Pig moving, easier said than done

I spent way too much time worrying about the pigs escaping their pen all summer. Apparently once pigs grow accustomed to a place, they are very reluctant to leave it (although they always seemed to be faking us out with their chewing and digging). Why I did not know this before now is a mystery but a lesson learned for my novice pig-raising family. And one we are not likely to ever forget.

Yesterday our friends brought their livestock trailer over to our house to pick up the pigs and bring them to the Cumberland Fair. We purposefully did not fed the pigs breakfast so we could entice them with food to lure them in to the trailer.

L. tried grain.

Then bread rolls.

But no, the pigs were not fooled and refused to get near the trailer.

Then L. tried to coax them out the door with her pig board (white boards are used to direct pigs, which you often see at fair shows since pigs can not wear halters like other livestock).

She couldn't even get them close.

Then L., along with three adults armed with boards, tried to maneuver the pigs out the door.

But the pigs still could not be "coaxed" to leave.

So out came a couple of large, thick pieces of plywood to move around to close off parts of the pen as we worked the pigs toward the trailer.

After a slow start and several nimble escapes, the adults finally made this tactic work for Pulchra. But Titus, the big lazy guy who L. called her "snuggle bug" all summer, showed his true colors. We had a bugger of a time getting him out the door.

Have you ever had a 260 pound pig throw himself at the board you have braced with your arms and legs, and then crack the thick board across them?

No? Well let me tell you, it will leave you with a few bruises and some very sore knees.

After 45 minutes of manhandling and lots of disturbing piggy screaming, we did manage to get them into the trailer and off to the fairgrounds.

Once at the fairgrounds, the pigs required more manhandling to get them OUT of the trailer. But once out, they walked in to their pen without much more trouble (they were likely as exhausted as their human counterparts were).

Everyone was a little worse for the wear (pigs and the Almeida family) but Pulchra and Titus are now settled in to their new temporary home.

Here's a look into the early approach to getting the pigs in to the trailer.



Things started out calm and easy, which is when the above video was shot. But when it became clear that things were going to get ugly, I told G. to put away the camera and pick up a board to help. And trust me, it was better that we didn't get those high-pitched piggy screams on video. They were very disturbing and unsettling. No, it's better that part was not recorded, though I doubt my crew will forget this experience anytime soon.

Fair puts organizational skills to the test

The Cumberland Fair is only 4 days away, well 5 days for the regular folk. For my 4-H kids, every BODY and every THING related to the fair has to be at the fairgrounds on Saturday.

* Projects for the 4-H Exhibit Hall. There are about 24 projects between the two girls, including posters, crafts and baked goods. It's always a challenge to make sure everything arrives unmolested during the car ride to the fairgrounds (i.e., no crushed pies, fairy wings don't break off the craft project, posters don't get bent or torn, etc.).

* The Club Display and Parade Float. The girls served on their club's committee for both the display and the parade float again this year. That has meant we've had to do some extra coordination with other busy families to find time for the kids to plan and complete their work before Saturday. So far so good on that front. The kids are (thankfully) nearly done with both projects and Fino helped them make the framing easy to disassemble and re-assemble for easy transport.

* The pigs. We do not own a livestock trailer and we need one to transport about 520 pounds of pig (each weigh about 260 pounds right now). We just confirmed plans with a friend to come to our house on Saturday to pick up the pigs to bring them to the fairgrounds. I was sweating how this was going to work out and am grateful for "Mr. & Mrs. G." for making the trek over to help us out!

* The Camper. We decided this year to camp at the fairgrounds, mainly because L. has to be around to feed the pigs every day (twice a day). We've coordinated a camper rental with a friend (thanks Meg!) and have plans to pick it up Friday.

Those are the highlights. I won't bore you with the details of trying to figure out to pack for a week at the fairgrounds for us, and the pigs. Oh, and make sure we have our neighbors on board to feed our chickens and cats while we're at the fair. And organizing my work at the office for my time away is turning out to be no so small challenge as well.

