Monday, July 28, 2008

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, PIGGIES!



One year ago today, I was on the phone to Janice from Hearts on Noses, saying "It's time! Number one....number two....number three......". My ten strong, healthy, cute little piglets were soon to take over my life. I'd never even seen ANYTHING being born before (even my own child was born by C-section back in the days when moms were put completely under for the surgery), and here I was at fifty-something years of age, a midwife, nurse, doctor, foster mama, and handmaiden to a litter of teeny, tiny babies.


And now it is one year later. The piglets are still strong, still healthy, still cute as can be. No longer babies, they are now officially youngsters - so instead of piglets I'll have to refer to them as "pigsters". We had a fun party today - just me and my piggies. The cuddly ones cuddled, the noisy ones squealed, the greedy ones pigged out, and they all had a great time.

Happy birthday Whisper, Toddy, Derby, Rickey, Swizzle, Spritzer, RobRoy, Lizzie, Fizz, and Tom. I love you all.



Then: Newborn piggies, July 28, 2007

Now: Family portrait, July 28, 2008

[Note: I challenge anyone to try to get a herd of 12 pigs to all sit together for a picture! Oh, and they look rather scruffy as they are shedding their coats, something pigs do once every year or so. Some are sporting red polka dots - the remains of livestock paint from their annual deworming session last week. As they get their dose, they are marked so we know who has been done and who hasn't.]


Then: Baby goes solo, July 29, 2007



Now: Looking for more cake! July 28,2007



Then: "I likes pablum!"



Now: "I likes ice cream!"

And some more shots from today:

The cake: Twelve single angel food cakes, with meringue "candles", held together with icecream and sprinkled with fresh local blueberries and raspberries.



Cleaning off the tray (my attempts to film the actual feasting was rather like filming in the middle of a tornado....the action was just too darn fast!)




Checking out the hat (That's Whisper, in the very first picture of this entry - hat perched firmly on his happily upraised bristles!)



Soda models the hat.


My sweet, sweet Whisper



Whisper gets a birthday kiss.


Father and son


Mother and daughter


"Thanks Foster Mama, that was fun!"


All tuckered out

G'nite, little pigsters. Sleep tight.


[For those who don't know the story of Scotch and Soda and their family, you can read about it here and here].

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy 1st Birthday piggies, it's been so much fun to watch you grow up... Hope you had a great day with your Foster Mama.

E.

shihtzustaff said...

Very cute. How long until they reach maturity?

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to you Jean and all your foster childrens!! And such a grand job you've done!!

Boy that cake looked yummy!!!!

What a hoot!!!!!!!!!

Janice
Hearts On Noses

Jean said...

They will continue to grow a little more for another year, but most of their growth is done. Shihtzu staff: They will always be fairly small pigsters, probably due to the exceptionally large litter size and the mom's poor prenatal nutrition. Tom and Lizzie are almost as large as the parents; Fizzy and Whisper are both really small still.
They reached sexual maturity at 14 weeks - we had them spayed and neutered before that happened!

Janice: Angel food is my favourite cake - and I only made 12 portions! I didn't get any!! Waaaa!

Anonymous said...

I love Angel food cake too!! Its a birthday cake traditon in our family!!

We will ahve to sneak off and have a celebration of our own , a cake toast to you for doing such a wonderful job with them.

Janice

Unknown said...

You are the best foster mommy in the whole world! What a great idea with the angel food cake - my son's birthday is coming up soon, I think I'll do something similiar!
Great photos, looks like everyone had so much fun!

Anonymous said...

Happy 1st Birthday piggies. The pictures tell it all. They had a GREAT time.

Else

Colleen said...

They are the cutest dang things!!

Happy Happy Birthday Pigsters!