Asteroid in search of a nest

 "There's a pig outside the window!" exclaimed The Boss after lunch. I'd just finished bottling up Loganberry Jam and was en route to whipping the cream for the frozen gooseberry fool; my mind was fully occupied with such mundane kitchen matters - and The Bestest Gundog in all The World whom I'd had to leave at the Vet's just before lunch for what turned out to be extraction of grass seeds from his two front paws - so I was totally nonplussed by his words. More precisely, they just didn't register!!
"There's a pig outside the kitchen window!" he repeated, getting to his feet - definitely a sign of something serious. So I switched my focus and sure enough looking up at me from the other side of the window was our very pregnant little Asteroid. I hastened after The Boss who, ignoring the pig, was moving speedily towards the barn to find out how and where she had managed to get out. Very logical but not my first thought........ For a while I watched the pig who mooched here and there as if looking for something.

 Ignoring my attempts to cajole her where I wanted her to go, she trotted off in the direction of her mate Truffle - snout down, intent and preoccupied. I joined The Boss who was securing the pen in the barn. Then we tried to round up our wanderer. To no avail. She was too quick and too focused on her concerns to pander to our wishes. Time to call in reinforcements!
Luckily Tony was home and responded to my plea for help with a prompt: "I'm already on my way." It took him only ten minutes but in that time Aster had trotted around the yard, into the orchard, round the chickens' pen in the field, along the bank, inspected Rocco's old stable and then back up to Ginger and Mangal - perhaps thinking they would have the answers she sought.
Good choice for her. Better choice for us because it's a relatively easily enclosed area and we were able to funnel her into the trailer which Tony had deftly backed up as close as possible.  She eagerly stuck her snout in all the fresh straw:
"That's what she was looking for" said The Boss "More nesting material!".
Tony then drove her back round to the barn and, after such Big Adventures, she was visibly relieved to be home. At least she trotted determinedly off the trailer as if pleased to be back where she started!
"Better give her lots more bedding" advised The Boss.
A sack of shavings and another bale of straw went in. She had a good snout around and then went in search of water.

After much cooling and wallowing she had a bit of a lie-down - just to regroup her thoughts I suppose. Then she set about the serious business of nesting.
"Let's leave her to it and go and have a cooling drink." I suggested. And off we went.
At tea time, an hour or so later, she was still doing the housework.
I checked again at 6 o'clock and still nothing.
But by the time I went to shut up the nursery chicks unmistakeable sounds of piglets suckling and mum gruntling were coming from the barn. Quiet as I could I crept closer. However, clever young Aster had built such a deep nest I could see only the top of her back. After several minutes I'd seen two piglets pop up for air or a top level teat .... how many, if any, others there are, I have no way of knowing. With her being a young first time mother there was no way I wanted to startle her in any way. We'll all just have to be patient.