Easter Greetings from the Prairie Pigs

 Hello everyone, Méabh the Brave here to deliver Easter and Spring greetings from the Prairie Pigs!  (Let the record show that my agent has directions to accept any Spokespig bookings that come with dandelion greens as a bribe...)

We want to wish everyone out there lots of warm sunshine and gentle breezes, and the chance to spend time safely outside with family and friends.  Perhaps you should also treat yourself to an extra chocolate egg or bunny to make up for the lack of hugs this year --- here's hoping this is our last Covid Easter!!!

Happy Easter from the Piggyfriends

 

All of the Piggyfriends want to wish our readers a very Happy Easter. This is Picchu being our representative. He is a very good piggy, who will sit still for a photo without trashing the props. He was rewarded with a carrot afterwards. A real one not one of those artificial raffia ones in the pigture.

Mothers' Day 2021. Piggyfriend Mamas.

In England we celebrate Mothers' Day today. Our Slave likes to have a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates. She loves carnations.

Here at Piggyfriends, we have three girls who are mothers and they would prefer to have some nice grass or a pile of tasty leaves. Flowers are not much use for us guineas unless they are dandelion flowers and it is too early in the year for those.

 

Above you can see Mama Bonbon on the left with her daughters, Bella and Miss Marple, enjoying some grass. Mama seems to be wearing it as well.

 

Ebony ( right ) is a mum too. She was collected from a piggy show by the lovely lady at Pooh Piglets rescue and came to us the following day. She had babes although we do not know where they are but she has the company of her best friend, Saffron.

And, lastly, we have Caoimhe ( on the right ). She had babes when she was at Pooh Piglets but when our Slave went there looking for some more Piggyfriends, they had already been adopted so she came home with a new friend, little Orla, who is camera shy and is hiding under their little stool.

The Piggyville Girls lit a candle too.

 

The Piggyville Girls of North Carolina lit a candle in memory of Peter Gurney, who taught so many people how to care for piggies.

Long before there was social media, he brought piggy lovers together so that they could share knowledge and friendship. He taught us that every piggy's life is valuable and that what we do for our piggies is small compared to what they give to us.

At this time we remember the lives of our lost loved ones and we have piggies to kiss our tears away.

The Prairie Pigs Light a Candle

                     

This year it was me, Pavarotti, representing the Prairie Pigs for our Peter Gurney Memorial Candle Lighting ceremony.  (Pig Mum said it was safe as long as I didn't come too close, but I had to have a good look at the candle myself before tucking into the cilantro bribe....)

We have many guinea pigs, rabbits, cats and mice to remember on March 9, and this year we had a special moment of silence for the lovely Daddy Slave of the Piggyfriends, husband to our Auntie Penny.  Guinea pigs do not like to travel too far from our own hay boxes and refrigerators, so we never met him but the Piggyfriends speak so fondly of him when we have our secret midnight international piggy Zoom chats that we feel as if we knew him too.  We feel as if he might have heard about us from Auntie Penny, and that he might be watching over us too from the Rainbow Bridge.

Of course, we are also remembering Peter Gurney, and we are so very thankful for all of the knowledge he spread on the proper care of guinea pigs, and how much he did to show the world how rich and entertaining life with piggies can be! 

Candle Lighting Memorial 2021

Every year at 8pm. on March 9th. we light candles in memory of all of our friends and pets gone before us.

Since this was started in memory of guinea pig expert, Peter Gurney, we need to have a piggy in the photo so you can see our Carter Piggyfriend in the photo below.

It is not always easy to get a piggy to sit still for very long, especialy when there are candles burning nearby but Carter is a star and the bribery was probably not necessary......

........but he did enjoy it.

We are remembering a host of Piggyfriends past together with the many pets that have lived with our Slave over very many years but particularly our lost Daddy Slave, who is at the Rainbow Bridge watching over us all. He used to carry big bales of hay for Slave and cut boxes of grass for us all and he is sadly missed. Our pigsitter helps with the hay now when he visits us and he cuts grass too but, during the lockdown in England, which lasted from March until July last year, he was not allowed to visit and Slave had to do it all herself, for which we are very grateful. Thanks for the grass Slave.

If you lit a candle and would like to share your pigture, we would love to see it. You can post it on our blog and we will publish it for you. See where it says "new post" on the top of our page or you can send it to us at piggyfriends@talktalk.net.

