And On That Farm, She Had A Pig,....

Two weeks ago, I drove up to Maryland to visit my sister, Katie, for a long weekend.  On the way, I stopped at my Aunt Linda's house overnight.  My pictures are in reverse order so you'll see pictures of her new Guiding Eyes puppy-in-training at the end of the post.

This post is dedicated to the wonderful, funny, and adorable animals I got to spend time with that weekend.

See that big, white hen?  She's a Cornish Cross (meat bird) that should have been butchered almost 2 years ago.  She was a bit small so we spared her.  She free-ranges with the best of them now even being as heavy bodied as she is. 

Pig Pig.... This pig is awesome.  I've never really known a pig up close.  She's a few months old and is full of personality.  She will make great bacon some day but I know that'll be tough to say good-bye to her.  Hopefully she'll be ugly and irritating by then!
My sister, the world's most amazing animal trainer, has taught Pig Pig to sit for her food. Watch this little video.



Isn't that amazing?  I'd heard that pigs were smart but that really proved it!

These cute little piglets got to join Pig Pig that weekend and they were all happier for it.  They were so cute.  The bigger of the two is really loud when he wants food!

Did you know that pigs love ketchup?  Katie fed Pig Pig some ketchup through the fence and she slurped it down. It was funny to listen to.

 

My brother, Chris, helped carry the piglets to their new pen.  It looks mean to carry them by their back feet but you should try holding one of those little suckers.  They tense their body up, scream bloody murder, and wiggle around.  They'd end up falling in their scramble to escape so this way is safer for all involved. 

I helped milk June, the goat, while I was there.  She's such a great goat.  She was very tolerant of me even though I'm not quite as fast as Katie. 

David, Katie's husband, likes to pretend he doesn't like the animals, but I caught him spending time with Ida.  She snuggled his head and nibbled his hair a bit.

He fed her clover, one stem at a time. 

Wanda, the broody wonder, and her newest babies. 

I love Pig Pig's ears.

Baby meat bunnies.  They were so tiny and jumpy.

Nikki, Chris's girlfriend, snuggling one.

Nikki had to hold on tight to this screaming, wiggling piglet.

They slurp up goat milk in record time!


So, you know that my sister can teach her pig to sit but did you know that she taught her dogs to catch marshmallows... as they come flying out of her mouth?  Don't believe me?  Watch.



This is one of the many reasons I love my sister.  She is hilarious.  When we were teenagers, we invented the marshmallow spitting game but at the time our dog just ran over and collected the marshmallows from the floor.  Katie has taken it a step further. 


So, back to the beginning of my trip.  I stopped by my Aunt Linda's house to stay the night before heading to my sister's house the next morning.  It was great to get a chance to visit and catch up.  We sat outside, enjoying the wonderful weather and knit and talked.  A great way to spend the morning. 

I was also excited to meet Kodiak.  My aunt is a puppy raiser for Guiding Eyes and Kodiak is her newest pup. 

He is so cute!  He's a sweet boy who is eager to please.  Do you see his left ear? It's curled up at the end.  It has been like that since birth.  I think it adds to his charm.

He's a good napper, too.