February 11, 2012
Kowhai displaying his tongue
“Kowhai’s lonely,” I said. “We have to give him back.”
Rick looked horrified. “What?! Get rid of Kowhai? How can you say such a thing?!”
I shrugged. “Well, he doesn’t really belong to us.”
Kowhai had served as Old Lady Lucy’s strapping young boarfriend and companion in the last year of her life. Towards the end he kept guard outside the gate to the hayshed hospital where we cared for her. He lay there in driving rain and scorching sun just to be near her.
After we buried Lucy, I let Kowhai inside the hayshed so he could see she was gone. He wasn’t convinced, and for the next three days he continued lying in his spot at the gate, as if waiting for her return.
It was heartbreaking. Pigs need company, and we had to do something.
Read the rest of this entry »
17 Comments | 
Commute, Neighbors, New Zealand, Pet kunekune pigs | Tagged: free range pork, heritage breed, kunekune, new pig, pet, pig, pig farmers | 
Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
January 19, 2012
Donuts for Lucy
Rick had been back from the States a week when our pet pig, Old Lady Lucy, got sick again. She had her time with him, her walks around the paddock and her belly rubs. Then she decided to go.
She lay down and stopped eating. When I syringed water into her mouth, she let it fall out the other side. I got her a new round of anti-inflammatories in a powder form, but I couldn’t get the drugs into her. She wouldn’t even eat the lovely, drug-infused jam sandwiches I made. She began whimpering in a new way.
Read the rest of this entry »
30 Comments | Death, New Zealand, Pet kunekune pigs | Tagged: burying a pet, gratitude, pet, pig | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
January 13, 2012
Lucy on a hot day
It wasn’t until Rick went away to the States and I had a week off that Rick’s beloved pet pig, Old Lady Lucy, started having trouble.
The first sign was when she showed no interest in a piece of bread. This is a bit like a fierce lioness losing interest in a limping wildebeest.
Lucy’s previous owners regularly fed her day-old donuts, but at our place the occasional piece of bread is as close as she gets to the glory days of her misspent, donut-eating youth.
As a result, she usually snatches bread up. When she wouldn’t even lift her head to eat the bread I’d laid next to her, I was worried.
Read the rest of this entry »
24 Comments | Death, Neighbors, New Zealand, Pet kunekune pigs | Tagged: kind neighbors, pet, pig | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
September 24, 2011
Kowhai and Lucy grazing
“So, is she pregnant?” Rick asked.
Naya looked over the fence at our pet kunekune pig, Old Lady Lucy. “She does look a bit more plump, doesn’t she?”
Naya is a vet and a pig farmer. She was wearing a thick knit cap and an old jacket that was tied closed with a bit of twine wrapped around her waist. There was a bit of hay stuck to her left shoulder.
Rick and I had asked Naya to come over to give us her professional opinion. Although Rick and I suspected Lucy was ‘in pig,’ as they say, the simple truth is that city boys like us wouldn’t know a pregnant pig from a bar of soap.
Read the rest of this entry »
23 Comments | Food, Neighbors, New Zealand, Pet kunekune pigs | Tagged: kunekune, meat, pig, pork, pregnant | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
August 14, 2011
Lucy and Kowhai
One sunny afternoon a few months ago I noticed that Old Lady Lucy, our pet kunekune pig, was standing in the middle of the top paddock covered in mud and screaming. Something was clearly wrong.
I went over to check on her, but she was irritable, aggressive, and didn’t want to be touched.
So I did what one does when your pet pig turns psychotic. I called the Martinborough Pig Whisperer.
Read the rest of this entry »
33 Comments | Food, Neighbors, New Zealand, Pet kunekune pigs | Tagged: kunekune, pet, pig, pork, Wairarapa Lifestyle Magazine | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
July 23, 2011
It was howling a gale outside when Amelia from Radio New Zealand showed up at my door. We immediately headed out for a walk through the paddocks. She had a black box hanging from her side, and she was holding two very large, imposing microphones.
When the gusts picked up she would jump from one side of me to the other, trying to block the noisy wind with her body and always holding one of the microphones in front of my mouth. I tried to pretend like this was normal, and I continued answering whatever question she’d asked.
Read the rest of this entry »
20 Comments | Guest posts & media, New Zealand, Olives & olive oil, Pet kunekune pigs, Podcasts, River & sea | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
December 21, 2010
Lucy the kunekune pig
Podcast available.
“I don’t want to get this pig,” I said to Rick. It didn’t matter that I was already sitting in the back seat of our friends’ ute on the way to get it.
Rick was sitting next to me, practically bouncing with glee. “I know you. As soon as we have her, you’ll love her.”
In the front seat were our friends Leelee and The Wolf. “Pigs are great,” they yelled, practically in unison.
The Wolf is a do-it-yourself mastermind who’s had a lot of experience transporting pet pigs, and Leelee has such an uncanny ability to communicate with pigs that we call her the Pig Whisperer.
Read the rest of this entry »
19 Comments | New Zealand, Pet kunekune pigs, Podcasts | Tagged: kind neighbors, kunekune, pet, pickup truck, pig, rimutaka hill road, Wairarapa Lifestyle Magazine | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
November 21, 2010
Kunekune piglet - Image from 'Armchair Caver' on Flickr
Podcast available.
“You want a what?” I said.
Rick smiled. “A pet pig. A kunekune.”
I paused, then laughed. “For a second I thought you were serious.”
Rick looked at me blankly.
“I am serious,” he said. Suddenly his voice changed pitch, like he was talking to a baby. “They’re just so darn cute.”
I knew I was in trouble then.
Read the rest of this entry »
32 Comments | Neighbors, New Zealand, Pet kunekune pigs, Podcasts | Tagged: kunekune, pet, pig, sow, Wairarapa Lifestyle Magazine | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
November 28, 2009
Squiggles the pig (image by Leanne French - www.madltd.co.nz)
When a 200 pound pet pig named Squiggles greets you at the front door, you know you’re at the MAD house.
I patted the pig on the head and laughed as she squealed a charming little hello.
My human friends Leelee and The Wolf stood just behind her, and I gave them both big hugs. I like these two humans a lot, and I was thankful that they were helping Rick and me out in such big way that day.
Leelee and The Wolf are the brains behind the Martinborough Art Department, or MAD for short. Walking into their charming colonial cottage is a little like walking into Peewee’s Playhouse. It’s a fun-filled place full of love and a little bit of madness in the best possible way.
Read the rest of this entry »
22 Comments | Neighbors, New Zealand, Olives & olive oil, Pet kunekune pigs | Tagged: bottling olive oil, labels, olive oil, satisfying work | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
