Doubling down

This little piggy

Never thought this day would come but apparently I'm a pig-taker for piggies who've previously lived in people-houses. And then those people in the people-houses realize what a terrible idea that was and look for people such as myself. 

And once again, I've been in contact with a family who has an indoor piggie looking for a forever home. Maybe I'm a new contact out on the interwebs for this. This time though, I'm thinking I’ll be a little more careful and choosy about taking another piggy in to the farm. But let me go see about it and I'll decide. Which is code for: I'm getting it no matter what. So I traveled to Bells and met a man in the parking lot of The Dollar Store with a pig named Wilbur. Wilbur is in the front passenger seat and the man is in the drivers seat. He rolls down Wilbur's window for him, and I knew right away he was ready to give me Wilbur. He proceeds to show me pictures of Wilbur in their house, snuggling with his kids in bed, and telling me how great Wilbur is. When I ask about any bad behaviors that Wilbur might have, the man tells me that really his only bad trait is tearing up plastic trash bags. I’m thinking, yes, that sounds about right, Wilbur is getting into the trash.

Nonetheless, I look at Wilbur and think I don’t really want a boy pig because I have two girl pigs - but yet, he’s so tiny and sweet. I ask how old he is and the man says just over a year old and that he’s become reproductively active (code for humping his human family members).

Granted, Wilbur is 12 pounds and mostly full grown at this point. He is what they call a micro mini potbelly pig. He will remain small, but will actually get a little bigger as he continues to grow between one and two years old.

Riding shotgun
He gives pig-in-a-blanket all new meaning

And once again, the story is the same. Wilbur has been living in the house and has become more destructive and is growing up to be a typical boy pig. His family is ready for him to find a new home and, of course, want him to go somewhere with somebody who will keep him inside. 

I find this common pig-in-the-house story thread a bit crazy and silly. When people tell me about their 'indoor pig story' and how it's not working out well for them yet they want their indoor pig to go to someone else to live indoor to possibly destroy someone else’s indoor things blah blah blah it's always an interesting story - yet it never makes sense to me. 

Maybe is unsure of this new creature in the
truck, esp since I gave him her blanket for
the ride home.

So as I drive home with Wilbur in my passenger seat, I’m thinking about how I’ve been told that he is potty trained and will potty on a puppy pad. So on my way back home, I stop and buy puppy pads and bring Wilbur home to begin his new life with us in the laundry room. For now.

It’s one thing if I lived by myself and allowed farm animals to live in the house with me. If I were to do that, Paul The Turkey would be the first one in the house. But since it’s very cold outside and I’m not sure how Wilbur‘s gonna do outside in the cold, Wilbur will live in the laundry room until I decide what to do with him. That seems like a fair trade versus free reign of the whole house. I feel sure Lauren and Ryan would not like a tiny pig mingling amongst us all in the house.

But first things first…..

The Littles investigate Wilbur thoroughly
in the garage before heading inside.

Then the livestock guard dogs need to
give their approval ✅

Wilbur is tolerant of their inquisitive
nature, and then moves on.

So now it’s time to head to the laundry room for the evening and I’ve got him set up with water and food - and I’ll check on him early in the morning. Wilbur takes very little time in locating the dog bed and lays down on it, then immediately snuggles up under the blanket (on the dog bed) like he's a boss. And then....he’s asleep. It’s been a long day for Wilbur. Getting a new home, making new friends, investigating the new yard, and wondering where did his family go? 

The next morning I go downstairs with the 3 Littles and find Wilbur fast asleep on the dog bed underneath the blanket nestled in tightly, all nice and warm. It is cold outside, yet he awakens and follows me outside with the 3 Littles and everyone goes potty - including him. Wonderful I think, he may actually be potty trained. His previous owner had told me that he always went outside with their dogs to potty, except when they were gone and he would use the puppy pad. Perfect. This isn’t all bad. He would need to stay in the laundry room during the day while I go to work, and Lauren was agreeable to let him go outside to potty. Wilbur did really well. But I already knew he wasn’t gonna be staying in the house long-term. Very soon, it’s going to be time for him to meet his new pig friends when the weather is a little nicer. 

And that's just what happened that very afternoon after I arrived home from work.....

That afternoon brought particularly nice weather,
so Wilbur and I went out to meet Maggie first…

Little did I know that Maggie would instantly
love him.❤️

Their love was real. They were each other’s kind. Biggie and Smalls. Wilbur tried to love her a little too much, and surprisingly, Maggie was receptive. Luckily, Wilbur is much too tiny of a pig to cause too much damage for Maggie or should I say impregnate Maggie. It could happen, right? Only time will tell, but I know one thing for sure: I’m going to get Wilbur fixed soon.

