Morning Bray Farm

Oh, the wind. I never knew it could be the way it is here. Some days it’s relentless.

Like yesterday. Oy. According to the National Weather Service, gusts in the valley where we live reached as high as 74 mph.

Fergus and Nigel don’t seem too affected by it.

Neither do Bernard or Ellsworth. As is always the case, wind or no wind, they’re in line ready for dinner before it’s served.

Don’t worry Mom. There’s no place like home.

Lovey Baby Enzi’s birthday was April 23. I can not believe it was nine years ago this gorgeous puppy came into my life.

The puppy who was all legs and ears,

grew up to be my beautiful girl.

I love that she’s a diva. Might have something to do with the fact that her first car ride was in a stretch limousine. In the Bahamas, no less.

To this day, she still thoroughly enjoys chewing on a good shoe if I forget to close the closet door. I attribute this to her love of fashion.

I love that despite the fact she refuses to walk on wet grass, she gallops with joie de vivre through the pasture on watering days. I love that she always smiles when I walk in the door.

I love that there’s really no point in making the bed because she insists on being tucked in every morning as soon as we get out of it. I’m not kidding. And yes, her head is always on the pillow.

Even if celebrations are a tad scaled back from what they used to be when there were fewer children, there’s always a cake and ice cream for birthdays here.

And the birthday girl or boy always gets the first bite of cake.

The cake recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 egg

Directions

Mix together flour and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients and mix well (it comes out more as a cookie dough than a cake batter). Press into a pie pan or tart dish and bake at 350°F for 10 minutes.

Ellsworth, a.k.a. our sentinel, evaluated a potential security breach at Morning Bray Farm yesterday afternoon.

What is that thing, Mom?

Ms. Turkey must feel safe around the boys. She fixed herself up with a nest just on the other side of the corral fence. She’s sitting on a dozen or so eggs.

Sunday afternoon, I looked out the window and saw Nigel and Fergus doing something that up until then, I had only seen illustrations of in The Donkey Companion. They were mutually grooming each other.

Then again, in the exact same location, yesterday afternoon. In this video, notice Ellsworth in the background rubbing his head on the pipe fencing.

I wonder why Bernard and Ellsworth don’t do this. Do George and Alan do it? What about Chester and Beau? Ruby and Gracie? What about your donkeys or horses or other critters? I wonder if it’s a trust issue. Surely Bernard and Ellsworth trust each other; they freak out if they’re separated for five seconds.  You equine enthusiasts out there must have some thoughts, and we’re all ears.

Each time a horse and rider pass the road in front of Morning Bray Farm, time seems to stand still for the boys.

They watch with rapt attention,

and gentle curiosity.

I always wonder what they’re thinking.

Fergus’s front feet are a teensy bit too long. 

It’s not earth-shattering, nor is it an emergency, but from watching the way he walks, I know he’ll feel better once his feet are trimmed. He walks like you’d walk if you had shoes on that were too big. 

So, we’ve been working on rubbing his legs and touching his feet this week. 

Yesterday afternoon, I was in the corral hanging out with the boys and figured I’d give it a shot. 

Other than putting his head down as if to say, “Umm… excuse me?”, he really didn’t seem to object. The jerkiness of the video and the abrupt ending came along when Bernard decided he wanted to pay homage to the hockey playoffs by coming up behind me, taking the hem of my shirt in his mouth and trying to pull it up over my head. ♥ 

In any case, you are now an official witness to the very first time one of Fergus’s feet was picked up.

Treat times have become quite a scene here over the past week.

Day by day, Nigel is losing his fear.

Fergus has lost a lot of his shyness. Shocking, huh?

 Not to worry, Ellsworth is still in charge.

 Nigel is becoming more and more accustomed to us, the camera and our daily activities.

As was the case with Fergus several days ago, Nigel is becoming increasingly curious.

My goodness, they’re so easy to love. I can’t wait to be able to kiss Nigel on the nose.

A few weeks ago I received an invitation to attend a party celebrating the work of some local volunteers, which I was all too willing to accept. The guests of honor at yesterday’s party were very special and quite hairy.

They included a Great Pyrenees named Wotan,

a beautiful whippet named Zoe,

two long-haired dachshunds named Pippin and Max,

a very laid-back black lab named Jibar,

an Akita mix named Shilo,

two English Setters named Paloma and Spencer,

an adorable rescued terrier mix named Sam,

a Bouvier named Willow,

a greyhound named Freddie, whose mom obviously loves him,

and a Shih Tzu named Bear.

All are volunteers with the pet therapy program at one of our local hospitals and provide the most important medicine possible… love. Knock on wood that I never have to be hospitalized, but if I do, I’d like to put my request in now for each and every one of them to stop by and visit.

Fergus and Nigel are making remarkable progress during their first few days at Morning Bray Farm. By Monday, Fergus was taking carrots and apple slices from my hand.

On Monday afternoon, he was coming to me out of curiosity. (Thank goodness I’ve since been able to remove his eye boogers.)

And let me touch him for the very first time.

On Tuesday afternoon, Fergus allowed Don to brush him.

And even permitted a hug. Nigel is still never far from Fergus.

It was also Tuesday when Nigel took his first apple slice from my hand. No picture because I didn’t want to freak him out with the camera, but I was doing the happy dance in my head.

Yesterday morning, I looked out the window and thought, “Oh look, Bernard and Ellsworth are playing.” I had to do a double take. It wasn’t Bernard and Ellsworth, it was Fergus and Ellsworth! And Bernard and Nigel! 

When Carson came to meet Fergus and Nigel on Sunday morning, she brought an extra saddle for us to try on Ellsworth. While initially hesitant about the saddle pad, he was a gold star student once she got the saddle on him. Just look at this handsome boy!

You can call me clueless when it comes to tack, so having Carson here showing us the ropes was a blessing.   

Bernard was present with Ellsworth for moral support. Because Bernard was continuously putting something in his mouth, trying to pull something off Ellsworth or stealing carrot coins from Aunt Linda, Don decided to give him a task of his own. Our young boy looked mighty proud strutting his stuff.

When Carson asked if I was ready to hop up on Ellsworth, I was beside myself with excitement. Ellsworth stood there like an old pro, then took a few gentle steps.

 Thank you Ellsworth. I love you so much.

After a few more minutes of tack instruction, our first lesson was complete. Just when we think we can’t possibly love them more, the boys continue to give us new reasons. Every, single day.