Morning Bray Farm

What a goober…

Work is taking me away for a couple of days to what is meant to be one of the most beautiful places in New Mexico… Georgia O’Keeffe country. I hope I’ll be able to bring back even an ounce of its beauty to share with you upon my return. ♥

CeeCee‘s comment about squirrels eating her sunflowers prompted me to do some Lenny research over the weekend.

Turns out, Lenny’s a rock squirrel. Apparently, they’re considered a nuisance to many folks here… so much so that the New Mexico State University College of Agriculture published this: Controlling Rock Squirrel Damage in New Mexico.

Yikes. Poor Lenny.

Hmm… makes me wonder… have I been blaming the wrong four-leggeds for eating my flowers?

It finally happened yesterday. We really touched Nigel for the first time.

Thanks to Sam’s mom, Linda, we ordered a DVD from Longhopes Donkey Shelter called Matching Wits with Donkeys. By following the techniques demonstrated in the video – all towards building trust and confidence – Don was able to touch and hug Nigel after working with him for several hours yesterday morning.

More or less, the technique involved putting Nigel into an enclosed area by himself, then approaching Nigel on his terms. Don walked with Nigel when Nigel walked, and stopped when Nigel stopped… getting a little closer each time… backing off when Nigel flinched. Finally, Don was able to touch him. Don discovered Nigel’s “safe spot” over by the shed (a.k.a. future chicken coop), where Nigel would allow Don to pet him… and when Nigel backed off, Don would let him go. Don spent all morning building Nigel’s trust, and in the end, every second was worth it.

For me, coming home from my riding lesson and being able to really touch Nigel for the first time was quite surreal.

And then, of course, I had to brush him.

There’s still a lot more work for us to do with Nigel, but we’re finally over the bump in the road. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Love. ♥

Perhaps you’ll recall that Don and Enzi like to play a game called frozen in the snow. Way back when, we promised to share the audio component of the game with you.

Without further ado, here it is. It’s called hubba. Goodness, she’s a vicious diva. ♥

 Our sedum flower heads are beginning to color up.

They’re stunning with yarrow… one of my summer favorites. ♥