An Unlikely Friendship

The past few mornings when I've looked out the back door this is what I've found. Abby, the nearly 150 lb. Great Dane, with Callie (4 lb. kitten) snuggled up together. We've even noticed Abby letting her eat her dog food with her. It's so cute to see this unlikely friendship developing before our very eyes!

Yet Another Milestone

Lose one tooth, the next day head to Kindergarten, the next, hop off the bus with another tooth gone! As if going to Kindergarten wasn't enough to make this mother sad. She's growing up fast!

First Day of School

I'm better now. Getting used to the bus taking my girl away. Loving the free time but keep thinking of how fast these past 6 years have gone. Mollie was very excited to go to school and especially to get to ride the bus. We headed out the door 10 minutes before the bus was scheduled to be here to find it already coming down the road. The three of us ran to the end of the drive just in time for her to get on. No hugs goodbye, no pictures while waiting. Before I knew it she was on the bus and we had to holler for her to turn around to get one picture of her on the steps. Then she was gone. We went up to her school and got her settled in her classroom. Then, I went home and spent too much time looking at pictures and anticipating her return. When she got home she bounded off the bus and said "that was fun!" I'm glad she is liking school and I'm getting used to the silence.

Standard/Mammoth Class

Well my birthday dawned bright and early. We had to be back on the fairgrounds by 7:30 to be ready for our 8:30 show. The day started crummy with me leaving the tickets to get into the fair in my stall. I had to run a mile to get them and back to the truck so we could get in. It set the tone for my day. When we finally got back to the stall and Sugar, the standard jenny I was showing, refused to go to the wash rack... I said I was done. I had my little emotional, "I'm stressed" breakdown. Jerry informed me I was setting a bad example of not following through for Mollie. I hate being a parent sometimes! I wanted to quit! Now I have to be accountable to someone! So I got Sugar back out and quickly got her ready for the show (no bath). Now this jenny has never in her probably 9 years been in public and we didn't quite know what to expect. We made it to the Matthewson o.k in spite of trucks and trams passing us. However she did not like one bit being tied to the wall. Every time peoples chairs squeaked or the announcer came over the P.A. sytem she got upset. She was bouncing around and kicking, wanting to get the heck out of there. I had no anticipation of placing with her. I was just a body in the show. It was on probation and if they didn't get a certain number of exhibitors it was history. So, I entered with a standard jenny given to me this spring. She was the only standard in the jenny class, the rest were mammoths, which made her look like a pipsqueak! When our turn came the judge asked us to trot away from her and go around an orange cone (yeah, right!) that didn't happen, those orange cones are mighty scary and trot, what's that?! She did, however do alright in the line up and shockingly took 2nd place! Not too bad for a free donkey that had never been anywhere and wasn't halter broke when I got her! Maybe we'll even try it again next year!

Me and Sugar:





Hey, Sugar wasn't the only one afraid of the orange cone! We got a kick out of our friends pushing their mammoth jenny around it! Maybe we'll invest in one to set in the field!



Also congratulations to our friend Jean on taking Grand Champion with her baby mammoth jenny, isn't she a cutie!

State Fair Mini Donkey Show

Washing Donks: We brought 6 this year (WAY too many) and a huge storm blew in while we were getting them ready the night before so we weren't able to finish. Therefore I was washing donkeys at 5:00 a.m. the next morning by flash light.

Amelia and Matilda:

Mollie and Crystal:


Getting ready for the costume class: Elmer's glue-ing glitter stars to Crystal's hips and rhinestones on her face. Oh the torture she endures for us!



In the show ring:



Mollie and Crystal as "PegASSus",3rd Place Winner:


Amelia, Meredith and Matilda as "Jack" 'O Lantern, 4th Place Winner:


Mollie receiving her ribbon for doing her illustrated talk on "How to raise baby chicks". She had no trouble speaking in front of a group at the 4-H building (shocking, huh?!)


