Saturday Dose of Cute: How Donkettes Beg for Treats

Sunday Dose of Cute: Rolls for Breakfast

Esmeralda

Sunday Dose of Donkey Cute: On the Trail of Treats (and Why Cute Keeps Winning Out Over Food)

Follow the Leader. . .

Saturday Dose of Cute: Sure You Want to Go in There?

Didn't Think So

How about a little meander down Donkette Memory Lane instead?
12/2/07: A Little Donkey Secret
1/1/08: A Donkey with a Sense of Humor
2/20/08: Our Resident Weather Girls
2/23/08: Please Don't Step on My Heart
3/2/08: How Do Donkeys Order Lunch?
5/3/08: Grooming Session
8/13/08: Meet the Dog Day
10/17/08: Baby Love?

5/4/09: What Donkey Girls Do During Lambing Season
7/7/09: Happy First Birthday Esmeralda!
7/12/09: Happy First Birthday Evie!
8/9/09: Broccoli Treats? Blech!
1/14/10: Soaking Up Sun in the Snow
2/20/10: Share and Share Alike

© Copyright 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the long-eared foodie farm blog where the only threat you'd probably face by going into that field (once you made it past our foolish attempt to make this gate impenetrable if you're a big white guard dog trying to escape, which so didn't work) is being loved to death by the Donkettes—unless of course you showed up without a bucket of treats.

Saturday Dose of Cute: Share and Share Alike

At Least for About Five Seconds

We've been compiling quite a collection of cute!
The First Daily Doses of Cute
Daily Doses of Cute Part 2
Daily Doses of Cute Part 3
Daily Doses of Cute Part 4
Daily Doses of Cute Part 5
Daily Doses of Cute Part 6
Daily Doses of Cute Part 7

Daily Doses of Cute Part 8
Daily Doses of Cute Part 9
Daily Doses of Cute Part 10
Daily Doses of Cute Part 11
Daily Doses of Cute Part 12
Daily Doses of Cute Part 13

© Copyright 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the mostly peaceful foodie farm blog where you wouldn't believe the weird noises—and kicking—that go on when a donkey doesn't think she's getting her fair share of the evening treats. And yep, that treat trough is indeed half of a very old (very small) and very indestructible hot water heater—they work great.

Friday Dose of Cute: A Kiss for Aunt Dolores

Ooh!

Want to see more of furry (and feisty!) little Fernando?
7/25/09: New Baby Donkey Alert!
7/27/09: Mama Love
7/30/09: Sacked Out in the Sun
8/19/09: Wordless Wednesday Dose of Cute (I really love these photos)
10/13/09: Who's Soggy Now?
10/17/09: Have You Heard? Winter Weather Is on the Way!
10/26/09: One Scene, Two Angles
11/30/09: Um, Excuse Me
12/7/09: Lean on Me

© 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the peace, love, and understandably enamored with donkeys foodie farm blog where it's always the right time to tell someone you care—or have a little nibble. Or both!

Thursday Dose of Cute: Soaking Up Sun in the Snow

It's A Rough Life Being a Donkey (Can't You Tell?)

There's lots more cute where this came from:
The First Daily Doses of Cute
Daily Doses of Cute Part 2
Daily Doses of Cute Part 3
Daily Doses of Cute Part 4
Daily Doses of Cute Part 5
Daily Doses of Cute Part 6
Daily Doses of Cute Part 7

Daily Doses of Cute Part 8
Daily Doses of Cute Part 9
Daily Doses of Cute Part 10
Daily Doses of Cute Part 11
Daily Doses of Cute Part 12
Daily Doses of Cute Part 13
Daily Doses of Cute Part 14

© Copyright 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the sleeping while standing up (and with your eyes open) foodie farm blog where one of this new year's resolutions is to get back to posting the daily doses of cute on a daily basis! Plus lots more recipes of course. And now that I've almost kicked this ridiculous five week flu, that should hopefully start becoming a reality—if I'm not too busy delivering donkey treats of course.

