Latest findings :)

My little wooden donkey herd

a copper brooch to go with my copper necklace

I totally adore this necklace

My new favourite tote bag.

A swirly thingy to watch and let your mind wander

Hmmmm not sure if that was a good idea!

Ever wonder why you are drawn to certain people or why certain people are drawn to you? Well I wonder that the same with the donkeys. I mean I really love every single one of them, you have dealings and handling with most of them at one time or another, there are the regulars and then there are the once you really only have sporadic contact with mostly by their choice, well and sometimes by our own choice, for safety reasons. However if you look at most of "my" donkeys I have been drawn to well not exactly the most easiest donkeys to get close to, e.g. Juno, because she was so severely abused or  Hershey, because his behaviour is so unacceptable, again because of his early years. The other day as I was wandering down the lane way and stopped at the fence of the office paddock a very unlikely visitor joined me, I was totally surprised because I have known Juanita for the longest time, never really had any dealings with her as she is one of the shyest creatures at the DSC, but there she came, straight for me and wanted to be petted. She is such a sweetie, I had tried many times to just pet her, but never gotten close to her, so this was extra special. We stood there quite a time and were joined by more people and more donkeys, including Donkeschoen. Well Donkeschoen for some reason doesn't like me, no matter what I do she just walks away and well it's frustrating but also it is what it is, so I will try to give her her space and let other people be close to her and I am glad there are some that have shown interest in and care for her, so she will be ok.
So on Sunday I made a very unlikely friend again, and I am not sure that was such a good idea. It's a donkey I have always liked but at the same time I am actually terrified of, especially when I am alone with her. It's a donkey one just really can't relax around and her aggressive behaviour most of the time towards people is very disturbing and at the same time heartbreaking. Not much is known about her background, which was to believed to have been not bad, but given her behaviour it just wasn't very donkey friendly, she doesn't know any boundaries and she treats people the way she treats donkeys, which causes same safety concerns. She can also switch from one minute to the next in her behaviour and I have seen first hand what she can do to people who are not even bothering with her. Sometimes it's brought on by her not getting attention, sometimes it's brought on by her getting attention and wanting more and sometimes it's brought on by nothing we as people understand. I have always felt sad for her, the same way I feel sad for Hershey. She is an absolute gorgeous donkey and I always hope that with the proper attention she will turn around, giving her attention however is like a double edged sword, you don't know how it goes. On Sunday however every time I was at the fence to the East side, Juliet hung around too and every time I called her she came over for a pet, a few times she put her head on my shoulder, or I cradled her head in my arms and scratched her ears and face, she was totally relaxed, absolutely sweet, but I kept a close eye on her at all times, she really seemed to enjoy the cuddles and snuggled right into me, my arm right in front of her mouth, she did however not once make even an attempt to put her mouth on me, which is really unusual because she is a nipper and that is usually her first instinct when she approaches you. I definitely felt comfortable doing that with her over the fence, being on the other side would be a totally different ball game, then I am in her territory and it could be totally different  and now I am worried that if I go over there and she is there what she will do. I most definitely don't want to her to get aggressive  with me when she doesn't get what she wants or not enough of what she wants. Usually when we are on the same side as her, we have kind of pretended not to see her and just go about our business and sometimes we abandon chores because she has been around and bothering us. I always try to keep the wheelbarrow or another donkey between me and her, but often she is the only one down in the barn and I realize a wheelbarrow will not be enough protection from her, when she gets in her moods. So I am little bit at a loss right now as to be around her, and maybe we will leave the giving of attention to her over the fence for a while and try to go about business as usual.We will see how it goes, but it looks like somehow I have fallen for another "problem" donkey again. Sigh!

( Can't I just pick one that loves to cuddles, loves his/her feet done, loves to be groomed and loved, taken for  walks etc????)

Love birds!

