Desire – noun. A strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.

Incredulous as it may seem, those are the very words that came from the lips of the factory worker whose plea for help just saved the lives of four tiny kittens and their abandoned mother.

We did just last week, and forever their pitiful dirges will haunt us. As first it was their midnight bellows that stirred me from my bed.

Dear unknown pig, today, I write an apology.

Over and over we are touched by the mystical experiences of life. Gertrude’s story is all of this and more.

Rambo Sheep first stamped his hoof at Edgar’s Mission several years ago now – a once cute orphan little lamb who had been lovingly, albeit naively, bottle reared by a young family.

This time eleven years ago, my life had some level of normality to it, but little did I know that was all about to go squealing out the window with the arrival of one adorable, handsome, dashing, debonair pink pig.

Although I have never tasted watermelon wine and having children has not been on my radar, I have had the good fortune to share my life with several old dogs and so, I can wholeheartedly attest to their worthy inclusion in Tom T Hall’s list of the three most worthwhile things in life.

I have learned many things from working with pigs; they are indeed among the smartest animals around and they are indeed among the most sensitive. As a result, when pigs become frightened or scared they will panic and quickly whip themselves up into a feverish frenzy.

“Tiny, she’s shiny. She looks so neat above her feet we call her Tiny shiny.” That was the little rhyme my parents had made up for a sweet little grey and white tabby cat that held centre stage in my earliest years.