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Wednesday, January 05, 2011

My day!

My day started like any other day, that was until I got a singing birthday wish from my friend Jayne, unfortunately I missed the call but she sang anyway and it is on tape lol....Since my birthday fell on a Tuesday this year it was just the perfect day to go out to the farm and spend some donkey time there and then actually do some work too in the office, with hopefully finally finishing my 'project'. The drive up there was a little bit slow since it was snowing and the roads were really icy, I had to take one big detour as a big accident blocked the whole road of that I had to go on. Hope everybody was ok there. I got to the farm and decided that I go take my pictures first. Well the pictures of who I still needed were some of the mules, three white donkeys and the new mini family that is now in with the big herd in the far paddock. I spotted some of the minis right at the fence so I thought, I should start with them. But first I had to go through these guys.....
I felt like being in the movie "High Noon", four of the big rowdy boys starring me down and watching every move I make, it was a little bit intimidating and I was still on the other side of the fence lol. Well I climbed over the fence and there they stood, Panne and Indiana were off to the side, minding their own business, Chullo ( the one with the ears partially back) decided food was more important than people and Nugget ( the one beside him) stood like that the whole time I was in there, not moving a muscle. Of course the two big boys Apollo and Cocoa came to check me out, but not without trying to fight it out who will get to me first. Well I was sandwiched between the two big boys by the fence and petting both of them, but they decided I should only give one of them my attention and they were biting each other and positioning each other to kick out, well sorry boys I don't like being in the middle of your little fights over my attention, so I tried to walk away, but Cocoa kept following me, I guess Apollo got tired of it and took off to the feeder. Nugget still standing there just watching lol. I tried to take a few pictures over the fence but it was nearly impossible with Cocoa at my side, every time I moved so did he and tagged along, and if my hands weren't on him, but the camera I just got this big nose push in the side or back to change my focus. Needless to say... I didn't get that many pictures....well at least not of the ones I needed yet. While giving Cocoa his little butt scratch, Chaplin came over to investigate and so did Gemini, one of the minis. So I got a few photos of them, cute but not really suitable for what I need them for....but here they are anyway...
 Chaplin, as you can see Cocoa's behind  right there too.
Chaplin, he is such a funny boy!
I think this is Gemini, but not really sure...will explain later why I'm not sure. 
But whoever it is, it's cute as a button and nosy as can be. 

I stood there by the fence inside the gelding paddock for a while, with Cocoa following me every step I took and making sure he was getting the attention he needed and of course no problem to obliged to that kind of a demand. lol. I don't think I cuddled with Cocoa that much ever before. Then it was time to move on and since Cocoa decided to join his buddies at the feeder I had no problem getting out of the paddock. I made my way down to the mule paddock, to get some pictures of the ones I needed from there, I pretty much needed body shots, but omg those guys looked horrible and you couldn't even recognize what colour they were, so there went that plan. We had such horrible weather the last few days, with being mild and muddy that they just seemed to be enjoying mud bath all over and on Jimmy for example, who is white, well there was not a white spot on him, lol. Of course standing in the garden paddock, I got to snap a few pictures of one of my favourite girls, Juno. She loves to hang out there during the day, Tibet was also out in her little enclosure, getting some fresh air.
Juno..Isn't she pretty?
Tibet closeup
After spending some time with the girls there I went down to the barn, but first I spotted my other favourite girl, Orly. She was hanging out with Katie, the goat. Katie was trying to snugged up to Orly, giving goat kisses, or so it looked at least...

but Orly got fed up very fast with the smooching goat and back went the ears.
and out came the teeth....
but Katie was determined to get to Orly and be close to her and here is what happened....
...but wait this is not the end of it....in her attempt to chase the goat away and Orly's maneuver to turn herself around so she could give Katie a swift kick, Katie got stuck under Orly's belly and Orly slipped on an icy patch in the lane way and both went down on their knees with Katie blocking Orly's fall and being underneath Orly. Of course they both got up as if nothing had happened and continued to annoy each other. While all this was going on Callie and Cocoa, the goat were munching on Adam's discarded Christmas tree and Gordon and Werther, the sheep, were munching on some free hay stack in Windy's paddock and thought they were in heaven.
                                      