Even though I am putting my organizational skills to the ultimate test in pulling all this off in the next few days (and I'm not so naive to think everything will happen as I've planned), the kids are really looking forward to the fair and having fun with all the preparations. And that matters to me and Fino. I'm not sure there would be any other reason in the world I'd juggle the sort of schedule and To Do List I've got right now if it were for anyone else, no matter how much money they offered to pay me to do it!

The girls' 4-H club display has a service theme with a replica of the 4-H kitchen window. The club members volunteer in the kitchen during Cumberland Fair week and they all love it.

The pigs are getting restless and the message on the pig pen door L. wrote recently sums up her experience with them the past couple of weeks, "crazy pigs live here."

The 4-H leader from L.'s pig club suggested the kids 'decorate' their animal's stalls at the fairgrounds. L. loved this idea and enthusiastically got to work on her personalized decorations to hang in her pigs' stall.

Our living room is overrun with projects in various stages of completion that are heading to the fairgrounds on Saturday (exhibit hall entries are judged the day before the fair opens).

One of my favorite fair prep activities is G.'s baking. She's been experimenting with a variety of recipes this summer and has been baking even more the past couple of weeks to refine her choices for the fair (and I've got the extra poundage to prove she's been working on this project a lot!). The cinnamon buns she made were delicious, although I'm not sure they'll be making the final cut. She's leaning toward her apple pie (with crumble) recipe along with a fudge and cookie recipe for her three baking entries this year.

This little piggie(s) went to market

L. has learned a lot about the day-to-day work of raising pigs since April and now she is getting ready for the next phase of this 4-H project - selling her pigs at the Cumberland Fair's 4-H Livestock Auction.

L. is responsible for "marketing" her pig to encourage people to come to the auction to bid on it. She wrote a letter to give to a few people (business owners, friends and family) asking them to attend the auction but asked me last night if I would also post it on my blog to, "let the moms know about it."

So here is L.'s letter explaining the 4-H Market Hog Auction at the fair. And please, forgive the shameless plug for L. but I figured I've shared enough stories about the pigs since April that I should include the ending of the project too.

September 2009 I would really appreciate it if you could come to the Cumberland Fair to bid on my market hog at the 4-H Livestock Auction. I have grain-fed my pig since I got her and I have taken good care of her. She’s had plenty of attention and exercise and is a good healthy pig. I am selling my hog at the livestock auction and I plan to put the money I get from selling my pig in to my savings account to use in the future. People who go to the auction to buy pigs sometimes go with friends and then they buy a pig together. If you buy my pig with a group it is cheaper for you to do it. Pigs are bid on by the pound. My hog is about 260 pounds right now. And there are people at the auction to take the hog to be processed or you can take my hog home to breed her (she is a mixed breed of Yorkshire, Hampshire and Duroc). I learned a lot about raising healthy pigs this year and I hope to do this 4-H project again next year. I learned a lot about being responsible for my pigs and raising healthy pigs. I hope you can come. 4-H Livestock Auction Wednesday, September 30 4 p.m. Show Arena From, L. Almeida

If you are wondering how she feels about the pigs going to market, I can honestly say it changes every minute of every day. Truth-be-told, I'm having the same mix of emotions as well. One thing is for sure though, there will be tears at the fairgrounds. No doubt about it. The question is who will have more, me or L. Because unlike the old nursery rhyme, no piggy is staying home - and hopefully none will run "wee wee" amok at the fairgrounds either!

Sights on the disc golf course

We've been to the Pleasant Hill disc golf course in Scarborough a couple of times recently because we've had so much fun playing the game. Each time, G. has grabbed the camera to take photos between holes. You might see understand part of the appeal of the game to my nature-loving kids when stop to look beyond the flying discs and metal baskets around the course.

