This, That and A Happy Donkey Story

I have been somewhat incommunicado, owing to the revolting and ongoing illness of Herself. She has been in the grips of a plague-like flu for over a week and we have had the great pleasure of seeing much more of the male human. He is a very liberal hand with the foodstuffs and of course presented us with a large container of Stud Muffins on Christmas day.

We saw nothing of the Woman for three days and when she appeared it was not a sight for sore eyes but a sight to make eyes sore. She looks overcooked, underwashed and even worse dressed than usual. Her breathing sounds like a wooden sailing ship in full flight before the storm. She crackles and pops and wheezes, often far too close for a donkey's comfort. I am trying to remain civil but the strain is beginning to tell.

Meanwhile, we have heard that Gazelle, who is my assistant here on the blog, has officially become Simon Donkey's sponsor at the sanctuary. Simon is very pleased to have his own person to see to all his needs and his first move was to acquire a tartan blanket. He and O'Sullivan have been honoured with the gift of Tabi's stall for shelter on cold winter nights and they appear to be suitably awed. O'Sullivan has his own tartan blanket and they look like two old Scottish gentlemen imbibing their bowls of haggis when they go in at feed time. Hard to believe where their lives are now compared to a year ago...