You guys!!! I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. We cut the middle of the little pig pen since the pigs were going under the fence and getting scratched. I hate that, so we cut it out. I wasn’t really sure how Russ was going to do because he really does guard his area. He likes to have his own spot. He is definitely top hog and doesn’t tolerate much of the others when he doesn’t want to. He lets them know quickly who is boss. It is cold again here, down in the 30s at night, so I go around and put more straw in pens to keep them warm at night. Russ is the only one I really worry about because he refuses to sleep in anything except the small dog house. The other side of the pig pen has a big shelter the other 4 pigs sleep in. He just wouldn’t sleep in there with them. Well, as I was going to put straw in the shelter, Russ came running out. After straw was put in the shelter, he was actually over there helping the other pigs to straighten the straw out the way they wanted it. That is the first time Russ has done that. Seriously, the first time. I am hoping this means Russ will be cuddled up with the rest of them tonight to stay warm.

Have you ever just stopped what you are doing and just looked around and listened to what’s going on around us?? Life is so busy all of the time that we don’t take time to really stop and notice things. I have been trying to stop and notice more things around me lately to try to block out some of the distractions around. The other day, something caught me in my heart. Something I hadn’t really paid so much attention to. I was out in the pig pen, of course, and most of the little ones were in Russ’ pen. It was just Pork chop and Patsy that were in that pen. Both of them are a little skittish still but so much better than they were. I just stopped and bent down to Pork chop, like I usually do and I looked in his eyes. You can see emotions in their eyes. What I saw was contentment with a little uncertainty. He finally came to me and let me pet him, until Brutus wanted in on the petting. Brutus wants all the attention. I did the same thing with Patsy that day also. I had never realized how much their eyes show. We do this with people everyday, but not animals. I mean, you can see in a dog’s eyes. Never did occur to me to look in my pig’s eyes. It really was an amazing thing to see. Now I do it with all of the animals.

Friday evening, Ronnie and I decided to try something new. He roped Hercules to bring him out of the pen to eat some grass in the yard. He tied him up on the fence to graze. Hercules wasn’t loving in. He screamed at Ronnie the whole time. When he was tied up, we decided to worm all the animals in the pen since it was time to do that. Hercules was eating at this point outside the pen during this time. What I didn’t know was going to happen was Cracker Jack was having a fit. He was not having it that Hercules was not in the pen. He would go over and stand by the pen and watch him. He would come back to us and then walk back and forth between us and Hercules. He had such a fit that we had to bring Hercules back in the pen. I thought those two hated each other but apparently they don’t. I learn something new from these animals everyday.

I have been telling Ronnie for awhile about the flooded pig pen. I mean, it has been raining constantly here in Arkansas. I don’t remember it ever raining so much. It’s insane. So, when he got home, he looked at it but didn’t say much. So I kept on. Today he went and got a bunch of sand to put in there. When he got home from the store, he stepped into the pen. He looked at me and said, this is really bad. I knew it was. The drain he put in awhile back was clogged also, so he cleaned that out. Funny enough, even though it’s not funny, the sand wasn’t going to be enough. Luckily enough, we had some river rock. He stuck the river rock in the bad part of the pen and covered in all with sand. It is so much better and the pigs were super happy. Problem is, as soon as we got it finished, it started storming and is supposed to go all through tomorrow. Poor pigs can’t catch a break. Hopefully it won’t be too bad tomorrow. Ronnie did a great job. The pigs being so happy made me really happy.

This social distancing thing is hard sometimes. Kids get restless. I had some friends come over to see the farm. They hadn’t seen the farm., yet.  So we social distanced outside the house with the animals. They had a good time seeing all the animals and of course the animals loved it. The pigs got Cheerios and the goats and donkey got some animal crackers. I got Gus out of the pen on his harness and leash. He was able to roam around, but threw the biggest fit when he had to go back in. I haven’t seen a fit like this in a long time. The little pigs now have a pen twice as big since they kept cutting their backs going under the fence. Cracker Jack was demanding on food and attention today. Interesting and productive day.

Well, all the little pigs have found the way to and from the other pen. Poor Russ, he doesn’t care for it. What I find so funny about the whole thing is that Bacon bit has lost her top hog status. I always feed Russ first and normally Bacon bit and Brutus are usually over there. I pour in the food and then have to tell them to go home, which they do to get food. One time, Bacon bit decided she would challenge Russ with food and I ended up having to hand feed her she was so upset. He didn’t hurt her except maybe her feelings. He is now top hog. What he wants he gets. He is not afraid to challenge any of them. He is ruthless. I only think it’s funny because bacon bit has been such a bully for so long. She finally got knocked off that pedestal. So, there you have it. Russ is now top hog. I will have to cut out the middle fencing now. Pork chop has difficulty finding his way back home and I have noticed a few scratches on Bacon bit, but it looks like from the fence and not Russ.

We decided to do something different this year with the garden. I saw something about planting in hay bales. We had a bunch of hay bales we can’t use for food on our other property, so hubby brought them home and we attempted to plant in them. That was a work out for sure. My muscles hurt so bad after that. We planted zucchini, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, beans, green onions, corn, pumpkin, cantaloupe, etc. I can’t remember what all we planted, but it was a lot. I was a little worried about it with the temps getting back down into the colder range and with all the rain, but it was like it started growing overnight. It is so amazing!! I’m really excited about the garden this year. It is such a blast to try new things.