One day I was taking the dogs out when I noticed Ruth kept bumping into things and seemed scared, dad had noticed it too. Later I told mom and she passed on the news to Nana. Mom asked if Nana could check on Ruth because she has worked with dogs in a veterinary clinic and had lots of pets. Nana agreed and told mom that she should take her to the vet. That evening, mom and Nana took Ruth to the vet in Louisa. We were worried that Ruth would be genetically blind. The vet took a lot of tests and said we should take the dog to an eye specialist in Richmond.
Mom and Nana had to leave at 8:30 a.m. The doctor/specialist said there was good news and bad news. The bad news: her optic nerves were badly inflamed, which made her blind in both eyes. The good news: THERE WAS A CURE!!!!!!. The Vet prescribed medications for Ruth’s eyes to get rid of the inflammation. We were all sad and worried, but each day we can tell that Ruth sees better and clearer. (Praise the almighty GOD) Ruth is almost healed. (P.J.)
“Hi”, it’s P.J. again and I’m going to tell you about our piglets, but first, here are some facts about American Guinea Hogs (AGH). They came from the United Kingdom and Africa. Their weight is: 150 – 300 pounds, height: 22 – 27 inches, 46 – 56 inches in length. Their lifespan is 15 – 20 years. Usually slaughtering takes place at 6 months for adults. The AGH is usually docile and nonaggressive. A tarp is a good shelter along with a wooden house. They need straw to bed down in. Electric wire runs around their space because they are curious and it trains them not to escape. The electric fence is on the outside, just in case the wire doesn’t stop them. Sue, our pregnant sow needs 6 – 7 gallons of water each day and we feed her twice a day.
We were on our way home from co-op when mom got a text from Nana that . . THE PIGLETS WERE BORN!!!!!! a day early. Abby, Mom, and I raced down the hill and Nana said to be quiet. There were 5 total (two girls and 3 boys). Each of them was black and wrinkled. They were the size of a soda can that had legs. I was surprised that they were running around and climbing over each other. The next day Sue was very hungry and at breakfast and dinner we gave her extra portions along with grass. We had to put iodine on the piglets umbilical cords. A good way to see them, is to climb my dog’s fence (Boaz andRuth) because I can look in their nursery.
The piglets talk in grunts and snorts and are very fast and playful. They are always near their mother and every now and then she rolls over on her side and they start nursing. She is very careful not to hurt them. They climb on one another and are never in one place for long unless they are sleeping. At night we turn on the heat lamp so they have enough warmth. They have grown each day and are now the size of a one liter soda bottle. They love to eat and nibble at Sue’s food. Nana is introducing them to grain that she wets to make it easier to chew. They like it more every day. Raising piglets is an exciting learning experience.
Today dear readers, is going to be a little different, for I have found a way to both fulfill my writing assignment and teach y’all how to do a 4 strand braid! I hope y’all enjoy this exciting experiment and maybe learn a few things too.
The first two steps to any braid is to find some medium to long length hair (in my case my mannequin head) and thoroughly brush it out! After this you will begin by sectioning your hair into four even strands and keeping them separate you want to comfortably hold them in your hands.
To start your braid you will first take 1 strand from the very right and cross it over the strand closest to it ( we will call this strand 2 ). Strand 2 should now be where strand 1 was originally. Now you will take the middle strand or strand 3 and Cross it only over strand 1. Holding all of this in place you will proceed to take strand 1 over strand 4 of which is the strand farthest to the left. Then you will repeat this process all the way down your hair of choice. The pattern for this braid is over under, over under. When you have braided as far as you can on your hair you will secure with an elastic or hair tie ( I prefer hair ties) . There will be pictures to hopefully guide you through this endeavor! Please comment to let me know if you found this helpful and would like to learn more braids! Your ever persistent blogger, Abigail.
