Ellsworth | Morning Bray Farm

April 2, 2010

Perfectly plum

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkey, Ellsworth |
[13] Comments

April 1, 2010

Tranquility

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, donkeys, drinking, Ellsworth |
[13] Comments

March 30, 2010

Dare you not to yawn

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkey, Ellsworth, sleep, yawn |
[18] Comments

Ellsworth is a yawner. When he wakes from a nap, he tends to go through a routine of yawning several times. And he does it with much gusto.

Yawn number one:

Yawn number two:

Yawn number three:

I just yawned. Look at that adorable post-yawn face and how scrunched his nose is.

And at the very end of each yawn, the cute upper lip. Have you yawned yet?

And then – and no, I’m not pulling your leg here – he has the nerve to go back to sleep.

And do cute things even in his sleep. Every time he exhaled, he blew a dust cloud with his nose.

Cross my heart these pictures are in chronological order. This is the first thing he did when he woke back up.

Did you yawn?

March 29, 2010

Sweet dreams

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, donkeys, dreaming, Ellsworth, sleeping |
[9] Comments

The boys have been so relaxed lately, it seems they’re horizontal half the time. They were really sacked out on Saturday afternoon and didn’t pay me a bit of notice when I went out to visit.

Sweet dreams for Ellsworth.

Sweet dreams for Bernard.

I often wonder what they dream about. I have no doubt that they do.

Rest assured that eventually Bernard was up looking at me and wondering why in the world I was laying on the ground in the pasture.

And, after completing a quick sentinel check, Ellsworth asked everyone to pipe down so he could return to his peaceful slumber.

March 26, 2010

Life is too short

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: Bernard, cute photo, Don, donkeys, Ellsworth, fun, life |
[19] Comments

Bernard’s official mantra:

Life is too short to take seriously. Really.

Most evenings as we’re doing chores, donkey boy has other things in mind. Case in point, here are three minutes in a typical Bernard evening:

Chase Mom or Dad as they’re scooping poop…

…stop to annoy Ellsworth…

…then stop to say hello to Dad to have a cute photo taken. You can never have too many cute photos.

Finish it all off by paying a surprise visit to Mom and knock her over as she’s kneeling on the ground to take a picture of Ellsworth.

Everyone thought that was funny. I thought so too because Bernard is right, life is too short to take seriously. Really.

March 24, 2010

Sometimes you just gotta wonder

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, donkeys, Ellsworth, grass stain |
[9] Comments

How does a donkey get a grass stain on the bridge of his nose? It was the first thing Don and I both noticed when we got home yesterday.

Sometimes you just gotta wonder what happens when you’re not around. In this case with the grass stain, it’s obvious who the responsible party is. Inquiring minds want to know how.

March 19, 2010

Ellsworth sets the record straight

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: coy, cute, donkey, Ellsworth, goofball |
[9] Comments

He can be totally cute and coy just like Bernard.

He can be a goofball too.

We love you buddy.

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 17, 2010

Scratch please

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, donkey behavior, donkeys, Ellsworth, scratch, The Donkey Sanctuary |
[8] Comments

…patting a donkey is not really viewed as a positive experience by the donkey. Donkeys do not pat each other, and therefore find it difficult to understand what patting means. Patting is very similar to swatting a fly or smacking the animal, therefore it is always best to scratch the animal as a reward for good behaviour.

-The Donkey Sanctuary. “Understanding Donkey Behaviour,” 2006

Ain’t that the truth. The boys love to be scratched.