Back to Basics Blog

Home
Back to Basics Blog

Self sufficiency, home restoration, rural living, and mini farm establishment

22/11/2022

So there was much "pig drama" over the weekend, as John began repairing the chicken coop from its storm damage. This entailed removing my make-shift pig lean-to and building a sturdier home for our porcine campers.
John constructed a very nice A-frame home and positioned it about 20+ feet from the chicken coop, a location I surveyed dubiously. By evening, it was clear that the pigs agreed with me. They stood forlornly in the scattered hay and wood chips that had been their lean-to, completely ignoring the nice new hovel several yards away. As dark settled (and an uncharacteristic Florida chill swept over the region), I was heartsick to see mama digging into the scattered hay and grass beside the coop and settling down, exposed to the elements, with Piglet pressed tight against her.
Suffice to say I was somewhat vocal about my discontent with John's argument that "if they get cold enough, they'll move over to the new pig house." I slept fitfully, checking on the pigs at regular intervals, and feeling terribly guilty about their poor accommodations. They remained right beside the chicken coop all night and arose before dawn, not returning until afternoon, by which time I was certain they had left for good.
In the interim, however, John agreed to move the A-frame back over by the chicken coop. We elevated it on pavers, replanted the iron spikes that keep it anchored and I added a healthy stack of pine shavings and timothy hay to the floor.
I waited anxiously for the return of the pigs, telling myself I was being silly -- but feeling an obligation to their well-being. It was raining heavily when they trudged back into the farmyard and I was ecstatic to watch Henrietta root up the ground inside the A-frame and create a very cozy and dry refuge for herself and Piglet. After devouring a heaping bowl of Pig pellets, slop and freshly cubed zucchini, they retired to the A-frame and slept, unmoving, for about 12 hours.
We ALL seemed to breath a collective sigh of relief that "pigmageddon" had concluded with no damage or injuries, save John's confirmation that his wife is certifiably insane. And, let's face it, he had decided that years ago.
A couple days hence, I can now report that the pigs absolutely love their A-frame and spend much more time there than they ever did in the lean-to. Life is good in Pigville.

14/11/2022

About 6:30 a.m. John noted that Henrietta and Piglet were standing in the front yard staring expectantly up at the broad picture window. I quickly cut up some veggies and headed out to commune with the piggies. We’ve made great strides with trust, and both pigs ate zucchini and spinach right out of my hand this morning. Interestingly, Henrietta will now walk behind Piglet and nudge him toward me, as though she is letting him know that I have her trust. I’ve touched their noses but neither has let me scratch their ears yet. It is a slow process but they were so close today that I could have grabbed either one (which would have been disastrous, so I refrained.)
Piglet is so cute that it takes all my willpower to refrain from scooping him up and toting him indoors, but, again, the result of such an impulsive action would destroy two weeks of trust-building…so I will wait until they are ready. And if they are never ready, I’ll just savor the interactions as they occur and enjoy the opportunity to learn more about these fascinating creatures.

11/11/2022

Didnt think to snap a picture but I sat within arms reach of Piglet and Henrietta as they ate their dinner tonight.
Henrietta has clearly been mistreated on some level. She seems to want to approach me but always panics at the last minute and retreats. Piglet is growing braver and may actually approach me before Henrietta does. That will have to be handled very carefully, as I have no desire to enrage a mama pig.
They have spent most of the day in or near the lean-to, retreating only when John disposed of the fallen tree branch.
I am concerned about deserting them for a couple days over thanksgiving. Hopefully I can find a willing pig/chicken sitter!