What’s up readers, It’s your (hopefully favorite blogger) Abigail writing again to tell you about our newest additions, The Piglets! To fully understand my tale you should probably read Pigs, By PJ, first. It leaves off with our two girls pregnant and (the further along pig ) Sue’s due date April 18th, approaching fast. April 16th we moved Sue into our piggy birthing area and everyone was in rather a commotion (dogs and cat included). Sue’s sister Dotty didn’t take being separated from her sister very well and was extremely distraught the first two days. April 17th Sue surprised us with 5 healthy soda can sized piglets! They were so captivating in more way’s then one! We are undecided but here is the unofficial list of names for our sweeties: Phoenix, Clay, Onyx, Opal and Pearl. What’s y’alls favorite piglet name?
Dotty’s View
Panic and dread settles heavily in my brain as the humans take my sister Sue away! I screech and squeal, “Wait! What about me? Don’t leave me alone!” But with little avail, for the humans pay no attention to me and one of them even had the audacity to say I sounded like a loud bird! Thankfully I can take some comfort in being able to hear my sister even if I can’t see her. Sausage, Bacon, and Pinocchio all huddle together discussing the new arrangements and as I sink into worry and despair the boys come over to me and try to distract or give me comfort. Finally its dinner time and the humans feed us and then stick around to give me belly rubs and loving words. Later in the night, when I was both lonesome and scared, my human Daddy came and rubbed my big belly and comforted me to sleep and when I stirred he instantly went back to rubbing me. Day 3 is not so bad and the boys and the humans give me lots of attention and treats! But I still miss my sister. On the bright side though I can’t wait to meet my nieces and nephews!
The Boys Thoughts
“Something new and possibly exiting is happening” Bacon announces. Sausage retorts with a sarcastic, “What really, I couldn’t at all see that for myself, idiot!” “Hush” I tell both of them (me being Pinocchio) as I strain to hear and observe all that is happening. It would appear that Sue has had her piglets. It would also seem as if Dotty is quite upset about being left alone and unable to see her sister. “Shame Larry didn’t stick around to see the piglets,” Sausage comments sourly. “Well he didn’t exactly have a choice,” Bacon quips. “Besides, if he had met them he may have just eaten them like he did everything else,” I say. Dotty’s squealing snaps us back to attention and after regarding her we try to give her some comfort with little avail. At last I tell her Sue seems fine and that all a pig can do is hope.
Meow Meow’s Opinion
I can’t believe it, the smelly, mucky , sloppy, overgrown capybara has given birth to a bunch of stinky, loud rats and to make matters worse the humans appear to think that the rug rats are cuter than me! ME!!!! Me, the cutest animal that has ever graced their presence! And the humans fed me 15 minutes late because of the rats! I almost starved to death, my fur and existence all but faded away! Thus, I have decided upon a small mutiny! Wish me luck and possibly a snack or two!
Boaz and Ruth’s Observation
“Whatever do you think is going on over there?” Boaz asks, “Perhaps howling will make it clearer!” Through the racket of Boaz’s howling, “Oh, I do wish I knew what was happening, it sounds both exiting and like an adventure!” Ruth replies. Your faithful writer Abigail Meyer!
I’m going to teach you how to throw a football. First you have to see the person in front of you. Never throw a football when the person is looking away. When you throw the football, you put your leg in front of you (like taking a step forward) to give it more thrust. Your hand can be anywhere on the football, but most grownups usually put their hands on the leather laces for your fingers. When you release it, the ball should be aimed at the person you are looking at. The ball should be in a nice spiral when you throw it. If you have a good throwing arm, a comfortable spot on the ball, a good stance, and lots of practice, you could be a really good quarter back in football!
“Hey Dereck, what are your plans for the pigs?” asked Nana.” I was hoping you would take them,” Mr.Derek replied. We were having Miss. Annie and Mr. Derek over for dinner. Dad said, “We’ll take them in!” But we needed a little time to set up the electric fence. Soon we were ready, so on the next weekend Derek brought the girls over (Dotty and Sue), and his son Walter. We put the sows into the electric fenced in area. The boys were a little harder. There was one bore (Sausage) that was being stubborn, but we finally got them all. There are 4 boars and two sows. The Boars are: Larry, Sausage, Bacon, and Pinocchio.
