was actually so much lighter than the picture shows but my camera skills are zero
at the moment you can still comfortably read outside at gone 11pm
it has taken us a while to get used to the lack of darkness - Stephen has had real problems sleeping - me- i could sleep standing up!

we are planning a Midnight dog walk on Saturday as it is Midsummer - it will not get dark at all

we have to stay up to see that.




as for this morning
yet more packing and cleaning
after my morning coffee in my green cup with the sun shining through the windows




a few treats through the post.....
i seem to be buying lots and lots of lovely fabric, beads and trinkets that i have no hope of actually having the time to do anything with.
i keep telling Stephen that all this shopping must be acting as a bit of therapy for me during this stressful time.......
he seems unimpressed and keeps reminding me that we will be stony broke after this house build so why on earth would toadstool pendants help??

i tend to just look the other way........




we collect Dillon and Woody 9am Saturday
the transport is organised and we are almost good to go
just a little shopping to do for the boys first............

t x

17 comments:

walter and me said...

Lovely post, made me chuckle! Love Jo the pig's ears, not to mention his smiley face. You're lucky to be spending the solstice in such a beautiful place. Here in Corwall it's a tradition to light fires in celebration. D x

Jenny said...

Toadstool pendants definitely help! What a lucky pig to have such a comfy home instead of being bacon!

mollycupcakes said...

Jo is so handsome and love the hen peeking around in the photo lol
Pretty litle toadstalls and beads.
Can't wait to see more amazing photos of the skies and the two new members of the family ??? who is it?
When's Talulla's birthday honey you know the girls want to get her some treats lol they love Auntie Tracy's animals and go mad everytime I turn your blog page on.
Many hugs.
Catherine x
ps just drop me a email sweetie.

trash said...

tch! He's soooo sily. Of course toadstool pendants will help - they will be somewhere for the good luck, good fortune and money fairies to hang out when they come visit!

Pipany said...

Jo's face is so sweet Tracy. What a lovely place he will have to live in - marsh marigolds must have been wonderful. Ours finished about a month ago but were gorgeous. Can't quite get my head around the lack of darkness, though the midnight walk in light would be great xx

KELLY said...

jo is a dude. he doesn't look like a celery-lover! glad he's been adopted into such a nice family. ooo + love your treats by the way! x

prettyshabby said...

how lovely is Jo!! he's got such a gorgeous face..dont blame him for leaving the celery..I could chew celery for a week and still not be able to swallow it!
I love all your beady bits and bobs and cant wait to see what pretties you make with them... enjoy the midnight sun..that means you must have the northern lights in winter too..you lucky things!

kristina said...

You're so lucky to have a pig. I love pigs--but not a chance here in suburban London! I spent a summer in Norway when I was in high school, and I loved the long long hours of daylight :) K x

Katie twinkles said...

Bananas with the skin on euuuuuuuuuu.........

Primrose Hill said...

Quite possibly there may be a new arrival in our house of the four legged variety, around about the beginning of August......
Fancy coming down for a visit?

Sending you some caravan love, I had a brief fling with one while in my rebelious teens....!

L xxx

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Loved hearing about the all night days. I rather think I might have trouble sleeping, too. Do the northern lights grace your part of Scotland?

Cape Cod Washashore said...

SWEET piggy! And what a great smile! =) I've just now decided that (way off in the future) before I have grandchildren, I'll start a second family of furry children! =)

Jane said...

Jo is cute in a piggy sort of way, i laughed at the hen trying to pinch his food when he was smiling for you. I stayed in Scotland one summer and found it difficult to sleep because of the long nights, but it felt very magical. Jane x

Kitty said...

That is one handsome piggy-wig - I love him! That picture of the sunset is beautiful. Good luck for the weekend. x

jillytacy said...

Jo the pig is adorable and must surely be excited about a pig palace...what pig wouldn't be?! A Midsummer midnight walk with your clan sounds wonderful! I've never experienced 24 hours of daylight. That would put a crimp in my theory of you should never have to wake up before it's light out and you should go to bed well after it's dark.

dottycookie said...

I love the toadstools, and I think I have the same (or very similar) beads waiting to be used!

Anonymous said...

What a lovely blog. I will keep checking back to see what you've been making.

You will probably love the company I work for.

www.robsonandmason.co.uk

I love the floral beads! I'm sure the founder of R & M would love them too!