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More photos below. . .
Showing posts with label donkeys 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label donkeys 2013. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31
Monday, November 11
Saturday, August 17
Tuesday, July 23
Tuesday Baker's Dozen Dose of Seven Donkey Cute
Let's roll.
Much to their delight (not), our herd of donkeys has been living out in the (well-fenced) front field with the sheep. This command decision was made, without consulting the donkeys, for two reasons: to give Donkeyland a rest and allow it to hopefully reseed itself, and because the seed stems on the grass in the front field grew up so high this year (yes!) that the sheep were afraid to venture very far out in it. This meant that a lot of good food was going to waste.
Enter seven tall and fearless longears.
In retaliation for being wrenched from their homeland and imprisoned with a bunch of woolly beasts, the donkeys have been spending much of their time hiding out in their secret donkey clubhouse, a darkly shaded area of cool bare dirt at the edge of a small ravine and under a giant cedar tree, away from the riffraff and gnats.
If you try and sneak a peek into the clubhouse to make sure all seven donkeys are still alive and well, they give you dirty looks and then gallop haughtily off into the brush.
When we first moved the donkeys out front, they would spend a lot of time standing at the gate that leads out of the field and up to the barn and the house, like they were waiting to be rescued or released, though Joe said it might have been because the nearby fly trap kept the gnats away. (We've been using these regular size and big bag non-toxic Rescue fly traps around the farm for years; they stink but they work great).
As we were leaving the farm yesterday to run some errands, the donkeys were once again lined up at the gate, staring us down as we approached. Joe said, "When I came out earlier I told the donkeys to stay up here so you'd be able to see them." Three and a half hours later we returned home to the rear view of the exact same scene.
"How long did you tell them to stay there?"
I don't know what was going on this morning, but when I hiked out front to check on everybody, the donkeys all piled out of the clubhouse and came over for scratches and pets. They tanked up on water, licked some salt, nibbled some minerals and diatomaceous earth (you can read about the many ways we use this wonderful, all natural stuff around the farm here), took turns taking dust baths, checked out the grass, and totally ignored the sheep. I snapped more pictures of them than I've taken in the past month.
12 more photos below. . .
Monday, June 24
Monday Dose of Cute: Monday?
Might as well face it.
Wishing you a wonderful week!
© FarmgirlFare.com, where seven longeared somebodies think they haven't been getting nearly enough treats while living in the summer front field location of Donkeyland, but their rounded bellies say otherwise. (Plus the treat-crazed sheep living out there with them launch a full-blown donkey treat attack whenever they see the bucket—and it's 21 against 7.)
Friday, June 21
Tail End of the Week: Get Your Friday Farm Fix #31
Welcome to the Friday Farm Fix, a sporadic series where I share a random sampling of what's been happening around the farm during the past week (sometimes actually on Friday). Just joining us? You'll find all the previous Friday Farm Fix posts here and here.
Beagle Bert still likes his chicken TV.
Wondering what was happening on the farm this time last year? Check out the Friday Farm Fix #15. (I miss not having all those baby chicks around this year!)
Happy first day of summer! We spent it recovering from cutting the third—and final—section of the hayfield. It's been sweltering this week, which is great for the hay but rough on the hayers.
It felt ironically appropriate to be lugging 148 square bales of hay from the field into the barn on the longest day of the year, since that itchy, exhausting, sweat-drenched job always makes you think that the day is never going to end, especially if you aren't as young as you used to be (which is why we broke down last year and bought a 25-year-old round baler to help out).
But it also feels really good to be done with haying for the year, and to have a nice crop of hay in the barn. The 330 square bales—which we're figuring as 300 since some of them are really light—along with the 26½ big round bales from the second cutting, plus 43 high-dollar square bales of alfalfa leftover from last year, should (knock on wool) be plenty enough for the coming winter and next spring, no matter what might happen.
In comparison, two years ago we put up just under 900 square bales (and had plenty of hay and more sheep), and last year we didn't put up any hay because of the horrendous drought.
