The great pig escape

Missy is getting pleasantly plump. As soon as the temperatures drop and the weather is right, she will be butchered. We doubt we will wait until February to do it, only because we don't want a hog over 200 lbs to butcher at home.

Yesterday she got too big for her tractor. Or should that be too smart for her tractor?  She figured out how to flip it up and make her escape. She was jubilant about having the run of the homestead.  If it wasn't for the free range roasters and the weak garden fencing, and the neighbors bad dogs, I might have been inclined to allow her to roam.

But for her safety, she has to be locked away.

Husband danced her to the calf pen. Yes danced. She was just thrilled, dancing and kicking her heels up, kind of like when she could get a hold of a chicken skull. It was easy to get her into the pen.

The calf pen has been unused this year due to not milking, however the sheep have grazed it down. Missy doesn't have any grass in this pen, but she has started digging up the ground for root and grubs. The same dance happens when she finds those grubs. Wish I could be that happy when I get my dinner.

I went out this morning, well before daybreak to give her her breakfast. If she isn't fed by the time the sun cracks the horizon, she gets loud and demanding. She not only demands her food, but she demands you scratch her, she demands you merely talk to her. If not, she doesn't shut up. When we first got her, so many people kept telling me you couldn't raise a pig on it's own. That you had to get two. I didn't want to deal with two pigs. No one however could tell me why it was you couldn't raise one pig alone. Everyone assumed that the one would die of loneliness or something. I say the farmer just slaughters the single one early because they don't stop demanding attention!  Two must be quieter. (the only info I could find is that they are happier in pairs and less likely to escape.)

This afternoon I need to go out and re-secure the calf pen to hold a curious pig.

Other things~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have set in the windows in our porch/bunker thing. And Husband has been sizing the door. pictures and explanation soon.

Small is thriving in his new school program. In just a week he has improved immensely!

I will be butchering the rest of the roasters today.

Theft in the neighborhood is up. Nothing stolen here. . . yet.

We found $5 prairie hay square bales, and jumped on it. We will be trading a calf off for some of it, but that's ok. We had two bulls born this year, so no worries on that. Looking for hay is a problem. Prairie hay round bales went from $40 to $110. That's a huge jump. Horse neighbor found some for $50. But the quality we are finding for the high prices is rather poor.  And some people are paying $150 for round bales. And then come to find out other States are opting to ship bales overseas rather then truck them to drought States because it is cheaper to do so. This is bothersome.

Tomatoes are looking good, nothing yellow or red yet, but if the mild temps hold, things should be good.

It's odd that all I have canned this year is meat. Usually there is a solid month that I am doing nothing but canning veggies. Now I have to buy them. They boys are complaining that they taste funny. And I agree. The frozen ones are just plain nasty and the canned ones taste like tin.  But there is nothing I can do about it. No one has anything. I just harvested 5 gallons of hot and mild peppers though, so I am about to get all kinds of creative with them.