Sunday, August 22, 2010

Jack Of Hearts


Hearts On Noses goes to various events trying to raise awareness of there work and ultimately funds to support it. I have always worked full time and am currently looking again after moving and now must as my insurance has run out. When I attend these events it takes a huge sacrifice and adds to the work load to pull it off. There is is only so many hours in two days off and when the first day off is catching up on routine piggy paddock clean up the second day is left for buying what ever is required for the work week ahead. Not any different from any body else except my extended family who must be cared for consists of 45 large animals. It will take truck loads of groceries , truck loads of hay and of course i will also have to put it all away.

Now in between I will fit in my own groceries, if there is room in the truck or return to town again for me after. Like any one else i will do a little clean up as things go in the fridge , things will be tossed and this goes for my feed room too. Most will take a garbage bag out, I will fill up my pick up truck after i tear down the cardboard boxes and gather up all the empty feed bags, tie it down or tarp as required by the tipping station.

Some say " well i do some of that after work at night". I feed 45 animals when i get home from work at night. There also will always be someone here who needs special care, special food and several who will need meds or supplements. The amount of time can suck up 2 1/2 hours every night.

I am also running the charity here which consumes the same amount of time as any small business would with paperwork, accounting , filing and customer service for people and pigs in need.

Now where am i going with all of this well when i do an event and it sucks up all the time i need to do everything else it has to be done after work at night. So for a week or so after work I am picking up hay and then putting it away and apologizing to every animal here who is weeing, whinnying, meowing and whining for there dinner. Everything will be set back and it will be a peanut butter sandwich for dinner for a few nights for me.

One of those nights after such a week-end event i left work and headed to the grocery store and planned on the way home to feed first and then put groceries away.

I pulled in the driveway and when i got out of my truck I heard a pig oofing very excitably to my left. This was the voice of a little pig not one of my big pigs who live in that direction so my first thought was "who got out"? All the pigs are safe in paddocks when i am not home.

Out from behind the house emerged one very excited little piglet and one I did not know. Gone are the days of emotions like panic as when your doing rescue your life is full of constant surprises. So when it registered this was a new pig i hoped when i went to grab a bag of apples to entice him with that he had arrived here alone.

This baby boy pig was not neutered and in a state of excitement having landed in a place full of girly pigs , some who weren't spayed due to age or health reasons. He was literally "foaming at the mouth" and racing from one paddock to another! He didn't want my apple offering, it was girls he wanted!!!

His capture on the two acres would require some help and thankfully back then i had a good volunteer who brought her husband along for the fun. We got this little pig corralled in a corner while he made advances at one of the girls . Tacked up a sheet of plywood to keep him there and then went and got a crate. Once in the crate with no empty pens i went to the barn and prepared water, food and a hay nest for the little tyke. The horse's would have to eat outside for a few weeks until i could get him neutered, accommodations, a house and a pen.

Once we got him settled in and some space between him and his desires , Jack Of Hearts was welcomed home. 2 hours have gone by and i still have to put groceries away and i have another mouth to feed.

I never found out who dropped him off here or what his story was but he is one of the Noses now.

And events i still try to fit in, but catch up is brutal.

6 comments:

Jean said...

And Jack of Hearts is a sweetheart! He was lucky to have landed with you, though it would have been nice if the person who bred his parents and/or the person who bought him had stood by their commitment and given him a loving home to begin with!
Speaking of events, don't forget I need to pick up some display materials and pamphlets/cards when I see you Tuesday - for the victoria rescue day on the 29th. too bad I can't take one of the pigs to the event, like you do! (Note to self: check van when leaving Janice's to make sure she hasn't snuck any piggies in there!).

Anonymous said...

Just dropped off! With nothing? no explanation, no money, no nothing?
argh. That is appalling!!!!!!!

Get it in the press, if you can Janice. That was a great blog entry.
Animals just left like that: that could be community/city newsworthy and might generate some support.

Of course, do this after your sandwich and caring for all the creatures :)

Janice Gillett said...

Will get everything together Jean. Do you want /need a table? Cloth? Items to sell?? A pig??? LOL

Good idea!!! Addie this was last summer but I will use this piece for a little magazine I am fortunate enough to be in for every publishing.

Jean said...

I don't need a table (they are providing them) or a cloth - just the pictures and brochures etc. If you have items you'd like me to sell, I can do that.
I can get everything back to you at the end of September, if not before.
No! No pigs!!!!! LOLOL (But can't you imagine the fun I'd have with Fizzy, Whisper and RobRoy at the event??????)

Kate Warren said...

Jack of Hearts you are adorable...and one very lucky piglet! oxoxoxox

lesley said...

Hi Janice,
I know exactly how hard it is to care for so many rescued animals.It can be exhausting.I hope you have lots of helpers nowadays. The new pig must have thought he had died and gone to heaven with all the women about!LOts of luck with your fundraising.
take care,
Lesley