Guest Blogger

"HI PEEPLES!  IT'S ME RAMSEY,MA WAS MUMBLING ABOUT BEING TOO TIRED TO POST ON THE BLOGGY THING SO i DECIDED TO DO IT ....  

i TOLD HER i WOULD SHOW EVERYBODIES OUT THERE WHAT A GOOD HALTER DONKEY i AM......

AND HOW ME AND MOM FOUND THIS WHOLE BIG PILE OF YUMMY STUFF TO CHEW ON...

AND ONE OF THE SPOTS i LIKE TO HAVE SCRATCHED...

 
MA SAYS i SHOULD SLOW DOWN AND NOT GROW SO FAST...

BUT i THINK i NEED TO GET BIGGER SO i CAN CHASE THOSE HORSES...

 AND RUN EVEN FASTER....

BUT HANGING OUT WITH MOM IS STILL GOOD TOO...

OK, MA SAYS THAT'S ENOUGH FOR THE BLOGGY THING...BYE NOW.

 

Come Out With Your Hands Up!

"Hey!  We know you're in there"...

"We've got you surrounded, there's nowhere to run"...

"Or hide.  Come out with your hands up!  Preferably filled with carrots and ready for scratching....

"What do you do in there anyway?"

"You know its only a matter of time before I figure out this knob thingy, you might as well give up and come out"...

"Really Ma, you're supposed to stay with the herd.  You've got to stop wandering off like this, it just isn't right, a coyote could get you..."

"JEEZ MOM, WHY DOES SHE STAY IN THERE, IT DOESN'T LOOK VERY COMFY?"

"I have no idea Ramsey, there's no accounting for humans."
"Really Ma, you should just move into the barn with us. Where you belong."

Firewood

Because of the way my property is set up, the only way to get firewood delivered anywhere near my new shed is to drive across the field with it.  I didn't plan things this way, but a screw up by the excavator when I was building the house created this little problem.  It is not that big a problem most of the time, it just means that the only time any sort of large, heavy equipment can get near the barn or shed is when the ground is totally dry and the field can be driven on. 

I thought I had this issue resolved by ordering firewood last March and asking the guy to deliver it in July.  It seemed like a good plan.  The only trouble is that here it is, the end of August and no firewood.  Since my wood stove is my only source of heat, this has really been bugging me.  As a result, I have been bugging the firewood guy.  Or maybe I should say I have been bugging his answering machine since that's all I ever get.  Yesterday afternoon, I finally got in touch with the actual human firewood guy and lo and behold, he had the truck all loaded, just waiting for my call.  Interesting how that works.

At any rate, I finally have some firewood.  Unfortunately, it is only half of what I will need this winter and tonight it is raining hard.  Still, it is a start...

I am not quite up for firewood stacking yet, all that bending and lifting is going to have to wait a bit more.  That's the other reason I wanted wood in July, the job would have been done BEFORE I had surgery.  Oh well.  At least I have some help....

"What do you think Em, should I get out those packs?  Ha, I told you I'd think of something!"

"I think you're delusional, it's a good thing the guy managed to drive across the field.  Lucky for you, it's such a short distance you don't need a pack donkey anyway."

"I'll just supervise, Lord know you need a lot of that. I think I'd better do some product sampling as well..."   

.

Pack Donkey

"See kid, what did I tell ya?  It was only a matter of time..."

 "You know Ma, I don't think he's noticed that he's supposed to be a pack donkey yet.  You do know that he still has the attention span of a drunken butterfly don't you?" 

"It doesn't matter Em, it's just pretend anyway.  He is still a bit young to actually do anything."

"That's good because you're going to have to pry him away from that rope he's playing with.  Besides, I bet you haven't figured out what to put in the pack either."

"Hey, I'm working on it!"

"Well, let me know when you get that figured out."
"Hey Ramsey...Baby....Yo, Kid!  Are you paying attention?

"HRRMPH??"

"You see what I mean?"

"Let me give it a try...Hey Ramsey, you know, I've had at least five people tell me recently that you look like a camel or a llama.  Even Bif mentioned it.   What's that about do you think?"

"HUH, WHA...ME?? WHAT'D YOU SAY...A CAMEL?!?  i'M NOT A CAMEL!  i'M A PACK DONKEY! CAN'T YOU TELL?"...