Christmas Dose of Cute: It's White!

Lots more photos below. . .

Tuesday Dose of Cute & Last-Minute Gifts that Really Give

Happy, Healthy, and Plenty to Eat—the Best Gift of All



Okay, So Maybe Some of Us Could Always Use More Treats

Little donations made in the name of friends and family can add up to a whole lot of help. In case you don't already have a favorite needy charity, I thought I'd share some of mine (besides our always struggling and overcrowded local animal shelter, of course, where we rescued Topaz, Sarah Kate, and Mr. Midnight last year). All of these worthy causes are dedicated to helping provide good food and lives for people and animals. Most of them offer gift ideas with some sort of 'interactive' opportunity.

Menu for Hope 6
The annual Menu for Hope fundraising raffle is going on now through December 31st. During the past five years, food bloggers from around the world have raised nearly $250,000 to help feed people around the world. This year all monies will go to the United Nations World Programme's Purchase for Progress program, which assists low-income farmers to raise crops and support their local economies.

For every $10 donated, you earn a virtual raffle ticket for any one of the dozens of fabulous food related prizes (seriously, they just keep getting more and more amazing). One year I bought a ticket for a gluten-free goodie basket from Shauna for a gluten-free friend, and she won!

Dorothy's Café at the Blue House of Hospitality
Kelli Martin Brew lives with her family in a house of hospitality in Gainesville, Florida, where, says Kelli, "Our particular mission is to get healthy, delicious food to folks who most need it. We usually bake around 36 loaves of bread a week for guests who come to our 'free café,' and for day laborers with whom we share breakfast each Friday at several local labor pools."

Kelli's whole wheat 'bread for the people,' as she calls is, is made from locally purchased organic ingredients and costs about $2.50 a loaf to produce. Why not creatively break bread with others for the holidays? Bake up a batch of Kelli's Pain aux Raisins Secs et Noisettes ou Pacanes recipe (Bread with Golden Raisins and Hazelnuts or Pecans) which she shared with us over at A Year in Bread, and give a homemade loaf to friends and loved ones, along with a note explaining how you also made a four loaf/$10 donation (or eight loaf/$20 donation) in their name to the Blue House of the Gainesville Catholic Worker. You can read more about their projects here and find support information here.

A Place to Bark. . . and Meow
Bernie Berlin is one of the most hardworking, kind hearted people on the planet. Each year she singlehandedly saves hundreds of homeless dogs and cats from being put to death through her non-profit rescue project, A Place to Bark and Meow—and also somehow finds the time to blog about it.

Bernie is desperately trying to finish building a new shelter for the dozens of animals always in her care, and now through December 31st, all tax-deductible donations will be matched by the Zoline Foundation. Donation information is here.

Kitchen Gardeners International
Kitchen Gardeners International is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in Maine, USA whose mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance through the promotion of kitchen gardening, home cooking, and sustainable local food systems. Their network of friends and supporters now includes over 19,000 kitchen gardeners from 100 countries, with new ones signing up each week (it's free to join, so go sign up!). KGI led the successful campaign for an organic White House Kitchen Garden—which now has a 'First Hoophouse' to extend the growing season!

KGI coordinates International Kitchen Garden Day, publishes a free e-mail newsletter, offers all sorts of online educational resources, and has a partnership program to help small, community-based groups start or scale up kitchen garden projects. There's also a kitchen gardeners' forum where you can connect with kitchen gardeners around the world. Donation information is here.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary
Established in 1980, The Wild Animal Sanctuary is a 320-acre state and federally licensed zoological facility and 501c3 nonprofit organization located 30 miles northeast of Denver, Colorado. It's home to more than 200 rescured carnivores—who eat a lot. The Wild Animal Sanctuary's mission is to rescue and provide life-long homes for large exotic and endangered captive wild animals, and to educate the public about the causes of, and solutions to America's captive wildlife crisis.

There are all sorts of ways you can help The Wild Animal Sanctuary, including by adopting an animal (what a neat gift!) or shopping for unique gifts at their online store. If you're in the Denver area, you can even visit the sanctuary and see the animals.