Fino was disappointed he missed our first trip to the course so he came along on the second one. He had the girls in fits of giggles at his disc golf throwing technique, which he totally hammed up on the Gold Dragon 18-hole course (we played the Silver Dragon 9-hole course previously and would highly recommend for kids as a nice do-able introduction to the game).

When we took a break on the course, I summed up the experience of playing disc golf with my husband on my Twitter account like this:

Fino has multiple ways to throw his disc and most involve lots of leg action. Unlike me he does sound effects too. Makes me look normal.

I did catch some video of his throwing technique that includes a suggestion from his oldest daughter about "that's not how you throw it daddy," just before his disc hit a tree.

After being the target of teasing about my leg "action" by my progeny I was happy to re-focus the attention on Fino's antics. His really were much more amusing (that's a guy for you). But truth-be-told he is a much better player than the Almeida females so although the girls and I had a bit of fun putting together this video, he did mostly kick our butts par-wise on the course.



Oh, and the girls suggested I share a picture of their dad carrying around his seltzer water because it was pretty cute. He forgot his backpack and mine was full with kid-related stuff and my camera so he had no choice by to use one of the grocery store bags in the car instead (it's a good idea to bring along water because a couple of hours on the course can make you thirsty and there are no water fountains around). He fit in just fine with the various coolers carried around by other players.

You never know what you might see during a disc golf game. Cute guys toting bags, birds, trees, frogs, etc. It's a free-for-all afternoon of fun.

8 new learnings about raising pigs

Learning #1: The pigs have not given up on their escape plans and have resorted to chewing their way out of their pen. The hole they've made is large enough to stick most of their snout through and the only thing from stopping a sniff of freedom is a stapled piece of a Tyvek feed bag (we used the empty bags to cover the shelter in an attempt to keep the rain off the already aging recycled wood we used to build it - it's worked well actually). Fino's working on a patch job as I type this since the escape plan was uncovered by L. this morning.

Learning #2: Don't ever say, "This is the LAST time I'm dumping sand in to this pen." Those words will bite you in the you-know-what (raising pigs has a tendency to do that) and you'll find yourself deciding one more time really is necessary. But in the spirit of ingenuity, and sheer discouragement at this necessity, Fino rigged up our trailer to the lawnmower tractor. Gathering and dumping sand was done with much more efficiency and we both wished this idea had come about earlier this rainy summer.

On August 30, after yet another significant rainfall, the pen was as muddy as ever and we felt another sand dump was needed to keep the pigs healthy.

Fino's new sand moving rig, which we are hoping not to have to use again this year.






Learning #3: During this latest sand dump we thought it would be helpful to secure the pigs in their shelter so we could keep the pen door open to shovel in the sand. But Titus squeezed through the small opening in the metal fence we used as a barrier for the shelter. Luckily we got the main pen door closed before he could fully escape. Had I not seen it myself, I would NOT have believed that Titus, a 240-pound hog, could ever have managed to squeeze through an opening hardly the width of a size 7 woman's boot.

Learning #4: Pigs love stale animal crackers. They grunted and nudged L. relentlessly after she gave them a handful of crackers looking for more. She felt so bad she didn't have any more that she fed them each a jelly sandwich (a rarity because the pigs are exclusively grain-fed). They wanted more of those too and L. decided they were never going to be satisfied so she stopped feeding them with a declaration, "You guys eat like pigs!" (She's quite enjoying her own pig humor these days.)



Learning #5: Chickens like pig grain as much as pigs do. While the pigs are trying to escape to the wilds of our backyard, the chickens who have free range of it are trying to get IN to the pig pen to snag their grain. This morning I had to pluck a chicken out of the pig pen. The hen recognized her error immediately and darted through the electric fence wires but couldn't manage to get over the secondary fence and back to freedom. What confused me most about this scenario (the chickens have been angling for a way in to the pig pen for a couple of weeks so it was only a matter of time before one tried it) was that the chicken seemed no worse for wear at having gone through the electric fence. I did an extra check to make sure the electricity was still running through the wires. It was. I'm thinking about re-naming that hen Houdini because it was nothing short of magic that fence didn't barbecue her.