So you ask what about Baby the Boar? She’s not interested whatsoever in Wilbur nor is Wilbur interested in Baby. It’s only a Maggie and Wilbur love affair. A match made nowhere, but here on the Graves Farm.

Before I knew it, I was looking around for Wilbur. I soon found him in Maggie‘s pig house. He was snuggled all up in the straw. Wilbur looked up at me from his Maggie-pig-house-snuggles and he let me know that he had found his forever home and his home is with Maggie. From that day on on, he and Maggie would share her pig house and Wilbur would never be cold as Maggie would always make sure they were cuddled up together. I wasn’t sure if Maggie was taking care of him like a son or like a boyfriend, but either way, Wilbur was well taken care of by Maggie from the start. Wilbur never slept in the laundry room again. 

So inside the Goat and Pig Pen, everyone
is getting along wonderfully.
Wilbur has found his forever home….
And his forever herd ❤️
And his forever girl, Maggie ❤️

And as this beautiful love story continues, I did get Wilbur his own little house that only he fits in. So no other friend can go in his little house and he always has a place to escape to, should he need to. A guy needs to have a place of his own now and then. And that’s where I feed him every day too, is in his own little pig house, so he will always be able to have his fair share of food. But you guessed it, each and every night he sleeps with his homegirl Mag Pie.

I goat this

As this wonderful opportunity blossoms where the pigs and goats live together in harmony (with the primary goal of controlling their feed intake so they all will maintain a healthy weight), I decided it was time to make a few changes for the betterment of them all. First, I would increase the amount of space they have in their pen. And secondly, I would get the goats their own goat houses so that everyone has their own space for warmth and protection from the wind. 

It may be hard to tell from the photo,
but I have more than doubled their space.
The burn pile is actually inside
their pen now and that’s not intentional
- just how it worked out 🤷

They have so much more room now and seem to enjoy it.
I had a few random chickens joining in the fun,
but that’s because it took me a while to secure
the actual fencing so that nobody could get in -
or get out

You might have spotted Brooks in the pictures, too. He loves to go in the Goat and Pig Pen and play with his little tikes toys.....who I had actually given these to the goats to play on. Brooks wasn’t playing on them until the goats wanted to play on them, and now they all play on them together. 💟

I love how everybody just gets along🥰

They each enjoy the attention from one another

When I was looking for a goat house (or two) I noticed that shelters-like-that at retail stores, such as Tractor Supply, were not only expensive but not well-made. So I begin looking around for something that was durable for the goats and I came across a guy on Craigslist who makes larger-sized dog houses at his home and sells them off Craigslist. I contacted him and he had two of his bigger dog houses available and was willing to make me a deal. I was not wanting to build one myself, as I certainly appreciate the work and skill that goes into building them. Instead, I have cash for that. 

So I loaded up the trailer on the back of the truck, and I drove to Lewisville to purchase these future goat houses. When I arrived, I found them to be perfect. It was a little confusing for the man to realize that he had built what he thought were dog houses, but yet I would be making them into goat houses. He was very nice about it all, and even loaded them up on the trailer for me. They are well built and exactly what I wanted and need. So back home I go with them, jiggity jig.

I was so pleased with my purchases 🐐
And I got a great deal 💰

Once home, they were loaded off the trailer and ready for a fresh coat of paint. Who better to help with this job? Brooks. He was all in. He got his painting clothes on and we painted both of those goat houses until we were all done. He did an amazing job esp for a 3 year old. 

We got the job done 💪

 

They turned out so nice.
Ready for the Goat and Pig Pen area now ✓

The great thing about life is when you can move heavy things around with a dolly and this was exactly the case with these houses. I got the dolly and moved them one by one over to their resting spots for the goats. 

I have the goat and pig hostel strategically
placed under an 'carport' of sorts beside
the barn to keep everyone as safe and dry
as possible. 
Notice: Wilbur's little pig igloo with fencing 
around it so that he can eat freely and also have 
his own place in case he and Maggie have a spat.

I've noticed sometimes that Coco and Pearl
sleep in the same goat house and other times,
they claim their own place for the night.

Cutie Pie Pearl is claiming her sleeping spot
all while Coco is checking me out just in 
case I brought in a late night snack.

