The morning after
When I went out to feed the pigs this morning, I found them standing resolutely in their favourite spot. Never mind that it was flooded. Never mind that they were slowly sinking until their bellies grounded in the mud. This is where they most like to stand while watching the world go by, and no amount of overnight rain, mud or water was going to change that.
And yes, the pigs do have much drier ground, up the hill behind them. I moved their feed troughs to the grassy areas and fed them there, but when I checked the pigs later they’d pushed their troughs back into the mud again. Fortunately, Graham and his girls had not trashed their hut overnight, so they still had dry bedding.
Delilah and Gus, on the other hand, had clearly not been outside for some time as there were no trotter prints in the mud in their pen. When I checked their hut, my suspicions were confirmed—they’d dug a hole in the ground, let water in, churned up their bedding and urinated inside. Of course, they were very unhappy about the state of things and expect Two-Legs to sort it, which I did. It took almost an hour to break their hut free, haul it up the slope and bed it down on one of the few remaining firm, raised areas in the pen.
The porker hut is still out in an exposed position on the top of the hill, so it took the full force of the wind. The result was the rope holding the roof in place snapped, leaving the canvas flapping in the wind. The porkers were having too much fun churning up the soft ground to be bothered and left me to repair their hut without their usual “help”. A slight change of position and more new bedding was needed here, too.
Most of the water had drained from the race this morning, but the photo is deceptive. The mud is actually calf deep but was scoured smooth by the torrent of water that had swept down the race last night. When I checked the pigs at the height of the storm the water was at the height of the second line of wire in the netting to the left. We really need several dry weeks now as the ground is totally saturated—but I don’t think we’ll get it. It means leaving numerous vegetable beds un-dug, the garlic and broad beans not planted, and many of the other autumn jobs either abandoned or only half done. That’s Scotland for you!
Great photos. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a dry spell (or two) for you.
My pigs always wait for their food in the same spot, which is now belly deep mud. Does that stop them? Do they wait where I actually feed them, saving themselves the mud and the walk? Do they ever!
It’s raining again this morning.
Jeez. Photos like this make me glad I emigrated those twenty-four (-five?) years ago (from the Elgin region). It’s mostly dry here, as it is most autumns. The only problem with that, since we use groundwater for livestock watering and the water table is fine, is that the woods are very loud for hunting white-tail deer. And ’tis the season of the year for that.
But we will get our three, four, five or even six feet of snow soon, and you’ll be planting tatties while we still have rock-hard ground and deep snow. We can’t even plant peas until May day. And we have to worry about coyotes, who were pretty close last night cleaning up a white-tail’s gralloch. So it’s not easy street.
Oh my! What a lot of unnecessary work that rain has given you. Commiserations!
Different work, but not unnecessary. I’d prefer to be mowing grass, clearing vegetable beds and turning them over, pruning trees, putting a bit of paint on where needed, and so on. But needs must, so I just get on with doing a different range of jobs. (Although the jobs I’m doing are definitely a little more strenuous thanks to the mud!)
That’s Scotland for you!
That’s Kansas, USA for you!
We’ve had the wettest summer on hand in years, Fall hasn’t been any better.
So much outdoor, end of the gardening season chores have gone undone
because of the relentless rains we have had. It’s finally looking like maybe,
just maybe I can begin tidying up for the winter ahead – mow the fields so
we can finally put the mower away for the season, till up the gardens and get
them ready for the next season. Were waiting for a real cold snap of day time
temps for butchering the 2 Duroc hogs we have been raising..don’t know when
that will happen since it’s staying warm and we do our own butchering – no cooler
to hang the meat.
As always……..love your blog.
Pamela
Thanks.
It’s supposed to be cold here, too. We should be getting hard frosts but there’s no sign of them so far. If we get a hard freeze before the ground dries to some degree it will be horrendous for the pigs and for us. It won’t be good for many plants, either.
Is the nearest pig in the first pic using a red snorkel?…. They certainly are creatures of habit!… Hope you get some dry weather soon.
Ha ha! No, that’s a trough. Pushed down into the mud because one of them had been standing in it a few seconds earlier.
something to be said for routine and comfort zone.. eh?
happy trails
gp
What’s a comfort zone? Is that something you find in cities?
We went to Forfar today and the loch had flooded big time!
The end of the loch had not only flooded but the sheer speed of water coming down the path has washed the entire path away. It has also washed a farmers field so hard that I could have filled a sack up with tatties that had also been washed out and down the hill.
Well it is getting colder but still not sign of any serious cold weather. Hope the water drains away before the frosts arrive.
I read that Global Warming might make Scotland less cold and more wet, the first might be welcome but the second!!!
If it was a cold as it was here this morning Stonehead would have had a frost last night..we had slight one and we are a little further south.
Still mild and wet here. Mud, mud and more mud.
Don’t hold your breath….. Dan on the BBC forecast a possible frost for you overnight tonight… Stay warm!
We don’t even bother with the BBC forecasts. They’re seldom right—mainly because they’re based on information from the weather station at Aberdeen Airport on the coast.
“happy as a pig in mud!”
Surprised they like it when it’s so cold over there.