Dear Old Mrs P

I woke this morning with a feeling of melancholy.  Looking out the window I could see a few early "autumn" leaves being buffeted about by the breeze and it brought home the realisation that summer is nearly at an end. All our "babies" are growing up and all except the baby goats have now been weaned.  The ducklings still do not have the right kind of feathers to make them waterproof - so they aren't on the river yet - but other than that the piglets, the lambs, the chicks now look like miniature adults rather than babies.

I was also still thinking about Mrs Pugwash - one of our old favourties.  Mrs P, as she quickly became known, was a Large Black pig and had been with us for nearly 14 years.  She had had many litters of her own  but in recent years, when it was no longer possible to breed from her, had taken on the role of a surrogate mum.  We were never sure if she actually fed the piglets that seemed to cling to her or if they suckled from her for comfort.  But she seemed to be happy to have them around and they would often have "sleep overs" in her ark. 

But over the last few months she had seemed unsettled and lost her appetite for normal food and often had to be coaxed to eat - she would finish her food provided she could see a treat such as fruit or cake to finish with. Finally even these treats couldn't tempt her and the vet  confirmed what we feared - that she had an inoperable tumor.  

We will all miss her - even those who feared her grumpy moods (she had been known to try to nip a couple of the people who worked here).

So perhaps I feel melancholy today as it feels like the end of an era, as much as the end of summer.