Me and my "mini me" ready to show:



Ah, yes, this picture says it all. This was not my night. It wasn't Ruby's night either. Notice the back hooves dug in, the head up in that pose all too well known by donkey owners that says "uh, uh, I ain't goin'!" This was how Ruby was in the show ring. Me pulling, her dragging. Not pretty is it? It was like a picked a donkey out of the field, gave her a bath and put her in the show ring, never training her at all. Oh well, we all need humbling experiences like this from time to time to keep our egos down. She did quite a good job of that for me!




Did I mention it was over 100 degrees and the comfort index in the Coliseum was at least 150! Mollie and Millie's faces show it all!




Ah...Red and I were having SO much fun!



Me and Maggie and Mollie and Crystal: we competed against each other in the jennet 3 and over class AND SHE BEAT ME! Mollie and Crystal took 2nd Place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was Mollie's first time showing and we were so proud of how she handled her animal. She did all the right things when the judge was judging Crystal and did it like she'd done it a thousand times before. Great job Mollie!!


Mollie and I also competed in the trail class: We had been working with Crystal on walking over a bridge, a sheet of plywood, ground tying in a box and walking on a tarp (all very scary things to a donkey for those out there that don't know!) but when they set up the trail class we were surprised to find out she would also have to do a jump! This would be the end of the world to most donkeys! However the first time we asked Crystal to do it she sailed right over! We didn't place because we still need to work on backing but I was very proud of how Crystal (and Mollie) did for the first time out.


Just like a pro!



The end. I'll end this very long post with my favorite picture. It takes a lot of hard work to get these animals to the State Fair. Mollie spent many hours working with Crystal this summer. I had my moments when I would hear her say "am I done now?" and would get frustrated that she wouldn't want to work with her for hours on end, after all she is just 5 and sometimes those caterpillars she would find while out working were more interesting. She did, however do a very fine job and it was so fun to watch her show. She just might be another "donkey whisperer" in the making! This was definitely not the most fun State Fair, the temperatures were crazy and we weren't able to come in the day before. It was stressful (to me) to come in the day of the show, set everything up and have to be in costume in just a couple of hours. In fact I can think of only one other more miserable day, the day I gave birth, however, just like with labor pains the memory of the pain fades and you start considering going through it again. So, even though it was quite the miserable day, we are already planning for next year. Hhhmmmmm what costume to make? Oh, I'll think about it later, I've got 360 days to figure it out!

And She Is Gone

More later when I can speak.

Milestone

Mollie has been excited to have a loose tooth for about a month now. Her mother was shocked however because she was just WAY too young to be losing a tooth! Yesterday her and Daddy went out to lunch and she returned with a toothless grin. She was very excited this morning to find what the tooth fairy left her. I don't think she'll get this much for each tooth (she better not!)the tooth fairy might end up in the poorhouse!

Nature Sucks!

Nature sucks, there, I've said it (actually twice now) but it does. The guinea's little chick (see previous post) disappeared Saturday and there was a dead possum in the yard (could there be a connection? Maybe momma guinea unleashed her wrath on him after he murdered her only child...we'll never know). Also, Mollie and I came home the other day to discover that something had gotten "Milk", one of the geese (in broad daylight). She(?) was gone, vanished into thin air while "Quackers" was frantically scouring the yard to find her best friend. We found a dead chicken and just a few feet away a handful of gray feathers (Milks). Also, the black and white duck was gone as well. In the front yard I found a pile of black rooster tail feathers so I went to see if they got the twin roosters. Luckily they hadn't but both roosters are tailess. They must have out run whatever was chasing them. We've decided that it must have been a coyote. It had to be big enough to haul off that big ol' goose. I'm sure he was lurking in the corn, watching everybody stroll around the yard, just waiting for the opportune time to pounce. I know they need to eat but why my chickens (and ducks and geese!)? Nature sucks.


In memorium:
"Black and White Duck"


"Milk"