Just Stuff...

This week's been filled with the random "stuff" that makes up everyday life.  A snake found and brought home, eventually let go in the woods.

Multiple late night feedings of little piglets.  Sometimes the littlest one needed to be bottle fed, cause he wasn't quite done when his siblings were.

Here's a picture of an unlikely family.  The ewe and her lamb have been "adopted" by the miniature donkey.  He stays right with them and is very protective of both of them.  So sweet.

Fruit bowl fun, just because we're fruity like that.

And, of course, more piglet feedings.  Feels like we have new babies around here, only not as sweet-smelling as the human kind.

Presenting Precious Potbelly Piglets

Today, the long awaited blessed event came to pass.

Wilburta had her piglets.

It was an all-day "thing."

We pulled up our chairs and enjoyed the show, just like good rednecks should.

Let me tell you this...I know for a fact I shall never cease to be amazed by God's perfect, creative, miraculous design for LIFE.  See those piglet toenails?  They have this wet rubbery texture so that they don't break through the sac while they're inside their momma.  Isn't that amazing?

Furthermore, they can literally find the teat for nursing within less than 2 minutes of being born.  Wilburta knew what to do.  The piglets knew what to do.  The instincts they are equipped with are amazing.

Now, keeping them all alive once they're born and beginning to thrive is another matter.  Wilburta had 6 piglets altogether.  One died shortly after it was born and the other was born dead.  And then  a couple hours after they were born, Wilburta laid on one, suffocating it.  So we have 3 little pigs.  A black one and 2 pinks.  They are stinkin' adorable!  (Hmmm...I'm thinking "stinkin'" is an appropriate adjective for a piglet!)

The plan, since Wilburta is not a princess (seeing as she can't feel the piglets under her when she lays down), is that we will keep the piglets separate from her, except for feeding times every couple hours.  For feedings, we'll deliver them to her and wait for them to finish, then take them back to their cozy little spot where no one will lay on them.  I have a feeling we will be tired soon.  And we will look for another way to keep these little cuties alive.  But for now, we don't know what other options there are.  We will read and research and ask around.  Until then, we'll be tired...and tied to the house and pigyard.  So much for our orthodontist appointment tomorrow in Lexington.  I can hear my conversation with the receptionist now.  "Hello?  Yes, I need to reschedule my sons' appointments.  Yeah, we just had piglets.  Can you schedule us for, oh, about 6 weeks from now, when they're weaned?"

What Happened to July?

What Happened to JULY???  Oh, I remember...

 We spent it cuddling kittens,

 growing a garden,

 taking smiling boys and girls to a MULTITUDE of doctors' appointments,

 fostering sibling love,

 catching pigs that figured out how to escape their pens,

 waiting for baby bunnies to be born,

 playing with best friends,

 pampering pregnant piggies,

 (and the piggy baby daddy),

 finding new kitten dens,

 watching baby chicks hatch,

 admiring handsome drakes,

 looking for the 100th time at the cute kittens,

 helping Wilburta decide if a water-birth is for her,

 watching baby ducklings turn into teen-age ducklings,

 hatching MORE ducklings,

 nursing poor Patches' broken leg,

 keeping chicks warm and fed,

 keeping pigs' mud holes filled,

and just generally enjoying farm life.  But, now it's August, time for our family to settle back into a school-time routine.  While I love the laid-back pace of summer time, I'm also the first to admit that I love the routine even more.