Little Chefs and Chocolate Puddings!

The naming of piglets is a most serious business. Sometimes names leap out from their characters - like Little Polly Piglet or Butch from Ginger's first litter, and Lily and Samson who came 'from outside'. Some names are chosen by the adoring public - like Delila or Gavin & Stacey from Ginger's second litter.

What to do with naming the third?

"No problem" said the Big Boss.

"We'll give Linda the pleasure".

And what a good idea that was.

Though he did have to reject her original thought: being a Big Football Fan she thought to name them after (ex) members of her favourite team.

Any girls there? No - not the best idea.

Then - being Fond of Food - she hit on the notion of naming them after well-known Chefs.

Sheer Brilliance!

Thus we have: Nigella (Lawson), Delia (Smith), Hugh (Fearnley Whittingstall), Jamie (Oliver), Gordon (Ramsay), Raymond (Blanc) and Ainsley.

And tomorrow the Little Chefs leave the warm, dry security of the Stalls and go out into the Paddock. That'll be fun. Plenty of opportunity to cook up a little adventure en route! As ever the plans are laid. Recipe for disaster.... all the ingredients for another romp around the Reserve.....

Meanwhile, 'Outside' is providing a totally different feast of challenges for the Grown-ups - both human and porcine. The rain, frost, fog and cold have been relentless. We slip and slide all over the place . But our curly coats really don't seem to share our concern.

They wallow and rootle all day long in the glorious mud turning it slowly and methodically into the most gloopy of chocolate puddings.... in which they rootle and wallow some more....... producing ever more pudding. We despair. They smile. Lily - our next (we think) Mother-to-be even prefers to sleep outside. We simply give her wadges of clean, dry hay when we check the horses at night: and she uses it to line her favourite hole next to the pudding and happily curls up and dozes off till breakfast time.

Mangal and Ginger continue to delight in each other's company -- at least we think that is what all the noise is about! He's such a gent: as soon as the dry hay is put down, he collects up as much as his huge jaws can manage and carries it into the ark where he proceeds to make the bed. Woe betide Ginger when she tries to help!

The rest of the time though she is clearly in charge. She is very quick to shout if she doesn't want his advances. He is undaunted... nuzzling her face and butting her tummy and, for all his hundreds of kilos, behaving like the most lovelorn romeo. Endearing really. But for those enormous tusks you could just snuggle up to him...... And speaking of tusks.... he's developing a habit of grabbing hold of the fence with them - only to get 'stuck' --- at which point he screams like some Demon of the Deep.

The Boss says he's merely trying to clean his teeth.

You can tell from Ginger's face that she knows it's just attention-seeking....... and she aint listening......