PEOPLE WHO ARE VIOLENT TO ANIMALS RARELY STOP THERE!

Monday, June 14, 2010

DONKEY DAY 2010

I left my house at 7:15 am  yesterday morning, it was still raining here
and a little bit on the cool side. The whole ride up there I was just hoping and praying for the rain to stop, which eventually it did, well at least for the most part of the day. I got there by 8 am and met up with two of the volunteers at the driveway who then directed me to where I was suppose to park....all the way back around the forest on the other side of the little lake, in the open part of the mule paddock. Well it was right beside the lake, but to get there one either had to climb fences, which I don't do, or had to walk quite the way to track through all kinds of paddocks to get to the garden of the house, which is what I ended up doing. Hey still every step counts, lol.  There were a few things that needed to be re-arranged because of the weather forecast and some things just had to be moved elsewhere and then I finally got time to set up my "duck pond" game and prize tables. "My" team members didn't arrive till later so I did it pretty much by myself, until one of the other volunteers, Victoria, helped me, as her station wasn't to open til later in the day. It was hard to keep things from dripping and getting wet but we managed to set up  up as good as possible. Official check- in for the volunteers was at 9 am, to let everybody know you were here, to be told where to go, for those who didn't know yet and to get a t-shirt,  who were donated by a very disgruntled ex volunteer ,who  arrived late and which will be a whole other entry about a not so pleasant incident at the beginning of the day, to which the decision was finally made to get the  police involved to resolve it and the person was escorted of the property. This day was about the animals, and nothing else, so this definitely was not the time nor the place for this spectacle, but as mentioned it was early enough in the day and it was just us volunteers and staff there. My team arrived, I got my cash box with the float and we were all ready for the day. Even though it was a very cool dreary day it was busy as can be, and we pretty much were on the go non-stop. As with any kind of events like this, there were slow points and then moments were we were just absolutely swamped with people, which at times was crazy, but I must say, everybody was very good, patient and just relaxed and enjoying their day. My team was awesome, two of them I had met before and yesterday, so I knew they were great, since we were on the same page. All I had to do is still get to know the fourth member, and she was a lovely person too, so the four of us were just working great together. Life is so much easier when you have like minded people working with each other, and nobody thinks their idea is better than the next ones, or has their nose out of joint because of things not going their way. It really was great. And the day went by fast. We had each time to take a quick run around the festivities and to mingle a little bit. We had food vendors, and ice-cream, a raffle, book sales, a silent auction, Kids games galore, face painting, donkey tattoos, get your picture taken with a donkey, farrier demonstrations, the Artisan Market place, the Boutique, Information tables, Adopt a donkey program, Foster farm table, Humane Society table, display of different tractors and equipment, a main tent with live entertainment and of course the main attraction the DONKEYS and lots of Donkey talks about them. I  really just wanted to check out the " Market place" and the raffle tables, where I purchased a few tickets, but didn't win. But I found a few goodies at the Marketplace, which was where all the artsy and crafty stuff of the volunteers was sold, and I must say we do have some talented people among us. :) , I also stopped by to get my picture taken with Bob Ray,one of our donkeys, oh boy that photo really shows how I hate getting my picture taken. lmao...that's sad.... Grrrrrr.... The day for the visitors ended with  the carrot walk and then crowds started to leave quickly. For us the day lasted about two hours more as we had to take down things, and put everything back into place, including the animals, which was kind of fun to do,the animal part I mean lol. By the time I left, the place looked like nothing took place that day, wow, sure is great to have everybody work so hard and fast to get things back to normal. It was about 7:30 pm when I arrived back home, as I was stuck at the fence chatting with Cate still for a while. I made a quick supper when I got home and was in bed before 9 o'clock.
Today I am taking it easy in the morning only to go to work by noon to do some more physical work...not sure if I am up for it, as I am still  sore and fatigue, I can barely lift my arms today and my feet are so sore from all the walking. Oh well suck it up princess, stop your whining and get moving.....ouch!!!
Well as great as my day was yesterday and as much as I now know what and how to do it, I have decided and already put my name in for Donkey Day 2011 for a different position, something new again and yes something that will again cause some anxiety but I know I will love doing more than anything, something I always wanted to do and well hopefully next year I will be there doing it......I wanna be a donkey mingler. :) Woo hoo!
Here are my little treasures from the Market place:

a painting from Carrie plus a bookmark...not shown in picture
a flower pot stake from Lesley
a paperweight from Rose
and a ceramic star from Donkeyboy Kyle

6 comments:

Sharon said...

Wow, what a busy day! Lots of things to take care of, but I know you had a blast (for the most part). Your picture looks fine. At least you don't look angry, haha. When everyone works together like a team, things just go easier, glad you had a good team! Have a good rest of the day!

Tina said...

Thanks Sharon, you too....yes I had a great time and oh boy I do look angry on that picture lol. I so hate getting my picture taken it's not funny anymore. Maybe I should start making goofy faces on them.....maybe that will help

jayne@~an eye for threads~ said...

Fun things happen when you get together with a bunch of Jackasses eh? Glad you had a great day and are going to be all rested up for Plancherbuttday.

Louise said...

Ahhh, your picture is fine, but I understand about hating to have it taken. I feel that way, too.

Sounds as though your day, though hard, was very rewarding. Sooner than you think, you'll be getting ready to do it again.

Inger said...

What a busy day and how blessed you are to work with donkeys! It was actually fun to see what you look like, so thanks for posting the photo. Nothing wrong with it at all.

Melodie said...

How fun! I would love to go to a Donkey Day celebration!
I am the same way about pictures...