Spring Flowers Fundraiser - Order NOW

SPRING FUNDRAISER FOR
Hearts on Noses,
Mission, B.C. V4S 1C3
604 462-0958

Spring Price List 2012

Bedding Plants (48 plants/flat) Price/flat

Alyssum (purple, white, mix) $15.00
Begonia (pink, red, rose, white, mix) $15.00
Dusty Miller (silver dust foliage plant) $15.00
Impatiens (pink, purple, red, salmon, white, mix) $15.00
Lobelia (blue, rose, white, mix) $15.00
Marigold (bicolor, orange, yellow, mix) $15.00
Mimulus (mix) $15.00
Nicotiana (mix) $15.00
Pansy (mix) $15.00
Petunia (burgundy, pink, red, white, mix) $15.00
Salvia (blue, red) $15.00

Seed Geranium (pink, red, salmon, white) $25.00
(32 plans per flat)

Hanging Baskets

Fuchsia 12” (assorted colors for shade) $25.00
Mixed 10” (zonal geranium and proven winners) $20.00
Mixed 12” (zonal geranium and proven winners) $25.00
Moss Basket 14” (mix of 19 plans) $65.00
All moss baskets are made with quality plants and 3 layers of planting versus just a top planting.

Pick up required Saturday May 5th between 11-2pm (Just in time for Mother’s Day)

Payment and order must be received by Friday April 21st 5:0 0pm at 2429 Scott Place, Port Coquitlam,
Please call Lee or Lisa at 604 803 2349 with any questions or concerns.

If you wish to use PayPal to order the account is heartsonnoses@shaw.ca Please make it clear on your payment that this is for Flowers!!

Please help support a great cause, these plants don’t disappoint!!

A Garden Rose

And where else would one find such a beautiful Rose? The last picture is a little movie if you click onto it. ;o)

Mom arrived to stay for a few days on Friday afternoon. She lives about 20 minutes from here and is 87 years old. She pulls in with her dog Nicky and the budgie my sister found at her complex two weeks before. So in came the over night bag , the dog and the bird lol

Saturday my sister arrived to try and help a little with a bad shoulder and my new friend Jane. Nancy and I tackled the piggy pens while Jane worked on doing piggy dishes and waters. We got it all done by about 2;00 and we were whooped.

Dayna you would love Jane also a proud vegan and she brought me a steam rice cooker that i can add veggies too. She brought me lunch and i ate it cold after every one left and it was delicious. Rice, brussles, broccoli and topped with tofu that was crumbled and any one would of thought it was chicken. And i got to give her, her first glass of silk's chocolate milk. A hit of course!!!

Today a visit from Casanova's sponsors, Rubaiyat and Jasonda. There an awesome young couple to traveled over an hour to visit and made peanut butter sandwiches for all the pigs. And for desert Strawberry's, what a special treat!!!!!!!!!!! They also picked me up a couple of new dish brushes , how very thoughtful and as you can see they had more then once use for today.

I worked on the horse pasture while they showed themselves around and i don;t have the strength i did yesterday. Scrubbed out the big horse water tank and refilled it and then added another lock to the feed shed to keep Comet out. I was dragging myself around by dinner time tonight.

Tomorrow morning the horse's will get there feet done and then i got to head into town to pick up a load of straw and get it in every body's houses before dinner time. Hope these warn out muscles are ready for action tomorrow because again it is hard heavy work.

Seeing Things...

Every morning starts with a coffee at my desk. It is facing a window looking over the fish pond and into Sanctuary. As the sun rises over the mountains its light streams threw the curtain of evergreens. I see Comet who is up early checking to see if there is anything he can add to his nest. A potpourri of straw, branches and grass. His tail is wagging and little Jack has awoke to peer threw the dew dropped fences at his busy white bristled neighbor.

I see the mountains behind the trees and that view is one of many things i didn't have at the old place. Oh they were there alright but we were set to far below to see them unless out on the road. The mountains are magic and i am so happy to be able to see them from here.