A few months later… We converted Larry over with the girls, and one day papa was rubbing Larry’s side when suddenly Larry rose up on his back legs, he slammed papa, scraping his arms, legs, and thighs. Papa also fell against the golf cart. He whacked Larry over the head with the grabber.
We get food for the pigs at the Louisa Food Bank, a local restaurant, our garden, the feed store, and Nana also cooks rice, beans, and oatmeal from our pantry. It cracks me up whenever we walk out to the front pigpen because the sows roll over on their sides to be rubbed. When they stand, you can see their bellies are almost touching the ground because they are both pregnant. We are going to have piglets soon and new born piglets are the size of soda cans with legs. Raising pigs is a mind-blowing experience.
Hi readers, its your teenaged writer Abigail at it again with a new story to share! Did ya’ll really think this is the only site I write for? If you did, your wrong! I happen to write for many things actually such as my scrapbook, stories I write for fun, the usual school stuff, etc., you guys get the drift? But my latest endeavor was a poetry contest and I am here to share with you my poem!
The requirements were; it must have one of these sets of things: group 1: an old parachute, a beach and a violin, group 2: a garden, a letter, and a coffee cup, group 3: was a plane ticket, a juice box and a cave. What would you choose or be interested in hearing? I would love y’alls feed back on it! I chose the first group for the contest. The rest of the requirements for my age group were; it had to have 16 lines and it must have a decipherable rhyming pattern. It was very fun to write and I could’t do it without my grandmother’s patience or helpful assistance. She could only help so much because it was a contest after all! Half-way through I had to add something about tropical birds and I so wanted it to be about Brown Booby birds but Nana said, “What an image that would portray!” I decided to spare the judges and not put the Brown Booby bird in it although I was very set on a stanza about them! Just take a minute with me to imagine the scene! You readers are probably getting tired of my rambling so without further ado, here is my poem!
Aloha
At first light I strolled along a deserted beach when something caught my sight. Nestled in between two palm trees, like a spiders web hangs a decrepit parachute. Observing the trees, I marvel at the colorful birds that look like exotic fruit. Meandering along, I relish the salty ocean breeze and it is truly a delight.
Further down the beach, I take in the ocean’s thundering waves and wild tide. Soon the sun reaches her peak in the sky, proving time really does fly. With amusement I watch gulls harass fishermen before soaring off with a mocking cry. And playful dolphins gliding along the sparkling sea like it’s a roller coaster ride.
In the distance, waves crash into piers, dark and forbidding, against the dazzling sunlight. Tenacious terns, plunder and scavenge the shore taking off with their valuable loot, Minute, skittering, sand fiddlers scurry along the beach with brisk waves in hot pursuit. An evening breeze blows ashore, as the sun sinks below the waves turning day into night.
The moon rises, brightly bathing everything with a luminous glow, a shinning guide. Sounds of the wind and waves, blending like a violin’s melody, a call that will never die. Weary and tired I must now leave my dearest friend and say this bittersweet goodbye. But in my heart, I say, ” Aloha” because part of me can never leave the place my heart resides.
Dear readers, it’s your 13 year old blogger, Abby, and you guessed it, I am no longer 12, your girls a teenager now and she can’t wait to tell you about her birthday!
Groggily I sit up in my warm cozy bed as Mother shakes me awake and reminds me that it’s my birthday! After about 6 minutes of collecting myself, I jump out of bed with excitement at the thought of being a teenager and what kind of fun day today will be.
As I walk out of my room, Mother and PJ (my little brother) shower me with confetti and other sparkly stuff! I relish the smell of cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs as I walk into the kitchen and sit down to breakfast. Mother tells me the plans for the day as we eat, first we will go on a hike and play in the creek with the dogs. And yes, I do play in the creek when its 37 degrees outside in the middle of winter, and I do in fact enjoy it as do the dogs! Later she says we will have presents, pizza, and ice cream, while we watch the new Black Panther movie! Mom and Dad originally had a birthday adventure planned (which I do not know yet) but, because of my over heating and the flare-up of my migraines, we will be doing the adventure later in the year! Prayers for my healing are appreciated!