Kiva
Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. This person-to-person micro-lending website provides microloans to unique entrepreneurs around the world. You decide who gets your loan money (I love supporting other sheep farmers), and you can reloan it over and over each time it's paid back. Learn more about what kiva is here and how their lending program works here. Printed and emailed kiva gift certificates are even available.

Farm Aid
Back in October, I was invited to attend the Farm Aid 2009 concert in St. Louis and do some live blogging for the FarmAid website. What an inspiring experience! (And of course the music was amazing.) Farm Aid is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land.

Over the past 24 years, Farm Aid has raised nearly $36 million dollars to support programs that help farmers thrive, create and strengthen connections between farmers and eaters, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture, and promote food from family farms.

Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family-farmed food, but donations are accepted throughout the year.

A Farm Aid membership makes a great gift, with or without some cool Farm Aid gear (a holiday sale with free shipping is going on now). Members can even watch this year's concert, along with past shows from Farm Aid's history. You can also take action here, learn more about the Farm Aid community here, connect to the land and each other at Homegrown.org, or follow Farm Aid on Twitter here. Or simply go text FARMER to 90999 on your cell phone to give $5 to Farm Aid and help keep family farmers on their land.

A great big thanks to all of you who have so generously given to these and other causes I've written about over the years. Wishing you a joyful, fulfilling, and delicious holiday season!

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the thankfully well fed foodie farm blog where everybody always has enough to eat—it's just that some critters think they're entitled to an endless supply of treats. But it can't be chocolate cake and organic carrots all the time now, can it?

Monday Dose of Cute: Lean on Me

Evie and Her Baby Brother Fernando

Want to see more donkey doings? (some categories overlap) Donkey Photos
More Donkey Photos
Dolores Photos
Daphne Photos
Esmeralda Photos
Evie Photos
Fernando Photos
Donkey Doodle Dandy Photos

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the restful foodie farm blog where Fernando is fluffing up so much for winter you can barely see his eyes—and he looks like a giant toy. Now if only he would let me snuggle him! Thank goodness Evie can't get enough pets and hugs.

Monday Dose of Cute: One Scene, Two Angles

In Front of the Camera: Little Fernando All Alone at the Mineral Trough







At the Camera: Attacked by The Donkettes!


© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the no zoom lens here foodie farm blog where our photos never lie, but they might not always show you the entire picture.

Sunday Donkey Dose of Cute: Broccoli Treats? Blech!

Note Broccoli Treat Now on the Ground




Want to see what else The Donkettes (and Dan of course) have been up to? You'll find lots of links to donkey doings here.

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the picky foodie farm blog where some of us adore broccoli—especially if it comes from the kitchen garden.

Sunday Dose of Cute: Happy Birthday Evie!

It's the Big One for Her, Too! (And Only Two Days Late)

Evie by the Fourth of July Front Yard 'Fireworks'



And Baby Evie on 7/26/08, age 16 Days, with Mother Daphne

Want to see more of Evie?
7/10/08: It's Another Birthday Girl!
7/11/08: Up and Running (and Trying to Air Dry?)
7/13/08: All Dried Off and Raring to Go
8/27/08: You Just Roll With It, Baby
9/13/08: Here a Nibble, There a Nibble
9/26/08: Are Those Donkey Treats in that Bucket?
10/10/08: Getting to Know You
10/17/08: Baby Love
11/2/08: Fashion Statement
11/29/08: Thirsty Girls
1/10/09: Let's Get Together, Yeah Yeah Yeah
2/2/09: Icy Looks
2/7/09: Being Watched
2/11/09: Are You Ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count?
2/27/09: A Baby Donkey Look Back
3/5/09: Last Snow Photo of the Season
4/23/09: Creek's Up!
5/4/09: What Donkey Girls Do During Lambing Season

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the birthday week foodie farm blog where little Evie is getting big and her mother Daphne is even bigger—at least around the middle. If all goes well, Evie will have an adorable new sibling soon! (Please be a girl. Please be a girl.)