Yesterday while sitting here as i was sharing stories on line about our pigs and there creative nest building. ( The picture is of Mouse in her nest) It stirred up memories of a pig who started this all. And as a piece of sunshine burst threw the clouds for a brief second it's glow was the shape of a heart. But then again i see hearts and pigs everywhere. If you've been here you would notice a collection of rocks here sitting on my table. Looks like a heart to me..

And a saved picture from work.. a paint chip on an old car clearly looks like a pig.

Last week the reflection of sun on Willy's protected painting .. do i see Angels now too?

Subjects

Soooooooooooooooo my offer has been accepted! The tenant has been appeased with two monthes rent and moving expences . The Septic checked out okay today and the house inspection is Thursday morning. Water from the well is where ever it has to go and we will know by Friday if everyone can drink it. The morgage in place awaiting the fianlization and we are good to go. Packing has commenced thansk to my Mom and my sister who is really into this lol. Thank heavens as i walked from cupboard to cupbard muttering "i don't like this job"...

While we are at the new place today awaiting the septic guy my sister and i walked from space to space trying to figure out where pens should be built. Some how it was way easeir here adding one at a time as pigs needed a home. But this is a blank slate and the company i hired to come out to estimate how much all this is going to cost will hopefully be there on Thursday with some good ideas.

I also hope he is willing to work with a chairty who might magiclly get an offering of 2x 6's or rolls and rolls of stucco wire. Highley unlikley, but again i have hopes and dreams. Threw this entire process i ahve been so griped with fear racing from place to palce to buy i haven't had time to get materials donated somehow.

Carport Penny is in trouble as is Mouse and the two combined will spend 5000.00 trying to help them survive. Anything surgical is 2500.00 when a standard nueter is 500.00.

We really need some fundraisers right now , even like the one we had the other night, gosh if we could have a few of those right now!! Bottle drives anyone??

I had an offer of a hi hab truck to move houses , i pray they are still willing and able. We will need at least 5sheds built prior to the move to ahve in place as well.

Keep the prayers and postive thoughts coming freinds!!

Hearts On Noses Needs Rescuing

The fundraiser on Friday night brought nine of us including my sister and my mother besides the regular patrons who were there for the weekly Friday night meal served at the Legion. Thank you for coming Mom, Nancy, Tracy, Deb, Jim, Diana, Craig, and Erin.

Thank you so much too Trena who worked so hard for us and her girlfreind whose name has slipped my mind. Your both awesome!! To Wylie and The Other Guy band who were a hoot and kept us entertained and the The Abbotsford Legion who hosted our event.

The guy at the table next to me told me he used to have a pot bellied pig. He got killed by the train so they roasted him, he tasted good.

The old guy who passed me outside from the smoke section told me " pigs belong on plates as pork chops" ..

I stood in front of the crowd knowing i was in the middle of an agriculture based area in font of people who could of cared less who I was or what i did and gave a short spiel of why i do what i do.

There were beautiful items on the silent auction table and just about every one in the place got an excellent door prize.

The band was too funny and really good, and sang songs with piggy in them. Instead of check check he said pig pig over the microphone. . lol

I danced with some old drunk , got a good meal and had an excellent time. We made about 400.00 which is better then our two day open houses garage sales. I also came home with an original painting by Diana Durand!!!!!!!!

People reading this might think oh my that is terrible but this is a simple example of my reality and what i face every day rescuing pigs here in Canada.

Now will every one please say a prayer i find a place to buy and that me and my pigs will be welcome there. I have made another offer that is not only in question of the zoning as pigs may not even be allowed on this acreage and then the tenant living in this house has put her heels in and will not give it up with out proper two months notice. I told them to up the anti as i am desperate now. Cold weather is nipping at my heels and this will screw up everything with sinking posts and getting ready once all the red tape is clear. As it stands now i may only get two weeks and frankly i haven't been able to hire a crew yet as i have no idea where i am going. This is NOT how i envisioned any of this going down.

I lay awake every night wondering where all my pigs will go if we don't find a place soon. No rental is going to allow me to come in with 40 pigs and the money to move houses/sheds and build pens will be money wasted on a temporary situation. Both CDART( Kelowna 4 hours away) and SAINTS ( mission 30 minutes) ) have offered to put me up in an emergency but again this will be a nightmare I don't want to walk into. I may have no choice if something doesn't work out right for us soon!!!!!! My animals scattered all over BC... please God help us.