This year's hay all looks pretty good, and it's such a relief to know that even if the fields burn up in a summer drought, or the cool season autumn grass doesn't grow, or we get extended periods of early snow on the ground, or there isn't enough rain and the grass gets a late start in spring, the donkeys and sheep will still have plenty to eat. You never know what Mother Nature is going to throw at us.
20 more farm photos and the rest of the weekly recap below (hover your cursor over each image for a description). . .
Friday, May 10
Tail End of the Week: Get Your Friday Farm Fix #25
Welcome to the Friday Farm Fix, a sporadic series where I share a random sampling of what's been happening around the farm during the past week. Just joining us? You'll find all the previous Friday Farm Fix posts here and here.
Hay inspectors back on the job.
It's been quite a while since I posted the last Friday Farm Fix, but the other day Joe and I were talking about how much we both miss this series. We love being able to look back and see everything that was happening around here during a specific week, and I confess to sometimes including extra photos especially for us.
This time I thought I would also a list of some of the things we've been doing around the farm, for those of you who are interested. If you've been missing your Friday Farm Fix, I hope you enjoy this cute-filled, spring green installment.
So what's been happening on the farm during the past week? We've been busy. . .
—Eating giant freshly picked kale and Swiss chard salads nearly every night.
—Splashing through the creek.
—Worming the sheep and trimming some hooves.
—Planting 10 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes (the 5 pounds of Pontiac Reds already in the ground and a few inches tall froze this week but should hopefully make a full recovery).
—Reorganizing the walk-in pantry (it looks and feels so much better in there!)
—Cracking up at our new farm cat (a proper introduction will hopefully be coming soon, maybe when he gets a real name).
—Getting invaded by armadillos (including one that almost dug its way into the shop, which is attached to the house, the other night at 10pm).
—Enjoying the unseasonably cool (mostly under 80°) and beautiful mid-spring weather.
—Locking seven wayward, disappointed donkeys back in Donkeyland (I told you they'd start misbehaving).
—Stopping to smell the lilacs.
—Trying to fix the broken sickle bar mower and the little antique diesel tractor so they're ready for haying season (with a minor head wound to Joe and a sledgehammer to my finger in the process—ouch).
—Celebrating the much needed rain and hoping it keeps on coming.
—Polishing off the third (!) batch in a row of these addictive (and almost too easy to make) Baby Chocolate Chip and Toffee Shortbread Cookies (hint: you can double the recipe).
—Loving all this gorgeous green.
16 more photos below (hover your cursor over each image for a description). . .
Thursday, May 9
Sunday, May 5
Sunday Dose of Cute: Day of Rest
You don't have to tell them twice.
© FarmgirlFare.com, the longeared loving foodie farm blog where our seven donkeys (who provide priceless entertainment value while keeping down weeds in the fields that the sheep won't eat) have been temporarily released from Donkeyland and are currently out on the loose. They've been mostly hanging around up by the house which is nice. It's fun having them close by, though I give them maybe another day or two before they start misbehaving or wandering off (most of our property is wooded and really steep, and our perimeter fencing is non-existent).
In the meantime, they're conveniently located for cuddling. This morning even Dan wanted to be scratched (and hugged!), but Evie and Daphne kept cutting in. (Dolores and Evie were just outside of these photos, both asleep while standing up.)
In the meantime, they're conveniently located for cuddling. This morning even Dan wanted to be scratched (and hugged!), but Evie and Daphne kept cutting in. (Dolores and Evie were just outside of these photos, both asleep while standing up.)
Wednesday, April 24
Sunday, April 21
Sunday Dose of Cute: Greeters at the Entrance to Donkeyland
Got any treats?
More donkeys? Here.
© FarmgirlFare.com, the enter at your own risk foodie farm blog where the donkeys don't seem to have had any blog time since 2012. How can that be?! (This photo was taken back in March, and although the hillsides still don't look much greener yet, the pasture thankfully does.) Maybe we need to declare May as Official Donkey Blogging Month. Depends on how the donkeys feel about it I guess. Sometimes they just don't want to pose; even here you can see that Donkey Doodle Dandy is trying to remain anonymous.
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