Miss Congeniality

I've now had the pleasure of living with three donkeys for almost four years --  Labor Day will hit that mark.  And not until this summer has Miss Gabriella been a social girl at all.  Oh contraire,  I often used the "b" word when describing her.  Very touch-me-not, bossy - you get the picture.

For some reason, she has turned into Miss Congeniality this summer and I am loving it!  OK, Franny is still my love-bunny, but Gabby has really turned a corner.

Will wonders never cease...

 Gabby comes in for a close-up

Hot, hot babies

Even though the pasture is looking the best it has in three years (although there's plenty of room for improvement -- fewer weeds please), we're limiting donkey time to 4-5 hours a day.  That means the buggers still get to chew on a flake of hay at breakfast and dinner.

So, tonight after I got home from work, I rode my bike out to the donk yard (with 2 dogs in tow) to drag them in from the pasture and throw their hay.  And, spray those poor beleaguered little fly-bitten legs.  I cranked up the fan we have in the shed to "high" and placed the hay in front of it.  Luigi was hogging the full blast of air so Fran calmly found a spot to share and just stood there enjoying the breeze.  Ahhh, a little relief...

After All the Hard Work...

Could it be?  Could it actually be... that we'll have a decent pasture.  Holy moly, who woulda thought.
Those who have been following the "start the pasture all over again" exploits know how much labor and money we're put into this gol' darn donkey pasture -- all to no avail.  Last last fall, Rick sprayed an herbicide on the broad-leaf weeds and we re-seeded (again!) in early spring of this year.  It's not perfect, but we're thinking with some more effort over the next couple of years it could be what we've been striving for.  (oops, that was a preposition)
We're keeping the donks off the pasture for another few days and then we'll be letting them roam.  Already Rick has had to mow it twice to keep the weeds from seeding.  (just ignore the bare patches you see)

Here is Gunner sampling the product.

Having absolutely nothing to do with the donks, but our lilacs are glorious this year.  And we've never had such a luscious perfume from them.  There's a second bush, but didn't want to bedazzle you too much.

Three Little Ingrates

Just under eight weeks ago, I marched into a local hospital and got a new hip.  Yup, brand spanking new.  I believe the cause of my hip-decline stemmed from a horse fall 9 years ago, but that's purely my own theory.
Anyway, my less-than-perfect- condition meant husband, Rick, had complete donkey duty for several weeks; my only contact with the beasts was waving from the car as Rick drove me to and from physical therapy.

However, there was instances when dinner was being fed, the devils escaped from the donkey yard and wandered down the driveway toward the garage.  On one occasion I heard plastic tubs being overturned and hobbled at my fastest through the house and out the back steps to see my babies.  When they saw I had no cookies, they were completely uninterested in a visit and wandered off to chew at some ivy.  I was heartbroken.  I had been their (almost) sole caretaker for three years and they were flipping me off.

Well, I am still using a cane so everyday care is still around the corner.  But when I do get back into the daily routine, there is going to be a very very long conversation with those three long-ears.  You betcha me.  

Thaw and Freeze... a Vicious Cycle

Before I tell you the treacherous weather fallout, let me describe how donkeys react to their new cookies.

They are so ga-ga over these things they practically knock me down to get at my pockets.  Curiously, Fran (my favorite gentle girl) is the most ferocious pocket-checker.  No, I don't feed treats everyday, but they are right at those coat pockets everyday checking, checking, checking.

The thaw and freeze routine around here caused a two-inch flood in the shed one day and a skating rink the next.  Had to feed donks outside so they wouldn't have to lace up their skates to get to the hay.  So, we now have manure frozen to the shed floor, three food dishes frozen to the floor and who knows what else.  We're supposed to have another one of those brief warm-ups again today.  Donks better get the galoshes ready.

Silly Little Donkeys

I wish, I wish, I wish I had had a camera with me this morning.  Silly donkeys amused me yet again.
When I left the house to go to morning feed, we had a nice crusty layer of ice topping the recent snowfall.  Walking up the driveway was an effort; you had to actually lift your foot and plant it with a crunch to move through the snow.

When I arrived at the donkey gate three little donks were slowly moving toward me, (single file of course).  They stopped a few feet short (instead of rushing the gate bellowing for breakfast) and stood there all prissyfied lifting little feet off the ground, as though to say "this is icky, I don't like it".

They stood there with at least one foot off the ground until I announced I had cookies.  Well, that changed the whole situation in a flash.  Suddenly they were actually able to crunch down through the icy snow to stretch out necks and neatly attack the equine treats.

How could anyone resist their irresistible ways...

Shavings vs Straw

We've been in the deep freeze in SE Michigan the past few days so there are NO photos to accompany this post.  You'll have to put up with my description only.

I'm trying a test -- shavings for bedding instead of straw.  Donkeys eat straw!  I'd pile more straw on at night and voila, in the morning, gone.  Thought this was pretty peculiar until I did some more reading.  Apparently they'll eat quite a wide range of materials.  So I turned off the panic button.

Now when I go to feed breakfast, little backs are covered with shavings.

Yes, shavings are a bit pricier.  But I can control their food consumption better now.  Pros and cons.  Looks I'm sticking with the shavings for the time being.

I have to think this is a good thing.  Although Fran did ask me the other day -- where'd dessert go...