Always Half Full

I am sure my life is not so different from anyone else in regards to the curve balls life throws at you.

The fact that i bought a decent truck and spent too much money only a few years ago that needed a new engine and then a transmission shouldn't get me down. And the motor went on the third trip to the vets in North van with the last of ten babies born to two pigs i agreed to take from the SPCA. Two turns into twelve and then the pig left here by who knows was also met head on. The computer i bought used, was replaced with a new one and then sent in for repairs 6 months later to some one else and it still is not operating as it should. I bought a new heater for the turtle tank and even that had to be returned as it didn't work. Free bags of feed met with open arms ended up at the dump all rotten didn't discourage me either. Applying for a grant, that was a complete waste of time, and the funds to mail it. As it was denied. Having an offer on the house and fear of moving and where, was enough to give me a heart attack but i am still here. The deal falling threw while i was out looking at new properties didn't turn me into a mound of mush nor did it send me into tears. The car wash fundraiser that was re booked because of miscommunication at the shop was to happen this Saturday was cancelled by someone. ( ??) I just found out after calling them a few minutes ago. No one would do this, as that call would have to be done by me and I never cancelled anything as no matter moving or selling we need the money . CTV called about coming out here to do a story and I didn't hear the phone ring because i was outside working.

Is this how life is for every body? I am really only going back two years, a few monthes, a couple of weeks , yesterday and a few mintues ago. And i could write a few dozen more things but i don't want to bore you as the flood happened before all that did and i can't seem to remember much before that happened now and maybe that is a good thing.

I seem to be one of those people who can take a beating and still get up, go ahead call me Rocky.

I will get threw this , I will!!!!!!!!

And one day i won't be beating my head against the wall and volunteers will come , fundraisers will happen and more animals will be saved because we have the money.

A case of apples is dropped off , a new friend helps me from Edmonton and another sponsor comes in.

And that is how i get threw the day here every day, oh and a waggy tail is the icing.

Hi-Yo Oh Silver Awayyyyyyyyyy

Perhaps the title chosen is one many of you younger readers won't understand. But for many of us they are the departing words of a cowboy on white horse on a TV show we watched when we were very young. Depticing all that is good wearing a white cowboy hat he rode off into the sunset riding his horse named Silver but not before saving the town and its good people from the bad guys in more ways then one.

Dayna arrived ten days ago, driving 13 hours from Edmonton to help someone she didn't know. Having always loved pigs found us on the net and chose to spend her vacation time here with me and the pigs. An email arrived asking if i could use some help and one telephone conversation later she was on the way.

And in the first few days of her arrival we packed straw into houses, unloaded hay, raked pens, pushed wheelbarrows and set aside every thing in my cupboards offensive. She brought easy to read cook books and taught me about reading ingredients that have lactose and whey. I ate things I have never even heard of and bit into others that for all sorts of reasons i found distasteful, which is bizarre for even me when you think about what could be more disgusting then eating something that had suffered before it got to my glass or my plate.

Dayna was natural with the pigs and they all loved her as she cooed her sweet messages and we talked late every night. We shared stories of frustration in all that we stand for, her a staunch vegan whose quest to educate and me a sanctuary director both animal activists in all that we do 24/7.

She talked about the difference of organic meat and dried pigs ears. One from an animal who was never medicated for any of its ailments and one who had medications force fed. Setting aside the obvious fact they both die horrifically and unnaturally it is all deadly to the enviormment, our health and our pets.

I have been vegan for ten days and ate meatless chicken salad, egg-less sandwiches , soups and fake chicken breasts. I drank soy milk both plain and chocolate as i removed dairy products from my world and i slept better and didn't feel sleepy before dinner time after working all day.

Now i am not one to cook and i still have all the fast foods i craved or left behind 16 years ago as she made me eat something new twice a day ( hahaha ) so its all good. Some of the products are so meat like its gross to me so there ya go. If I want a meat loaf sandwich i found the perfect substitute and I tried all the things i thought would be gross and how bizarre as what could be more gross then eating flesh.