We hope that lots of piggy people joined in our ceremony this year,

Remembering Peter Gurney March 9th

Hello from Scottie and Nugget! We're making sure our candle is ready for the Peter Gurney Candlelight Memorial, an annual event that began on the Guinea Pigs' Daily Digest in 2006.

This event is a tribute to the late Mr. Gurney, celebrating his great contributions to the health, care, and knowledge of guinea pigs.

Please join us by lighting a candle on March 9th, Peter's birthday, at 8 p.m. in your time zone and keeping it lit for an hour, if possible. In this way we remember Mr. Gurney as well as other friends (human, furred, feathered, and finned) who have passed on.

As candles are lit in each subsequent time zone, our light travels around the world.

Afterwards, a list of locations is posted at the GPDD, so we hope you'll e-mail pg_memorial@gpdd.org to let us know where you lit your candle. (No names or e-mail addresses are posted, just your location.)

We're looking forward to the big day, and we hope you can participate, too!

New Babies!!!

Our dear friend, Dee, from the GPDD, sent us these lovely photos.

She adopted a piggy called Lucy to be a companion for her Lily and this is what has happened.

 Everybody say " Aaah!"

Everybody say " Oooh!" Five piggies for the price of one. How good is that?

A Valentine's Day Story (with Guinea Pigs!)

 

 

(We have received a story from some of our stellar reporters in the field, the Piggyville Girls.  While it is appearing --- through no fault of the reporters themselves --- a tiny bit late for Valentine's Day, we felt that this sweet story deserves to be read any day of the year.)

The Piggyville Girls have a secret to share with you... Their Mommy and Daddy met on Valentine's Day!

This story has been passed down from generation to generation of Piggyville guinea pigs.  It was a cold and blustery night in Tampa, Florida, and Mommy was driving home from the feed store with a bale of hay.  She decided to take up an offer for a cup of tea.  The invitation had come from a British physicist named Paul who lived aboard his sailboat.  She drove to Dunedin Marina and there, waiting under a light on the dock, was this handsome sailor.

He was the perfect gentleman.  He made her several cups of tea while they swapped sailing stories.  She told him that she had lived aboard her sailboat for three years with a trio of guinea pigs.  The piggies had sailed with her from Miami to Venezuela.  She told him that she now had 17 guinea pigs who were the loves of her life.  He asked if he could meet the piggies.

Well, one day not too long after this, he appeared at her front door with bunches of cilantro and baby carrots.  It was love at first sight between Paul and the piggies.  We think Mommy was pretty impressed too!  He always arrived with gifts for us; even to this day, Daddy always makes sure we have plenty of treats.  He starts each morning by giving us treats and bringing Mommy coffee in bed.  Before he goes to sleep, he always gives us a treat and a tickle.  He has shown us that Love is a commitment to care for us and Mommy for life.

Are you all keeping warm?

In the Netherlands is has been snowing, and we suspect in the countries around it there was snow as well. It has been so could that the snow hasn't really melted yet after a week! That is very unusual for the Netherlands ...

Anyways, Cookie and Linn wanted to demonstrate how they stay warm!

Cookie loves her hammock!

Linn is cuddled up in a piggie pod.

Unfortunately Binky is no longer among us 😢 he loved keeping warm and snuggling as well. He had troubles with his teeth, then got mites and an ear filled with blood? Like an ear hematoma we've seen in dogs at dr pol's show, but never heard of it in guinea pigs. He also had a lot of pus in his inner ear... 

Slaves tried to keep him going with critical care as he had troubles eating, but he didn't make it 😟

He is missed by us all!

 Wheeks,

Guinygirlz Cookie and Linn

P.s. does anyone know why Linn's eyes are turning white?

A message from Fionn Piggyfriend

 

Hello readers,

Fionn Piggyfriend here. I like to sit on one of the wine boxes in our pen so that I can watch the sows and also be on the lookout for any veggies arriving. Slave says that I am a noisy pig but that is because our pen is nearest the door and I can alert the other piggies to the possibility of meal time.

Since I came here with my brother, Oisin, it is surprising how much these boxes have shrunk. There used to be room on top for us to sit side by side but now there is only room for me. The top of this box is also collapsing and Slave needs to find us some more.

She used to pick them up from the supermarket, where the staff would leave them in a crate by the door but now we are having our veggies delivered, she cannot get any replacements. She hopes that it will not be too long before this horrible pandemic has been conquered and that it will be safe for her to go to the shops again.

Hoping every pig and their slaves are all keeping safe and well.