After getting dressed and waiting outside with the dogs for 15 minutes, Mom and Dad are finally ready! It was quite comical how differently we all dressed; Mom and Dad were in their heaviest coats, gloves, and hats (as was PJ), while I was dressed in a fleece! As we hike in the woods PJ, Boaz, Ruth, and I raced ahead while Mom and Dad hiked behind. Boaz, Ruth, and I excitedly run to the creek and soon we are splashing in the water and frolicking in the sand. After about 20 minutes, we continue our hike until we reach the field and then Ruth and I run all the way back to the house and wait for PJ, who eventually catches up, and for Mom and Dad, who are further behind.
Later that afternoon, at about 4:30, Nana paints my nails while mom fixes dinner! An hour and 30 minutes minutes later I am opening my birthday presents, and as I come to the last thing I am shocked as I slowly unwrap an iPhone 13!!!! Mom shows me how to use it and soon we are all on our phones figuring out how to add mine to each of theirs! Not long after presents, we are feasting on pizza and watching the new Black Panther movie, and boy was it good! For my birthday mom made a lemon cake with lemon curd in the center and lemon butter cream frosting!! It was delicious and so was the ice cream! We had vanilla, caramel, and chocolate ice cream from Gelati Celesti’s. At about 11:30 we went to bed. I am so thankful for all the hard work Mom and Dad put into my birthday and I can’t wait for the continuation of my birthday celebration tomorrow!
On Sunday after church (and our nap), Mom straightened my hair and we got ready for our outing to Olive Garden. Later that evening, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Steven, Addison, and Auntie (who would be staying with us for the week), arrived at the restaurant along with Nana and Papa. After moseying inside, we soon learned it would be an hour wait, so we busied ourselves with games and chatter! Aunt Sarah surprised me with a triple chocolate cake and it was very good! After round and round of delicious Italian food, we were all contently stuffed and ready to head home (after some quick photos). Over all, I had an amazing 13th birthday and am thankful for all the time and effort everyone put into it!
One day Nana signed me up for a poetry contest. It had to be about being invisible and it had to have a rhyming pattern. No one could help me with it. I felt excited and nervous at the same time; what would I do? How would I write it? I finally got a line down and then I was on a roll. Writing poetry is difficult because you have to make the rhyming pattern and it has to tell a story, but still be a poem. I made lots of changes to it, and it was finally finished. My completed poem went like this:
The Amazing Invisible Dream (written by P.J.) One mysterious night I had a dream. I went downstairs and made my sister scream. She was braiding her mannequin’s colorful hair, and suddenly realized she wasn’t alone in there. I ran out of the room to find my mother. On the way I looked in the hall mirror and exclaimed, Oh Brother! It seemed as if my dream had come true! What was I going to do? Feeling excited and sad at the same time, Then I hear my clock’s beautiful chime. Suddenly I realize that the dream isn’t real. That was a surprising but exciting, fictional ordeal.
Hi, It’s Addison again and I am here to talk about my dog, Hazel. My parents surprised me with Hazel when I was eight years old. But shortly after we got her, she got hit by a car. She is fine now though. We named her after a band my family and I like called, Sister Hazel. Hazel loves going to the farm (Mint 2 Bee) all the time. When we take her she looks forward to taking walks with Papa and getting treats from Papa. Hazel stays at the farm for a week each summer while we to on vacation and she LOVES it!
I am very grateful for Hazel because she is a dog that helps me calm down and my anxiety goes away when I rub her and love on her. About a month ago we found out that Hazel has diabetes and she has to have a shot twice each day. We give her a paper plate with peanut butter on it so she is distracted and then she gets her shot. Hazel is my favorite dog EVER, she helps me so much.
Mint 2 Bee 