She is smart and funny and living together came easy for both of us and in my heart i know the animals of the world, our planet, the kids here, and I have a friend.

Saying good bye this morning came easy as i was still half a sleep ,had only drank a bit of my coffee and it was so early. She jumped in her electric car and i grabbed a rain coat so i could open the gates. And it wasn't until after i waved good bye and i closed those gates did a wave of emotions take over. And as I continue on here typing the tears are falling like the rain she left in.

Hi-Yo Silver, away.

The Challange when Rescuing Pigs

This past week has been nothing but advertising , net working, table at the SPCA event and even a spot on the News. I am sure the amount of time we are seen in the news most will think wow she must be doing okay , she is always in the paper.

The facts are that a little networking got us 225.00 , the ad in the paper another couple of hundred and the TV spot 50.00.
We were however contacted by a gal who offered to put a fundraiser on for us at the Legion in Abbotford, a few emails asking about volunteering and a couple of calls asking about pigs for adoption.
That is good and is is how we have got to where we are today yet why we cannot do more then we are doing.

When i moved here in 1993 i was renting, and this is where i found my little Willy who taught me about loving pigs. When my landlord was going to sell it, I asked him if he would be willing to go into a partnership. This is how i bought this place and over the years i kept giving him more money and here i am today having the land and title, but him still owning 17% .

As most of you know the acreage is for sale , I can't afford to double my mortgage payment in order to buy my partner out. He wants the return now on his investment , its been 16 years. We have two acres and 41 grazing animals here and it is not enough room. I love everyone who lives here and my drive to do more for them is what keeps me moving forward. That one needs a bigger space , so do they and if i expand the piggy paddock's I cut into the horses pasture and everyone area to run free is effected. The open pasture becomes smaller and smaller every time i put up a pen.

Summer is easy but the winters are brutal. And for a species who needs the same temperatures as we do to survive with short legs in snow that must be shoveled before i can even feed at night well something has got to give. Before it is me, i need a better way to work this sanctuary so it can be maintained more efficiently. I am 52 year old and i am not sure how long i can keep up with this work so if i can't find pig help then i must bring in enough money to pay for it and that's not happening either.

I had two offers on the table yesterday and here we go . Now that i face the impending move i am scared and doubt everything i am doing. I am like the pigs , i am stubborn. It is what has kept me moving forward in everything i do. And I have faith and hope that if i re build , more help will come because i am doing Gods work and he has kept us safe. We never have to much but we always have what we need.

Last Wednesday Dayna arrived here who found out about us on the Internet and drove here from Edmonton to help me for ten days. I am desperate for help here so having someone move in with me for ten days is a blessing! She is vegan , has brought me cook books , bought everything and every day here i am eating nothing that suffered because of me. I have noticed i am not so tired at the end of the day , i don't wake up during the night thirsty and although some of it will acquire me having to get used to, if that is what i have to eat verses the flesh or end result of suffering that is what i will eat. Although i have not eaten meat for 16 years i cannot get what i need in peanut butter sandwiches from the lack of education on how to eat. And i will have to live 100 years or more as i have to be here to take care of pigs.

I had free range eggs in my fridge. What you don't want to know is that hens are the only thing that can lays eggs of course and while millions of little tiny yellow chicks move down the conveyor belts peeping , the boys are picked and chucked into a grinder. By eating eggs I am perpetuating standard practice in the poultry industry ..it goes on and on. My no egg tofu sandwich was just as good and no one was ground while alive for me.


I have a guy here doing community hours so i better get out there and follow behind what he is doing out there.

Our grant was denied as i bet most animals welfare groups are reading in emails in B.C. today so that insurance for the year has been removed. But they are not rescuing pigs and TV spots and advertising brings them in thousands of dollars so although they might be reeling, they will be okay because the public cares about cats and dogs just not pigs.

More to say but go to go for now , have a great day!

