David Goes to a Pig Auction

Good news!  I found where Mama Cat has hidden her newborn kittens.

Unfortunately, she is keeping them in a tub of extra bedding that belongs to our vacation rental.  Which is extremely professional and sanitary on our part.

Me to the Boys Six Months Ago:  DO NO GO IN THE STORAGE ROOM.  ALL THE RENTAL STUFF IS IN THERE AND IT NEEDS TO STAY NICE.

Me after finding a cat has made her home in an opened, knocked over tote:  WHAT HAPPENED, BOYS?

Boys:  What?!  We wanted to build a fort!  Is that bad?

Being the good Mama Cat that she is, I was unable to get a photo of the kittens. She was not having it.

***

We are basking in all the glory of Spring Break over here.  Handsome Dude is surely struggling to understand time without the normal routine of school.  Everyday he asks if he is going to school tomorrow?  And oh for the joy of it all when he is told no.

To make matters even more perplexing, David took yesterday off.

David.  Off.  On a Wednesday, of all things!

Well, friends.  It was pig auction day!  So the boys loaded into the big rig with their pa and drove a few hours south to the pig auction.  The girls and I declined the pig auction and instead headed off to the big city for shopping and lunch!  I believe we won the day.

David has been planning on attending the pig auction for awhile, so he has been spending the past few days fixing up some of the pig pens and removing dead trees and the like.

One night, we all went out to help him, minus Sweet Pea, of course, who has a free “get out of farm and ranch chores” pass as she is recovering from knee surgery.  I will fully admit that out of the 4 of us helping David, I am the 3rd best helper.  Handsome Dude is the number one helper.  Daisy Mae is a close second to Handsome Dude.  Then I come into third place.  I am in third place because of my limited farm knowledge and general lack of muscle strength and passion for the projects.  Little Dude is the not-so-greatest helper because he could not care less.  He spends most of his time talking to dogs and chasing cats.

So thank goodness for Daisy Mae and Handsome Dude!

It is hard to see but HD is towing a tree stump with the bulldozer (yellow machine) and David is behind with the bobcat (white machine) and his fancy attachment called the stump bucket.

I would like the records to show that watching HD work with David fills me with pride and absolute terror.

Back to Wednesday.  Pig Auction Day.  David went and was disappointed to only return with 11 pigs.  Poor thing.

The girls and I returned home soon after he came home.  He stayed outside to continue working on the pig pens.  At one point in the evening, I heard the horrendous sounds of pigs screaming.

Yes.  Screaming.  Have you heard pigs throw a fit?  It is not pleasant.

I look at Sweet Pea and say, “Sheesh.  What is Dad doing to those pigs?  Is he already butchering them?”

No more than 3 minutes later, David walks into the house.  He is holding a knife and has blood all over his hands.  To some it might be an abnormal, or even terrifying, sight.

At our house, it is just Wednesday night.

Me:  What in the world is going on out there?

David:  I had to castrate two pigs.

Excellent.  As most men do.

So the castrated pigs are recovering away from other pigs.  I went on a walk today and snapped a photo of our new swine.

They smell and are cranky.

I enjoyed my walk today.  It is lovely to see the lands after all the months of snow.  I walked by our fire pit and noticed someone discarded a deer leg in it, so that was pleasant.

Yes.  Animal limbs are scattered about my property often.  I believe my dogs find them out in the back of our property and bring them home to us as gifts.  They are often dropped on my front steps.  I get tired and busy and don’t always get them removed when I leave for work in the morning.  We live out in the middle of nowhere!  What does it matter?

But then sometimes I get home and observe that the UPS man came. And I can’t help but wonder what his thoughts were as he had to step over a deer leg or pig’s foot to get the package to the  front door.  I am sure he thinks we are completely normal and he is happy to be our UPS man.

***

The kids and I dyed Easter Eggs today.

You wouldn’t know it from this picture, but Little Dude was entertaining us with many jokes, such as:

“Hey, did you hear about the circus fire?”

“It was INTENSE.”

Do you get it?  Do you get it?

Happy Thursday!