Six Little Piglets

The piglets are here and settling in nicely:

It was a bit of a harrowing ride getting them home. We use a large dog crate to transport animals. That worked well for last year’s batch of pigs, but when we got to the farm yesterday, we realized that this year’s batch of pigs was a few weeks older—and much bigger—than the ones we got last year. Six of them in the dog crate was a tight fit. The husband, usually very laid back on the road, drove faster than I’ve seen him drive in a long time. We were worried that one or two might suffocate or die of heat stroke on the 40-minute ride. Thankfully, everyone was fine. There are five females and one male. These are Hampshires, a popular 4-H breed here. The pig supplier told us that if they had been born six weeks earlier, they probably would have gone to 4-H kids. Some of their littermates were sold as breeding stock.

We’ll let them out into the pasture this evening and the husband will do some fence training with them. He is like the Pied Piper of piglets. They will figure out quickly that they should follow him around. And getting another dog crate at the thrift store is on my list of things to do.

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If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that community is very important to me. Sadly, most people are lacking in any kind of community, and what community there may have been was utterly destroyed by the pandemic lockdowns. Don’t talk to me about the people who died from covid unless you’re willing to include in that number the people who committed suicide from despair. Our church community took a hit, too, but we have a great leadership team that navigated us through the past year with grace and consideration. We had Zoom-only church for a few months, but we’ve been meeting every week in person—albeit in smaller numbers—since last September. We will continue to provide a Zoom link for those who want to join us that way, but as of yesterday, we are back in the church house for both Sunday School and services.

The worship resources provided by Mennonite Church USA for the next several weeks are entitled “Joyride,” and I find that very fitting. I commented that it was about time we were joyful again. We had a full house yesterday, including a large family visiting from Virginia and a young man who is studying at the University of Montana in Missoula. He is from a Mennonite background and drove the two hours up from Missoula to attend church with us yesterday. He plans to come back when his schedule allows. (Bonus: He plays the piano and would be willing to fill in for me—yay!) We have small children running around after years without young families. We sang. We laughed. We visited. It was loud and chaotic and utterly wonderful.

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The tracking number indicates that the 12” zippers from Klum House should arrive today and I can move on to the next step in the Slabtown Backpack project. I’m also expecting some knitted ribbing fabric to arrive from an Etsy seller. I pulled out a yard of Jane Sassaman fabric to make a Noodlehead Firefly Tote. Sewing time has to fit into bits and pieces of time now instead of the marathon sessions I have during the winter, but at least it’s sewing.