CBC Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Short post , crazy busy here!!! But we will be on TV Sunday . Our interview will be aired at 11:00 am!! That is what they tell me!

Totally a surprise , I came in the hosue and there was an email telling me they were on there way here !!!!!!! LOL

New Friends

A few pictures of new freinds of the Sanctaury, Natalie and Sam with the Lacy and Dior. The girls groomed both the horses on Saturday and as you can see they were all very happy.

Racing Babies & Petting Zoos.

Here are a few pictures of baby Rose not too many days after bringing her home no doubt after her big escape. Her broken leg fused at 9 weeks old she msut of dragged her little self around and on a hip smashed to pieces. And my big girl now..




Last week I received an email including a plea to take in a couple baby farm pigs forced into the entertainment world in Vancouver before they are butchered. Baby animals at the petting zoo soon to be auctioned off. And other peoples pets picked up for a dime and then sold before winter to relive the costs of feeding them. And of course they wouldn't be the cute little babies human nature loves to see by next year they would be adults and why bother when there will be more babies born into the life only to die horrifically after being torn from there family for a dime for entertainment next year.

I cringe at the ads on the radio station and change the channel when i see the racing ducks and racing pigs on TV. And by not going every year and paying the price of admission I boycott these fairs, its all I can do.

While these animals are racing for breakfast looking as cute as can be I wonder how many people even think about what happens to them after?

The girls wanted to save one or two or even a handful of chickens from the auctioneer and wanted to know if i would take some of the pigs here. But cute little farm pigs grow up to be big pigs and I simply don't have enough support here right now , or the room.

So i invited them out to see the pigs here and to heal them from the ordeal they just went threw trying to do the right thing.

This morning Joe and Andrew replaced the front section of Comets fence and it looks really nice and gives him a little more room. Justin, Jamie, Carolyne did the rounds of tidying up the piggy paddocks and fresh waters too. Valerie who dropped off her son visited for the first time and the garden our front got tended too, some of the bush was cut back in the front pasture and the wood neatly stack out back again.

It was an absolutely fantastic day , as we were able to visit while so much got done . Every body was racing around here handing out treats and making sure no one got left out. The horses got groomed by my new Vancouver friends Natalie and Sam. And Carolyn gave out belly rubs at every opportunity.

Spoiled Pigs

This week has been a flurry of help thanks to Community services. And along the way the pigs and I have made a few new friends. ( Yes June that is Comet) Friday night and all the piggy paddocks are raked clean and fresh waters to slurp down a tasty dinner.

Once in a while we get a box of apples here and there but this summer we are doing really well. A friend in Port Coquitlam has been here twice loaded down with cases of zucchini from her markets garden. And a few fresh picked bags of apples and pears too. And a team leader for the Brownies has been emailing her friends. She has been out harvesting there fruit trees and pitting the plums so there ready for the pigs. Buckets and buckets of juicy yellow and purple plums ," yum yum " and "slurp slurp" is exactly what the pigs said. Last night a friend and a neighbour brought me a huge bag of left overs from a get together. So the big pigs had roasted mini potatoes in a nice light garlic sauce for breakfast and Roses tail wagged so fast!!

Foster Mom Jean now moved to the island but still helps us all when she can. This time it was all the work involved when applying for a much needed grant. So in her plan for a two night stay on the mainland we were her first stop to work on that. But first it was a quick treat of donut holes to her babies and then i unloaded 300 lbs of fresh picked apples from her truck.

On Monday my realtor and i are going shopping as i have found the courage to move on. If i find something that will work for all of us here i will put in an offer and that will give me what i need to let go of this land. The beauty of what i have built here, the majestic tree's and all my birds i have fed. All my friends who are part of the the earth now.. but for the animals here and who need us out there I must move ahead.

Tonight a friend stopped in on the way camping as the site up the mountain was all filled up. They were going to turn around , leave the camper here and try again in the morning. I'm like no way keep on driving there are other campsites ahead. Any how as she called home after making reservations an hour drives from here at a better spot she was giving her Mom the update and further directions for the care of her pig at home. And then i heard her say "oh well Janice's pigs are all spoiled" and funny thing is that remark only concerned me for the type of care her only one pig got. When do i ever turn this job off?? Gadssssssss its a joke Janice!! Isn't
it??