10/11/2022

And then this happened! Henrietta and Piglet are fine! The pallet didn’t break at all, but the chicken coop is bashed in on one side. The piggies decided to hastily exit the premises for a bit; and I don’t blame them. The cracking sound of the hefty branch giving way startled all of us including the chickens. Hopefully the piggies aren’t afraid to return to their shelter once they’ve foraged a bit.
With so many towering old trees flanking our property, it is not the ideal place to be in a hurricane, but it's much preferable to being perched near the coast. I think the strong gusts of the past hour or so are Nicole's last gasp. Good riddance.
As soon as the winds die down, we'll drag the fallen branch over to the burn pile and mend the chicken coop. Then I'll lay out a smorgasbord in order to convince Henrietta and Piglet that it's safe to come home!

10/11/2022

So the rain has slowed and the winds, while still gusty, are slackening somewhat. As soon as light dawned I peered out the kitchen window and could see Henrietta reclining in the lean-to nursing piglet. She snorted a good morning to me as I delivered peas and pig pellets (we bought a 50 lb bag yesterday), followed by chicken feed to my hens. Everyone survived the storm! The chickens were wet and irritable because the tarp I had lashed to their shelter had come loose, exposing them on one side. But, as John pointed out, they had six very cozy nesting boxes that they simply ignored, so they couldn’t have been too miserable! The pig palace stayed warm and dry, and I am gratified to see it getting so much use! The tarp I used was an Everbilt 8 x 10 heavy duty model that performed like a champ! No tearing at the grommets and superior water resistance. It is, most definitely, pig-tested and pig-mom approved!!

09/11/2022

Today's "Pig Tales" (see previous post for the "great lean-to construction project of aught-two-two.")
As I squinted through the gray morning light around 6:30 a.m. I noticed something stirring in the lean-to. Henrietta and Piglet were snuggled between pallet and wire! I am so gratified that my hastily constructed shelter has been deemed “pig perfect.” I delivered them some fresh tomatoes and am now trying to refocus on my day’s “work work” (versus the “pig work” I would rather be doing.) Don’t know what the hurricane will bring but the lean-to should withstand a Cat 1. If I get nothing else accomplished today, I am deeply grateful that my first-ever “pig palace” is a success!
Update: the rain has begun and Henrietta and her baby are bedded down inside the lean-to. Makes me so happy!

09/11/2022

Yesterday's "pig tales":
My project for today, other than voting, is to create a protective lean-to for Henrietta and her baby. Before leaving to go vote, I lugged over a heavy wood pallet that John had planned to burn and positioned it in the area of the chicken coop where Henrietta likes to hang out. Then I schlepped two heavy pavers over to anchor it, later adding a third for stability.
On my way back from voting I’ll be picking up a couple waterproof tarps, both for the chicken coop and for Henrietta and piglet. I don’t have time to build a legitimate pen before the storm, and with the cost of supplies right now I probably couldnt afford it if I wanted to! But I’m hoping this will suffice and, at a minimum, provide shade on sunny days for Miss Piggy and her kidlet.
Update: Picture two shows the final product. It is anchored to the coop at the top via grommets and industrial strength zip-ties, then lashed to the pallet and weighted with ridiculously heavy pavers. Although I didn’t see Henrietta and Piglet today (I was gone for several hours) I know they were here and spent some time in the lean-to because the bananas and tomatoes I set out for them were gone (especially those I scattered in the lean-to.) All I can do now is hope the duo will seek out the shelter if they need it.