We have a few love birds/donkeys at the DSC. The guys are absolutely devoted to their ladies. At times I feel bad for the boys, because they are stressing out when their ladies are not insight. Especially poor Peter, he never gets a rest, because he is constantly watching over his Katy making sure that nobody else is coming too close to her or that she is not too far away from him. Katy seems to take the doting of Peter in strides. Here is Katy finishing of a roll in the grass, Peter wants to have one in the same spot, but since Katy is heading somewhere else, he doesn't really get a chance to enjoy a little nap in the sun.



Then there are Luna and Sam, after Luna's display of hyperness the other day on Open Day, I wonder if her name Luna is a short form for Lunatic, because she sure was one that day with Sam, so much that we ended up putting them out in the paddock to let of steam, as they were clearly a danger to visitors, running like race horses up and down the lane way and into the office paddock, up the hill, down the hill and down the lane again. At one point I thought Sam was going to wipe out as he clearly cut a close corner around the feeder in the paddock. Well I guess that's Sam making sure he is true to his reputation, I was wondering when I would see the true side of those two little monsters.
Then there is Standard donkey Rebecca and her miniature boyfriend Monte, they have been an item for years, and Monte is never far away from his Rebecca. Here they are enjoying a rest in the dirt and sun.

Everybody's sweetheart Juno is still undecided with what boy donkey she wants to hand out with, she has been seen grooming with Ed and Gordon, but the other day she picked a totally off partner, or maybe he picked her I don't know, I just saw donkey Juno grooming with mule Danny Boy, and Danny Boy really doesn't like anybody, human or animal kind, so it was a little odd to see those two together in such a loving caring way. 

Juno and Ed

Juno and Danny Boy

All on a sunny Sunday!

I was to attend a meeting at the DSC this morning around ten to just talk about a Sunday Volunteer Program. I got there at 9:30 so I grab a wheel barrow and pooper scooper and went to work. I ended up going up to Halfway Haven to help Steph clean up there. When we got there, Misty was locked in a stall with no food and water and she was very unhappy, not sure why she was in there, Steph called Adam on his day off to find out as to why. Adam was as puzzled as anybody but said that it had happened before...apparently she goes in there sometimes to rest and the other donkeys close the door on her and she can't get back out. Those little buggers. I cleaned one of the stalls, met the new donkey Chaplin, who is full of beans but cute and was then of to my meeting at the office. The meeting wasn't very long, as Cheryl is very organized at to what she wants and it was more or less just to set up a schedule on who is covering what Sunday. I will have to brush up on my grooming skills, as I have not done a complete grooming since probably April due to all the other things that I was involved in. So I will have to step it up a notch! Just before we started our meeting Paul, our fence guy, came to the office just to say that he is taking lumber down to the fence line of the back paddock. He said he didn't need any help with watching the donkeys as he has done it many times before. We were just wrapping up our meeting and getting ready to leave as Paul come back to the office and yells "donkey loose". Well donkey loose is not really a problem, because usually they don't really go that far, they just want to graze on the other side of the fence...when we got to the parking lot we saw a problem lol....it was Hershey... one of our hardest to catch donkeys, one of our most mischievous donkeys. So we tried to block him in on the parking lot so he couldn't run onto the driveway. Helia went down to the barn to get Steph. We were able to scoot Hershey into the area of the Welcome Centre, and when he saw Steph with the halter he was on the move, thank god in the right direction and we could direct him down the pathway by the boutique into at least the barnyard. There we cornered him of in an area too and Steph was able to put a halter on him and walk him back to his side. So that was the excitement of the day.

We went down to the barn and cleaned some more, Helia took the new volunteers around and showed them the ropes and I actually got to groom Buffy, who was oddly not very cooperative, especially when it came to her feet, but I got them all done and off she went out into the pasture. 

Since it was a nice an sunny day and I had brought my camera and list of donkeys to take certain pictures of, I ventured out into the main herd to get some of those done. Being among all the donkeys out in their domain I find always a little bit intimidating, there is so much to watch for, most important thing to watch for ...is charging Hershey, but he seemed to be calm and happy to be grazing after his morning adventure, but Hershey has been known to stalk people out there and charge at them for no apparent reason. I found some of the donkeys that I needed from this side, and took a few other pictures of ones that just were good photo opps in my opinion....like this one of Panne overlooking his domain. He stood there for the longest time just like a statue, totally still, with eyes and ears forward.

