The unexpected and unusual snow in Victoria has claimed the lives of trees, bushes, school days, and sadly, one pig. Mike Harcourt (yes, I'm serious, and no we didn't name him) - Mikey to those who knew him well, died this morning after a valiant fight against pneumonia (or so I'm told), in Victoria, BC. RIP Mikey, you were a good pig!
(Mikey the day we got him, vastly overweight and not too pleased with the world!) The three photos above were shamelessly stolen from my Mom's blog.

How did we end up with such a porker in our backyard, one might ask? Well, Mikey was a rescue pig, a clear case of being killed by kindness. Left to live, unfenced and otherwise un contained in the backyard of a house which had been abandoned for six years, Mikey lived a solitary life under a low slung sheet of plywood and a tarp, with only the neighbourhood stray cats, peacocks, and bunnies to count among his friends. It wasn't all bad for Mikey though - his former owners (who actually inherited him with the property), fed their guilt and Mikey's insatiable appetite, plying him with six times the needed quantity of food throughout those six lonely years.

We got Mikey in June. Unable to support himself for more than a few steps, the process of moving Mikers just 500 metres down the road required the vet, a horse trailer, six strong humans, and a bowl of grapes. If someone ever tells you that pigs can scream bloody murder, don't doubt them for a second! Mikey was keen to let the entire world know that his life was caving in around him. Blind from fat, confused and disturbed, our little piggy settled down and promptly went on a hunger strike. While this wasn't a bad thing due to his bulk, pigs are very sensitive (and smart) animals, and can become suicidal, losing the will to live, quite easily. To avoid this, hand feedings of freshly prepared salads soaked in kool-aid and watermelon juice ensued twice a day.

Over the next five months, Mikey slimmed down, and was able to walk around his paddock quite handily by the time I came over here. Unfortunately, I don't have any recent photos of him, but rest assured, he was much better proportioned in his last months!

Unfortunately, that loss of insulation appears to be a contributing factor to Mikey's untimely passing. A cosy nest of hay, sleeping bags, hot water bottles, a heated blanket and a side order of antibiotics were not enough to keep our (not so little) guy with us. Although he wasn't particularly expected at the beginning, he was an entertaining guy, and will be missed (except maybe by the horses, his screaming scared the crap out of them a few times!).

As for the rest of my day, ummmmm not so exciting, sorry! Jordon suggested the DNTO podcasts to me yesterday, so I took V out for a walk and listened to one of them - definitely will be adding them into my growing rotation of walk/train/bike listening! The CBC also has a 'Best of Outfront' podcast (among others), but luckily their archives don't go back as far as my show on there! Weird to be getting all into CBC/NPR/A(ustralian) BC shows, especially since after being force fed the CBC for the first 15 years of my life, I/we basically stopped listening to it for the last few... Very odd to go back to those old shows I remember listening to on the way to school and at night! The best of podcasts are definitely the way to do it! (And I'm sure mom is reading away rolling her eyes and going 'I told you so', but whatever, better late than never!)

Anyway, the only other major event in my day was a Yoga/Pilates class put on by the Tokyo Gaijins in Minato-ku. There was definitely more Yoga than I was hoping for, not being a particular fan, but I guess they'll start doing pilates only classes if there is enough demand for it. It was nice though, because there were only four of us, so a pretty individualized class, and now at least I've given Yoga another shot... I'll probably go back a few more times though, maybe it will grow on me, and the pilates part was good!

Peter's due back any moment from being a super VIP or whatever at U2, should be interesting to see what that gets a person! Maybe he'll do a guest entry for us! Hmmm....guest bloggers, that's a thought....

Will try and pick up the interest level in the next few days... Rest assured, Sunday will be interesting, and hopefully Monday, if we get our tickets organized!

until tomorrow,
D