In the deep of Winter!

I know it' not Wednesday, but nevertheless it was my Donkey Day today, yes I can handle an unforeseen change in my schedule and make spontaneous decisions of what to do ( I have come a long way lol). Like usual I dropped my daughter of at school, got a coffee from my son at the Drive Thru window at Williams and was on my way to the Sanctuary. The drive there was like always very serene and beautiful, everything looked like a winter wonderland. Like always I took the country back roads and it was soooo nice. No traffic, no snowplows, just me, my trusted vehicle and nature....awwww nothing better than that.
Even the long driveway into the Sanctuary was not plowed yet and one could only see one set of tracks going in, which belonged to Adam, the barn manager aka donkey boy.


Like always most of the donkeys were standing by the two feeders by the parking lot and just grazed away peacefully, the odd nosy one comes to the fence to check you out as you get out of your car. Not sure who it was today....still having trouble telling the white ones apart...until a few years ago I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a white donkey. lol.....you live and learn and I have learnt a lot but not nearly enough. Through deep snow I made my way down to the barn, Poppy and Sable were standing in knee deep snow...well for them it was knee deep since they are mini donkeys. lol....and the rest of them were all in the barn. I noticed right away that my buddy Augusta was missing, oh no....after asking where she was I found out that she was at the animal hospital, due to her foot problems, I hope she will be ok. She has had a rough time since coming to the Sanctuary late last summer. Cocoa, one of the big brown donkeys is in a bedded stall nursing an abscess on his foot, Nicolas the goat is still coughing, Chiclet has a back problem, which makes it hard for him to walk right now, but like always he is such a trooper and one of the favourites at the DSC. I was greeted by my sweetie Buffy, who always comes right over for a cuddle. Juliet is starting to come around more too, she can be a little bit pushy at times, but is a cutie. And of course like always there is Summer, omg she was a little pain today, actually a big pain. I could not tend to another donkey without her being right in my face saying "don't forget about me"....well how could I? As I was grooming Buffy, she had to be right there too. I groomed Buddy and Poppy, and just gave Summer a quick brush to keep her happy. Funny how they all know if they are good during grooming they get a little carrot as treat and as soon as you let them go of the halter they march right over to the tack room door and wait there. Silly me, didn't give Buffy a carrot because it was her lunchtime and Adam was coming with her special food right after her grooming, but as soon as I let her out of the stall again she walked right over to that tack room and just looked at me like she was going to say..."aren't you forgetting something"...so I ended up getting her a treat too. And if one donkey gets a carrot, all the donkeys think they should get one too and all of a sudden you become very popular, and it takes some convincing on your part to let them know that you have nothing. Even though I did my chores today, I got in lot of bonding time with Buffy and Buddy. Buddy is so cute and has been one of my favourites for a while, but the more time I get to spend with him, the more I fall in love with him, and he is such a good kisser too lol.I think he should be my next adopted donkey. On the way out I took a few pics of the donkeys, and I must admit I am definitely an ASS girl.....lol...and you can take that any way you want lol....right D.?


Here are Gypsy, Spice and Uma playing follow the leader.

This is Gypsy, isn't she pretty?

...and this is Cargo, one can recognize Cargo right away, because one of his ears is floppy and doesn't stand up due to an injury during his life before the DSC.
There are a few donkeys like that, that are unmistakable due to their appearance....like little Paco, who has a deformed jaw and face or little Chiclet, who has only stubs for ears, due to frostbites before coming to the DSC, he was really in poor shape. And then others you now right away thru their behaviour like Solo, who really avoids everybody and makes it quite known that he doesn't want you near him, or Juno, who takes off as soon as you try to come closer than 20 feet to her, she gotten a lot better but still is unapproachable and it will take a lot of time to heal that little creature's trust in humans. Makes me sad, because you can see in her eyes that she wants to be closer but she is too afraid, and honestly I can't blame her.
It was like always a great day at the DSC!