The Super Wee's

Finally it rained and rained and rained!

And with the rain the pigs stayed snug in there beds after breakfast and I took this as a day off from working outside. And it felt good to say i am going to stay in the house today until i realized the day was gone and it was time to feed the kids dinner again.

The day was spent doing nothing but returning calls and emails. Some of which i had been saving from Feb to reply. I thought i would spend the day in the house getting caught up on paper work and putting things back in order from the fair fundraiser but i never did get into my office.

This morning i needed to deal with the carport such as putting the other tent some where until required , finding a place for some wagons i got and tending to Carport Penny. Who by the way kept me company all morning although it might of been the bread delivery that got her up and atom.

Tortilla my vintage guy was cruising around the back yard so how i normally run the herds changed today. So Penny kept me company while i stacked, moved stuff and then swept .

I was out there for a few hours and the entire time i listened to the pathetic high pitched wee's of a few certain babies out front. My calling out to then to knock it off, that doesn't work with me and you guys were the last herd out before it rained fell on deaf stubborn spoiled brat ears. Ladies and Gentlemen lets have a nice round of applause for The Super Wee's!!!!!!!

I went up to the store early this morning and thought stop at the mail
box. I never go on Mondays as there never seems to be any mail
so why bother going on a Tuesday so early. But try as I do to not go against my gut instinct I went up there. Grabbed my mail and then went to lock the door on the community box and the whole door swung open. Every one's mail including mine could of been stolen and when i arrived home I called the post office right away. But i was tempted to load every one's mail in my truck for safe keeping but thought with my luck a cop will drive by and anyhow Thank goodness I went!!!

When a mail box does get broken into there is no way for the charity to know what was taken. It could of been a cheque and unless the person checks his account he might think i was not grateful as they would never get a receipt or a thank you card . Gift cards and coupons never acknowledged because we never knew.. .

I sent this picture to Jean this morning of Soda in the living room for the very first time. Jean commented on how trim our Soda is from running the acreage here now. I really laughed when jean wrote again to share an email she had got. Here it is for you to read too.

From: Soda

Sent: August 11, 2009 10:07 AM
To: Foster Mom
Subject: Foster Mama, Help!!!!



I am bein' STARVED here. You shud see how skinny I is!! And I knows there is lots of food in the howse but the Piggy Lady won't let me live inside where I can helps myself. I just gets to visit there sumtimes.

Bring Apples. Bring marshmallows. Send Licorise. Donuts. cookies. Popcorn.

I is STARVIN'.

Luv Soda

Please let it rain!!!

The heat wave was brutal on everyone!! Including the horses , the cats , the guinea, the pigs, the dog and me! I even had a guinea pig pool for Sundance. Carolyn, my new bunny loving friend tells me she will freeze a water bottle and then wrap it in a light towel for her bunnies to lay next to for cooling off. I will have to try this for Sundance, although he did like stepping in his big dish!!

The heat was really hard on our Penny and it really caused her some pain to move around in it. She would only come out of her house a few steps even though i ran a fan on her all day. Now that it has cooled off when i looked at her tonight she is looking even better then ever! With her one ear cocked strait up as i looked at her and commented at how much more room there is between her and the ground well the thought that entered my mind was "yes it is more airy". LOL Not too sure if that came from Penny or not as its not exactly how i would have described the visible weight loss. And after a big bowl of watered down grape fruit juice she waddled back down the carpets to her bed.

We also have three more pigs sponsored!! Carport Penny chosen by Sherry and then Gem is also loved by Judy. Comet was chosen for a senior who has been writing me from Ontario thanks to Wendy our bakery finds collector. June is as quick as lightening and her emails are a hoot to read. And Tara or known by us Blog readers as Snowy Vegan is supporting us too ,she works at the SPCA in Alaska, what an awesome gal!

