The Root of All Evil

Uncle Jeff, my dentist, came up earlier this week. He worked on all of us... well, Fat Donkey only got checked, but the rest of us slid into a warm, Happy-Place stupor.

It was amusing. Aunt Nancy brought over her Big Horse, so at one point all 8 of us plus Big Horse were in the barn.

What with hay stalls and such, there are only three working stalls. Picture, if you will, Callie and Bert in one stall (which they voluntarily do all the time), Big Horse with a stall to himself (The Luxury!) and Belle and I standing drunkenly together in the aisle. The drunk donkeys were piled in the working dentistry stall, with cute little rugs on to keep them from getting chilled.

Chilled donkey. Ridiculous.

My teeth were in great shape, and one of my donkeys was perfect, but one other donk was packing her cheeks with hay and so had lots of tarter. The other young one had a few caps that needed removed. And Belle had to have a scraggle tooth extracted.

Hey, I don't judge... but it was a little hillbilly-ish. Incisors are supposed to go up and down.

So now, Aunt Carol and sometimes Mother flush out the root hole with warm salt water and get out all the nasty gunk Belle shoves up in there. Belle whines about it, but I point out to her that I had to have those sort of machinations on my face for MONTHS. She can suck it up for a week or so.

Mother says it is time for some dewormer, too. Between perfect teeth and no worms, she better stop complaining that I am getting fat. With the best weight lose methods not available, what's a horse to do?

Four for Six

Mother's not doing very well in the cat caretaker department. She was feeding us this weekend while the Aunties were away, and unfortunately Rosie, the short haired barn kitty, was found unresponsive and had to be let go. Rosie was well upwards of sixteen... eighteen... ??

Scooter and Callie, being older, were needless to say looking nervous. Mother's not having a very good track record this week.

Mother had to wish one of her kitties goodbye today, the one most like a tiger...

Good-Bye, Gru

Oldie but Goodie

Julia and the ear massage

No More Mr. Green Eyes

I've been toodling along as usual. Mother shows up a couple times a week, sometimes to do stalls, which is sort of nice because Belle and I go on the grass, and the donkeys clear brush in the Multipurpose. Aunt Mary even came up one day... it's been forever. She brushed me, and loved on me, but still went off with the donkey for a drive. Too bad I'm not so interesting, eh Aunt Mary?



Mother did take the donkeys' pictures, sent in the registration... and still no pictures of me. What the hoof, Mother?

She and Aunt Erin have been taking Julia out driving a lot of the times when she does come up to the barn. I'm not sure whether to be jealous or relieved, because really, she should be spending time with ME. On the other hand, the wee one is pulling someone who weighs more than her all over the place, so... I wouldn't want to trade places.

How much would Mother have to gain to weigh more than me?

Speaking of too much weight, Mother's cat Mr. Smothers has been freshly diagnosed as having problems like I had. Apparently, this causes Mother to pierce him again and again.

I am content in my run-in and pasture and with Belle. It's best not to be too envious of the animals Mother spends more time with.

N'Art Fair

 

Mother is feeling artsy.

Whatever makes you happy, Mother. 

 

Doofus

 

All the pictures you could have chosen, and *THIS* is the one??

Vegetative State

Mother was up today with the Aunties working in the garden. The Garden used to be our paddock, but they have taken it over and filled it with an elaborate jungle of vegetation that is seemingly impenetrable.

Belle and I penetrated it a few months back, but there was much screaming. Most unpleasant.

Mother assured me that she will be bringing the camera up soon, as she has to take photos of the wee donks to send in for registration.

I will believe it when I see it.

Blurry

Bad News: Mother is going on vacation

Good News: She will have to clean out the car. Maybe she will find MY CAMERA!

In good working order, hopefully. Cause that old picture is just messed up.

The Noblest Steed

Hey there. I'm Julia, a donkey, and the smartest creature you've never met.

Um, until now, that is.

Anyway, since big scary white horse Bif is out eating the good grass and my fellow donkeys and I are stuck in the Small, I thought I would tell you about my weekend.

 

We did a little carting. It was fun.

 

It's a lovely neighborhood to drive in...

 

 

 

 

Later!

Bottom of Barrel (or Mother's car)

Mother is sitting in her home, listen to her fat cat snore (he has a cold, so it is particularly noisy) and she laments that I have been languishing without interwebs. Well, how do you think I feel?

There was the donkey escape (AGAIN) and the garden wrecking incident, and Julia has been pulling people in the donkey cart, and we eat out of the ginormous hay net with a whole round bale in it, and Belle gets grain now (we both eat orange grain), the donkeys are in their fly masks already, and I *like* my new farrier, which isn't always the case...

...and have I been able to post?

NO!

