"Is this the longest summer you've ever known?" I asked one of the 'lads' at the Feed Merchant yesterday.
My memory may be playing tricks but it seems not quite as hot as it was then; even so the horses are nibbling parched pastures, the chickens and ducks are revelling in endless dust baths and, day after day, the pigs laze around in the sun, winter mudbaths long forgotten. Ginger's Little Spices spend ever less time with her, preferring the company - and sunshine - in the Maiden Aunts' pen next door. They still manage to wriggle between the slats of the gate but only just and will be weaned next week - in time for their appearance at the Heckington Agricultural Show the following weekend.
Despite the heat, Shows and markets also continue to beckon the Pork Provisioner. To the customer, sunshine and strong breezes are a welcome combination. To the market trader they can be a nightmare. Food for sale needs to be kept cool and I find myself wishing for heavy cloud cover every time we go to market! Not what we got last weekend. 
Winterton Show followed over the weekend and the heat of Saturday was tempered by a terrifically gusty wind on Sunday which saw the Female Future Vet and I struggling like Mary Poppins to hang on to the tarpaulin over the market stall, despite the fact that we'd tied it to the roof rack on the car!
Well, having got all the little pigs under control for now he's been enjoying some R&R. Since we're into the thick of grass seed season - and particularly since dry grass seeds are The Worst - his hunting is confined to the cooler parts of the day and then its partridge and hares on the stubble or rabbits in the poppy fields ----- which he really loves.
"No" I'm - just - old enough to remember 1976" he replied.
My memory may be playing tricks but it seems not quite as hot as it was then; even so the horses are nibbling parched pastures, the chickens and ducks are revelling in endless dust baths and, day after day, the pigs laze around in the sun, winter mudbaths long forgotten. Ginger's Little Spices spend ever less time with her, preferring the company - and sunshine - in the Maiden Aunts' pen next door. They still manage to wriggle between the slats of the gate but only just and will be weaned next week - in time for their appearance at the Heckington Agricultural Show the following weekend.
Despite the heat, Shows and markets also continue to beckon the Pork Provisioner. To the customer, sunshine and strong breezes are a welcome combination. To the market trader they can be a nightmare. Food for sale needs to be kept cool and I find myself wishing for heavy cloud cover every time we go to market! Not what we got last weekend. The Future Vets and I attended Lincoln City market in glorious sunshine on Friday and did a steady trade despite Andy Murray playing at Wimbledon in the afternoon (one happy customer subsequently wrote to us commending our "Absolutely Delicious" pork pie and streaky bacon served by the "lovely people on the stall (who were) so enthusiastic and passionate about the pigs"!!!!).
Winterton Show followed over the weekend and the heat of Saturday was tempered by a terrifically gusty wind on Sunday which saw the Female Future Vet and I struggling like Mary Poppins to hang on to the tarpaulin over the market stall, despite the fact that we'd tied it to the roof rack on the car! By mid-day, when it was threatening to lift the whole caboodle up into the air (complete with the 2 MPs), we decided to remove it. Problem solved.
Except then we had the almost worse problem of trying to keep food cool under the blazing heat of the sun. Not a happy experience. 'Specially as the majority of punters were, seemingly, content to feast on burgers and chips rather than Real Food Fresh from the Farm!!!
Oh well, can't win them all.
"But what's the Bestest Pigdog in all the world doing?" people keep asking me.
Well, having got all the little pigs under control for now he's been enjoying some R&R. Since we're into the thick of grass seed season - and particularly since dry grass seeds are The Worst - his hunting is confined to the cooler parts of the day and then its partridge and hares on the stubble or rabbits in the poppy fields ----- which he really loves. But he will be far happier when the cool of Autumn returns and he can get back to the real business...........
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