It’s been quite a week for Winston the pig.  Last week I was shingling a roof.  I made a passing comment to the homeowner about Winston .  She asked me later if there was any chance I could bring her to work the next day to play with their daughter. 

    ” I don’t see why not,” I said, so the next morning I loaded Winston in a cage and brought him to the job site.  I jokingly said she, (the mom) should call the local paper…”it’s not every day a pig comes to visit.”   Would you believe a few hours later Michelle from the local paper shows up, does an interview and snaps two pictures.  At the end of the day, mom asks if there was any way  Winston could spend the night?  Again, I said, “I don’t see why not”, so  Winston stays for a sleepover   The next morning  the mom tells  me Winston had snuggled up with them on a bean bag when they slept in the back yard.  It was  precious. 

     When I got her home,  we noticed a marked change in behavior.  She would cry  when we walked  away from her pen. 

       When I get home after work , I’ll go over to her pen and call her, “Here pig.”  she literally runs across the field to me, her big ears flapping.    One of her favorite  activities  is taking a  walk on a new walking trail behind the barn.    The first few weeks she was with us,  we led her around on a  leash.  Since spending the night with Gracie, we don’t need the leash.

     Wednesday morning I noticed  something unusual.  When I put her in the pen that morning, rather than hanging around the fence and whine , she took off, made a bee line for the cattle shed.  I thought to myself..something is fishy…she’s been such a social creature …so I jumped into the yard to see what was so important…..Mulberries…. hundreds of ripe mulberries on the ground.  There was a branch of them hanging over the roof of the cattle shed…they would roll down the roof, onto the ground in front of that building.   and she was inhaling them like they were candy.

Winston eating mulberries

    She is without a doubt, one of the luckiest pigs in all of Iowa. 

    Be sure to check out her page on facebook under Winston Randolph.  Her goal is to get 10,000 friends.  She is also thinking about making a calendar for next year with a dozen photo’s.  Pass the word…and let’s see if we can make her “America’s favorite pig.”

     There has got to be a lesson there with those mulberries….. 

      Here is a photo of  daughter Katie  taking Winston for a stroll.

  Photo used with her permission. 

     Some of you have expressed an interest in keeping up with Winston (our pet pig)..so here’s the latest:

    Before I went to work on Monday I  put Winston in her out door pen.    I had one concern - Oscar the beagle. I do not trust him.  We used to have chickens until Oscar acquired a taste for fresh meat.   He would not touch them when we were home , but when we left… he would kill  them.  The pen we built for Winston is as much to keep Oscar out as Winston in…so when I got home at the end of the day Monday, the first thing I did was check on Winston….

    She was no where to be seen.    I discovered  a spot where the fence didn’t go all the way down, big enough for a beagle to get in …and big enough for a small pig to escape.  I don’t know how I never spotted it  before.

     Surrounding the pig yard is 3 acres of tall pasture grass   (2 to 3 ft tall)..and beyond that is timber, and corn fields.  John (my son)  and I spent  1/2 an hour looking  but couldn’t find anything.  If a small animal doesn’t want to be found, all it has to do is hunker down and you  walk right past them.

       Oscar seemed to be   slinking around. (he does that when he’s done something naughty)…if he wasn’t guilty, I was concerned a coyote’s would   find her.    I held up very little hope of finding Winston alive.   Didn’t know how I was going to break this news to the little girl who was here visiting when we first got Winston.

      We moved to the farm when I was 10.  The older I get the more I appreciate the  ways it has shaped me.  I can’t speak for everyone who has  every grown up on a farm, but in my case, it has taught me how to hold things I love “loosely.”  You discover new born baby kittens..only to find them later, killed by a tomcat.  Your pet dog (we had several)  gets hit on the road because it starts to chase cars.  Does that mean  you don’t get another dog? …That’s exactly what some people do..they hate the pain of loosing their pet, so to protect themselves from hurt, they don’t  get another dog. 

     People do that sometime in friendships..they get hurt , so rather than experience the pain  they keep others at a distance.  How sad.

     C S Lewis, was married later in life…if you haven’t seen the  movie Shadowlands… you need to.  It the true story of his friendship, and marriage to Joy Grisham who he looses to cancer just a few short years after they are married. At one point in the movie, he makes this statement: 

“The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That’s the deal.”

To make a long story short, Winston did turn up…as I headed to the house, there she was…standing outside the barn door, next to the entrance to Oscars “lair.”  How she got there, I’ll never know.

      Katie Sawicki and Emily Stanback  are on a 3 week whirlwind cross country tour to promote Katie’s  new Album Time Spent Lost.    They got here Sunday afternoon, staying  in our bed and breakfast suite.  They left this morning about 10 on their way to the West Coast.   We were treated to an intimate   house concert in our kitchen last night.    It was awesome .