Tuesday Dose of Cute: Happy Birthday Esmeralda!

It's the Big One! (And Only One Day Late)


Dolores and Baby Esmeralda Then. . .




And Now. That Baby Has Sure Grown Up—and into Her Ears!

Feel like taking a look back at Esmeralda's first year?
7/9/08: It's a Birthday Girl!
8/13/08: Meet the Dog Day
8/26/08: Nap Time for Esmeralda
8/27/08: You Just Roll With It, Baby
9/22/08: Bonding with Her Baby
9/26/08: Are Those Donkey Treats in that Bucket?
10/4/08: Cleanup Crew
10/10/08: Getting to Know You
11/29/08: Thirsty Girls
1/10/09: Let's Get Together, Yeah Yeah Yeah
2/2/09: Icy Looks
2/7/09: Being Watched
2/11/09: Are You Ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count?
3/5/09: Last Snow Photo of the Season
4/23/09: Creek's Up!
5/4/09: What Donkey Girls Do During Lambing Season

Love looking at longears? You'll find more donkey photos here and here, plus lots of links to Donkey Doodle Daddy photos here (all taken before his daddy days, back when he was the only donkey on the farm).

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the hee hawing (they really do say that) foodie farm blog where before that fateful phone call from the donkey peddling cowboy several years ago, the idea of owning a donkey had never even crossed my mind, and yet now I can't imagine life without them. If you need more laughs in your life, I highly recommend acquiring a donkey—or a whole herd of them!

Monday Dose of Cute:What Donkey Girls Do During Lambing Season

Try to Look Extra Cute So You Don't Forget to Give Them Treats

Want to see more donkey doings? (some categories may overlap)
Donkey Photos
More Donkey Photos
Dolores Photos
Daphne Photos
Esmeralda Photos
Evie Photos
Donkey Doodle Dandy Photos

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the donkey loving foodie farm blog where—even if you aren't bearing a bucket of treats—all four of these very entertaining girls love to be hugged around the neck and scratched behind the ears. Resting your chin on their heads while you're hugging them is usually acceptable, too.

Thursday Farm Photos: Creek's Up!

I love it when our wet weather creek is running.




The Donkettes have a slightly different opinion.

Want to see more water?
3/18/06: Meandering By The House
3/26/06: The Bigger The Water Dish, The Happier The Dog
5/5/06: View from the Middle of the Creek after Six Inches of Rain
5/13/06: Morning Mist Rising off the Creek
5/13/06: Cat Fishing?
5/15/06: Sheep Crossing
1/15/07: Running Water, Rubber Boots, & Mud
1/19/07: Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Life Is But A Stream
2/25/08: A Rare Winter Sight—And Geese!
3/19/08: Flood Watch
4/7/08: Who's A-fraid of the Big Bad Creek? The Big Bad Creek?
4/8/08: A Fresh New Day Full of Morning Mist (and lots more hazy photos)
4/10/08: Surf's Up!
5/16/08: Splish Splash!
1/18/09: Crossing Over to Bigger and Better Things!

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the fast flowing foodie farm blog where we've just started reading a fascinating book called Training Mules and Donkeys : A Logical Approach to Longearsand have already learned several helpful facts, including that donkeys aren't stubborn—they're just 'being sensible in their desire for self-preservation.' And because the donkey 'does not posess the visual depth perception of humans, he [or she] is only being cautious when he [or she] refuses to step readily into water.' And here we'd been thinking all along it was because they simply didn't want to get their hooves wet—or were being stubborn. (And for those of you who really pay attention to detail and are wondering about it, that white line across the top photo is actually a rope we used to cross the creek several years ago when it was about 70 feet wide.)

Thursday Dose of Cute: Last Snow Photo of the Season

Don't They Just Look Thrilled?

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the hot and cold foodie farm blog where the weather can make up its mixed up mind any old time. Twelve degrees two mornings ago and a balmy 70 this afternoon. The daffodils even poked up!

