SCHWEINCHEN .... the German word for piglet

A few days ago I received a very touching email of a Lady who helped me out big times last December. But the whole story actually started in February 2014.

Once upon a time .... last February, a friend left an unusual gift at our place. Well, it turned out that it was a small black piglet. Somebody got it from someone and at a mart it landed in another car boot before being thrown into my friends boot. She could not give him a home, but remembered that
at some stage, I must have mentioned that I would like a pig.

'Schweinchen'

 Nothing wrong with it, but my husband totally disagreed from the beginning. Normally he wouldn't mind any animal, as long as I looked after them, but from day one he made clear that 'Schweinchen' wasn't welcome. "Das Schwein muss weg" ( the pig has to go ).... was that sentence I woke up to and went to bed with. When he was young his parents used to farm as well and also kept some pigs. His work for many years was to manure out the pig shed.... but maybe other reasons played its part as well.
Anyhow, the piglet had obviously suffered some trauma, because it behaved beyond mad. No one could touch him ... he barked and charged at anybody and anything, when getting close. It was frustrating and I had little hope that he might change his attitude  ... but after a few days, while feeding him, I could feel that for the first time he had lost his nervousness. Soon I was able to ruffle his neck and from now on I never looked back.

the first little scratch

I suppose we both got very attached to each other over the following months.
Soon he started following me around, watching me how I interacted with the other animals. He also tried to make friends with most of our creatures, but the Ponies, the goats and for sure my hubby expressed clear signs that they wont be friends. So Schweinchen decided to become my third dog. Especially Lucy, our Spaniel cross didn't mind him really and he followed her around. We went for walks together and afterwards, to receive a treat, he soon started to sit down, waiting for a 'goodie'.

my third dog :)

can we have our treat now ....

come on Lucy, lets play 

The children were also fond of this little creature ... but as time went on, my husband still wouldn't make friends with him and kept clearly insisting, that the pig has to go. The boys teased him in their cheeky way saying statements like: "Dad, pigs are the the 5th most intelligent creature on earth. So maybe you are afraid that he challenges your intelligence .... ." In the meantime Schweinchen kept growing and learning new tricks or just went for walks on his own, when I wasn't there. It was hard to keep him enclosed, as he always found a way out. Sometimes my neighbors would ring and tell me that the piggy just passed their kitchen window.
During the world-cup he developed his love for football and was keen on pushing, kicking and dribbling any ball over the yard.

Schweinchen in world-cup fever .... he was up for Argentina, just to annoy the master 

So during the summer I started to promote Schweinchen. I didn't just want him to go to any home or a place where he might end up in the pot. I got a little facebook campaign started and involved some of the animal shelters. People came visiting, looked at him, but most people just left again, as he didn't fit into their imagination. Some were sure, that the pictures of the pig and the real pig didn't match, others thought he was to big and still growing anyway.
He surely also developed his sexuality and therefore discovered a large blue square water-drum. Whenever he felt like it, he pushed the drum around and finally loved 'her' to bits.

his true love

In my efforts to find a new home he nearly made it to the 'Mooney goes wild' RTE1 Radio show .... but then I got news from a friend, who's neighboring family would be interested. In fact they had a female potbelly pig, called Alice and they were wondering, if Alice would need a partner. Finally, the whole family arrived and as they had three young girls, they were wondering if Schweinchen had any aggressiveness in his nature. But Schweinchen behaved at his best, a bit shy and timid, but friendly.
We exchanged contact details and I was very happy with the visit. I didn't want to push Niamh and her family, but I assumed they were still interested. So I stopped promoting Schweinchen and I still didn't give up hope, that he might be here for another while.

last picture on Corsallagh soil

But then one winters morning in December, I got confirmation that he is going now to his new home.
It was more difficult then I could ever imagine to say good bye to him. After some effort we managed to put him into the trailer. The way he looked at me I will never forget. Those eyes asked me a thousand questions.... I just crawled his neck for one last time, feeling I betrayed him.... I was rather inconsolable ... and had to shed some tears by only thinking about him.