      Katie is a  singer songwriter  and Emily is a classically trained Cellist.  The music they create will grab you the first time you hear it. 

     My wife and I have been logging on to Katie’s my space page since March listening to her songs…so last night, to hear them performed live was a treat.      Heres’ a link to Katie’s Myspace page  

      I couldn’t help but think about the movie August Rush as I listened to them play.    Katie’s songs flow from her life. As you listen to the words, you get a glimpse into her heart….powerful stuff. 

  Winston the piglet     was a hit with the girls when I gave them a tour of the property.  The little girl who I had in mind when I got Winston informed me  I need to find a  purple leash, so I can take her for a walk.  Last night I let Winston run around (without a leash) and I had my hands full trying to catch her.

       Winston is not a pot bellied pig,  just a pig.   My brother had one like her a few years ago and  just for fun, decided to  just let let his  grow..it got to over 900 pounds…so there is no telling how big Winston will eventually get.  Winston is a “she” so as  I mentioned to Emily last night, I haven’t ruled out the possibility of Winston producing offspring….let me know if you the reader have any interest in getting your own pet pig…I would be glad to take your name and sell you one if you promise not to eat it  ;-) 

            “I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. “

                        Sir Winston Churchill
                       British politician (1874 - 1965)

      Sir  Winston Churchill is one of my hero’s.   Almost single handily his attitude instilled hope during one of the darkest periods in world history.  I am drawn to the man.  What made him tick?  I’ve read various biographies, and discovered a paradox.  The man also wrestled with depression .  It was during those times he took to painting, and spending time in the country  talking to his pet pig and feeding him apples.

      You see where this is going don’t you? :-)….

       Place in the country

       Apples

      All that’s missing is the  P -I- G…..

     Until yesterday.  

     I promised a little girl I would have a pig to pet when she came to visit this week…alas, the deal I’d brokered for a little pig fell through at the last minute.

       I’m thinking to myself- how hard can it be to find a baby pig in Iowa?-harder than you might think.

      So I whispered a little prayer the night before the little girl was to leave….Lord- I need to find a baby pig ASAP…made some additional phone calls and the picture included with this post says it all….

      And by the way - I named him “Winston”  (and he’s a “she”..so technically, it’s “Miss Winston”)

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     Here’s a quote on attitudes by Charles Swindoll that I also love-

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes

     You can tell it’s May in Iowa- the Morel Mushrooms are up and the apple trees are in bloom:

    Here’s a picture of my better half  picking one of the Morel’s under  a Gala apple tree.

     Just so you know….(in case you would be tempted to pick mushrooms next year in our orchard without asking first).  There is an electric deer fence surrounding the orchard…very hard to see,  it will put you on your butt if you  touch it.  (Just ask Jason, one of my former employee’s )

      Quick story…Jason  was pressure washing the buildings  a couple of years ago so we could repaint them.  Being the curious young man that he was, he decided to “spray” the electric fence with the pressure washer…Wouldn’t you know..it didn’t shock him! :-)  (that’s because it pulses instead of a steady current).  Jason  decided to touch the fence  with his bare hands (which are wet by the way)..you see where this is going don’t you? :-)…Yep…it nailed him.  Made me laugh when I heard about it later.  Jason, if you ever happen to read this post…just so you know, I’m laughing with you…not at you

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     This morning I went outside and  thought to myself..those  apple trees are so beautiful! Wish I could savor those blossom’s all year!

  Which reminds me…next April, we have another 40 young trees to plant.  If you’re looking for some adventure, drop me a note….I have machine  to dig the holes, but it still takes a day to mark, drill, and plant that many trees…we usually have an “apple tree planting party” when we do that many at a time…and you my blog reader are invited! 

   Anyway, back to the apple blossoms this morning:

    Here is a picture of some of two branches  in silica sand:

      After I placed these in the container, I gently continued to pour sand around them until you could no longer see them.   I’ve never attempted to dry apple blossoms before so   I will let you know in a few weeks if it works

    Do you have any suggestions for preserving the apple blossoms?  What are some of your favorite things about Spring and why?

      This is a photo of one of our 3 crab apple “pollinators”  Many varieties of apples require a second tree near by in order to produce.  

   Here are some photos of our apple  trees  gearing up for another season.   Every flower is a potential apple, if the bees do their job. 

      This picture is from a Red Delicious  just outside of our kitchen window, which we planted in 2000.  We planted this one before the idea of an orchard had entered our mind.

     I realize this will be a short post.  I didn’t have too much on my mind other than wanting to share these pictures with those of you that read the blog.