"Ah, that's better, nice to see that you finally noticed."
   
"HUMPH, WHAT THE HECK IS A LLAMA ANYWAY??"

"Never mind, you'll grow out of it.  And hey, you look quite the proper pack donkey for the moment.  You even have the whole color thing going for you."   

"YEAH!  THAT'S me, BEST PACK DONKEY EVER!  JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE TOO, i'LL BE EVEN BETTER AT IT ONCE i FIGURE OUT WHAT A PACK DONKEY IS."

Sunday Stills - Cats

This week's Sunday Stills challenge - cats.  Some of you may recall that I do indeed have a cat, a fact that I very often bemoan.  I have written about her before, for another Sunday Stills in fact, click here for that story.  My cat (Moss) is not of the cute, cuddly, winsome, charismatic, full-of-personality variety.  She falls more into the neurotic, odd, absolutely-nobody-else-in-the-universe-would-take-her variety.  You may also recall that she was, more or less, directly responsible for me getting my nose broken this past Spring (click here for that story, it was rather funny once I finally stopped swearing - and the swelling went down).  At any rate, here is Moss, you really can't tell from the photos that her wiring isn't quite right....

Can you find the cat in this one?  Hint: follow the ears....

By the way, the over population of cats in this country is a huge problem. It is a problem not just for the cats who suffer greatly as a result, but cats are the number one problem facing ground nesting birds.  Most cat owners don't want to acknowledge this since they don't want to believe that their sweet, little kitties could ever do such a thing, but it is a well documented fact.  The one thing that could really help is a readily available, easy, affordable, spay procedure and here it is....

http://www.alleycat.org/Page.aspx?pid=553

Shelters and rescue groups can only do so much, more spay clinics would help address the actual, underlying problem.

Will Work For Food

"What do you think Emma, do you want to be a pack donkey?"...

"A pack donkey?  Really?  What exactly am I supposed to be packing?"...

"Well I don't know, I haven't really worked that part out yet.  It just seems like a good idea."

"Hmmmm, I think maybe I should be practicing my eye rolling skills instead."
"Better watch out kid, I bet you're next."...

"THIS LOOKS FUN!!!  DO i GET TO PLAY TOO?"...

 "C'mon, LET ME AT LEAST HELP.  PLEEEEEEASE."....

"Help all you want, kid.  Knock yourself out."  
"So Ma, are we planning any camping trips?" 

"No, I'm rather fond of sleeping in my bed."

"That's what I thought.  How about any looooong hikes that require extensive provisions on the way?"

"Well no, but maybe someday...." 

"Uh huh.  You gonna take up prospecting?

"I really should try that one.  I have to pay off that pond somehow and the car has 180,000 miles on it.  But no, I don't think that would be a profitable way to spend our time."

"So why am I doing this?"....

"Because it's fun."
"And because I'll give you some treats."

"Oh, well, in that case...."

The Sum of the Parts

Growing

Ramsey was 7 weeks old on Sunday.  Hard to believe it's only been seven weeks as it's impossible to imagine life without the little devil running to greet me at the door every day.  Like all donkeys I have met so far, he has a huge and vibrant personality.  Sweet and lovable, playful and devilish, at turns independent then demanding.  Donkeys take up far more space than their physical selves can account for.  This little weed is everywhere and into everything....

And speaking of weeds, he sure is growing like one.  I have been measuring him each week and he is averaging exactly one inch per week.  Each time I measure him, he is an inch taller and an inch longer.  Seven inches in seven weeks has put him at 70 pounds and 34 inches tall.

Emma has made it to 44 inches and it will be interesting to see if she grows any taller.  It would not surprise me if Ramsey actually gets to be a bit bigger than her considering just how well Emma is feeding him.  And as for feed...last weekend, Ramsey figured out what all the fuss is about when the word "breakfast" is uttered...

I ought to mention that donkeys shouldn't normally have grain.  However, they don't normally have babies before they are two years old either.  Special circumstances call for special feeding.

I am keeping a very close eye on her weight, but I think that as long as she is lactating, she will need some extra food.  It takes an awful lot of energy to create an extra inch of donkey every week...