07/11/2022

I got up from my work several times this morning and paced in front of the kitchen window. There was no sign of Henrietta and Piglet, despite the fact they have visited faithfully each morning for four days. By 11 a.m. I had resigned myself to their absence, and was surprised at how much I missed them.
About 11:30, I wandered into the kitchen and was delighted to see the duo quietly snuffling around the chicken coop. They were rewarded with large chunks of roma tomatoes, overripe bananas and a can of green beans. I took a calculated risk with the beans and dumped them out at my feet. Henrietta slowly inched over toward me, her hunger overcoming her obvious fear of humans. Soon she was gobbling the beans, pausing periodically to glance at me uneasily. I stayed perfectly still, slightly bent over, and watched her. Although I did not move, she snorted suddenly and scampered back to the chicken pen, where piglet was scratching his belly on a paver. Henrietta has either been feral for some time or has been mistreated. She is very wary of me and I wanted so badly to stroke the wirey hairs on her back as she gobbled the green beans, but I knew better.
They say that pigs are one of smartest domesticated animals, and, as such, do not trust easily. I will have to earn it and I have resolved that Henrietta's trust is a gift worth seeking.
She and piglet eventually settled down for an afternoon nap in the shade behind the chicken coop, where they remain as I type this. I took out a large bowl of water and positioned it strategically near the porch and poured some peas on the ground beside it.
With a tropical storm bearing down on Florida I'd like to earn her trust sooner rather than later so she will feel comfortable sheltering here, either in our equipment barn (shhhh...John doesn't know that scheme yet!), on our back porch, or, at least, beneath a tarp that I might rig to the chicken coop. Yes, I know pigs aren't afraid of wet and muck, but I'd like them to be safe from buffeting winds and whatever else the storm brings.
Most of all, I want them to view our little plot of land as a safe harbor. I have no idea what brought them here -- and questioning our neighbors has not shed any light on the topic -- but God consigned them to me for a reason and I hope to honor His trust with compassionate action.

07/11/2022

Well...Henrietta and Piglet returned Saturday (if they are going to persist in visiting, I feel I must name them!) I had left the house about 6 a.m. to teach a class so, they first greeted hubby as he walked the dogs this morning. When I arrived home at lunchtime, Henrietta saw me wandering onto the porch and trotted toward me with obvious enthusiasm. She stopped just short of a familiar distance but smiled broadly and gave me an expectant snort. I have read that pigs are incredibly smart and it only took Henrietta one visit to figure out that I am a sucker for lost or wandering critters. Don't get me wrong, I would slaughter and eat a pig...but likely not this pig, as she appears to be -- or was -- a pet. John posited that perhaps someone who could no longer feed or care for her and her baby had figuratively left them "on our doorstep." It's certainly possible; growing up in the country, folks routinely dropped kittens and dogs on my parents' 6 acres. But I can safely say that no one ever dropped off a pig!
I quickly snagged four juicy Roma tomatoes from the fridge and settled cross-legged in the grass, tossing the Romas in a light arc to mama and baby. Henrietta got within 10 feet of me and probably would have come even closer if Flynn had not begun barking from the kitchen window.
After a while I left them to amble around the chicken cage congenially. I almost wonder if they are actually trying to get penned up! They seem especially attracted to the chicken pen, either because they like the chickens (who aren't sure what to think of their new porcine neighbors) or because they previously lived in a similar encampment.
If they continue to return, I may rig something up that will allow them some safety at night, if they choose to take advantage of it. But, for now, I am just enjoying their cheerful snorts (at least until I have a vegetable garden that might not fare well under their enthusiastic rooting!)

05/11/2022

So I am chatting on the phone with my pal Mike when I glance out my kitchen window and almost drop my coffee. “There’s a pig in my yard!!” I exclaim. “And it has a baby!!”
I open the kitchen door and cautiously approach (with Mike yelling into the phone “is it a boar? Does it have tusks? It’ll kill you and it’s baby will eat the remains!!” (Mike is always such an optimist.)
Fortunately for me, the pig, or both, Ziva and Flynn pushed open the kitchen door and trotted onto the porch to see what the fuss was about.
I was able to corral Ziva by the collar and restrain her but Flynn raced up to the pig to investigate, stopping just short of the pig’s snout. The pig stared at Flynn and Flynn at the pig until I was able to call Flynn back; thankfully he has better recall than Ziva.
I successfully returned both dogs to the kitchen and went back out to inspect the pig. Pretty sure she’s an escapee from a neighbor’s pen, and I am reminded of one of the stories in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ Cross Creek where she shoots a neighbor's pig for ripping up her kitchen garden.
This particular pig is standing exactly where my kitchen garden will be, so apparently she didn’t read the book or see the movie!
At the moment she is at the back of the chicken coop apparently either settling into the dirt for an extended stay or looking for a way to burrow under the run and gain access to the chickens or their feed. I think I will wander back out and try to discern what she’s up to. Debating whether or not to offer her some zucchini without becoming a porcine welfare state.

