Never a dull moment

The original plan involved attending various Country Shows and markets until the end of July and then taking a bit of a break. But we've been enjoying it so much that The Big Boss booked us in for a number of events throughout August (and forward) too!

Hence, the Pork Provisioner is now appearing at the local town market, the local city market, one or two more Specials and a number of Christmas Markets.

And, just in case life gets a bit quiet, we also have our Meet the Pigs Days at home.

Sometimes we even do several events in one week. Like last week - two markets and an 'At Home'.

Gets a little bit crazy because there's

all the back room stuff - fetching, packing, labelling, loading/unloading - and then remembering if we're using our own Stall (compact and neat) or one provided by the Council (large and sprawling) - and which bits of equipment are needed to protect the food, which depends a bit on the weather - sometimes that's not so obvious at the crack of dawn when we leave for market....... the check list gets longer and longer. Then after a long day smiling and talking with all the customers, everything has to be packed up, unpacked, inventoried, stored away and bookwork done: all to the accompaniment of 'stories' from the day......... Never, ever a dull moment.

Still.... If there were a danger of things getting a little quiet , there's always a pig or two (or more) to keep us on our toes.

At the moment it's still Cherie's Little Truffle Hunters who are providing the entertainment. Coming up to 6 weeks old their adventures know no bounds: many's the person coming down the drive who is greeted by the sight of a row of piglets heading towards them, or away from them, or "busy-busy-busying" across to the hedge and through into the field.

"Did you know you had pigs running all over your drive?" is currently our most FAQ!

Gunner is really earning his keep. Whether he's indoors or outdoors, a quick "Fetch the piglets" has him dashing off to find and return them. One of the funniest sights is 5 baby porkers, one by one, charging frantically across the drive and back to the safety of Mum's pen closely followed by The Bestest Pig Dog - who then proceeds to charge all round the pen to make sure they've actually gone in; then he'll sit and watch for a few minutes to make sure they stay in! Smart!

On the subject of piglets, we said "Good Bye" to Ginger's two little Spice girls. Coriander and Cumin - henceforth to be known as Marmalade and Woolly P - left the Lincolnshire Wolds for Northwold at the end of our Meet the Pigs event on Sunday. It was all a bit sudden but they didn't make too much fuss and, as the last picture shows, they wasted no time on arrival in sussing out their - very smart - new home. We know they are going to be very happy: their new 'family' (and all their friends) spent the Whole of Monday just gazing at, and fussing, them!

I'd like to say their brothers pined for them, a bit, but there's no evidence they did! Out of sight, out of mind!

But....... Pigs go and Pigs come. We now excitedly await the imminent arrival of Precious's new brood: she's looking "very interesting" .... Never a dull moment........