After all this distractions by the donkey antics I finally made in inside the barn. Chantal and I decided to get out to the main herd and she would help me find the donkeys I still needed, three white ones, and the four minis. Well we found two of the  white ones really fast and I took some great pictures of them, and I even could tell them apart. Woo hoo. Then on to  the mini family which was mingling at the far feeder, so we walked up there. Now even that they are always together it is hard to get a separate shot of each of them, I needed face and body shots, so well a group picture will do for the face shots, I can always cut out the ones I need and leave the rest, or though I thought. Hmmm well plan didn't work quite that nicely...because when I got back to the office to work on them, oopsy they all looked the same to me, didn't help that all of a sudden the other three mini girls were mingling with the family. 

                                                                     Who is who? 
Now if they would all be lined up in front of me I could tell who is who, but just from a photo without comparing and eliminating possibilities, it's a little bit harder. Even from the single body shots, the differences are so minor, that they are hard to tell apart....e.g. Looking at both mom and daughter Katy and Marci, Marci's crest is more fallen than Katy's, so that' how I can tell them apart if they are right in front of me, but from a picture it's hard to tell whose crest is fallen more.
Last one to take a picture of was Odin's brother Loki, but he was busy chasing down a donkey girl and so we chased after him. And we made us walk for our money that's for sure, from feeder to hill to feeder, and even around the feeder, he just didn't want to waste time with getting pictures taken, but then he finally stood still and I got fairly good picture of him. So I hope I got them straight now....oh I am so confused by all these white and mini donkeys. Arrrghhh.....!
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the office working on the profiles and printing them out, almost done...woo hoo!
I drove home in a little  mini blizzard and visibility was next to nothing until I crossed the highway, there was no snowfall on the other side at all. I got home to a house full of presents from a dear friend  (thank you again) and flowers from my kids. How nice.
I made myself a nice dinner and enjoyed the rest of the day with peace and quiet. So I can definitely say I had a great day. And thanks to all of you who left me comments and messages with wishes for a happy birthday.

7 comments:

Joan said...

Most amusing descriptive adventure at the farm! Can't think of a nicer way to spend a Birthday!

Tracey said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! That's just the best way to spend the day! xxx

GLORIA'S STORY said...

Wonderful pictures of the donkeys. They look so soft and fuzzy covered in their winter coats.

An, their faces are so sweet looking. I would like to see your donkeys. It is no wonder you love them so much.

What a cute picture of goat kisses. Look at Katie's tail just a waging.

What lovely flowers. I like the Birthday card with the donkeys on it, how clever. That was so nice of your kids to send you flowers for your Birthday. They really are gorgeous. I wish we had smell a vision!

You write like you had a great Birthday. Out at the farm with all your friends.

Again, I WISH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sharon said...

You do know, if you didn't have your camera, they would have stood there in perfect poses, right?

Glad you had a good day!

XXX

Tina said...

Joan- me neither. It was a lovely day.
Tracey- Thank you Tracey. It sure was the best!
Gloria- Thanks for the birthday wishes. Katie's tail was just wagging like a dog's that is happy to see you, it was going a mile a minute. lol. Yes another donkey birthday card to add to my collection, I also had this little challenge going with my friends and family to find donkey related cards or items...:) My boys are always famous for getting me flowers for my birthday and Mother's Day, as much as I love the flowers I also know how costly these arrangement are, and I really don't want them to spend that much money on beauty that is only lasting for a few days. But I am not complaining.
Sharon-you are probably a 100% right, how many times have I thought "oh I should have brought my camera" lol....well maybe I will try again on Sunday.

Pumpkin said...

LOVE the pictures of Chaplin! What a character ;o)

Happy (belated) Birthday Tina!

Tina said...

Thanks Cathey!