BUT, I kept in contact with the new owner and their family. Even though I m still hesitating to meet him again, I know now, that he is fine. Well, Alice still doesn't like him and I believe they had some mad fights, but he does his own thing anyway. Where ever he is locked in, he manages to get out ... and then goes visiting the neighbor. Therefor he has to climb a very steep hill  ( he is an awful fit pig anyway) to see my friend, who made the contact between Niamh and myself. She has also dogs and goats and interesting enough does speak a mixture of German and English to her animals - just like myself. He would hang out at her place and goes back home after a while.
Surely his name isn't Schweinchen anymore - he is called 'Sam', which is much easier to pronounce for their children.
I am really so thankful to all those kind people who take care of this special creature and allow him to be himself. I will visit him sometimes .... soon .... . But in the meantime I share a few pictures of SAM, the pig who doesn't like to be locked in

...still a dog ...

pretty boy

chilling in the sun

Watching whats going on around him

he is a big boy now :)

Animals often do give me lessons. Sam, alias Schweinchen made me think even more about how us people often treat their animal friends. Now, more then ever I would sign any law, which forbids mass production of any animal. All animals are scary intelligent, but after my encounter with 'a' pig, I know it is just so wrong. 

I am not a Vegeterian ( sorry ), but a real animal protection law would be the least we can do to treat them all in a kind of fair manner. 

We as consumers should have the power to change this around .... think about it and maybe leave a comment.

bog blog: Happy Easter

bog blog: Happy Easter: First on the Agenda: I would like wishing you All a very Happy Easter. After a few days miserable rain, spring bounced back in s...

Happy Easter

First on the Agenda: I would like wishing you All a very Happy Easter.

After a few days of miserable rain, spring bounced back in style, just in time for Easter. In Ireland I have the feeling that you don't take any ray of sun for granted. It's something special, its an event .... its actually heaven.

Despite the sometimes unsettled 'April-weather' I do love this time of year and maybe it is my favorite time of all four seasons. Without doubt the one and only color associated with spring is a bright and shiny yellow. Therefore I strolled up our lane and went 'yellow hunting' in and around the ditches. Apart from the powerful strong yellow of daffodils or crocus's I found other species of different herbs just a few steps away from home.

Over centuries this used to be a powerful herb, the dandelion. I pick the leafs not only for Moses, the tortoise, but also chop it small and use it finely chopped in salad dressing and between potato salad. Rich in potassium and supports kidney, liver and gall bladder function.

Cowslip, a  great relaxing, slightly sedative plant helpful for a good nights sleep

Coltsfoot, one of my favorite herbs. I pick the blossoms and let them dry. Whenever one of us gets a cough its a spot on remedy.

Gorse plays an important role within the Bach Flower Remedies. But it just makes me happy strolling through an aisle of yellowness while inhaling the gentle scent of coconut

Also our animals on the farm are in a spring mode and full of surprises. Especially the goats were full of it.
I keep goats now since 25 years, but this year I felt suddenly like a real beginner. Throughout the winter I was very happy with my girls, as they looked rather happy and healthy. I feed them hay and a bit of grains and they travel over the bog picking on heather, bramble leafs, a bit of stingy gorse and some bark, preferably of Sally's and Whitethorn. Still it is only natural that they shape up and loose a bit of weight. As it was mild throughout this winter and early spring I had the impression that the goats still looked well fed.
But suddenly all made sense .... . Two weeks ago I couldn't find Bella, a 2 year old strawberry colored goat and went searching for her. Here she was in the little forest giving birth to two fine 'Billy boys'. I was thrilled, but hadn't really suspected it, as i didn't have a Billy around ....unless the just 4 month old little Cassanova from last year .... ?

already practicing at about 3 weeks .... without consequences that time 

Well now I got suspicious and inspected each and everyone of the girls. The result still puts a smile on my face. Somehow he had 'done' two of my 'big girls', Tini and Angie and also the two younger ones Bella and Jessi, resulting in three boys and two girls ... and a rather overcrowded goat shed.
Just a little insight into 'Corsallaghs 2015 miracle goat reproduction':

Pit -stop .... fuel stop at lunch time

just 2 hours old .... Mummy and sons are cuddling up

Miss Helen ... the little boss 

ok - who seriously can resist me .... ?