Then I went back to the barn side and took pictures of the donkeys I needed from there. And of course even there were some other donkey photo opps. And I took a picture of our two peas in a pod....our very challenging donkeys that are right now kept away from the main herd, because they are so hard to handle and a little bit dangerous to be around. So they get a lot of one on two attention by staff to try to train them for easier  handling.  These are Juliet and Donny, and as I said two peas in a pod, both have the same temperament, sweet as can be one minute, aggressive and very assertive the next minute, so you just never know. They look sweet and innocent, don't they?

                                        

I found Chiclet sleeping in the sun, totally relaxed, he didn't even blink an eye when I approached or flinched....just snoozing away...

  

Orly was soaking up some sun too....

While others came to investigate...like...

Summer, our senior and animal barn manager

and Chaplin, our newest donkey

I was ready to leave by 2:30 pm but was held up at the fence for at least another hour just watching and mingling and scratching ears and butts...

Visiting with Cocoa

...and Amigo

Like always it was hard to say good-bye to those sweet faces, but I will be back tomorrow and Sunday...woo hoo!

The poorest of all creatures!

Usually when I am in a pissed off mood than it is so much easier for me to say and do what I really want to say and do, and well today is one of those days, and you better watch out because I am out in full force today....I was debating long and hard with myself if I should publish this on my blog, but after seeing too many of these and coming across another amazing rescue this  morning in Crete, and the plight of these creatures there, I decided to post this....I realize these are poor countries and they mostly can't look after themselves as it is, and the donkeys have a different purpose over there than they have here, but I am sure this is not what GOD intended for them. I don't care who you are, what your circumstances, your own plight, this is unacceptable in any case. Well just my opinion, but this is my blog so I can say what I want and feel. Just a heads up....very graphic pictures....

Warning the following video shows very graphic pictures.

Looks like everybody has been busy....

This was the sight pretty much on every field I passed by on the way to the DSC yesterday. Hay bales and hay roles everywhere, looks like somebody was busy baling hay and now it is time to stack it. Well that was the agenda for most of the afternoon at the DSC. I started helping at around eleven and by 1 pm I couldn't handle it anymore, my hands and back were just about killing me, mostly my hands, even though I had work gloves on. Three of us pretty much unloaded and stacked two huge trailer full of hay bales, omg it was hard work, that's for sure. Again, I am not one used to physical labour, I work in an office and play with children. lol.

While we were slaving for the good of the donkeys, some of the donkeys were caught doing this. Sunbathing in the sand... Must be nice. Looks like Poppy had a really rough day lol....Oh I forgot she did lol...I had to get her first thing when I got there in the morning, to give her her foot treatment. Well Poppy is a smart little cookie, she knows the routine every morning and she sure doesn't like it one bit. So as soon as she saw me coming with a halter and lead, well off she went, I finally got the halter on her but that still doesn't mean you can get a donkey to where you want them. Poppy sure wasn't going anywhere, and after pleading with her for 20 minutes I finally got that little girl into the barn. Just to struggle there to put her little rubber booty on to soak her foot in some epson salt and apple cider vinegar. No cooperation what so ever from her, it's like stuffing a foot of a little kid into a boot...not that easy. But finally she was in and we soaked it for about 15 minutes, during her patient wait I cleaned her ears and brushed her and she was happy. 

I also found out, that the way to Solo's heart is not through carrots and ear and butt scratches, but tummy rubs. Omg, he just enjoyed it so much and stood still for the longest time, that is a donkey that usually doesn't want anybody around him or be close to him, unless it's on his terms, and he has odd terms lol. He can eye you from across the yard one minute and be right behind you the next. A little bit  unpredictable. But  he definitely is the first one to check out what you are doing or carrying when you arrive at the barn yard.  He reminds me of a bunny with his long ears and pointy nose.