Two weeks ago I had been surfing the Craig lists for a tent to cover our tables for the fair. A stroke of kindness from the sellers offered them to us for free and then Howard, Gayle and Fanny not only picked them up and delivered them but spent some time here putting one up for me so i would know how to do it. How cool is that and look at our mud wallowing Rose admiring there Fanny! I kept Buddy in the house so he didn't bother this vintage gal.

I have had visitors every other day it seems here and the new BlueBerry local Magazine has been no doubt a part of that. The two page spread was awesome and there offer to publish free the names and logos of any one who sponsors a pig in there next edition was more then generous! You would love the owner of this Maple Ridge book , she is a doll with her English accent and all.

Tracy has been here five days in a row and we spent every day emptying out piggy houses of heavy dusty straw so we could inspect floors, do repairs as necessary and then add new fresh hay. Some of these sheds can hold 4-5 bales of straw needed to keep the pigs warm and cozy during winter months and at approx 70 lbs a bale it is not any lighter when broken down . We placed a tarp in front of the doorways and then pitch forked, raked, swept and then dragged the loaded tarps almost a block away to the manure pile. Both of us were stiff and sore today.

I also got to use one of the nice little skill saws donated a few weeks ago to do some repairs to Georges floor. It also upset me when i crawled into his house to feel the slope the house was sitting in now. I don't know if any of you have ever laid down on uneven ground pitching on a slope and felt what effect is has on your body . You start to feel the same pressure as one would feel when doing head stands , not healthy by any means over a period of time. Sure the bulk of the straw would take up some of that edge off and the pigs do fix there bedding however not healthy by any means. I grabbed a crow bar and kicked under a couple of 2x4's and crawled back in and it felt so much better. I am sure George notices it too and grateful for me just about killing myself trying to do that by myself LOL It is amazing what you can do when your heart is in it.

I have taken some time in between the work here to try and get some good pictures and if you look into the eyes of the picture of Don Juan you will see what i feel.

ps if you click on the pictures it will put them in full screen and just use your back arrow to take you back to the blog again.

Hot Tails and Long Days

I wish the quality of the one with the pigs in the sprinkler was better. I found them both standing in it and then ran for the camera.


Roscoe's marvelous tail not brutally cut off as they routinely are by the butchers of animal factories.

Fencing at the Fest

Yesterday i was excited to spend the day away from the sanctuary hopefully doing what i do best, which is talking about pigs. We had some great stuff donated as i said in an earlier post and more crafts arrived with Corrie and Martin . Mom, my sister Nancy and bunny loving Carolyn yakked the day away. And then Anne from the Blueberry Publications joined us with bringing donations in.

The storm started to come in late afternoon and thankfully we were under a real commercial tent which me thinks is exactly what was donated this week. We shared the tent with the Maple Ridge SPCA and Mark was good company. The rain had us moving stuff under cover and then the two Wendy's came in to take over the night shift there. I got home and it started to rain and then that turned into a really good storm complete with thunder and lightening. In fact a couple of people camping up the hill had shock of there life when lightening hit tree, came out from the bottom and threw there cars and sent a few of them flying. Thankfully they are recovering okay. I sat under the carport for over an hour waiting for the rain to let up so i could feed the pig children's.

It is really hot out today and i just got home and the coolness of the house is welcoming. I'm going to jump in the shower in a few minutes here. We didn't really do that well , made about 200.00 . And yet the guy next to us was selling those cheap cowboy hats by the dozens for 25.00 a pop. Yesterday was fun but today dragged on but a few interesting things happened today.

My worse memory is a young lady standing in front of me. She started to tell us she had four pet pigs too. And for a second i was in disbelief because i don't know anyone around here who has pet Yorkshire's. And then i asked her if they were breeding sows and she answered yes. These kids don't even know what a 'pet ' means. So we now breed our pets and send the babies for slaughter ? Apparently 4h kids and there families do. She was wearing her 4H swine club shirt and stated with such a disregard for life "an animal is just an animal" , it made me cringe. It was like facing pure evil or the enemy and i didn't really know how to deal with that remark. It was like she was too far gone to be saved.

