. . . . from John, awaiting Nancy’s draft of her week’s news.
Item #1: A neighborhood invasion
I wouldn’t normally use this item, except it is from a place very near (3.7 miles) where Nancy and her mom lived north-east of Atlanta. From Valley Brook Estates we have a porker of a story.
A feral sow emigrated from the Georgia country and moved into the neighborhood. She had piglets. With lots of yards, planted with things hogs like to eat, the babies have grown. What once was a cute family scene has become dangerous, creating a nuisance for homeowners. So they say.
The whole hog – story
DeKalb County Animal Control officers told them to hire a professional trapper service, or put up fences.
I’m thinking it must be a vegan community.
Item #2: 18 mph
From Wikipedia: Esky is an Australian brand of portable coolers. The term “esky” is also commonly used in Australia to generically refer to portable coolers or ice boxes and is part of the Australian vernacular, in place of words like “cooler” or “cooler box” and the New Zealand “chilly bin”. 
We haven’t seen a motorized esky in our part of the world but it is common in Australia and New Zealand.
While it is a convenient way to haul drinks (or whatever) around, one is not supposed to be driving while drinking. Being intoxicated can lighten you wallet. U.S. $370
Item #3: They keep coming back
A Corella (Cocky) is a type of white cockatoo, common to Australia.
Horsham is a town in western Victoria, about 100 miles north of the Great Australian Bight (or the southern Ocean).
They are quite pretty, and apparently as welcome in Horsham as the sow and her piglets are in Georgia’s Valley Brook Estates.
Get them out of here
There is an Australia grown fruit called the Corella Pear. Also, there is a web page titled Corella and Cheese Make the Perfect “Pearing” [cute ! ] that could have been about these birds, but wasn’t. Oh well.
Item #4: Rum always tastes better after an ocean voyage
LINK: Voyage of the Picton Castle
When sailing ships were the means of ocean transport, rum was a major commodity. Sugar, molasses, and rum are high in calories and much appreciated in northern climates. 
Sailors that sampled the rum at the beginning of a voyage would claim that it tasted better after a long time at sea.
How would I know? Anyway, that’s what the Picton Castle is setting out to do.
“Rum History” involves the slave-trade and is written up here: Triangular trade
Item #5; The Eaton family cattle drive
Once each month Nancy gathers at CWU for lunch with a dozen folks who swap stories and provide a few $$ to a scholarship fund. One of the women is Peggy Eaton. The Eaton family runs a cattle ranch a few miles south of EBRG. Each year they move about 200 pregnant cows from down-river to up-river via State Highway #821 that runs through the canyon. Friends bring horses and help. They have a lot of fun.
Because it is a State highway, the WA Dept. of Transportation and the Highway Patrol have to provide assistance, of a sort. Signage is one such thing.
I superimposed 2 of the road signs (orange lights on a dark background) on a photo of the cattle drive.
Nancy thinks the one at right-center ought to have been created by someone with spelling skills as refined as her own.
And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John