Does it get any cuter?

Well not in my books. Out of all the donkeys at the Sanctuary there are some that just pull on your every heart string, not really sure why, because they are all so loveable. The more I get to know their personalities the more I love each and every one of them, well I do have my absolute favourites, but it really is hard to love one more than another. I always loved the Minis though, maybe because they were my dad's favourites, or maybe because it really is a giant donkey with big personality in this tiny little body and it's just too cute. I love when they kick at other donkeys, omg it's so funny, because most of the time they can't reach that high to begin with, but they give it all they have. And don't ever underestimate the power of these little creatures, they are as strong as an ox, and make you work hard for your money. We have five minis at the DSC, mother Pansy and daughter Poppy, their friend Sable, little deformed Paco and Monte, everybody thinks Monte is a girl and is pregnant, but Monte is just a cubby little guy that lives in the main herd. Paco is a little bit of an odd ball, he is very cranky and moody most of the times, and he really likes to be left alone. But the three Amigos are just absolutely charming little donkeys, they love attention, love their hugs and cuddles and if you sit down on the bench one or two of them is sure to come for a visit to get some cuddle time with you. They are absolutely adorable. So as I get to share my day today with these amazing animals, I leave you with some pictures of the three amigos. Enjoy your day.....

Sable Poppy, Pansy

A long exhausting day!

Did you know that on any given Sunday on the farm I walk every time between 7 and 10 km? No wonder I am totally exhausted by the time I get back home, besides a lot of walking, there is a lot of things to carry around, to wheel around and to pick up, that all adds up to a lot physical labour, which I am really not used to, but not afraid of either. I can pull my weight around when I need to and mostly with ease until I pay for it later  on lol. 

Yesterday I arrived at the farm a little earlier than normal, because I was taking a different route, that really is only 3km shorter but still cuts the traveling time down by good ten minutes. It pretty much runs parallel to my usual route, but without all the stop signs. So it  was great, nice country roads too. It promised to be a hot day and there were still lots of chores to be done before the first visitors arrive. After feeding some of the donkeys in the paddock and giving water to the mules, it was time to clean up the lane way and the barnyard. I put the name tags on the donkeys, put brushes out and put hay out for the ones in the paddocks. The morning was really slow with visitors, so there was plenty of time to get some donkey time in. I got to get some of the donkeys from the dark side, which were way out in the field, and I am talking way out there, and bring them in. I fedAugusta and Hershey in Halfway Haven and got to get another donkey from way out there, because a sponsor wanted to see him. I had a heck of a time to bring him in, Cate later told me that he is one of the most difficult ones to get to go from point A to point B, so there, wasn't really me. I cleaned up the dark side and was well surrounded by donkeys, who all seemed to wanted affection today, so I got pushed and head butted around till everybody's scratch need was met. The afternoon turned out to be very busy and lots of people came to visit. I got to bring all  the donkeys in from the field to get them ready for the carrot walk, and while Cate was doing the walk with the dark side donkey I was the big hit with the mules and the special needs donkeys, as I had my own bucket full of carrots to give out. Woo hoo, that was quite the experience, since all of a sudden everybody loves you lol. And boy they can get quite forceful and asserted when they want their carrots. After the visitors left it was time to get everybody ready for the night, making sure everybody has water and we filled up the optimizer feeders with hay. As it turned 4:15 pm I was about on my last leg so to speak, my feet were burning and hurting, I was thirsty as hell and the sun sure got the best of me today, well I thought on my way home that I tanned really oddly today, in big blotches, until I realized, that was all dirt lol. Oooopps. 

Couldn't resist taking this picture, this is Tibet in front of her Tibet portrait, that is painted on one of the inside walls of the barn. One day I will take pictures of all the wall paintings there, they are quite nice and unique. 

