Pig Pen Happiness – Priscilla, Pippa & Pixie the Piglet

Pig Pen Happiness – Priscilla, Pippa & Pixie the Piglet

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

– Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

It’s probably a good thing I don’t have a home of my own at the moment. If I did, I may well have brought back a PET PIG from Saskatchewan yesterday!

My friend, Jackie, has just started breeding “kunekune” pigs on their ranch near Foam Lake.

The kunekune is a small breed of domestic pig from New Zealand. Kunekune are hairy, with a rotund build and may bear wattles hanging from their lower jaws (Priscilla, Pippa and even baby Pixie all had wattles). Their colour ranges from black and white, to ginger, cream, gold-tip, black, brown and tricoloured. They have a docile, friendly nature, and – like the pot-bellied pig – are now often kept as pets.

I can see why.

Kunekune are suitable for a novice owner, as they are placid, friendly, and love human company. They are easy to train and intelligent.

The native Māori people of New Zealand adopted kunekune. The word kunekune means “fat and round” in the Māori language…kinda perfect!

If you happen to be interested in learning more about kunekune pigs, you can contact Jackie through Facebook.

Oh and yes, I did take a few photos of humans, too 🙂

And prior to visiting the Foam Lake homestead, I spent a weekend with my friend, Colleen, and her family in Saskatoon. This is a cute shot of me & Col in the brand new Remai Modern Art Gallery:

I was actually in Saskatoon to deliver a couple of JPMF workplace safety presentations at the Mine Your Potential conference (for women in mining and nuclear), so naturally had to stretch that out into a week of visiting friends!

And I just received this bit of feedback from one of the conference organizers:

“Thank you so much for your participation in our event. I hope you get a lot more requests from Saskatchewan, now that word is spreading about how powerful your talk was. You are such a natural speaker. Your talk will be one of my long lasting memories of this conference. I am so sorry for your tragedy. It is awesome that you are helping to make the work environment safer for so many other first responders.”

– Donna Beneteau, PEng, MASc, University of Saskatchewan

That’s it from this bohogazelle…have a safe & productive week!

Maryanne Pope is the author of A Widow’s Awakening, the playwright of Saviour and the screenwriter of God’s Country. Maryanne is CEO of Pink Gazelle Productions and Chair of the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. If you would like to receive her regular weekly blog, please sign up here. As a thank you, you’ll receive a short but saucy e-book entitled, Dive into this Chicago Deep Dish – Ten Bite-Sized Steps for a Yummier Slice of Life.