Learning #7: A nice fall breeze can have an interesting effect on the odor in your house when its direction blows past the pig pen and through your large back door screen. We are now enjoying a fresher smelling breeze through the front door.

Learning #8: At no time can you loose your sense of humor during your first year of raising pigs. Anything less than laughing at your own naive notions about livestock is just not worth it. Grin and bear it and make changes for next time.

Did I just say next time?

                                        Big boy Titus is just a "giant snuggle bug" according to L.

Hiking Ovens Mouth Preserve in Boothbay

Sometimes, a hike with my family is just a pleasant walk through the woods, a time to simply enjoy a sunny day and reconnect with one another. A recent trip to Ovens Mouth Preserve gave my kids and me a chance to take in some beautiful scenery while doing just that.

There are two main looping trails at the preserve, one on the east peninsula and the other on the west. The peninsulas are connected by a bridge at what locals refer to as "Ice House Cove." The preserve has an interesting history that includes a former shipyard and ice house. And, we learned from the Boothbay Region Land Trust Web site (www.bbrlt.org), the waters in this area hid both British and American vessels during the Revolutionary War.

We started our hike at the east peninsula's trailhead and saw views of Ovens Mouth River and people clamming during low tide. Just before crossing the bridge to loop around the west peninsula, we spotted a lobster boat and stopped to watch the crew pull up some traps. The kids enjoyed the maritime activity, which included several pleasure craft, too.

There were several vista points on both peninsula trail loops with benches, and we took advantage of one to eat our lunch. We spotted signs of wildlife on the trail (in the form of droppings), but we didn't actually see any wildlife beyond chipmunks and squirrels. That's not unusual for us, though. We rarely spot any wildlife while hiking, because we generally scare most creatures off with our voices and (sometimes) boisterous laughter.

Over the years, I have had some of the best conversations with my kids while hiking. The chatting during this particular adventure included a reflection on what life in this area might have been like during the late 1700s, and where large ships might have chosen to hide during the Revolution.

Then we moved on to a revelation about my unusually flexible fingers. (I honestly have no idea how that segue actually happened.) Apparently, the girls didn't realize that I can touch my thumb to my wrist and bend my fingers backwards unaided. After multiple failed attempts by the girls to do the same, there was some discussion about the unfairness of my "freaky" ability before moving on to who could roll their tongue and other tricks. It did not take long to digress to talk of burping and other bodily functions, none of which are particularly unique – but oh-so-entertaining to an 11-year-old.

Our conversations on this trail were random (obviously), but part of the appeal of hiking with kids for me is listening to what is on my girls' minds. They know I am interested in what they have to say, because they have my undivided attention out on the trail. I think this is particularly important now that they are in their tween and early teen years. Making the effort to take a break from everyday life to spend some quality time with my kids has been worth the occasional eye roll I sometimes face now when suggesting a day out on the trail with mom.

So if you're looking for an easy trail where you might reconnect with your kids this month - while the weather is still warm and the homework hasn't yet started to pile up - Ovens Mouth Preserve is a nice family-friendly destination to explore.

Ovens Mouth Preserve

Target of teasing on disc golf course? Mom.

The girls were mighty amused at my disc golf throwing on the Pleasant Hill course in Scarborough last week. I have a tendency to fling my leg out when I throw my disc and there's not much finesse with my technique. But, it gets the job done. My disc usually flies a good distance (although not very accurately) down the green.

The girls took some video of my and my throwing leg so they could show me how silly I looked. But, I took some video of them to confirm they moved their back leg as well. L. made a deliberate effort not to move her leg when she threw her disc but those throws just didn't fly that far. When I turned off the video camera she went back to flinging her leg like me and managed to meet most pars.