                 

                                                

Foot note: Sandra, the DSC operator, gave me a new donkey cross stitch pattern for my file and a patterns for Knitting a sweater, which is really cute..but I will have to work on my friend Patti for that one....knitting I don't do...unless it's straight up like a scarf. :)

Out the LONGEARS BOUTIQUE window

All is quiet on the farm....minutes after a major down pour

The first brave ones to come back out to the paddock.. Sable (looking at me) and Poppy

Anticipation of the Carrot walk.

Lady, Donkeschoen, Speckle, Juanita, Boliver and a few other asses ( can't tell them apart from behind..one ass looks like another....wow it's great, it's the only place where you can say the word ass without being looked upon strangely.:) )

Hershey enjoying a few minutes of sunshine...he is just the cutest of them all ( but that's just my opinion)

A little bit of this and a little bit of that and a whole lot of rain!

Well tired doesn't even describe my state of being today, I am totally exhausted, physically and mostly mentally, and I think I really should take some of my Tina recouperating days, where I just totally shut the world out, not answer the phone, not leave my house and just do what I want and need to do all by myself, without talking, without socializing and being out there. But then I look outside and it looks like it might be a sunny day and I really should be doing something and want to be doing something, but oh man, I am drained. ( ...being drained might just be a total different entry, something that happened at the end of DONKEY DAY, that was kind of interesting and funny, and boy it made me feel so much better about myself lol).

Yesterday I left my house and it was drizzling rain, as I got further along in my travels the drizzle turned into downpours and windstorms. So I thought it might be a slow day again, but who knew, omg even just thinking about yesterday gives me such stomach cramps. After the great way I got through the past weekend, and how proud I actually was about mastering it so nicely, I imagined that from now on everything after that would really just be a breeze to go through. Well I was wrong! Nothing has changed, and it really angers me about myself that it doesn't, how many positive and great experiences do I have to have before all this negative stuff is wiped from my memory and let me function normally? It really is frustrating to me. The morning started slow with a couple of people here and there, as the weather was changing between being cool and pouring rain to sunshine and a lot of humidity. We had two groups coming through and that's where my day went downhill fast,  even though I got through it unharmed. The first group was a group of Urban Forestry Students, nice young people, with lots of questions about the donkeys and obviously a lot of money to spent as they really supported the DSC by big donations and purchases from the boutique. It was great. The second group was a husband and wife with a few of the kids that they house on their residential farm outside of Toronto, it is a group home for mentally troubled  youngsters and a working farm with sheep and cattle and the kids all help taking care of it, and they were coming to see if they would qualify for being a Foster Farm to two of our donkeys. The rest of the day was then smooth sailing with just a few people here and there, since the weather was still trying to make up it's mind...sunny and hot or cool and pouring.

I spent the evening with going to Zumba, which was great but exhausting and I sweated buckets and a short visit with the Stitching Sisters on an off night at my friend's house. I was way too tired to stitch though and had trouble even keeping my head of the table lol. But it is always fun to just be there and listen to the chit chat going on around the big ole table and to see everybody's progress on their work.

Deja vu!

Well  I thought something looked familiar when I received my new DSC Volunteer T-shirt on Sunday! Now I am sure...have you seen this picture before?

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And here it is again....voila!

Knew I saw it before lol.....well I think it's a sign to stitch it now sooner than later.....but oh today is Tuesday that means "HEAVEN AND EARTH" Design Day.....darn. 

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

An Afternoon at my favourite place

With the roof open on the Jeep, the sun shining on my face, and my favourite music playing I ventured to the Donkey Farm yesterday afternoon. I love taking the sideroads in Cambridge and find the most dustiest country roads that lead up there. Getting there is half the fun. But what a beautiful day to spend in the country. There were quite the numbers of visitors there and everybody seemed to enjoy the sunny warm day on the farm. Over the winter months a few new donkeys started calling the DSC their new home and they seem to have settled in quite nicely. Some of the older residents really are starting to look bad, and you can see the wear and tear of their life on their bodies. Windy is one of the oldest donkeys at the Sanctuary with 42 years on her back. She is pretty much blind and spends most of her time in the barnyard. She looked really skinny and tired, like most donkeys after the winter she will have to put on some more weight over the next few weeks,but I am sure it will be not that hard to do, by the look of the lush green fields surrounding them. It's nice to see the some of the regular staff are still the same, seems like Kyle made the DSC his home too. What a kind and animal loving man he is, that is for sure. The DSC is very lucky to have him there, and it is always a pleasure to have a chat about the donkeys with him.
It really was a nice afternoon to be spend among four legged friends.

