Whither will we wander....

 Here we are with the promised update. Good thing The Dog knows how to step in from time to time. He's pretty smart as we all know but now he's in his 4th season as a Working Gundog he's become almost psychic - knowing what to do before I even think to tell him. Most of the time that works just fine but there have been more than a handful of occasions when he's been so far ahead of me that he's doing things I'd actually like to stop him doing before he misunderstands what I intended asking him to do. I know he doesn't ever mean to do the wrong thing, it's just that I haven't been able to make clear to him that what he thinks is right isn't quite right in the context of what he's decided for himself to do. You're confused. Anyway working three, sometimes 4, days each week gives plenty of opportunities for rights and if an exuberant, over-eager experienced working dog gets it wrong from time to time we put it down to ........ well, an experienced over-eager spaniel doing his job they way he knows best.

As for what else has been going on. We (Linda and I that is, The Boss being philosophical about these things) bade a sad farewell to Ludo (that's her on the right), Clarence and Aster (below) at the beginning of the month. We'd known for weeks that they were going but when their new owners came to pick them up we realised how much we'd miss them. Ludo is one of the Indoor Games litter born in the snow last November; along with her sisters, Cluedo and Scrabble, she spent a good deal of time indoors so we got closer to them than would have been the case otherwise. When they moved outdoors in the spring they quickly became the noisiest group on the estate (till Darbie & Joanie came along that is!). They all grew into very fine young gilts and, with her distinctive snout markings, Ludo was definitely the strongest of the three. No wonder she was the pick of the bunch for breeding.
Aster and Clarence, meanwhile, had grown into a handsome couple, quite devoted to each other. Though we shall miss breeding from them here it is rewarding to know that they have gone to a home where they'll remain a couple. Aster's already proved herself a first-class mum so she'll surely go on to breed many beautiful litters with Clarence. He, of course, will probably not at all mind sharing some quality time with Ludo whilst Aster is otherwise indisposed. They've all gone to an excellent new home near York and we will be overjoyed to hear the news of tiny trotters in early 2012.
Unlike the Indoor Games, Ginger's present litter - the Victorians - born on 23/4 October -  have been rushing around hither and thither almost as much in the past fortnight as the Pork Provisioner! Not unlike the PP there is almost nowhere they won't go! Wherever we look, and even when we don't, there they are - nibbling boots, climbing inside vegetable trugs, rootling in the stables, investigating the chicken pen, stealing corn in the Poultry Palace, following Linda on her tractor down to the end of the Church Field and, here, even digging up the lawn outside the Kitchen window. A nice young man has been feeding the herd breakfast on the occasional mornings recently when The Boss and I have had to leave home before daybreak; on the second occasion the piglets were "running around everywhere" so John spent 45 minutes rounding them up and putting them back in with Ginger! Unfortunately he decided the quickest way with one of them was to pick it up: it squealed, Mum grunted aggressively and that started the whole herd off. All except Mangal - who went into his ark and dissociated himself from the whole affair.
"We had a hell of a job calming everyone down and freeing the piglets from Ginger's pen when we got home!" The Boss told John the next day when the latter hailed him in his car to ask if everything was OK! "She was doing her nut and wondering how she was going to make another hole big enough for them to get through before they drove her completely mad!" he continued. Poor John was mortified. "And you needn't think we'll be paying you after you upset them all like that". Well! It's a good job John can take a joke.
What's not a joke is the hectic schedule the Pork Provisioner set us in the run up to Christmas. Nine markets in the past 14 days, 6 of them consecutively and 2 on the final day - have tested stamina and systems to the limit. We're not finished yet but we are over the worst of the rush! The bad points? Leaving home before dawn; freezing no matter how many layers of clothing; spending the evening packing up for the next day...... The good points? Customers coming back to say how much they loved the products they'd bought; selling out of our best sellers before lunch-time; selling out of our new Chorizo the day we launched it; putting our feet up in front of a blazing log fire on the last evening.
The year before last we did our very first market at Christmas: last year many of the Christmas markets were cancelled due to all the snow: this year we've done as many as we could get in to; whither will we - piggies and people - wander this time next year? If we only knew.......... (and if The Dog knows? He's not telling......!)