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.

Something old , something blue something new

Whew, the last week has really been awesome as far as getting some major chores accomplished. James has been here for 8 hour days and he really helped me a ton. Joe put a gate into Don Juan's paddock so that little pig has been all over the place. He is a rough looking little pig and he likes to hang out here at the big house. His visit was rewarded with cherry tomatoes, yum!!

All the wood is moved from the carport now and stacked neatly in the chip shed out back. The chip shed was damaged when we were flooded in 2007 and if i were to get a load of shavings in i am sure it would fall down. So until we move it is where all my lumber is now.

Christine came by and fixed us up with three huge pots of flowers and added some more to Willy's garden out front too. Christine is fondly called my water girl as she was once a regular down here until an unrelated injury flared up. We have tubs of yellow and orange pansies and in an old horse feed bucket is filled with blue ones.

This morning Wendy and I left here early to go up the street to check out a moving sale. We might score a few gates when this guy moves and another neighbor is going to lend me his lawnmower so i can do out front at the other side of the gates. Wendy also dropped off a new bird feeder and it felt good to be telephoned and invited out on a little excursion from the work here.

And another surprise was a new friend delivering a little cedar piggy house on the back of a borrowed trailer. He tells me it took them three hours to get it up and in there!! We are lucky indeed and Blessed no doubt about it. But i better not look at where i had them drop it and envision a fence around it. It is inventory Janice!!!

So for two weeks of no regular volunteers arriving the pigs and I were thought of by new friends and we are happy and grateful. Wendy also listened to me go on about our biggest obstacles here. Every one doing cat and dog rescue has a core or group of volunteers who stay threw thick and thin because they love the animals. Those of us who are in the forefront of these rescues are for sure known for being bitches and a few other things. I think we all share some of the same personalty traits or simply put we wouldn't be doing what we are doing nor would we be capable , and we are. But the difference between here and there is that because of there strong love of the animals that reside there is what drives the volunteers. They do it for the animals they love and in turn they accept who ever is running the place and for creating it for the animals they love.

Because pigs are so far removed from what most animal lovers are accustomed to or understand , we are and I mean the pigs and I are very much alone here in that regard. I do not have the luxury of having a tight knit group down here every week-end. Animal lovers who do not have a piggy companion have no understanding of them , no experiences. And the friends that i do have who have pigs are 100's if not 1000's of miles apart as i have stated before.

What i do have however is an amazing amount of support from afar. And for sure do not think i am downplaying the value of there (your) existence, i am just trying to say something else here.

Thankfully I have the support I do and from former volunteers who can no longer do the work here but still help in different ways now, and the only way that they can. These are my friends, they are the pigs friends. How can we not be?? They were here when i cried and they have been here for our successes. Volunteers who i spend countless brutal working hours down here threw harsh weather conditions are no longer volunteers to me. They are my friends, and for sure they are the pigs friends. So it is hard when they leave me...us..

What i yearn for the pigs is the same love i have for them to be met by someone who is working beside me. Who will take over for me when i can no longer do this? Who will love them for me??

But i am just like my pigs! I am stubborn and pig headed so i will carry on!! We never have a bounty but we are always provided for somehow and get what we need. Which brings me right back to how this post started , we are Blessed and frankly i can't wait to look at everything that has happened for the pigs tomorrow morning and revel in our accomplishments.

A door closes and a window opens..

Angels

I start every morning with a cup of coffee here and catch up on pig sanctuary news some from Canada but mostly the United States. It seems that after every large rescue up springs another but somewhere out there some one is giving there all to do right by the animals discarded by humanity. Some one driving 100's of miles , finding the funds, finding the holding places, arranging the spay and neuters then more transports and then finding forever homes.

One little pig out of a herd of 30 plus travelling 1000's of miles and across several states , blood work , tagged and requiring emergency surgery finds his little self in the home of a well respected Vet. Can it get any better!!??

The day before the arrival here of 12 more pigs has had me pretty keyed up. In a flap and getting to close with out anything done i hired two guys out of the paper Tuesday morning to start the fencing. And after a nice chunk of change i sent them on there way the following day. Gates were not there specialty but at least the fence was started. Thursday after they left i spent returning my carport back to normal after tearing this place a part to find every 2"x6" i had so the only fencng materials i needed to purchase was the wire. Friday was a trip to the dump, buy a truck load of hay for bedding and then pick up 400 lbs of pelleted feed for the week. After putting it away it was all i could do and for some reason i was at peace with this.

I went out to feed the horses and start to mix dinner for the pigs at the barn. Grabbing a 50lb bag of feed i went to toss it into a empty feed bin and something made me stop. I put down the bag and looked into the tub only to see a young little furcoat in a ball trying very hard to hide at the bottom of an empty blue rubber made garbage tub. Now i wish he would find another place to dine as i set him free in my hay stall and i will have to figure out how he got in there and stop him from returning. But thank goodness i looked first!!

This morning i woke to knowing by some miracle both sheds would need to be moved, ramps made and the balance of the fencing done. I was at ease when i sat here and drank my cup of coffee this morning and then one by one help started to arrive. My sister, Paula and her husband Jim, Brian who comes to check on my guinea's for me,Morris a new friend, Joe and his buddy Andrew of all days stopped into help do some pruning for me and walla we had our crew.

Paula and i cleaned the piggy paddocks , Nancy did the horses and hten Mom arrived and made everyone grilled cheese sandwiches. Noon had arrived and most leaving Joe and Andrew to finish the project. they did it and in record time. Some thing about men and power tools!!

Everyone had goodies today as Susan and Wendy have been grabbing stuff from bakeries all week and drying it out for a crunchy snack for the pigs, horses included!! Wendy even brought me a beautiful pot of yellow flowers. ;o)))

By 2:30 everyone was gone and although i have some work to do in the morning a miracle happened on 232nd Street!!

God has provided us with Angels on earth to complete a home for 12 little pigs here today. He started this two weeks ago with a garage sale but in reality He started this with a little black pig who arrived here a long time ago on a cold winter day.

Oh yes we do have Angels surrounding us and i feel Blessed for such an awesome day!!