[Gpdd] MISC Candy, Quintin & May

[Penny Charlesworth]

Thank you for the welcomes to my new little friends, Candy, Quintin and May.

I never go looking for new Piggyfriends, they just seem to come to me but
when I saw Candy's pigture on the rescue website, she did, indeed, seem to
be saying " I need a home"  just as Judi posted. I asked my son to enquire
about her and Berkley but he had already been reserved.The staff were
delighted that I have taken her as they were worried about her future and
said that they didn't know anyone else who would take a problem piggy. She
doesn't seem to mind being alone and is curious about everything that goes
on in the sitting room, which is where I have my quarantined piggies. She
sat on my lap and watched a detective drama on TV last night while munching
cucumber. She failed to warn me when she needed to go back to her cage. She
must have wanted to find out "whodunnit" but I had her on a towel so no
harm done. She is definitely a people pig. She is in a large Marchioro
cage, which I don't use as a permanent home and puts her little paws up on
the edge of the plastic base to see what I am doing. I expected her to
freak out when Henry, the vacuum cleaner, came in to clear up the dropped
hay but she watched him intensely. She will be getting her bath this
afternoon. I wonder what she will think of that.

I hope that she will find a friend or a group when her quarantine is
finished. I had thought of trying her with Quintin and May, as Jean
suggested, and it might work out but I have several options. A single sow
usually goes into one of my existing groups without any problem but I will
have to do intros very carefully with her history. Dandelion came to me
with the reputation of being a fighter but she has never shown any
aggression whatsoever to her group and loves to snuggle up with my big boy,
Garnet. Probably her previous owners did not carry out a suitable intro or
had too little space.

Quintin and May came with a cavy cosy, in which the staff told me that May
spends most of her time. So far, she and Quintin have been happy to explore
their temporary pen and have naps together in one of my boxes, the cosy
being ignored. As she is a big girl, I found a whiskey bottle box instead
of my usual wine boxes as it is wider. May does not seem at all bossy. I
would say that they are just the best of friends, with neither being the
Alpha pig. They both clear up any food that I have provided whereas Candy
has refused parsley and celery but everything else has been wolfed down.
Newcomers usually end up eating just about everything as they follow their
new companions' lead. I hope that Candy has that option in good time.

Candy and Quintin were up at the bars this morning waiting for breakfast.
May sat and watched but all three took pieces of carrot from my hand and
were happy to be petted ( with careful handwashing after touching Q & M! ).
They must all have been loved in their pasts to be so friendly.

I do like the name Maisie, Jaime. It is just that my mother was a very
difficult and unhappy person and I do not want my new piggy to labour under
the burden of a miserable life. Not that she would know anything about it
but by changing it to May, all past miseries are kept at bay. My
Rodentologists had a Maisie, a lovely piggy who lived to be 10. I keep a
mental list of possible future piggy names too. I might hear a name I like
in a film or plant something with a suitable piggy name or read one in the
newspaper. There have been so many Piggyfriends that new names are
sometimes hard to find. This time they have all come with a name that I
have not used before.

Whilst waiting for a phone call, I idly Googled alpaca piggies and looked
at the images. I was amazed to see my pigture of Fuzzypeg there - the one
that I contributed to the Undercover Piggies blog when he became Agent
Curly. I'll have to find the time to look at other piggy images to see if
any other Piggyfriends have found fame.

Best wishes to all.

Penny and the Piggyfriends, who all get called little poppets - must be a
British/Irish term Sandy!