My very own Thanksgiving Tradition

For the last few years I made it a priority to visit the Donkey Sanctuary on Thanksgiving Sunday, their last official visiting day of the year. The weather so far has been nothing short of spectacular and the drive through the countryside is a wonder of colour, absolutely dreamy. I take the most inconvenient side roads, just because it is so breathtaking and I love the drive to there. No wonder fall is the favourite season of so many. So this morning I got up quite early, doing my daily morning routine, had a shower, got the turkey ready as far as I could get it ready, gave instruction on when to put the bird in the oven and said I will be back by 2pm. Dinner was planned for about 4 pm and the guests arrival was so good as anybody's guess. I made my way to the Sanctuary through St. George, which put me a little bit in tears because of memories long gone and never to be had again, I drove the roller coaster ride of Cheese factory road into Cambridge and took my all time favourite street, Avenue Rd., to the outside of Cambridge through the countryside of Concession Roads and Sideroads. I met a whole bunch of chipmunks along the way, at one point I had to stop because there were just too many of them crossing the gravel road at the same time ( could have reminded me of the night of frog crossings in Germany). I arrived at the Sanctuary and the parking lot was filled, it is nice to see that so many people are starting to visit this well hidden haven. I met a few new donkey friends and caught with some old ones, like my favourites Hershey and Gordon. I had a nice chat with one of the keepers there and learnt a few new things. As I was standing in the barn, brushing Gordon, I must have been in somebody's way as I was not so gently notched on my side to get out of the way. I watched Gordon get in trouble for letting other donkeys out of their stall and I prevented him from getting into the stall of one other donkey to get to his special food. He is quite clever and it was so easy for him to undo the stall door latch. Funny as hell. I have heard plenty of his antics before but never seen him in action. It was a nice, warm and relaxing day among these beautiful, entertaining creatures, and it is always worth the travels.
I was back home just before 2 pm and the house was filled with the scent of the roasting turkey. I just changed my clothes as the dinner guests arrived. We decided short notice yesterday to invite the grandparents for dinner. I got the rest of the dinner on it's way and dinner was served by 4:15 pm.
All in all it was a good day, went by fast and now I can't wait for tomorrow, not sure yet why, but I definitely don't plan on sitting on my ass all day. Depending on the weather, plans might just come up.

Donkey Day

Today I attended the annual DONKEY DAY at the Sanctuary together with my daughter. We spent a couple of wonderful hours at the Farm. As usual it was very busy and the donkeys enjoyed all the attention they were getting. There were lots of things to do as always and we had lots of fun. We took a donkey for a walk along the trail in the medow, which was really fun, of course Cargo wasn't very cooperative at times, and I wonder who took who for a walk, but it was great. S. won a few things at a Tombola and we had fun just hanging out at the fences petting donkeys and talking with some of the Volunteers. It was nice to see all the donkeys again and to find out how my adoptived donkeys are doing. This was my first visit to the DSC this year, but certainly not my last. I just love being there and enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the place, despite some noisy  attention seeking donkeys.

Annual Report on Hershey

Hershey is a particularly popular donkey with the school children who visit the Sanctuary in order to take part in their Animal Welfare Education Program. He enjoys to hang over the fence and bare his teeth in a grin for all to see. Hershey has been in very good health this past year and continues with his solitary manner, much preferring the company of humans to that of the other donkeys. He is unique in many ways.