Creating these types of spaces for my loves make my heart sing. They deserve a great life, and I hope to give them just that. My next adventure with these 3 piggies and 2 goats? Nail trims. It's not an easy task and I admit, I'm not up to doing it. But don't worry, I'll find someone who is. I'll probably have Wilbur's nails trimmed when he gets neutered. I'm so proud of Wilbur. He's such a friendly little guy, kind to all those around him, and loves pets. Hopefully we won't have any new little piglets because of him. But if so, I know he'd make a great dad. And I could even put Maggie in her pig dress and we could have a pig wedding if need be. Not sure what rabbit hole I've fallen down, but wow, I love farm shenanigans. My 10 year old self enjoys every minute of this farm circus.  

I wasn't sure if the pigs and goats could actually cohabitate, 
but sure enough, it's magical. And it sure makes my life easier.

Time for....

Dear Cyndi,

Oh sweet pea, how many corners can you turn? You are not likely to stop turning corners because it's such a wonderful feeling as it reflects your healing. After your most recent internal reflection of (trying to anyway) determine your role in it all and taking accountability for the roles you played in the last 32 years of your marriage, you've experienced many feelings that have come to the surface - and you felt them all. Just the ability to be accountable for your own behaviors and notice what your reactivity was, has been vital. You no longer are scolded for your reactions to poor behaviors. That's all in the past now. You have learned what was really happening behind the doors in which you lived. There's acceptance you are working on as to why you stayed. The regrets. And there's also acceptance of the good and fun times inside it all. And why you stayed. Regret has been your biggest demon and you've put him to rest now. Regret is like worry, merely a waste of time. 

As you keep moving forward, you find joy in each day. You feel safe, content and happy. And your biggest achievement yet is the recognition of what self love is. Why you have not practiced self love has many answers. But your main reason was that you were previously living in a state of hyper-vigilance, and since you've taken your amour off now, you can see yourself for who you are. And learn that loving you is something you've not done. You've learned you are a human who did not have every tool needed in each moment. You were not taught how to love yourself or the importance of it, nor had decent coping skills to communicate when you were feeling hurt, angry, disappointed or betrayed. Instead, you tried hard to express your feelings of hurt to the best of your abilities yet to no avail or resolve.

The one thing you do know now is that the years you have left are years that will be filled with compassion for yourself, grace for yourself and forgiveness for yourself. The bar has been raised. This new season of your life will now include less accessibility of those with poor intentions. You now see it so quickly and swiftly move away from it. Your not being selfish. You're practicing self love. 

Peace always,

Cyndi

Awe, the joy of reflection. The clarity that comes as we sit with ourselves in the quiet of the night and know we are okay. It's truly a gift from God. And I thank Him for all the gifts He's bestowed upon me. He knew all along what I needed, and waited and watched, guiding me towards myself. To which I am forever grateful.

Speaking of gifts

There's a very kind and generous (yes, he's also frugal) friend of mine, Dr Brown who recently purchased/gifted me an AI bird feeder. I'm sure you have seen these all over the internet. My friend Becky, from work has one and Dr Brown installed one for his mom recently. Seems they are quite the cat's meow these days.

So I installed my newly gifted AI Bird Feeder and begin watching on the app. The app can identify the type/breed of bird that is at your feeder, and you can watch birds up close and personal, often eating the bird seed super close-up at your feeder. It's a really great concept and a must-have for every birder as well as for those who love bird watching casually. 

Turns out what I saw the most were
my own chickens in the background.

I hung it here first, but decided it wasn't 
optimal here because I
felt silly watching my own chickens
so I moved it out back......

Since I already have 3 bird feeders on the
back porch, I went ahead and moved it where
the birds were already going.

My AI bird feeder caught a 
CooCoo Bird nearby 

I'll keep you posted on how this goes as
I just moved it today.

I'm super excited about the thought of putting my hummingbird feeder just in front of this AI feeder. Awwww, the birds I'll see. Right outside my window(s) and up close and personal in the Smart Bird app. Who knew I needed this. Oh yeah, Dr Brown did. I want to thank him as well as Lauren for helping me get this up and going. Because apparently, Dr Brown texted me detailed instructions to get this up and going and the "hint" that Lauren would need to help me still makes me giggle out loud......

Per Dr Brown's instructions:
"Your daughter might enjoy doing this step"
Code for: you better let her handle this, Cyndi
😉

I did get the AI bird feeder hung up, but really the instructions were detailed per Dr Brown and Lauren did actually do those things as Dr Brown had suggested that only she do. So thanks y'all!

Ollie 

Olive is doing amazing, and she's just over 7 months old now. It seems Olive has a liking for the Littles. Grabbing and pinching them that is, if she can get her hands on them. They stay just out of reach. She'll be up and mobile before we know it though. Get ready, Brooks. Better start hiding all your toys because she grabs and pinches anything she can get her hands on. 

Stay grabby and pinchy y'all,

Cyndi