Mother says she feels bad, because there are no pictures, and certain readers only read for the pictures.

MOTHER... you haven't taken a picture of me since before you cut my hair. And it's already 6 inches long again.

Quit whining, and go clean out the back seat of your car. The camera is in there somewhere.

 

donkeys in masks, circa August 2013

 Boring picture of me working, but it's *the most recent one I have*... from last summer!! Come on, Mother! Call an archeologist if you have to, but please unearth the camera.

Son of a Mother

So, while Mother should have been up at the barn, letting me out on the grass, or TAKING PICTURES (which she hasn't done in forever), she was instead staring at horses on a box at home.

She thought the one was handsome:

And apparently he did really well at whatever it was they were doing that Mother just HAD to watch.

However, Mother was watching something called the post parade, and she saw a horse she really liked:

Apparently he did really well too, right behind the red horse.

And guess what HIS dam's name was?

MOTHER

That is no excuse for my not getting put out on the grass.

Bad Idea

So, let's see.... the new farrier was out, the vet was out, Aunt Nancy came out...

Oh, and apparently I am feeling so good, Mother is yet again contemplating riding me.

So I jumped over a log and ran up the steep hill and have been trotting really sound.

None of that matters, Mother. I was just high from Spring, you know?

If she tries to ride me, I'll have to make sure she knows it is not a good idea...

What they did

That look of consternation was shared by most, but not all.

I didn't even knowNatalie Portman* liked donkeys

*Not the actual Natalie Portman

Below Reproach

So Mother visited a few times this week, but she did not take any photos!

She thought about just re-purposing old photos.

MOTHER!!! Come ON!!!

 "Shut up, Boyfriend. There's snow. If you hadn't said anything, no one would have known!"

That's not even a picture of me, Mother.

sigh

Boring post, complete with losing bits of my body

Guess who is starting to shed?

ME!!

Just a little bit, mostly on my back and rump, but it is a harbinger of spring, and Mother says she's willing to take any little sign.

For these Southerners, it's been a snowier winter than they've grown accustomed to. Myself being from North Dakota... yeah, still hot down here in Ohio.

Mother trimmed my hoovies this evening. She did my back feet first, then was scratching on me a bit before starting the fronts. She took a step back, and said, "Boyfriend, you seem taller than I remembered."

Then she realized how overdue my front feet were.

Personally, I thought I had done a perfect job with them. Mother agreed, but felt some wall needed to come off.

Mother, it gives me great traction!!

Poor Grand-Mare

Mother has been doing things, not necessarily with me, although she did stop and clean my part of the run in the other evening.

She stopped at her dam's dwelling, and apparently changed the wallpaper (whatever that means) and it upset her dam.

Mother doesn't understand why. She thinks it is a beautiful self portrait:

Anthropo(h)orsasizing

So, Mother at last deigned to gift us with her presence evening last. It had been approximately forever since she'd made an appearance, so I peered at her in the darkness through the magic window but didn't nicker, as I was already eating hay. And she doesn't deserve a greeting.

Abandon-er.

Apparently she didn't see me, cause she didn't say "Hi," either.

Hrmmph. Donkeys are more important, are they?


She flipped on the lights, and I heard her rustling around and picking the wee donks' hoovies. All was quiet. I think she grabbed my halter and rope at this point, but I decided I was thirsty, and left the run in shed and went around the corner to the trough.

Mother waltzed into the run in, then said "Boyfriend?!" in an alarmed tone.

What?

Mother walked back out under the canvas flap, peered around in the darkness, and called "Boyfriend!". I admit she sounded a little panicked.

Apparently her night vision is not as acute as mine.

She turned and walked back into the run-in and looked around again... what, I am hiding under the shavings? Are you dim-witted, Mother? I felt her mind picture: something about surely the Aunties would have called if I had died.

I felt bad for her, and walked back towards the run in without having gotten my drink. She put my halter on and threw my rope over the magic window-sill and let me munch hay while she picked out my freshly mud-enriched feet.

She gave me some scritches, and came back with a huge handful of Mrs. Pastures and promises to return more often and be a better Mother (I've heard that before).

Apparently, she thought I was UPSET that she hasn't come to see me at all lately, and so not only didn't look for her or say hello, but went out of my way to hide and give her a heart attack.

Did my dry muzzle give me away??

Seasonal Affected Disorder: When your owner is a slacker

Mother has made a New Year's Resolution... to not see me.

That is what I suspect, anyway. She was up here a lot during the Christmas week and after, but I haven't seen her at all lately.

So what that there was -30 windchill? Pansy. You would have died in North Dakota, Mother. Died.

But it is warming again, now. Perhaps, this weekend, she'll arrive?

With Mrs. Pastures, please.

Preferably before next summer!