A few weeks ago, my brother asked me if we’d be making mud pits for Prudence and Rebecca.
My answer went something like this, “Hell no. If it rains, fine, they can make a mud pit. But I don’t think we’ll be making any mud pits for them.”
What I should have said, had I thought carefully about the question was, “Welllllllll…it really depends. You know, on what Prudence wants.”
Because Prudence knows that I have a special place for her in my heart (please acquaint yourself with pig surgery lest you doubt).
Each day, when I dole out the fruit and vegetable compost that our local Whole Foods provides to feed the girls, I make certain that Prudence gets at least as much fruit (okay, sometimes more) than Rebecca the Food Bully, and have been known to hand-feed her fennel and mango peels if Rebecca is being particularly stubborn around the trough.
Prudence loves fennel and mango, by the way. Bananas, too.
So when Prudence starts grunting at me and eyeballing the hose that is tethered to the pig meadow gate, yet she does not avail herself of the drinking water….wellllllllll, I know what she wants, and gosh darn it, she’s going to have it.
not to fret: we changed the drinking water and made it clean. right after making the mud pit.
This pig, who, I will remind you, is a white pig with black spots, is the boss of me.
White pig with black spots, ha ha ha.
Boss of you, even funnier.
Poor Amy and JR.
And, Kitty, that wasn’t even at her most muddy. Later the same day, she walked out of the sow shack (um, into the pig meadow, for everything has a ridiculous nickname here) at one point and only her eyes and the holes in her snout were not mud brown. Prudence loves herself a mud pit, let me tell you!
Never say never!
By the way, I’m going to be in the Providence area soon? Any foodie destinations I shouldn’t miss while there?
So true, Ann! So true!
OOOH! Yes, definitely! Will you be here over a weekend? If so, and there’s a Waterfire while you’re here, you should definitely check that out. When JR first asked me what it was years ago, I said, “It’s a fire. On the water.” Which it is, but there’s music, food and drink vendors, and good people watching. A team of volunteers boats down the river stoking the fires, and the reflection of the flames on the water is particularly mesmerizing: http://waterfire.org/
In Bristol, for an amazing fine dining experience, check out Persimmon: http://www.persimmonbristol.com/
In Providence, Farmstead/La Laiterie, Nick’s On Broadway, and New Rivers are all great, and I haven’t yet eaten at The Dorrance (book early on OpenTable – chef Ben Sukle is getting all kinds of raves and it’s hard to get a weekend reservation):
http://nicksonbroadway.com/site/
http://www.farmsteadinc.com/
http://www.newriversrestaurant.com/
http://www.thedorrance.com/
In Providence’s Italian neighborhood, Federal Hill, check out the shopping at Venda Ravioli and Tony’s Colonial, as well as my favorite wine shop, Gasbarro’s:
http://www.vendaravioli.com/
http://tonyscolonial.mybigcommerce.com/
http://www.gasbarros.com/
Providence has a fabulous farmers market, too:
http://www.farmfresh.org/markets/ – check out the Lippit Park market on Saturday 9am-1pm.
Oh, nearly forgot, Seven Stars Bakery sells at the farmers market, but also has a few locations around town. We love their olive loaf and their durum loaf, but you really can’t go wrong in general there! They serve New Harvest Coffee, which is roasted locally:
http://www.sevenstarsbakery.com/
http://www.newharvestcoffee.com/
Off-topic, RISD has a great museum and alumni store:
http://www.risdmuseum.org/
http://www.risdworks.com/
Thayer Street is worth walking around (just north of RISD campus and embedded in Brown University’s campus).
Let me know if you have any other questions – I’m happy to share the PVD love!
We will be there on a weekend, so I’ll definitely check for Waterfire. Thanks for all the suggestions. Enjoy Prudence!
Loved this post and love that you will do anything to make Prudence happy.
Thank you, Paula! Prudence has me all figured out, too! Uh-oh!
I saw something today while I was out running – a portable chicken coop. No lie! I had to stop to take a gander. It’s in someone’s back yard and apparently they just lift up the one end and wheel it to a new location whenever it’s time!
Maryl, we have one of these!! It’s a hand-me-down from our neighbor, and we’ve used it for our hens as temporary housing. It had been languishing by the potato patch, but JR decided that the new boar we just picked up will live in it once it’s been modified slightly! They’re pretty cool, aren’t they?!