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!!!

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,