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
-  Ralph Waldo Emerson

        There is something about an oak tree that speaks to my soul.   It speaks of strength, long life, deep roots, beauty.  We decided when the grandchildren started coming along to plant an oak tree in their honor.  In 2006 we planted our first oak, a white oak for Addison Claire (Addy)   Well two weeks ago Addy got a new baby brother- Rigg  Mattheson (Big Rigg)  

        Here’s a picture of me planting a Pin Oak  today in his honor:

    By the time I was finished, I had  to use (4) rope braces to tie it off.  We live on a hill with the prevailing winds coming from the South/ Southwest, which causes the trees around here to have a tendency to bend to the North/Northeast (even when you  brace them) 

   Here are some additional quotes on trees I got from this website:

He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, he
provideth a kindness for many generations, and
faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.
-   Henry Van Dyke

Happy is the man … his delights is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a
tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in
its season, and its leaf does not wither.
-   Psalms 1: 1-3

      I just got off the phone with the Tipton locker.  I’m to drop off my pigs (I have two) next Wednesday before 5. 

     I have been on the look out for a pet pig the past month, which I have no intention of ever eating.

        In talking with the farmer  where I’m currently work, he offered to give me  (2) runt hogs….70 pounds and 100 pounds respectively.  I have been weighing the pro’s and con’s of this offer…I really had my heart set on a smaller pig, so I didn’t have to spend half the summer earning it’s trust.  On the other hand, two free pigs is  a very tempting offer….we’re just not quite set up for a pig that size (need to build some fence, etc.)

     Anyway, in talking with my son-in-law on Tuesday, he was describing how to roast a whole hog in the ground with a fire pit….basically, you dig a hole, dump several bags of charcoal in the hole, add some wood (hickory or apple would give it some nice flavor, lay some green corn stocks on top of that after you get a raging fire…lay the hog on top of this, (lavishly cover the hog with a large jar of mayonnaise first and salt),,lay more corn stalks on top of this…then cover with 18 inches of clean sand…leave it alone for 12 hours..then dig it up. 

     He suggested leaving the head on…( I know a couple of you regular readers to my blog are  probably getting squeamish about now..sorry…

I did tell you I belong to PETA right?

    “People For The Eating Of Tasty Animals”

     Anyway,  I thought this might be a fun addition to our next AppleJam in September.

Here’s a website I came across you might want to check out.

   On our property are two awesome Barns….I’m in the process of  restoring the  older (and smaller)  of the two.  It was built in the 1870’s or 1880’s.  You can still see the ax marks  on the beams.    I’m at the point where it’s starting to get interesting.  This job is definitely not for the faint of heart.      The picture below shows the issue I’m addressing today:

    Those larger beams are carrying the floor load above and a portion of the roof as well.  I  invested in (3) 20 ton jacks, spent this morning installing extra shoring, so it doesn’t come down on my head when I start jacking. 

Here’s a photo of this barn from the orchard:

    Below is a photo on the back of the barn:  We had to removed a portion of the rock foundation because it was ready to tip over.  After this photo was taken  we poured a 4 ft cement wall.   On top of that I’m going to frame the rest out of wood.  Eventually, I would like to re-lay the stone so that it looks like the original wall from the outside. 

     Our long term plans are to insulate the barn in order to heat and cool it, enabling us to use it year round to host live music events and such.  There are matching grants to help preserve these old barns…typically 50% of construction costs are labor related, since I’m a general contractor by day, I am working on this on my days off.  For me it is like working on a very large  and slightly dangerous puzzle.

     Here’s anothe photo of it as you come into our drive way:

     There is a part of me that would like to embed a pay pal donation link on this blog in case you the reader would like to invest in this most noble project….for now,  if you’re interested (in donating)  just drop me an e-mail and we can handle it the old fashion way..by snail mail ;-)  As always..thanks for reading and commenting if you feel so inclined. DM   

     “I’ve lived in this town ten years… this is by far the most enjoyable thing I’ve  been to .”….  Steve

       I’m not sure where to begin…the evening was magical. 

      We rented  the Java Jones  coffee house  for the evening.  Lou  Brown, Bob and Aimee put on another excellent show of original  music.  As sometimes happens at these events, there were other musicians in the audience who took the stage spontaneously….Gayla Drake Paul  with 15 CD’s to her credit has been ranked as one of the top 100 acoustic guitarists on the planet and Michelle Dalziel who has played before @ Applejam, sang two original numbers.

      Lou, Bob, and Amy are staying with us in our Bed and Breakfast.  Before the concert, they took us out to dinner.-  That was nice.   The concert started at  7…We got home about 10:30 PM, sat around our  kitchen table, drank a little wine. Ahh..the simple pleasures of life.