Morning Bray Farm

February 4, 2014

Whispering donkeys

Posted by Morning Bray under Dogs, Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: art, Bernard, Christine, Ellsworth, Garybuie, pet portraits, Whisky |
[5] Comments

Imagine my delight when I visited our blogging friend Christine’s site – Garybuie – last week to find this:

Drawn by Christine from this photo of Bernard and Ellsworth taken back in 2010:

And this:

Also drawn by Christine, from this photo of Whisky taken last year:

Beautiful, right? Christine is self-taught, and has discovered that animals are her forte since fur and feathers satisfy her love of detail. How I wish I had even fraction of Christine’s talent.

If you would like to commission a portrait of your pet, you can email Christine at garybuie@btopenworld.com.

♥

January 28, 2014

Gettin’ artsy

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Farm | Tags: art, Don, Grace, Harriet, ice sculpting |
[29] Comments

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

~Aristotle

As you know, it’s been cold here these last few weeks. The Boyz have all been fine, but to help keep weight on Gracie and Harriet, we’ve supplemented their hay with equine senior mash a couple of times a day.

Gracie gets two cups and Harriet gets three. It’s easy enough to tell whose bowl is whose by how much is in it, but Don decided to get artsy for the girls.

Pretty bowls for pretty girls. Sunflowers for Grace (Don prefers calling her by her original name) and hearts for Harriet.

Don also thought he’d try his hand at ice sculpting:

We’re ready for spring.

♥ ♥ ♥

January 23, 2014

We’re having an arctic blast!

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Virginia | Tags: Arctic blast, donkeys, donkeys in snow, snow, Winter Storm Janus |
[24] Comments

We had our first measurable snowfall here on Tuesday.

The Boyz, Gracie and Harriet seemed to take it all in stride. For anyone who remembers that Ellsworth was getting chunky, doesn’t he look good now?

The herd did a good job of keeping themselves warm and safe and dry.

Originally from Death Valley, California, Nigel despises getting wet. That aside, isn’t he incredibly handsome? He still takes my breath away.

I wonder why everyone else wanted to pack themselves into the other stall. Maybe it’s warmer that way?

♥ ♥ ♥

January 22, 2014

Have you ever seen a goat impersonate a beaver?

Posted by Morning Bray under Goats, Virginia | Tags: goat, hiking with goats, Maury River, Meggie, Meggie Moo |
[21] Comments

As the crow flies, we live about a mile from the Maury River. Monday’s weather was beautiful, so we decided to explore the woods around our house with the goal of finding the river.

We found it!

You are witnessing Meggie Moo’s very first time on a riverbank:

Evidence of otters?

Evidence of beavers?

I kid you not. We then turned around to see the Moo doing this:

I suppose she thought the beaver was on to something…

Moo had plenty of exploring to do:

And lots to smell:

What a wonderful day.

♥

December 29, 2013

Happy Birthday Harriet

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkeys, Harriet, Harriet's birthday |
[23] Comments

We celebrated a year with Harriet last week.

I believe this is what you call a “strawberry smile”:

And notice the totes adorbs blackberry kiss on Bernard’s nose:

The move from Albuquerque to Lexington seems to have had an overall positive impact on Gracie. She has really come around these last couple of weeks:

Even Meggie Moo was invited to the party:

Happy birthday to our beautiful donkey girl with her soulful eyes:

♥ ♥ ♥

December 24, 2013

Does a goat hike in the woods?

Posted by Morning Bray under Goats, Virginia | Tags: Does a goat hike in the woods?, goat, hiking with goats, Meggie, Meggie Moo |
[25] Comments

December 22, 2013

Welcome to Virginia

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Virginia | Tags: Donkey colic, donkeys, Gracie, Harriet, Lexington, Virginia |
[25] Comments

We’re here and everyone is safe and sound.

Gracie coliced last week, but appears to be doing well now. We found a local equine vet who is coming out to meet the herd on Friday, and will visit who we hope will be our new hay supplier tomorrow.

Harriet has been the only one to bray since we arrived. I think everyone is still adjusting, but the herd seems to settle in a little more each day. I caught Nigel and Patrick playing “traffic cone” yesterday morning, which brought a smile to my face.

♥

November 6, 2013

Our next adventure

Posted by Morning Bray under Farm, Virginia | Tags: adventure, Charlottesville, Lexington, moving, Virginia |
[46] Comments

I suppose it’s finally time to spill the beans. In just a few short weeks, Don and I, the dogs, the donkeys and Meggie Moo are moving to Virginia.

It certainly wasn’t an easy decision. New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment! There is so much we will miss about this ruggedly beautiful state and the original Morning Bray Farm. We’ll have a heckuva lot of people to miss, too.

We’re moving east to be closer to our parents, other family and old friends. We’ve chosen the Charlottesville area as where we’d like to establish the next Morning Bray Farm.

In the interim while we get the lay of the land, we’ve found the perfect farm to rent in Lexington, Virginia.

The dogs will have a picket-fenced yard and the donkeys will have almost eight acres of gently rolling pasture with a brand new barn. As she does here, Meggie Moo will run the place.

We’re both excited and terrified, and we’re looking forward to our next adventure in the Old Dominion State.

♥

October 17, 2013

I hate those meeces to pieces!

Posted by Morning Bray under Dogs | Tags: dog, Kassie, lying in wait |
[12] Comments

She’s always hunting. Kassie lying in wait for a mouse last night.

♥

September 25, 2013

In the land of skunks, he who has half a nose is king – the donkey version

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: de-skunking, donkey sprayed by skunk, donkeys, skunk solution, skunk treatment, skunks |
[25] Comments

The Morning Bray Farm skunk chaser could have warned him, but we know Buck’s curiosity at seeing a skunk for the first time would’ve prevailed anyway.

At some point Sunday night or very early Monday morning, Buck crossed paths with a skunk. When Don and I ventured out in the dark for chores on Monday morning, I smelled “skunk” and thought that it had just sprayed somewhere nearby. It wasn’t until I went home at lunchtime that I realized Buck had been skunked. He showed no signs of distress.

On Monday afternoon, we were de-skunking our little Buckaroo.

Eau de skunk covered his muzzle and neck. Pee-yew!

Thrilled that for once he wasn’t the one in trouble, Bernard couldn’t resist some heckling:

Buck took his de-skunking in stride, though. He’s such a beautiful, good boy:

And at least we now see him before we can smell him.

♥

If you ever need a skunk treatment recipe, here’s ours:

Combine one quart peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda and one tablespoon dish liquid. Wash ~~dog~~ donkey with solution, let sit for a few minutes, then rinse.