Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Facelift and Fruititarians

You probably thought the facelift pertained to Herself - which is certainly understandable when you've seen her first thing in the morning but no, our barn is being spruced up before winter. A personable young woman and her dog, Abby, have been hard at work, scraping and painting away, with lots of supervision and advice from us, of course.


When we saw them arrive we rushed over and greeted them (the Woman says swarmed) and tried in every way possible to help out. Jack arranged her hair, I stared deep into her ear and Doc and Molly made off with her coat and gloves. Molly offered to drink the paint and Jack and I offered to kill Abby - nothing personal, you understand, we just operate that way. We two donkeys then spent the morning running the fence line with Abby on the other side keeping pace. When the Woman arrived and patted Abby, Jack burst into a chorus of outraged bellows, accusing her of fraternising with the enemy.


On the coyote front, the male human discovered the fearless duo from last week, this time at midday Saturday, tucking into the fallen and fermenting pears on the lawn like so many prime oysters. They regarded him with mild interest and stepped behind the tree in the belief he could no longer see them. He ran to get the noxious spray but when he returned, they were too far for him to take action. I don't know...when did the world become a place where carnivores round out their diet with fruit? It might explain why the rabbit population around here is still so high. Or maybe the coyotes, like the crows, have discovered the inebriating powers of decaying fruit. Yes. That sounds more likely.

8 comments:

billie said...

Sheaffer, how nice that you are having your home spruced up!! I need to be doing the same thing here but, as usual, I will recite my mantra... it's on the list...!

Those coyotes are very curious.

Gazelle said...

Sheaffer and Jack,
I'm sure the Woman appreciates your dilgence in protecting the barn from the perceived threat of the visiting Canine, but as you must have realized by now poor Abby is a fine and gentle Dog not unlike your own esteemed Penny.

You really ought to be focusing your efforts on those two pear thieving Coyotes before they attempt to help themselves to something (or somebody !) more precious. Please keep a good watch over Miss Sally at all times.

Dougie Donk said...

I am intrigued by the concept of wild dogs, which we do not have here in Scotland.

Are they like Jack Russell Terrorists? If so, I have found that a concerted charge with one's ears pinned back against the head is guaranteed to make them run in fear. Could your woman join in ? That would make it more like the charge of the Barbarians...

We have also had our rooms tidied up for the forthcoming winter. I do NOT approve, as my carefully arranged boudoir was steam cleaned & the bedding completely replaced with new wood pellets.

My stash of midnight snacks has been consigned to the muck heap! Woe is me!!!

ponymaid said...

Billie, the coyotes are a force unto themselves. I'm afraid that now our barn is spruced up, they will want to take it over as their headquarters . Jack and I can only chase so many at a time...

ponymaid said...

Gazelle, Jack is curiously focussed on "bumping off" Abby the dog. He says there as many coyotes as fallen pears and that we have to choose our targets carefully. Sally is such a homebody that she spends all her time around the barn, most of it in her ploofy bed. Violet is being confined to the house much of the time and the humans claim to be bleeding from the ears as a result of her protests.

ponymaid said...

Dougie, yes, the coyote are canine guerrila terrorists. They are hairy and cunning and know enough to stay out of our paddock. Short of painting her face blue and wielding a primitive spear I fear the woman is powerless. They simply laughed at her feeble attempts to repel them last week. Keep a close watch on your room renovations - humans can be very sneaky about changing things when you're not looking.

Buddy said...

Hay Sheaffer - getting the barn spruced up - how nice - I wish I had a barn that needed sprucing!

Love the pics of Jack - he looks very healthy and shiny!

Its getting cold here at night - in the 40's - 90's during the day. I'm getting my winter coat already - not thick and fuzzy but lighter - I get cream colored in the winter - my golden is leaving - and its making mom very sad - she loves her golden boy - well she loves my cream coat too!

So the coyotes are a bunch of drunks - who would of thought that??

Take care my fren!

ponymaid said...

Buddy, the "House of Sheaffer" as Herself calls it, is looking quite refreshed. Molly is becoming more golden by the day but loses her dapples in winter. How I envy you your 90 degree days - it is beautiful here but distinctly fall-like, especially at night when it goes down close to zero. The coyotes have polished off the fermenting pears and have no doubt gone in search of further alcohol-laden foodstuffs. Barbarians.