Can't wait for May 1st

Today I received the Winter Newsletter of the Donkey Sanctuary, somehow it felt like it was written just for me... all the questions I had in my head about things there were answered in this little booklet and I am really serious about my committment to the Donkeys at this point and no matter what or who I will not let anything come between this. I loved looking at the pictures,they have four new donkeys, all seemed to be really cuddly and affectionate, some others moved out to Foster Farms. The baby is growing and cute as ever, and am sure missing all those loving creatures in my life and can't wait for Opening Day. Well maybe once it's a bit warmer an even sooner visit is planned.

Word Power

Do you really mean what you say?
" She chickened out at the last minute."
" Sheila and Joe can be very foxy."
" He made an ass of himself in front of everyone."

Words and expressions that we select for us in everyday conversation can be descriptive, powerful and unintentionally hurtful all at the same time.
Each one of the examples above serves to describe human behaviour in a negative manner. However when we stop to consider the complete effect that each example makes, we can see that it is degrading as well to the animals being used to metaphorically in each expression. In reality, the behaviour of any being is too complex to be reduced to a single, negative characteristic. The movement of a chicken , the agility of a fox, the comportment of a donkey, each occurs in a specific context and for a very specific reason.
Next time you want to describe a person's behaviour think twice before you speak. Then, when you do so make certain that you are not sacrificing the integrity of a fellow creature.

One of my favourite things was to call everybody a "Jackass" at times, but ever since my love of donkeys has grown I try very hard not to use this term in respect to the animal it depicts.

Adopt me.....

Rather than making a general donation to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, many of the Sanctuary’s supporters prefer to help with the annual costs of care of a particular animal at the Sanctuary Farm. The DSC requests an amount of at least $50 per year for each donkey that is adopted. When you select this Plan, either for yourself or as a gift to another person, they will send along:
• A letter of thanks
• A certificate of adoption,
• a biography of the donkey that is being supported,
• a magnetized photograph of the donkey
• a yearly report on the donkey

For further information and to print out an adoption form go to www.donkeysanctuary.ca/Pages/Adoption.html

A wonderful day in the country

What could be more relaxing and peaceful than going on a drive through the country side on a warm fall day with a specific goal in mind?
This morning my daughter and I set out to visit the DSC for the last time this year, as today is closing day for the public. The drive there was absolutely gorgous, sun, not a cloud in the sky and the trees in full fall colours. FOr some reason the mood at the DSC was different today, almost as something was up. The donkeys were quite rumbancious and a little bit on the frisky side. Most donkeys were in the barn, a few out on the field and some just strolling along in the barnyard. We stood at the fence for a while just watching the donkeys frolicing. There was a family with 3 little girls and the father was taking pictures of the kids in front of the fence with the donkeys, later they moved along into the field to get closer to some other donkeys. Poppy and Pansy were out there grassing peacefully as the family gathered around them, putting the kids right in front of the them and taking pictures for what seemed to be a long time, the kids were getting upset, started to scream and the father still wanted to take more pictures, when all of a sudden we hear this loud bray and Poppy comes running from the field braying and heading straight for the barn, I guess she finally had enough of the kids and that parent and took of storming and when a donkey storms, you better watch out and get out of its way, there is no way it will make a turn around you, it will run right through you if you don't move, so my daughter and I knew pretty much that is was time to get out of the straight line to the barn, because Poppy was on her way and of course it doesn't take long for her mother to chase after her and so Pansy came running in too, also she wasn't quite in that kind of a panic as Poppy was.
I understand that people want to take pictures, I do it all the time too, and I believe in bringing children in close contact with animals, but I would also expect that people use their better judgement when it comes to infringing on the animal too much. There is only so much they can take and they will definately let you know when they have enough, but does one have to let it go that far? I wish people would use their common sense once in a while. This wasn't fair to the kids nor the animal. I guess luckily Poppy was just running away, she could have easily just kicked her hind legs to get rid of them.
After that little excitement it was back to a peaceful rest of the afternoon among very loveable and gentle creatures.