Friends and Family

Archived Posts from this Category

March 18, 2010

Our sentinel

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Farm, Friends and Family | Tags: contest, donkey, Ellsworth, Morning Bray Farm, sentinel |
[25] Comments

First, our contest winner, of course! Congratulations to C in WI, whose name was pulled out of Don’s hat. She’ll be seeing a Morning Bray Farm travel mug in her mailbox very soon.

C in WI Says:
March 16, 2010 at 5:39 am

I love my morning whiskery kisses!

Thanks to all of you for celebrating with us. We had so much fun reading all of your captions!

Our sentinel

In addition to being the gentle soul that he is, Ellsworth has established himself as the sentinel here at Morning Bray.

He’s always the first to spot everything…

…and anything.

He’s steadfast and refuses to be distracted from his job.

So many words are appropriate to describe Ellsworth. To name just a few: loyal, constant, faithful. What an amazing boy. We absolutely love him.

March 16, 2010

Celebrating a milestone

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Farm, Friends and Family | Tags: Bernard, celebration, contest, Don, Morning Bray Farm |
[29] Comments

We’re celebrating our 50th post today – whoo-hoo! – and would love for you to join us. To commemorate our milestone, we thought we’d have a contest.

One lucky, randomly chosen winner will receive a Morning Bray Farm travel mug. To enter the contest, leave a comment on this post providing a caption for the above photo. The contest will close Wednesday at 7 p.m. (Mountain time) and we’ll announce the winner on Thursday.

By the way, we’re really having fun with this blog thing. Thanks to each and every one of you for visiting, making us feel welcome and of course, for all of your comments.

March 15, 2010

For George and Alan with love

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: Alan, Bernard, burros, donkeys, Ellsworth, George, traffic cones |
[17] Comments

This post is for George and Alan; the Burro Brothers, with love from Bernard and Ellsworth; the Donkey Boys.

Dear George and Alan,

Cone spring training started this weekend and we want you to know we’re your biggest fans.

You’ve set the bar high, which is why we’ll be working extra hard on things like strength training and eye-mouth coordination,

and cone carry techniques…

…because we want to avoid any dropped cones. Sorry Coach!

We’ll also be working on balance…

…and of course, flexibility.

You’ve inspired us to greatness. Here’s to a great Cone season!

With love,

Bernard and Ellsworth xx00xx

March 7, 2010

Sunday Cinema – The bell is ringing for Ellsworth

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family, Sunday Cinema | Tags: Bernard, donkeys, Ellsworth, farrier, feet, foot trimming, patience |
[21] Comments

Ellsworth had a huge breakthrough moment with the farrier yesterday. We’re so proud of him.

It was the very first time Shorty was able to trim Ellsworth’s back feet.

Ellsworth, we’re so proud of you buddy!

Like I said, this was a huge breakthrough for Ellsworth. Unfortunately, a couple of mishaps at the place he came from really had him freaked out about having his back feet touched. For those of you who initially followed Ellsworth’s story over at The 7MSN Ranch, you’ll remember that Ellsworth was “accident prone.” At one point, according to his previous people, he had a nail stuck in one of his back feet. To remove it, they tied a rope to his leg and let him kick until he got tired so they could take the nail out. At another point, he had barbed wire tangled around one of his ankles. So yes, he really was freaked out when anyone tried to touch his back feet.

We realized some pretty important things yesterday. We were reminded that we have so much to learn from our animals. These donkey boys have taught us more than I could have ever imagined about patience. Shorty has been absolutely wonderful about this too. He coached Don on working with Ellsworth and getting him used to having those back legs and feet touched. I have a lump in my throat right now just thinking about this transformation in Ellsworth.

So, Ellsworth is an old pro at this now. When it was Bernard’s turn, Ellsworth ran right over to comfort his best friend and to let him know it was alright.

February 26, 2010

Filling out

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: Bernard, Carson, Don, Farmgirl, goober, smile |
[12] Comments

Last week, Farmgirl asked about Bernard’s size. While we think that he probably won’t grow but another inch or two taller at the very most, he definitely has filled out over the last six months.

This is the very first picture we took of Bernard last August when he was a year old.

And here is our Goober today. We can’t imagine life without him. (Thank you to Aunt Linda who took all of Bernard’s “today” pictures last month.)

Bernard with Dad (Don)

Are you smiling?

February 16, 2010

Dad’s Little Grey Fergie

Posted by Morning Bray under Farm, Friends and Family | Tags: Don, Ferguson, Little Grey Fergie, tractor |
[7] Comments

This is Dad’s tractor. It’s a 1948 Ferguson TE20 (that stands for Tractor England, 20 horsepower).

They were manufactured in Covington, England from 1946 to 1956. Dad’s tractor is one of 15,000 shipped to the US and Canada at the beginning of 1948. The first US made TO20s (Tractor Overseas) rolled off the assembly line later that year.

He’s really excited about restoring it this summer. They’re known in England as the Little Grey Fergie. When Dad’s done, it will look like this:

February 14, 2010

Sunday Cinema – Donkey Driving

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family, Sunday Cinema | Tags: Carson, donkey, donkey whisperer, driving, horse, mule |
[5] Comments

Mom, Dad and Aunt Linda went to a driving clinic yesterday. Not driving as in cars, but driving as in donkeys, horses and mules.

Mom especially liked this donkey:

And this Belgian draft mule team:

As always, Mom says that Aunt Linda is donkey whisperer. There wasn’t a single equine that she didn’t stop to converse with.

February 13, 2010

Saturday Parts – Contrast

Posted by Morning Bray under Farm, Friends and Family, Saturday Parts & Stuff | Tags: barn, blizzard, contrast, geese, Horsegirl |
[6] Comments

Perhaps we should change the name to Saturday Parts “and Stuff”.

What a contrast this week. This was our view:

Geese flying over the barn at Morning Bray Farm

And this was the view of our friends and family back east:

Bird in a Virginia Blizzard; Picture by Horsegirl

Here’s hoping that some of our weather heads their way soon.

February 4, 2010

Dad knows the way to Mom’s heart

Posted by Morning Bray under Friends and Family | Tags: crushed red pepper, Don |
[10] Comments

Mom loves cooking with crushed red pepper these days. The more the better. Since she’s been going through those dinky McCormick jars like nobody’s business, Dad brought her a surprise.

Behold three and three-quarters pounds of red pepper. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?

January 27, 2010

The Morning Bray brand

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Farm, Friends and Family | Tags: Morning Bray Farm brand |
[9] Comments

While Dad grew up on a farm, living at Morning Bray is a dream come true for Mom. You see, Mom grew up wanting to be Dian Fossey, live on a farm and have a bazillion four-legged children.

Once they moved to Albuquerque, it took them a while to decide what to name the farm. Once we were both here, Mom quickly decided on Morning Bray for obvious reasons. A few days later, Dad surprised us all with our new brand. We were so excited!

Then one December day, Carson gave Mom a wonderful surprise. An updated version of our brand. With donkey ears! Our brand was now alive and official. As a matter of fact, we owe a lot to Carson. Not only did she bring our brand to life, she helped Mom and Dad bring Ellsworth home, she hooked us up with an excellent vet and an amazing farrier, and she was there every time Mom called with questions.

Donkey hugs and kisses to Aunt Linda.