I do feel some redemption now though. Another disc golfer commented on my YouTube video shortly after I posted it confirming I wasn't so wrong after all.

trw777 says... Nothing to be ashamed about. Proper disc golf throwing technique involves a LOT of leg "action." Search YouTube for "disc golf long distance drives" and watch how much their legs move!

Sometimes mom does know a thing or two on occasion (even if she doesn't realize she knows it). Ah, it's nice to have a little validation when living with tweens/young teens (the most fickle and critical of creatures at times - thanks YouTube).

For those of you who are not familiar with the game of disc golf, I'd highly recommend it. It's tons of fun for families and there's plenty of courses to play around the state.

Here's a short video clip of the kids playing on the Pleasant Hill course recently.



We started playing disc golf when the girls were little. Here's story about my family's first intro to game (which included a collection of sticks along the way by L. and an escape from "jail").

G. took a picture of me throwing to post on my Twitter account while we were on the course. The hazard of tech-savvy kids, although it was all in good fun and I've had my chuckles on their behalf through the years as well...

Kid Tracks Column: Geocaching great family fun, and brain teaser

Being discreet while crawling around on hands and knees looking for a hidden treasure box the size of my thumb isn't all that easy.

We tried to play it casual on the busy biking trail, but based on the looks we were getting, not everyone was buying the act. Still, finding the elusive micro geocache we were looking for had the whole family smiling ear-to-ear and marveling at the other geocacher's cleverness in developing the hiding spot in a fence post.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt using a handheld GPS (global positioning system) along with coordinates posted on geocaching.com to find the location of a hidden container.

The containers are not just found on hiking trails, although that is a popular location, but at vista points along the side of the road, notable historical places, a feature of geological significance or other points of interest. Players of the game, known as geocachers, create, hide and post coordinates for these hidden "treasures" so other players can find them using a handheld GPS. Owners of an iPhone or BlackBerry can play the game with the Geocache Navigator application, no other equipment needed.

When my family was first learning the game, we chose to look for "traditional" geocaches with a rating range of 1 to 3 (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being easiest and 5 being hardest to find). Traditional caches are medium to large plastic kitchen-type containers (or metal boxes) hidden in or around trees and rocks and typically covered with dead branches or bark (boxes are not buried). The caches are filled with small toys and a logbook to record your visit. My girls took immense pleasure in finding new trinkets to trade when they were younger. (A key rule of the game is that if you take something from the geocache, you leave something in its place). These type of geocaches are usually family-friendly, and young children enjoy sifting through the geocache trinkets to choose their prize.

My girls are 11 and 13 years old now and still like to find the hidden treasure troves while we're hiking, but finding more challenging geocaches (with a rating of 3 or 4) have held more appeal lately.

We recently identified two "mystery" geocaches (with a difficulty rating of 4) along with some "micro" geocaches (with a rating of 3) to locate, and they proved to be good challenges for us.

Micro caches are tricky because, as the name suggests, they are small – hiding spots for them are endless. These types of caches can also be camouflaged in a way that requires a very keen eye to identify.

The micro cache we set out to find didn't identify that it was camouflaged. After an extensive search around a stone wall, I put my hand on a stone and thought it didn't feel quite right. After picking up the lighter looking stone and turning it over, I discovered the geocache glued in place on the fake rock's underbelly.

Micro caches are not big enough to hold trinkets, but one of the appealing features of this type of cache is the logbook. My kids enjoy identifying names of geocachers they've seen in other cache logbooks. Some geocachers are prolific, with thousands of "finds." After reading a few logbooks, we've become familiar with the more active players in our area. For this particular micro cache, my girls took a lot of satisfaction in adding their own names to the logbook.

"I bet not everyone could find THAT one!" exclaimed my 13-year-old.

I'm always happy to hear evidence of growing self-esteem in my daughters. We set out to find the next geocache on our list, a mystery cache.
The mystery cache required we answer a series of questions and complete some addition and subtraction problems to determine the coordinates of the hidden cache. The questions involved driving around a specific area to locate dates on historic buildings and count columns on a meeting house and doors on a fire station. This was all easily handled by my 11-year-old in the back seat. After completing a couple of simple equations, we had the coordinates of the geocache inputted into our GPS.

