A Very Piggy Weekend

My lovely friend Anna came down from Brooklyn to spend a weekend at the farm with me. We had a super-mellow couple of days, mostly because I am still fighting Prednisone-induced exhaustion and I get over-tired very easily. Anna was very sweet about it though and we had a really good time playing with the animals, going out to breakfast and seeing a double featured at the drive-in movie in Fork Union.

Anna was not immune to Charley’s charms, which was good because I had a big surprise for her on Saturday morning.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Churchill, Charley’s long-lost brother!

Caroline, the woman we bought Charley from, has been reading the blog and saw several comments suggesting we get a friend for Charley. She emailed me last week and offered us the last piglet from Charley’s litter. I really didn’t want two pigs, but I gave it some thought and decided that it would be nicer for Charley if he had a friend.

The brothers are easy to tell apart, since Churchill’s face is all black, without the blaze of white that Charley has on his forehead. Also, the pink spot on Churchill’s nose is smaller.

Churchill  hasn’t been handled as much as Charley has, and he is still a little shy.

I’ve been working on training Charley by rewarding him with tiny pieces of carrot when he performs.

It didn’t take long for Churchill to realize that carrots were worth getting close to us for.

Charley and Churchill have been relocated from the house to the barnyard.

I will miss having a house pig, but seeing Charley and Churchill together is worth it.

The two of them are like two peas in a pod.

I am putting a moratorium on new animals for a while, y’all. I mean it! No new friends until lambing season.

Thanks so everyone for your calendar orders! We’ve already sold hove of the total print run and I expect we’ll probably sell out by Monday or Tuesday, so get yours before they are all gone.