Spreading our wings

 The Pork Provisioner has been attending a regular set of Farmer's Markets throughout  the past few months.
It's been instructive, entertaining, hard work, sometimes too hot, sometimes a little wet, occasionally a little unexciting but never dull. Just when I thought I was getting into a bit of a routine though The Big Boss decided we needed to spread our wings a little!
So there I was at 0730 last Friday, in the car and on the phone:
"Where did you say I should turn after the immediate left after the first left after the main lights?"

And he said:

"It can't be far from where you are: you should be able to see it. Drive on a little. No. Don't go over the level crossing!"

So I drove on and asked someone and they told me where to go - in the nicest possible way - and when I got there I asked someone else and they said I was in the wrong place so I turned round and drove back the other way and asked another chap and he said I should go down there and turn off to the 2nd left and I'd see it on the left. And fortunately he was right because it was getting late and I knew I needed to set up and have the car off the pedestrian precinct before 0830.  As it turned out I needn't have worried at all. The Council provided the stall so all I had to do was get the Provisions set out, go find somewhere to park, walk back and enjoy the day.

Which was no hardship with a Baker on one side of me and Home-made Ice Cream on the other. Plus lots of different people to watch: always amazes me how much the local culture changes from town to town! I'd also like to thank the Curly Coats' Appreciation Society for turning out to Grimsby in large numbers so that the day was an economic success. Which means we'll be back again next month and the one after, and after that.........

Meanwhile, down in the field Precious' young litter (now known as the Fruits) will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. They've been spreading their wings since the first week and are more frequently to be seen, as here, in the next door pens where their aunts live. Precious is totally blase about it, to the extent that she can frequently be seen excavating near the fences so her youngsters can more easily trot off! Sadly we lost the runt of the litter, whom we'd nicknamed Pygmy Pig. She was a game little thing and never missed out on the litter's adventures and expeditions but clearly she was too tiny to withstand their boisterous ways and died overnight on Saturday. We suspect she was the last-born and was too late or slow to the teats thus missing out on the vital colostrum.

Other young things just learning to spread their wings are the last but one set of swallow nestlings. Their size forced them to leave the security of their nest on top on top of the striplight last week. Since then they've been perching on top of the Stalls partitions, practicing their flying from one to the other and then back to the hay rack. This morning, however, it was time for the real thing and whilst I was feeding the 4 young Clarissas in there, off they all flew, chirrupping excitedly. They were back in again this evening to sleep but in the next day or two they'll be gone for good. Leaving just one nest of hatchlings in Rocco's stable.

When they spread their wings to depart into the sunset in a week or two it will signal the end of summer.