I bet you never guessed it, but i do love to follow my animals around with the old simple snapshot camera. It gives me great pleasure to watch them and sometimes they do give me one or the other lesson .... like the the goats this year.
To finish off another few shots of a random selection, calling it 'enjoying the sun'

Mother Ollie and Son Snoopy

Arthur treats his girls with a sun bath in the dry clay

old Murphy chilling

Snoopy heats up on the tarmac 

on the river bank

all out ..... including the bedding 

watching everything grow

a chat between friends ... probably about the weather ... 

bog blog: busy

bog blog: busy: Sorry for not writing for nearly four weeks, but March kind of started on the busy side. Irregular sleeping times kept me from writing in ...

busy

Sorry for not writing for nearly four weeks, but March kind of started on the busy side.

Irregular sleeping times kept me from writing in the early mornings, which seems to be my best inspirational time. A cup of strong coffee, porridge or homebaked bread with a generous topping of butter and still my own jam ( from frozen berries of the 2014 season ), while sitting on a beanbag overlooking 'Corsallagh East', watching the sun rise is the perfect stage set for typing a few lines.

For the first part of the month I did visit my Mum in the South of Germany. It was her birthday and after my Dad passed away last year, I thought I spend some time with her especially around that time of the year. Even though there is no jet-lack involved by traveling from the Western European timezone to the Central European timezone, I usually end up with one night without sleep. The bus to Dublin leaves at 1:38 am and arrives 3 hours later just outside the Airport. But it's all worth it, as I had a few nice days meeting friends and relations.

I m not a great friend of the commercial side of any particular day .... but Mothersday is a most important day annually in a florists life. Once I arrived back home I dived straight into Mothersday business and two funerals and a wedding. But our small but skilled 'Team Awesome' managed all the stress professionally.

.... and then there was St.Patricksday, an important day in every Irish persons life I believe, and also for people who spent the last 22 years living in this great country.

ohja, and the weather was glorious over the last 10 days .... we are getting there ... .

As this blog was written in little stages, it didn't turn out great ..... so I ' ll attach a few pics of the 'Zoo' and surrounding and hope it improves the whole mess :).

at the river bank 

Son Snoopy and his Mama Ollie enjoying the warm sun rays 

So does good old Murphy

Arthur brings his girls for a sand bath

airing the bedding 

the goats are on their way home from the bog

no car in sight .... 

Moses between the Strawberries in the tunnel

having a cuppa while watching everything grow ....

bog blog: FAIRTRADE and other Interests

bog blog: FAIRTRADE and other Interests: Usually I follow a good few interests. Actually most of those I treasure since many decades. That makes me look very ancient ... . Now as I...

FAIRTRADE and other Interests

Usually I follow a good few interests. Actually most of those I treasure since many decades. That makes me look very ancient ... .
Now as I m early 'dinosaur stage', like being over 50, I must agree, age doesn't hurt, if you are healthy, doesn't matter and anyway, who says that you have to act your age.

Coming back to my 'hobbies' or 'passions' I can say that I love farming ( I was 4 when I decided to become a farmer ), gardening, animals and plants, flora and fauna in general, but also swimming and cycling, hiking ( all leisurely ), traveling, writing ( amateur ) and controversial enough also motorbiking. But on some topics I will compose a special ode ... :) at a later stage.

This blog should highlight especially one topic, which is close to my heart since the late Eighties:

From 23.th of February till the 8.th of March, Fairtrade International celebrates 'Fairtrade Fortnight' 2015.

