Pumpkin and Squash

Butternut squash in 1/2 cup portions

We got a wonderful selection of winter squash this year from the Moose Hill CSA.  My share of the loot was three sugar pumpkins, nine butternut squash, two acorn squash and a delicata.  I spent Saturday afternoon roasting the pumpkins and three of the butternuts.  I discovered I have an allergy to butternut squash skin.  I guess I've never peeled that many at once.  It did fascinating things to my hand (it's back to normal, now).

I ended up with about four pounds of pureed pumpkin.  I've already used half of it.  Once I pureed the butternut squash, I put half-cup portions in one of my muffin tins and froze them.  It's the first time I've tried that.  Seemed like they'd be good for single portions or for cooking.  Once frozen, they easily popped out of the muffin tin and I stuffed them into a gallon bag for the freezer.

And, of course, there were pumpkin seeds to toast.  The seeds weren't as plump as I like them, but they're not bad.

Certificate, Cake and Costumes

Happy 10th Annual Fall Pignic!

The 10th Annual Boston Fall Pignic had a number of firsts and surprises.  Tammy brought a big sheet cake to celebrate ten years of Boston pignics.  The schedule also indicated there would be announcements at 2pm.  I had no idea of the topic.  As Tammy started talking, I got a sneaking suspicion of where things were heading....

So Many Meds

Simethicone, Metacam and Baytril

I swear that guinea pigs purposely pick the worst times to get sick or take a turn for the worse.  Bertie decided to show signs of pain the night before the pignic.  Why, Bertie?  Why would you stress out your Mama?

She's slowly been diminishing.  Overall, her attitude continues to be good.  Bertie hasn't been totally exhausted as she had been in early August.  But she keeps losing weight, even with hand feedings and a subcue every other day.  Her attitude changed, slightly, last week, but not enough for me to worry.  However, Saturday night she hopped when she walked - a sign of pain.  Her abdomen was hard but not bloated.  Since her input and output continued as normal, I decided to wait to bring her to my regular vet on Tuesday.

Once again, the vet was puzzled.  Best guess is that we're still dealing with fallout from the viruses.  Lungs don't look good on the x-rays (but no worse) and yet she seems to have no problems breathing.  Pain in the hindquarters, yet no stones or arthritis.  And goodness - with all of those subcues, she certainly shouldn't be developing stones!

Boston Fall Pignic 2012

It started out as a typical Fall pignic:  I spent the morning checking three different weather web sites, debating whether the grass would be dry enough and the temperature warm enough for outdoor pigs.  It was borderline, but the long-term forecast for next Sunday was even worse, so we went for it.

I'm glad I did.  It was a bit cool, but otherwise a perfect pignic day.

The Pig Patrol arrived early and was ready to go, in case the pignic's 10th anniversary drew more people than usual.  Oddly, we were over prepared (if there is such a thing).  There were barely 50 people, and only 30 pigs.  It made for a very laid-back, mellow day.  Wonderful!  Not a single pig visited the time-out pens.  Spats were at a minimum.  I'm not sure if the Dustpan of Doom was even used.  Maybe it was the cooler weather?  The abundance of clover?  Courteous pigs?  I know there were a few wails of protest from the sow's cage, but I think the boar's pen was just one big love-fest.

The Birth of a Pignic

Our 10th annual Boston Fall Pignic is scheduled for this Sunday (if the weather holds - otherwise we will hope for good weather on the 30th).  I can't believe it's been 10 years.

One of the early pignics - guinea pigs outnumbered humans

I guess you could say the Boston Pignic owes it's existence to a guinea pig named Eclair.  I had joined a couple of guinea pig forums in 2003 to research her mammary tumor and ovarian cysts.  I soon discovered there were quite a few guinea pig owners in the greater Boston area.  About that time I stumbled across the New England pignic, which was held in western Massachusetts, posted on CavyMadness.  I was intrigued.  I contacted Tammy and asked her if she would put together a pignic closer to home.  It seemed a shame to travel for hours for a pignic when we had a quorum locally.  Tammy told me she was interested, if I could locate a site that met three requirements:  untreated grass, no loose dogs, near public transportation.  If I could find that magical combination, she'd be happy to help get a local pignic off the ground.

Clean Cage Anticipation

Is the cage ready yet, Mama?

Guinea pigs are the ultimate  homebodies.  My girls (current and past) love getting back into their cage, especially when it's just been cleaned.

My last few pairs haven't had a ton of floor time, and I haven't had a serious lap pig since Eclair.  But when I do let my girls out, they have the run of one or two rooms.  They'll spend some time burbling about, checking out the rooms and trying to breach whatever pig-proofing I've done.  But as soon as they hear me wipe down the cage and start putting in fresh bedding, every pig I've had comes front-and-center, just waiting for me to pick them up and put them back in their cage.  Pinni and Bertie line up at the grids closest to the pig room.  Willow and Pippin used to do the same.  Eclair had been given the run of the apartment when I had her, and I'd have to be really careful towards the end of cleaning up, because she'd stand at the foot of the cage.  I worried I'd step on her or trip over her.  I would shoo her away, to no avail.  Eclair would stand on my feet sometimes, just so I wouldn't forget she was there.  Hurry up, Mama!

Adventures at the Cape

Bertie and Pinniped came down to the Cape for Chick Weekend.  It works.  They're chicks... or sows... whatever.

You go first.  No way - you go first.

The drive down was uneventful, but they were unhappy on arrival.  I made scary noises unloading the car and setting up their vacation cage.  Even once in their cage, the newness was so overwhelming, they jammed themselves in the tunnel and made those cute little "I'm scared" noises.  I had to laugh.  They were not amused.

Eventually, though, they decided being on vacation wasn't so bad.  The porch was bright and airy.  My girlfriends checked in on them from time to time.  Pinniped made sure to remind everyone when their morning pepper was overdue.  They even got to meet a two-year-old boy who babbled at them and fed them corn husks through the grids.

Cape Jewels

I worked on the quilt some more over the holiday weekend, finishing the small corners, the large triangle corners and beginning the last bits of the block centers.  I was down to a half-dozen piles of untouched fabric by the time I had to return to work.

I squeezed in stitching up the last of the loose pieces whenever I could during the week, so I could take them with me to Chick Weekend.  That allowed me to pin pieces together while gabbing with my friends in the back yard.  I ran out of pins long before I ran out of pieces, but that's okay.  I'll have a stack of the greens ready for sewing when I get home.

Matching seams was a challenge.  The triangles are at a 60-degree angle, but the middle pieces are a 45.  It wasn't the most intuitive pinning.  I'll see how well I've done once I stitch them together when I get back home.