Playing

Even when I don't think we are playing, Wendigo thinks we are.  She loves to play carry the hose or bucket as we fill water bowls, and playing at raking hay is her most recent joy.  Playing round up the chickens is fun at breakfast, and she's getting pretty good at catching the grains out of the air as I pitch them for the chickens, although chickens don't seem to enjoy games as much as puppies.  

Rufus gets in the spirit of play.  He makes me a little nervous since his version of play seems to involve lots of stomping of feet.  When the dogs and I take a walk with him around the fence, sometimes we run as fast as we can on the downhill part, and he runs with us.  At least I think he's running with us, and not running at us!  I lifted Wendigo into my arms recently while we were taking our walk, and Rufus got so excited by this that he turned and kicked the fence with both back feet!  That's the first time I've seen him doing the classic double barrel donkey kick.  With a little help from me, he and Wendigo even figured out how to play tug of war!  

In a match between a young miniature donkey and great Pyrenees puppy, who do you think will win this game?  

Just look at all that mowed grass that we get to rake up for hay!  Wendigo was pumped.  My shoulders are going to look pumped after all the raking I've been doing.  

Newt enjoys the hay raking game too, and sneaks between the piles playing avoid the puppy.

Tag!  You're it!  

As I drove out of the driveway yesterday on my way to work, I took this photo of Brandon and Wendigo already busy fluffing the hay so it could dry and I could collect it when I got home.

Wendigo and I raked all the little hay piles onto tarps yesterday, and tugged them to the barn.  Hay can be really heavy!  We folded the tarps over the hay at night, to keep off the dew, and this morning spread the hay and fluffed it again so it can dry in the sun some more.  It smells wonderful, like green tea and summer time.  Brandon has plans to bale this hay, but I've been thinking that we need a place to just pile it out of the weather.  Something big, and open on the inside.  Something like a hay barn! Duh!

The three little chicks made their first foray out of the chicken coop yesterday.  As it got dark, two of them were struggling to find their way back inside, since they have to go up to go in, and I couldn't stand to watch them as they peeped and cried for their mother, so I scooped them up and put them inside.  The mamma was not happy about my assistance.  

Last night, as I lay in bed completely physically exhausted, I ran through a list of all the things I did yesterday, trying to figure out why my body was so tired.  No wonder!  Here's my list: 

1. Morning chores (unleash the chickens, top off chicken water bowls, feed chickens, feed cats, scoop litter box, feed dogs, dress myself, eat delicious breakfast that Brandon cooked- whew!)
2. Go to work (thank goodness for some down time, right?), gas up the car on the way.    
3. Go to co-op during lunch for shampoo and vitamins (plus about fifty dollars worth of stuff I didn't know I needed).  
4. Make the dreaded trip to the grocery store after work, but it had to be done, because we were out of butter and coffee, which is no way to live.   
5. After work chores (unload groceries, greet dogs and cats, clean donkey water bowl, fish kids toys out of the pool skimmer, top off pool water, check on baby chickens, collect eggs, take towels off the clothes line that have been hanging there all week -we must like our towels extra dry!). 
6. Rub essential oils on the donkey (I love that I can say that) and work on halter training
7. Walk dogs and donkey.  Work on leash training Wendigo.  Work on my patience. 
8. Rake hay, pull giant tarp full of hay (and a giant puppy) to barn yard.  This is why my body was so tired!
9. Drink a beer and stare at my beautiful hay pile sparkling in the sunset.  
10. Wipe down kitchen.  
11. Cook dinner (onions and peppers with ground beef in marinara with some weird green pasta made of vegetables).  
12. Catch baby chickens and put them in the coop, lock coop door.
13. Do yoga
14. Eat dinner and watch a show with Brandon, who got home way too late so we were both starving.  
15. Feed cats, feed dogs, put Wendigo in kennel/chicken coop.
16. Go to bed and wonder why I was so tired.
17. Sleep like a log, and open eyes before the alarm clock!