Baby Goes On Vacation

You might be surprised to know that my day isn't always filled with Mommy cuddles and silky taggie toys.

Somedays it can be quite stressful laying around on the floor in this noisy house.

People don't really think about it but-  babies need a vacation!

Thankfully Mommy and Daddy love me SO much that they took me on a much needed vacation.... all the way to a place called Jamaica.  First thing Mommy did (after getting that drink) was take my clothes off.  Woohoo, this was good start.  Unrestricted access to my toes!

Brother and sister stayed behind at Grandma and Pa's.  So for the first time, I had things all to myself.

Most importantly, I had Mommy and Daddy ALL TO MYSELF.  Oh yeah....

I will even take this way of being carried, doesn't matter, someone is holding me and I love it.   Hello sandy ground.... I wonder how you taste-

Apparently when on vacation one is supposed to chill.  This is my chillin' face-

This is me chillin' with my mom listening to island music-

This is me chillin' with my daddy, on the back of a bike.  "When I push with my foot Daddy I want you to go faster"-

This is me chillin' on the beach-

When I am chillin' my Mommy and Daddy are very happy.  They did laugh and smile more than usual-

They also took me to this beautiful ceremony with a whole LOT of beautiful smiles-

They gave me this amazing crinkly toy.  I'm serious guys, if you have never squished and crinkled a tissue package for a half an hour.... you haven't lived.

The reception site had Dr. Suess trees y'all-

I also got to meet some new friends that held me at times too!  Good looking peeps right?  I stared closely at their faces and pulled on their hair..... especially that pretty blonde lady next to mommy.  And the guy in the blue pants and sport jacket..... he is pretty much my boyfriend.

As you know, vacations have to end.  But I soaked up as much Mommy arm time as I could before we got home-

So here I am back to normal life.

I love my brother and sister, so let's not tell them that sometimes I need a vacation from them.  It will be our little secret-

2014 Piglets Are Here!

We got our piglets a recently!  They are only 5 weeks old but already at a strong healthy weight and looking excellent.  We estimate they are somewhere between 20-30 lbs.
Our farmer friend who raises them usually decides when to wean by watching the mother.  He decides to separate them when the mother is looking stressed and tired and when she is becoming irritated and nipping at them (ie, the sow is ready for them to be weaned and is doing it herself).  From my understanding and reading, the sow is usually NOT successful at fully weaning her piglets herself.  Piglets are VERY persistent feeders and their quick growth is evidence of that.  When they are little they are constantly following their mother around waiting for her to lay down so they can nurse.  Once she does they hop right on eat, eat, eat.

Stock photo

Once the piglets get taller they are able to nurse from the mother even when she is not laying down.  Pig farmers will tell you they will pester the mother until she gets pretty irritated at them.... sometimes the mother will even get aggressive with the piglets to ward them off.  Mothers will lay flat on their bellies to keep the tits from the piglets.

Stock photo

A blog post from Sugar Mountain Farm in Vermont explained how they attempted to let the piglets wean naturally, he said they never did and had to intervene due to the mother getting "a bit peaked".

Most farmers wean their piglets between 5-10 weeks from my understanding.  Factory farms wean theirs around 10-15 days.
Piglets start on other sources of food around 4 or weeks..... usually this is feed.  Just like human babies they need more calories eventually than what is found in mother's milk.  Also, sow's milk is devoid of iron.  Therefore piglets being kept on a concrete floor will need an iron supplement.  Piglets with access to dirt will root and get their needed iron from the dirt.
Last, before I share our piglet's photos, I want to mention that I am researching and plan to blog about farrowing crates (stalls where sows are kept while giving birth and through the early days following labor).  Our farmer informed me that they are illegal to use in Massachusetts.  I understand both sides, but I don't think most other people do.  Stay tuned for that if interested.

Now for the our piglet pictures!  Here are our two little gilts (gilt is a female pig before she becomes a mother).

We decided to get only females this year because in the past the females have been cleaner (only using the bathroom in the pasture and not near the food or bedding).  Maybe just a coincidence?  We will see how these do.

Just as previous years, we got Hampshire/Yorkshire crosses.  Long bodies mean more meat capacity.

Cute little hams.

Good hand sniffing form.... back of hand so there's nothing to possibly nip.

Already rooting, look at the little muddy noses-

I think someone else is as happy with these piglets as I am-

She does like animals.  Here is little lady last month at my parents farm.... who doesn't like a good game of peek-a-boo.

Did You Say A Retaining Wall??!!!!!!

Get your guitars out.... and sing with me.

Trouble
Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble
Trouble been doggin' my soul
Since the day I was born

(Trouble, Ray LaMontagne)

This week I had a hardscape material provider come out and look at our pool fence area to give us   suggestions and a quote on materials.  (Last week's post about cleaning up around the pool fence here.)

In keeping trend with the rest of this HOUSE PROJECT (my eye just twitched when I typed that), apparently this pool has more than aesthetic problems.  There are grading (land slope) issues which could lead to structural problems.  Here are some things he pointed out.

First off the obvious, land is eroding out from under the pool apron (the concrete area around the pool).

Such is causing shifts and cracks throughout the apron-

And dropping and breaking of the concrete-

 I never noticed this brick here before, wonder if that was the last owners way of fixing it.

According to the hardscape guy (who isn't a contractor but refers them, he only provides materials) we need a retaining wall all along the back of the fence to stop the eroding.

He even suggested ripping out this section of fence and building a retaining wall for this entire corner. (the gap under the fence here has always worried me, big enough for a toddler to crawl under)-

But wait, there's more.  
He was also concerned with the area adjoining the pool.... the deck and the (once) flower garden.  Since it is right up against the structural mess of a pool he thinks the whole area needs to corrected all at the same time.
In other words, we would need to rip out the entire deck and level out the ground to slope properly with the pool apron (there are structural and drainage reasons here).  It makes sense to me, but the cost to do it is the possible problem.

Granted the deck is pretty much dead (we knew this when we moved in, inspector said it needed to be replaced soon) but that's a project we weren't planning on tackling anytime soon.  

And we thought the guy could just dump off some rocks and we could shovel them in around the fence.  :(   Oh, Trouble...... trouble, trouble, trouble.
Such is the way it is.  We JUST finished paying off the large basement project.
Thoughts anyone?  We plan to get another opinion before we do anything drastic.  Hope there is another and cheaper solution but want to do it right.