Nugget and Scottie Make a New Year's Resolution

Hello and Happy New Year from Nugget (and Scottie, too)! Scottie and I thought we should make at least one New Year's resolution, and we decided it should be about relaxation.

Our resolution is this: Do more of it.

As a visual aid, here is a pigture of me resting on our "think tank." We're honored to be among the piggies who've used it, as Mom says it's been in our family a long time. It looks like a bassinet (with a canopy on it) and you're supposed to get into it, but Scottie and I have discovered you can plop down on it as if it's a beanbag chair. Double the comfort!

Mom was able to get this photo by opening the blinds so I had lots of sunlight on me. Please ignore the brown tint, which isn't really there. Our think tank is very colorful all around.

We hope other piggies will share their relaxation techniques.

I Am One!

I, Scottie, have just turned one! This has never happened to me before, so I am very excited.

Apparently when you have a birthday, you have your pigture taken, too. Here I am with my grizzly bear friend who came to live with us a couple of weeks ago. It was nice of him to keep me company. He says he looks forward to being one.

I hope you like my, um, our portrait!

Merry Christmas from the Piggyville Girls.

 It was the day before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse......

The Piggyville Girls under the tree were lost in thought.

How is Santa Claus going to get our presents to us since our house does not have a chimney? Just these funny points on top.

" No problem." said Tilley. " I will build a chimney for good old Saint Nick!"  Squirly was not very impressed by it.

 

 "Maybe Santa has left our presents in our hay bag," Tilley squeaked in delight.

 

To everyone's surprise Santa had left presents in the rosemary bush overnight.

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!!!

A Merry Prairie Christmas to All

Hello everyone, Heathcliffe, spokespig for the Prairie Pigs, here to wish all the piggies and piggy people out there our very best in Season's Greetings.  We hope you are having a peaceful and safe holiday.

Like many households this year, Christmas was a bit different for us, but while Slave seemed a little sad to be spending less time with family and friends during the Yuletide, we were mostly only pretending to be sympathetic while we enjoyed having her at our beck and call a lot more than past Christmases.  She did meet with a few friends now and then for walks around the neighbourhood to admire the festive light displays, but then she would be back all rosy-cheeked and more than ready to snuggle with us again.

We hope you are all finding creative ways to make this year's Christmas special, even if it is not exactly the one we would have chosen, and to count the blessings we still have (especially the small round furry ones)!

P.S. If you look closely at the lovely card next to me in the photo, you will see it's a Christmas pyramid of guinea pigs --- it came all the way from England from our Auntie Penny and the Piggyfriends.

 

Happy Christmas from the Piggyfriends.

 On behalf of the Piggyfriends, Orla would like to send Christmas wishes to all of our readers.

"Whatever is this green stuff?" she asks." It looks like grass but I do not think that it is edible."

Orla invites you to play "Spot the Pig".

 

" I don't know," says Orla. " My first Christmas and they get me to dress up! I did get to eat the carrot afterwards though."

We hope that everyone has the best Christmas possible in the current pandemic and hope that next year will be better for all the humans. Take care everyone and stay safe.

Smiles

 Hi all,

My boyfriend and pig dad Erwin made this video and it made me smile looking at the impatient piggies. I hope it makes you smile as well!

Mieke, proud slave to the piggies who learned this trick to show their impatience: Binky, Cookie and Linn

More New Piggyfriends! Two little boys.

When our Slave went to Pooh Piglets to collect Orla and Caoimhe, Pauline had many other piggies in need of loving homes. She had taken an extra carrier just in case so we knew that some more new friends would be accompanying our new girls on the way home. She could not take a carrier and not fill it up.

Two little brothers had been left at Pooh Piglets a few days previously and they were taken out of their hutch to meet Slave and her son.

Once picked up, they could not possibly be left behind so Sean was sent out for the other carrier and here they are at Piggyfriends.

Pauline said that she could only have them if she promised to change their names as she did not like them and this has been done. Slave has named them Oisin and Fionn ( say Osheen and Finn ) after two mighty warriors of Irish legend. We think that they will have to grow into their names as they are not very brave yet!

Here is another photo of Oisin, who does not actually have red eyes. Slave really needs to learn how to use the red eye filter on her camera.

And one showing his nice, fat "go faster" stripe around his middle.

Here is another pigture of Fionn.

He is all black except for a little white spot on his nose, which shows in the first pigture. They both love their food except for celery, which they may never have met before and are getting braver by the day especially as their pen is next door to that of Orla and Caoimhe and they come out to chat.

Please welcome them into the Piggyfriend clan.