Since 2007 Tubbercurry has been officialy a Fairtrade town and it used to be for some years the smallest Fairtrade town in Ireland. I joined it maybe a year later and we used to be a bunch of different people meeting up regularly and planing events especially around the annual Fairtrade fortnight. But then 2012 things changed drastically and apart from myself all other members either moved away or had other priorities. At a meeting where I wasn't present, I was elected to the new chairperson ..... . Suddenly I found myself as the 'captain' and all the crew had been gone ... .
But as Fairtrade has become one of my 'inner circle interest' over the last 27 years, I gave it a try and we are now a small and rather active group again, but with no particular structure.... it's a group where everybody is welcome and to say it formally, we haven't reached our capacity yet ... ( hint, hint ).

This week we are especially excited, as on Friday, the 27th of February, 'Chief Adam', a Cashew nut grower from Ghana, also a member of Fairtrade International and an UN climate change advocate, will come to Tubbercurry, together with Dunstan, a member of Fairtrade Ireland. We asked them to speak at three venues, which I m aware off, is quite a lot. But kindly they agreed and so he speaks first in front of National School Children, then Transition Year students at the local Secondary School ( which already has Fairtrade status ) and finally there is an open talk at the North Connaught College, our local third level institute. It should be of great interest to hear from a person, who's own life, the life of his family and community has been positively influenced simply by receiving a fair price  for his goods.
Today at a talk in the Secondary School, a student related Fairtrade to collecting money for charity and asked how we send off the money we collected. But the great thing is that its none of this rattling of buckets and asking for contributions business .... it is simply working by getting a fair price. Often small farmers with only a few acres have no change to compete with big Multinational Companies who dictate the global market prices. But they work hard, have pride in their product and deliver a delicious product, often even with organic standards. I believe, we as their consumers owe them a fair price, it is as simple as that, it's not hard to understand and there is no excuse.
If you are interested in this subject, why not click onto www.fairtrade.ie or fairtrade.net. There are videos, campaigns, products and also guidelines if you want to get involved.
There is a wide range of products available in most retailing outlets, but there still has a lot to be done. My favorites are tea, coffee, sugar, cadburys dairy milk, maltesers, cocoa in general and the best chocolate you ever get is clonakiltychocolate.com. Then surely bananas and if your local retailer doesn't have them join in this years campaign, online or there are also postcards available. Maybe your town is Fairtrade too?

It was a bit different when I first got in contact with an early form of fairtrade. In 1989, I attended a solidarity protest in aid of Nicaragua in the former German capital of Bonn. That time Nicaragua was boycotted by many western governments, mainly the USA  ( Reagan area ), because they intended to establish a left wing, communist government. A kind of a civil war between the pro american Contras and the Sandinistas not only claimed the lives of 30000 people, but an international boycott weakened the economy and made it difficult for farmers to sell their main product (coffee) internationally. At that demonstration there was also a stall with coffee from Nicaragua and I bought some and subscribed to get that coffee delivered monthly. Even though I have to admit, that the coffee was very strong, deep black and had a bitter note, I felt I did the right thing and kept the standing order until we moved to Ireland.
In the early Nineties, there was a pre-fairtrade organization active within Ireland. It was called 'traideireann' and sold their products in very few outlets throughout the country. During the annual 'old fair day' in Tubbercurry I used to rent a stall together with a friend of mine. We were also both members of the Ballina Amnesty International Group and divided the stall in two half's ... one with petitions and information of Amnesty and the other one we sold fair traded goods.
Thanks to the 'old fair day' committee I m still at it during our heritage week.

probably 1991 our stall at the Tubbercurry Old Fair day

...and she is still at it .... 2014 at the Old fair day

Sometimes people wonder seriously what I do get out of this type of activity. Nothing really, because often it is very weary, to convince an adult, why he/she might consider changing their consumer habit. But I have hope yet, especially when a six year old is aware of the Fairtrade logo and picks a bar or tells his Mum to buy Fairtrade bananas because he/she knows it's only FAIR ... don't we all sometimes wish to live in a fairer world?