Wednesday Daily Dose of Cute:Are You Ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count?

One. . . Two. . . Three. . .

It starts on Friday! Bird and nature fans throughout North America are invited to join tens of thousands of bird watchers for the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count which will take place February 13-16, 2009.

A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation.

“Anyone who can identify even a few species can contribute to the body of knowledge that is used to inform conservation efforts to protect birds and biodiversity,” said Audubon Education Vice-President, Judy Braus.

Volunteers take part by counting birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the event and reporting their sightings online at birdcount.org. The data help researchers understand bird population trends across the continent, information that is critical for effective conservation. In 2008, participants submitted more than 85,000 checklists, a new record. How cool is that?

Check out the Great Backyard Bird Count website for lots more info about this neat event. And to learn more about birds in general, visit All About Birds.

Want to count some chickens?
2/14/06: 5pm and Looking for Love
7/21/06: And Sheeeeeeee's SAFE!

6/1/07: Whitey Gets Her Wish
6/5/07: I'm Just Wai-tin' On A Friend
6/17/07: Whitey and her Baby Chicks
6/19/07: Caution—Foodie Forming
8/2/07: Curious Chickie
8/3/07: Baby's First Perch
8/4/07: Baby's First Dust Bath
8/5/07: Mother As Landing Pad
8/9/07: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
8/26/07: Capturing a Quiet Moment
11/22/07: Enjoying A Feast

1/26/08: Faithful Chicken Guard?
3/6/08: Do Chickens Ever Smile?
4/5/08: Chicken Dance
4/9/08: Rooster Two-Step
4/20/08: 2008 Chick Days Are Here!
4/22/08: Who Needs Ducks?
4/24/08: Country Classifieds
5/6/08: Baby Cary Checks Out the Chickens
6/3/08: Chicken Snacks (Not a Recipe)
10/2/08: Gossip Central
10/11/08: Farm Fresh Eggs, They're What's For Breakfast

1/28/09: Snowed In! (scroll down for chickens)
3/7/09: Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
4/13/09: Chick Days Are Here Again!
10/25/09: Egg Layers, the Next Generation
6/12/09: Last One Born's a Rotten Egg!
6/14/09: Another Chick Pic
6/15/09: Pizza Party
10/25/09: Egg Layers, the Next Generation
12/31/09: Cheers to You on New Year's!

1/6/10: Easiest Guard Job Ever
1/18/10: Somebody's Laying Green Eggs

© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the fine feathered foodie farm blog where, even though we know that technically they're birds (and in the backyard), we're pretty sure that chickens don't get to be part of the Great Backyard Bird Count. But please don't tell them, okay? You know how Whitey can be.

Saturday Daily Dose of Cute: Being Watched

But just who is watching whom?

© FarmgirlFare.com, the slowly melting foodie farm blog where these innocent looking (and totally defrosted) donkey girls were plotting to break into the farmyard so they could have their way with the hay.

Plans foiled—thanks to me and mighty Marta, the dog who refuses to be contained unless she's in an electric fence (and even if the 'containment' is in a 16-acre field), but as soon as we realized she wasn't escaping in order to run off (which she had done in the past) we quickly came to love that aspect of her personality.

Monday Daily Dose of Cute: Icy Looks

Dolores, Daphne, and Evie




Seemingly Eyeless Evie and Esmeralda

Need a bigger (and warmer) dose of cute?:
Baby Donkey Photos
The First Daily Doses of Cute
Daily Doses of Cute Part 2
Daily Doses of Cute Part 3
Daily Doses of Cute Part 4
Daily Doses of Cute Part 5
Daily Doses of Cute Part 6

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the still frozen and snowed in foodie farm blog where these donkey girls were so caked with icicles the other day that they rattled whenever they moved, and little Evie's eyes were indeed completely blocked out (though she didn't appear to mind). There was no way I could yank the icicles off (I tried), but fortunately not long after I took these photos, the sun came out and magically melted everything away.