20/10/2022

I'm watching the dogs rough-house as I enjoy a glass of wine after a long day. I am mentally reviewing the "scorecard" over the past month. How did things go with the move? How is the house shaping up? How are we managing all the changes? Are we as far along in adapting and embracing our new digs and routine as we had hoped?
On the "how are we managing" front, I'd give us a "C." Two ER visits -- one for John and one for me -- kinda prevent a higher grade. John, because he forgets that not having a gallbladder carries certain restrictions and, me, because the twin challenges of kidney stones and disc deterioration sometimes conspire to knock me on my butt for no good reason. On the plus side, I have found an amazing chiropractor up here who cut my pain by about 80% after one visit!!
On the move itself, we are still unpacking and there is that daily search for "the thing" -- whatever thing it is that one of us needs that we KNOW we packed...we just don't know where. So far, the only still-unaccounted-for thing is my hair dryer. The move gets a solid B because our movers (All My Sons) did a very good job, came in under budget, and didn't laugh at our little "fixer upper."
The house itself is curiously comfortable and homey, despite weird wiring, spongey floorboards that once served up a grand banquet to a swarm of hungry termites, plumbing that may or may not be salvageable (plus two bathrooms that each work only halfway...and a plumber that is currently AWOL), 12 years of grime and dust that I am still scraping off floorboards and walls, and the occasional sound of something scuttling around between the walls (hey, I used to live in a 200-year-old farmhouse...the presence of unseen roommates is about the least intimidating aspect of this new home!) The house gets a solid B, if for no other reason than it has charm and character and it just "feels" right.
Time management gets a "D" because we're still trying to balance work-work, home-improvement work, family obligations, teaching, and our plans for new projects -- none of which seem to fit just yet into a standard 24-hour day.
The chickens are doing well but are eager to start free-ranging. How long does it take for a chicken to imprint on "home"? I don't want to let them wander the farm yard if they are going to try and hitch-hike back to Titusville. Maybe this weekend, when John and I are both around to corral them.
Something breaks -- either inside or outside the house -- nearly every day. When systems and devices have sat dormant for a dozen years, such things happen. Thankfully John is a talented handyman and can either repair them or jury-rig them to adequacy for the time being!
The A+ comes when we walk outside early in the morning or late at night and everything is eerily still. Across the street, somewhere deep in the dense state forest, we hear quiet chitters and yips, the sound of twigs breaking under a stealthy footfall, and even an occasional throaty growl...something that never fails to get the dogs' attention! And when we look up into the night sky, we see actual stars, brilliant and twinkling, unlike anything we ever saw when nestled in the midst of endless synthetic light.
Back pain aside, we sleep well at night, usually exhausted from a full work day followed by tending chickens and dogs, trimming mesh wire for the coop, tearing down ancient wood fencing, scrubbing walls and floors, arranging and rearranging our belongings, trying to fit 10 pounds of...stuff...into a 5 pound bag, and figuring out what needs to be fixed immediately and what can function on borrowed time for a little longer.
All in all, the scorecard looks pretty good. The house is livable and all the creatures therein are content. The things I thought would bother me -- a half-hour drive to the grocery store, for instance -- are completely manageable. The things I wasn't expecting (fighting with AT&T for three weeks during which time they kept arguing that their service wouldn't work) have been successfully overcome. Spoiler: Despite AT&T's lack of faith in its own service, it is working fine and even supporting my remote work connection!
Will there be surprises? Oh yeah. We both know a little something about living in and renovating old houses. There will be plenty of surprises. But right now, weighing the pros and cons of the past four weeks, we are grateful that God dropped this unexpected adventure in our laps...and eager to continue moving forward with a spirit of gratitude and curiosity!