And i don't know if the girls sent over the boys later but three teenagers stood before me after we had torn everything down and were getting ready to go. Clearly we were both on different sides of the fence but the more vocal of the boys who kept assuring me he liked the taste of bacon and that the pig was worth 600.00 looked into my eyes when i spoke. I told him I didn't believe in profiting from flesh whether it is the sale of a child , a person or an animal . And i asked him to look into the eyes of his pigs to look into there soul. I told them all if they looked into there eyes they would see us, our eyes. He smiled at me after i told him he was a clever one, and promised to do just that.

What was even more weird is one of the boys returned with his sister and he clearly had something on his mind but something prevented him from saying what ever it was . I took this opportunity to ask him if his pig loved him, if his pig had ever said hello to him. I demonstrated how a pig communicates that and as they walked away i told him, they just want to live like you and me. And although he was trying to keep up to his sister they came past me again and he sort of secretly said the words "i am going to see if my pig loves me"

What shouldn't strike me odd is the fact that these kids know nothing about the speices they are spending all there time with. How could they not hear the 'hello ' we all know from there pigs?? And now that i think of it, i should of asked them if any of them saw there pigs wag there tails. Maybe i should start my own club and call it the 4abc's.

This is something i am not very good at , faced with directed opposition to everything i believe in is uncomfortable for me and i wish i knew the right things to say. A gal yesterday told us they keep three pigs and when they send them away she cries. I told her to make a stand for her pigs and let them live there lives out and she listened.

I didn't go into the barns at the fair today because i don't need to torture myself with facing pigs i cannot save. I can only hope i planted seeds today.

Country Fest!!

FREE GATE ADMISSION - http://www.mrpmcountryfest.com/

“COUNTRY FEST”
Albion Fairgrounds
July 25 and 26, 2009
Saturday 10am - Midnight ( “On the Go” hours 10am—8pm)
Sunday 10am - 6pm

This is where we will be this coming week-end and we are under the tent with the SPCA so come and look for us! We have some awesome items for sale such as this poster print donated by famed artist Diana Durrand. Come out and support us, the pigs really need you!! Also for you country fans there will be some good bands playing see the link for a list of entertainment !

Its been a fab week with Tracey,Ange and Chris keeping the paddocks clean and waters fresh!

Friends of animals Ray, Chris,Karen, Carolyn and Jeremy visited and arrived wtih arm loads of carrots and apples oh my! Ray if you all remember him from being on tv several years ago who made it his quest to bunny's in shelters at the SPCA. We were all talking a mile a minute and the story i remember the most is Carolyn talking about her bunny who gives her kisses all over her face. ;o)) I also learned for all you bunny lovers that they should NOT be on pine shavings as the oil in the wood is toxic to them.

Then thanks to Judy, Earl and Lynda who have been supplying the pigs with nice wool blankets surprised me with a wish list fulfilled which netted me a ton of tools such as a chop saw , sawsall, drill, chain saw, a skill saw and a giant pig stuffy as well as a huge ceramic one.

AND THENNNNNNNNNN i answered an ad on Craig list for two stand alone awning tents and the gal (Maureen) is now donating them! whoooooooooo hoooooooooooo!!! And Flood cat (Gayle) and her hubby (Howard) are rounding them for us and will deliver them all the way from Cambie in Vancouver. Gayle was down in Katrina you simply can't be surrounded with better then the best as i have this week.

Can it get any better then this?????????? LOL I am so excited!!!!

Just got home from the Langley Market here in Ridge with two giant bags of lettuce which was enough for every pig here to get a pile of it for lunch. And melons on for 29 cents a pound. I grabbed 120 lbs of them and three large watermelons so the pigs will dine well for the next few days!

To wrap up today was a visit from Sherry who was on the hunt for volunteer work and emailed me this afternoon. She wants to sponsor a pig!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am drunk with happiness today!!!!!!!! yahoooooooooooooooooooooooo

Soda wants to know if your going to the Fair!!!

The 3d dancing pig

Staying Alive...

Hot is better then Snow!!

The pigs are enjoying the weather and spending time in the mud wallow out front. I keep busy around here filling up pools , the wallow and water dishes! And now that i am sitting down i better get back out here and water my flowers.