Wednesday, March 24, 2010

A Grand Day In

As expected, winter returned with a vengeance yesterday, armed with rain, wind, freezing rain and blobs of snow the size of my ears. Though like Lord Byron "nasty, brutish and short", this appalling weather will soon skulk off to make way for spring. At least I hope so...

Jack and I took one look out the door and presented a united front (well, rear, actually). We refused to budge from the shelter of the barn. We had the run of the barn, except for the tack room, which is unfortunate because we find that the most stimulating and diverting room of all. We had a huge pile of hay, a salt block, fresh water and some of my childhood toys that the woman keeps for sentimental reasons. We ate, drank, licked the salt block and prodded each other with the above-mentioned play things.

We were becoming somewhat bored when Herself appeared out of the gloom and proceeded with her chambermaid duties. We are selfless souls, Jack and I, and immediately began to help her in any way we could. We pressed ourselves on either side of her to show support, literal and moral. We stepped on the fork thing. We chewed on the wheelbarrow handles - actually, Jack gummed them. Then Sally joined us and mewed pitufully at the woman`s feet until she was picked up. Still, the woman seemed rather tense and distracted.

What she needs, we thought, is to be more thoroughly distracted. First I tried to roll in the newly cleaned rooms and Jack pounced on me. Then we reversed roles and I did the pouncing. Then Jack backed me into a corner and sat on me. I ran into his room and we began to spar over the halfwall. By now we had raised a tremendous amount of dust and had bedding spread liberally everywhere. The woman seemed to be taken by a fit of coughing. We could hear her but could not quite see her through the dust storm. Then Jack was inspired. He stood on his hind legs and planted one front hoof on the top of the partition wall whilst waving the other one dramatically in the air. I bit him on the fetlock and he made loud growling and grunting noises.

Of course you know what happened next. Herself rushed over, threw her arms around Jack`s neck and forced him to climb down. She simply can`t stand to see anyone have fun. Then, trying vainly to beat the dust out of her clothes, she announced she was going to the house for tea and some recovery time. We sighed and went back to our hay.

Today is sunny so we are in the paddock, helping her with the outside cleanup. She still seems rather peevish, so we are sticking close by, hoping to cheer her up.

7 comments:

billie said...

It sounds like there are two donkeys very ready for spring!

The carpenter bees are out in full force today, and the redbud up front is blooming. It won't be long before I start complaining about flies. :)

Wish you and Jack could beam down for an afternoon of dust rolling and donkey gymkhana.

Buddy said...

Hay Sheaffer - Oh my goodness - we had snow two weeks ago and last weekend the flies were out - so I'm sporting a fly mask. What is up with this crazy weather. The Mesquite Tree hasn't bloomed yet so that means more cold weather on the way - OMG - its been in the high 70's for a week. I do wish I had a fren to play with like you do - Jack is just the bestest fren to you! I saw my fren Cheyenne this evening - mom took me to her house for some grass - she has lots of grass growing out in front - so I have been going daily for a snack - YUMMY!

Your fren,

ponymaid said...

Oh Billie, how we would love to be beamed down your way! Back to zero degrees for the day tomorrow...Rafer and I could study the building techniques of those carpenter bees.

Buddy, you have your own Mesquite tree?? You lucky, lucky horse. We still have bare branches everywhere. Glad to hear you can visit your neighbour's place for a light green snack - keeps everything in order digestion-wise and is a morale booster to boot. Is this your girlfriend's house? I will remain silent as the tomb on the subject for fear of bodily harm.

South Valley Girl said...

Good morning Sheaffer:

I'm glad to hear that Spring is at least peeking around the corner in your part of the world. Our weather in New Mexico is doing its usual Spring flip-flop, one day sunny and warm, the next stormy and cold. But Spring has definitely arrived - the daffodils are in bloom and the Robins are back, it's official.


I've been following your posts over the last month or so, and it seems like all is well with you and your crew. I was horrified to read the "what is a Donkey for?" post - SUCH a lack of insight in that comment - and gratified to know that some Humans know how to make a safe haven for elder Donkeys in their golden years.

As for this morning... do keep up your efforts to assist and cheer Herself; I'm sure she's suffering from the Change Of Seasons Blues and needs more interaction with wise Donkeys like yourself and Jack to achieve peace and happiness. You already know how helpless Humans are - without constant Donkey supervision and assistance, our lives quickly descend into chaos, so I'm sure she will be pleased to have you constantly at her side.

Wishing you blue skies and warm breezes on this beautiful day -

Christina / SVG

ponymaid said...

Christina, SVG, thank you for your good wishes. As far as I can tell, the entire continent is having virtually the same stage of spring simultaneously. Very puzzling. I will look into it. In regards to the woman, I suspect the root of her malaise is mainly mud. She hates the stuff. Claims it tries to take her boots hostage and that Penny and Violet transport tonnes of it into the house daily. I wouldn't know as I'm never invited into the house. Keep us posted as spring unfolds in your area.

Gazelle said...

Great Penny pics ! Nice to see her enjoying a good dig. Nicer still that there's earth instead of snow for her to dig in. Wonder what she expected to find when she got to China ???

All she needs now is for Jack to come straighten her tail. It sure does coil tightly. I can see why he'd find it amusing to uncurl it and watch it snap back.

ponymaid said...

Gazelle, Penny is still en route to China, hopeful of arriving in the next year or so. Jack continues to be puzzled by the spring recoil mechanism in her tail. He feels it just isn't natural for anything to defy gravity like that. He continues to straighten it out...with predictable results.