This particular mystery cache, however, was hidden in a high traffic "muggle" area (i.e., a very public place with lots of non-geocachers around), so discretion was key. But trying not to be obvious when you're searching for a geocache the size of your pinky finger is tricky. My daughter and I opted to sit down to think about the situation after our initial search turned up nothing. It was then that we thought more like a geocacher (tree stumps and stone walls are favorite hiding spots) and made the discovery within an arm's length of where we were sitting.

"That one was tricky. But HA! We figured it out!" my 11-year-old exclaimed.

My family enjoys many aspects of this game, but for now we're having a particularly good time with the mystery cache puzzles. We're also learning to work as a team and developing some good, creative problem-solving skills. It's also been a great way to spend time with my kids to help them each learn skills that will translate well into other aspects of their lives. Playing a game that builds self-esteem and encourages better communication with their parents during this (sometimes) challenging stage of child development is an extra special bonus.


Hey kids! Let's get started
IF YOU'RE NEW to the game, the Almeida kids have some advice:

* Pick an easy geocache (1 or 2 difficulty rating) that has good hints on an easy trail. (The rating system on geocaching.com includes both geocache and terrain difficulty ratings.)

* Kids are better lookouts for geocaches and usually find them before their mom or dad, and it's fun to show your parents you're better at this game than they are.

* Look for logs or tree stumps that have splits in them, because geocaches are sometimes hidden inside. Also check piles of sticks or leaves that don't look natural.

* Tell your kids to look for a green tint, because the geocache sticker might be showing if the cache isn't completely covered.

* Geocaches are usually a short way off the trail. They are not usually right on trail because too many people who don't play the game might find them.

* If you take something, you always have to put something else in its place so the geocache always has toys for the next kids who find it.

* Reading the logbook is fun to see who has found the box. It's also fun to write your own family's name in the book, too.

* When you are in a busy place and you have the geocache, act casual and discreet. Make it look like you're not hiding it again so it doesn't get found by a curious person who doesn't know the rules of the game.

Know your caches
As geocaching has gained in popularity since its inception back in 2001, the game has become more creative, with a variety of ways to play.

* A MICRO CACHE is the size of an old 35-mm film canister or smaller and can be tucked just about anywhere. This makes them challenging to locate.

* A MULTI-CACHE involves more than one set of coordinates to find. Once the initial location is found, the geocacher gets a clue to the next location, and so on, until the final clue reveals the actual hidden "treasure" box. These caches can include both micro and traditional containers and have varying degrees of difficulty.

* A MYSTERY CACHE requires the solving of a puzzle, which is sometimes quite involved, in order to determine the coordinates to the location of the geocache. These types of caches offer some of the most difficult challenges in the game.

* A LETTERBOX HYBRID is a cache with a hand-carved stamp and combines the geocache and letterboxing games. Letterboxing is like geocaching since both hide a box in the woods, but instead of trinkets to trade, there is a hand-carved stamp inside. By combining the artistic flavor of letterboxing stamps with easy-to-follow geocache coordinates (which often have more family-friendly directions than the pace-counting and vague directions typically posted in the letterboxing game), these geocache hybrid boxes can have a lot of appeal to fans of both games.

* An EARTHCACHE is a place that has a special geoscience feature or aspect of our Earth. Coordinates to locate an EarthCache (the "treasure" is the location, no hidden boxes) also include educational information about why the geoscience feature is significant to the planet. The Geological Society of America is involved in the listing of EarthCache sites around the world and sponsors a "masters program" for goal-oriented EarthCachers.

* An EVENT CACHE is a specific time and place where geocachers meet to play the game together. There is an active geocaching community in Maine that sponsors event caches regularly. Visit geocachingmaine.org for local event cache details.

Originally published in Raising Maine Magazine,  September 2009