I think my creative muse slipped into my brain early this morning – woke me up hours sooner than usual – plonked me at my desk and served up project after project. He chose a good day to claim his ground … outside it snowed, then it sleeted … melted … rained … and then snowed and sleeted some more. The donk-a-lonks were happy to snooze in the barns to wait it out. By mid-afternoon the sun made an effort to break through. Setting the puddles free to run off before tonight’s chill could freeze them in their tracks.
I layered up with my rain gear, wool toque and torn and frayed winter gloves. Walking out to meet the herd was a sloshy mucky splashy affair. I wonder … can donkeys feel wet ground through their hooves? Or do they just notice when their fetlocks (ankles) get wet? In between showers they’d managed to eat up most of the hay I put out there this morning. (The hay in the lower paddock this past week is much greener – and I think tastier than that in the barn paddock.) Now that I tend to have bags of carrots in my pockets in the afternoon they are very attentive! Today I used them as a reward for being cooperative in getting their hooves cleaned. The lower paddock is an incredible improvement on last spring’s experience of knee deep grasses and water logged bog! It’s great to have the top of the sandy knoll for the feed bins and a straw bed while parts of the lower graveled areas dry up. We can enjoy a rainy day in that space!
Hope you had a chance to sniff a little spring in the air today too!
The Meadow View 