A Piggy A-Z. M is for Maki

Hello readers!

We have been sent a photo of one of the Piggyfriends#2 herd, who live in CT.

The girls all had a spa day, with shampoos, pedicures and haircuts and here is Maki, relaxing in her towels and enjoying a leaf.

A Piggy A-Z. M is for May Day......or maybe not.

 Hello readers. Picchu Piggyfriend here.

We were going to make a May Day post. Our girls were competing for the right to be May Queen and have a crown of mayflowers. We have a hedge of hawthorn ( may ) along the side of our garden.

I think that Bella would have won by virtue of her mere weight although Caoimhe is growing to be a big girl too.

Unfortunately, our spring has been unseasonably cold this year and there was not a single blossom to be picked so the girls will have to wait until next year. We cannot have a May Queen without any May.

Newsflash: New Prairie Pigs Arrive on The Doorstep!!!

 There has been a lot of excitement among the Prairie Pigs in the last few days: two new little boars have appeared very suddenly in the next room!  We only found out about it after Meabh the Brave (who also lives in that room) came for her usual evening visit and told us the whole story. 

Apparently our Slave's vet clinic phoned her a few days ago to tell her about two guinea pigs who urgently needed a new home.  All of the other Prairie Pigs have come from the local humane society shelter, but this sounded like a situation where help was needed right away, so she asked the clinic to give her phone number to the piggies' owner and, before we knew a thing about it, she was off to collect them and quite a stack of paraphernalia that came with them.  

These are our new recruits --- Bert and Ernie.  They are two handsome Abyssinian boars, and to tell the truth, we are a little jealous that they get to live in the same room with Meabh the Brave and have chats with her in the middle of the night after Slave is asleep.  

Here is a closer pigture of Ernie, showing off his beautiful luxuriant coat.  It's a good thing we know that Meabh is not swayed by mere physical attraction and that her heart belongs to us, her four favourite boyfriends !  

                                                                           

These little wooden houses came along with our new additions from their previous home. They are

a bit rough, but guinea pigs like that sort of thing; easier to get your teeth into when applying those customizing touches!  We Prairie Pigs are not much for climbing, so we were surprised to hear from Meabh that Bert and Ernie not only nap inside these houses, but also hop up on top to use them as viewing platforms (especially for peeking over into Meabh's cage which is just a few feet away).

We're hoping that soon these little boys will be allowed to come and visit us on their own; we can hardly wait to meet them and begin telling them some of that all-important inside info about life as a Prairie Pig and how to get extra snacks and treats from our Slave!

Nugget is 6!

I had a birthday April 20th, but my mom wasn't able to get a pigture of me on the special day because her camera refused to turn on. She was very disappointed.

This afternoon she tried again, and to her surprise the camera turned on --- then immediately turned off!  My dad tried taking out the new batteries and putting them in again, and for some reason, the camera decided to work.

(This is supposed to be about me, I think???)

Anyhow, my mom didn't have much time to prepare so she picked me up from my cozy where I was resting, got one of my towels and placed me on the sofa by her favorite pillow. She says that in hindsight (I'll have to ask what that means), she should have chosen one of her cranberry towels to match the pillow, but she was concerned that the camera would change its mind.

(Is this about me yet?)

My parents won't tell me exactly how old I am, but say I am very young.  Despite some health problems earlier in the year, I'm feeling much better now and have gained weight in the past month. I'm very happy to have celebrated another birthday!

Introducing Our New Sofa!

We have just received this exciting news flash from our field reporters, Scottie and Nugget:

I am Scottie, and have I told you I have a new sofa? I mean, my brother, Nugget, and I have a new sofa, although I did my best to claim it first!

In the first pigture, I think you can see that I am perfectly configured to the shape of the sofa, as the instruction manual suggested. (OK, I am kidding about the instruction manual.) One step into it, though, and I completely relaxed. It is the ultimate in comfort. Well, besides our other sofa, of course!

Now I'll display it on its side, so you can get a better view, and I'll just scamper off. You can't see me, can you?

New Piggyfriends!

Have a look at these two dear little fellows!

Pooh Piglets Rescue had some baby boars needing homes but when our Slave called Pauline, who runs the rescue, they had already been rehomed but she had these two slightly older teddy brothers needing a home.

They had been fostered by one of her helpers and she took this photo of them. Slave immediately said that she would love them and Pauline replied that she needed to get there as soon as possible or they would be gone. Pauline does not reserve piggies so early the next morning, Slave set out for Pooh Piglets and they were still there.

A very socially distanced handover with Slave standing at the piggy shed door and Pauline holding them out at arm's length took place and they were on their way home to Piggyfriends.

They are five months old and the foster lady called them Kenneth and Keith. Slave does not like these names plus she knows someone called Keith and it would seem a bit odd to name a piggy after him. A long debate ensued between us and her and she finally came up with Oscar for one of them, having run out of the usual Irish names that newcomers are likely to be given.

They are almost identical but you can see that the one of the left has a tiny patch of white hair above his nose and between his eyes amongst the orange. Brush it the wrong way and it disappears! He is Oscar.

Slave likes alliterative names for pairs of piggies but, having had piggies for more years than we can count, she has run out of names beginning with O. She was planting some achimenes, which are pretty houseplants, of which she has even more than she has piggies, and one of them has the varietal name of Ambrose Verschaffeltii ( we had to look up how to spell that ) named after the man who first grew it and she thought that Ambrose was a nice piggy name ( without that long name after it ).

So Oscar's brother is now called Ambrose. We suspect that they will get mixed up and she will call them the orange boys instead but we all have cards on our pens with our names.

Here they are again. As you can see, the both love carrots. Slave says that is why they are so orange. They really do have red eyes. That is not Slave being useless with the camera.

So please welcome Oscar and Ambrose, our newest friends. They are very loud when it is mealtime but Fionn is our loudest piggy by far.

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!!!