Oh and we could not go without showing you this out take. Slave was trying to get a photo of Oisin's stripe. He was sitting nicely until he heard the click of the shutter and he was away.

A Piggy A to Z - "M" is for Meabh, A Brand-New Prairie Pig

 

 Hello, everyone!  My name is Meabh, and I am the newest Prairie Pig.  As you can see, I am a beautiful chestnut-brown Abyssinian with lots of whorls and rosettes, and I'm about five months old.  Meabh is a traditional Irish name (pronounced similar to Maeve or Mayve), and Slave gave me that name because the day I went up for adoption at the local animal shelter was the birthday of Penny, Slave to the Piggyfriends, who (as you likely know) is proudly Irish !

Though my official residence (which I like to call the Fortress of Solitude) is in the room next door to the Piggy Room, I get lots of floor time in the Piggy Room so I can socialize and hang out with the other Prairie Pigs.  Here I am visiting Heathcliffe.  Gosh --- is he a really big guy, or am I smaller than I think?

Here I am in one of my favourite hiding spots, the hay rack between Bonnie's and Pavarotti's cages; that's Pavarotti off to my left, looking a little concerned that I might have squeezed into this spot one time too many.  I like to keep Slave on her toes by shoe-horning myself into all sorts of places where it doesn't seem a guinea pig should be able to fit.  (To tell the truth, I fit into this particular hiding place a lot better a month ago when I first arrived.  Four weeks of munching my way through the endless Prairie Pig buffet might have left me just a teeny bit wider than I was when I got here...) 

Hmmmm --- it looks as if some careless person has left the door to the piggy room open, and I think there are one or two rooms on this floor that I haven't explored yet.  Slave says I am "a handful", whatever that means!  Apparently the other Prairie Pigs have always been quite content to stay in the Piggy Room whether the door is open or not, but I am a free spirit and much more adventurous than the average guinea pig.  

We have already discovered that a small piggy sitting directly under the middle of a bed is almost impossible to reach from any side and can stay there until she is good and ready to come out, regardless of Slave's plans to get to bed early and read a book.  (Though I do notice that she seems to be spending more time vacuuming under the beds since my excursions began, so perhaps she is learning some valuable lessons from the experience!)

New Piggyfriends! Please welcome them into their new home.

 In England, we have been in various lockdowns and restrictions for months on end. Slave thought that our nearest dedicated guinea pig rescue must have had to be closed but, during the summer, after the first lockdown, people were allowed to have six people in their gardens so the lovely lady that runs Pooh Piglets had prospective adopters sitting around her lawn and she would hold up a piggy needing a home rather like a piggy auction. Many lucky piggies were taken home and without this, it might not have been possible to keep the rescue going.

Now it is too cold to do this but Slave and her son were allowed to peek in the piggy shed door whilst Pauline help up a piggy for them to see. Slave knew that she had two Rex ladies so she asked to see them.

First of all she was shown this lovely lady.

Slave thought that she was the image of our Daisy from years ago. Long time GPDD readers might remember her as President of the LAPS. The Large and Ample Piggy Society.

She came into the rescue pregnant and her babes have all been adopted out so Pauline put another little Rex lady in with her for company. They are the best of friends.

She is pure white and does not have red eyes. That is just Slave being rubbish with her camera. Sean was sent back to the car for our carrier and they were both put in it with a pile of veggies to eat on the journey home.

All the food had gone by the time they got here and they were shown to their new home. Neither of these little ladies had names so Slave called the white one Orla. Here she is below.

 

And again so that you can see her dear little piggy nose.

Slave decided to call the grey girl Caoimhe. She does not expect anyone to know how to pronounce Irish names with the exception of the Surrey Squeakers' family and Pat of the Prairie Piggies, who is learning. You say it Keeva. Here she is again with Orla exiting stage right.

 

And both girls together.

They have settled in really well and eat everything in sight. Typical Rexes. We wonder if they will grow as big as Daisy and her brother Roscoe? They came here as tiny babes so had good food right from the start.

Of course, there were many more piggies wanting homes at Pooh Piglets and Orla and Caoimhe did not come home alone but that is a story for another day.

Footnote....Pooh Piglets has been involved in a rescue of hundreds of piggies from a breeder in Chichester who died. Many of them are pregnant. Many in a sorry condition, poor little poppets. When they are all recovered and the mums have weaned their babes, there will be countless piggies needing loving homes so if any of our readers live in the SE of England please think of them in the future if you have room for some more little friends.