17/10/2022

We are making slow, steady progress on the house...tearing out damaged areas, rotting fences, bad fixtures, etc. and "making do" with semi-functional plumbing until the plumber can get all his parts and pieces assembled.
Still a lot of clutter to be removed, grime to be cleaned and problems to be identified, but, as I trudged into the kitchen for my morning coffee, I caught a glimpse of John’s and my joint office in the pale light of a new morning. For the first time I really fell in love with the red bricks and how rustic and cozy they make the small room look. I had planned to try a technique on them called German Schmear (which makes them appear sort of clumsily white-washed) but after this morning’s revelation, I think I’ll just work with what I have and build on the rustic charm. Peeling back the layers in this long-empty little house is a constant joy (well, most of the time…John’s discovery that several heavy light fixtures were anchored ONLY to drywall made us thankful that nothing has come crashing down on us!)

Address

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Back to Basics Blog posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Back to Basics Blog:

Videos

Calming Your Chicken

I had to share this video of my darling daughter-in-law demonstrating how she calms her chickens in order to groom them or administer medication, etc. She will be my primary guide when the chickens "come home to roost" here on Sandy Ridge. The video is a little fuzzy and distorted...but the chicken messaging comes through loud and clear! Introducing Andrea and "Miss Mona."

More Fun With Nature

After John finished his lunch today and was climbing into his truck to return to work, he was startled to find a six foot long black snake, with a fat, juicy frog in his mouth, trying to slither up into the wheel well of his truck. He grabbed a broom and “encouraged” the snake to seek refuge elsewhere. I am grateful it was HIS car and not mine. While I don’t hate snakes (not like I do spiders) I would prefer they know their place…which is anywhere that isn’t currently MY place! Back in Ohio, when my ex and I lived on an 83-acre farm, we had a large black snake that lived deep in the walls of our 200-year-old farm house. I would periodically discover mounds of shed skin under beds or in the shadows of dressers and cabinets. Thankfully, the snake and I never came face-to-face, though several of my brothers-in-law awoke to find two beady black eyes staring at them from a few feet away. Shudder. As if today’s snake adventure wasn’t enough, shortly after I got home from work, I heard a commotion out in the yard and discovered Ziva frantically dancing around our latest visitor, an old Gopher Tortoise who lives in the wooded half-acre that flanks our long driveway. Grandpa Tortoise didn’t seem especially concerned about Ziva, and she, for her part, was keeping a respectful distance as she tried to figure out what the heck he was. I was surprised at how quickly he moved and I grabbed my phone to capture the “turtle run” on video. Just last week, I had rescued a similar (or, heck, maybe the same) tortoise on the road that leads to our lane. He was tightly screwed up into his shell, stuck in the middle of the asphalt, as cars whizzed past on either side. While it wasn’t a major metropolitan roadway, there were enough cars that his plan to cross in peace had clearly been interrupted. I pulled over behind a truck that had also stopped for the tortoise, but the folks in the truck were just taking pictures of him! I let them grab a couple more snaps and

If anyone outside the coastal Florida region wonders what a hurricane-turned-tropical-storm looks like, here’s a very brief view from our back porch (packed with lawn and pool equipment). You’ll note we have almost no wind at the moment. Perhaps that will change but, for now, it’s pretty much the same as a summer storm in any other state!

Shortcuts

Address
Alerts
Contact The Business
Videos
Claim ownership or report listing
Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?

Country:

City:

22/11/2022

14/11/2022

11/11/2022

10/11/2022

10/11/2022

09/11/2022

09/11/2022

07/11/2022

07/11/2022

05/11/2022

20/10/2022

17/10/2022

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Videos

Calming Your Chicken

More Fun With Nature

Shortcuts

Share