Lake Country Long Weekend

What an amazing weather weekend for those on a three day break from a regular work week! We’ve had sun, lovely breezes, a few quick showers and the minimum of bugs. The road has been busy with people moving into cottages for the season. The flowers are blooming. The birds are singing – including the Thrasher who makes me laugh right out loud with the ridiculously beautiful variety of calls he has mastered.
The woods are getting leafier and leafier by the hour. We’ve taken down quite a few trees over the last two years and the donkeys have tromped down and chewed up many of the saplings and taller weeds. So it is still shady but breezy. And that means … fewer bugs.
When your ears are this big fewer bugs is a real treat! The donkeys have been enjoying the chance to hang out along the back fence row. It borders on the hay field. In past years it has just been too buggy by now for them to be up there except at night. Also the hill top is more open which makes for small little grassy knolls that they love to graze on. I’ve had to readjust my own thinking about how much hay to put out for them. Now that they have three different grazing areas they are more picky about the hay bales’ content.
In fact, I think they’re mostly eating from the hay bales when I am working around the hay barns. They love to clean up the grain on the floor and pick at the freshly exposed greens on the large bale. I really only need to put out a few bags and some fresh free piles and they’re happy for the day. I keep catching myself putting out a winters’ day portion!
And winter this is not!

It has been a lovely weekend – even if we are retired folk. I’ve had hours and hours to just sit and soak in the views. Bella and Rosie have had hours and hours of brushing. (There are still hours and hours of shedding coats on them both.) Today, yet again, I did everyone’s hooves with no fuss. Paco now lets me check all four hooves even when he is standing in the paddock with a jenny trying to edge him out of the way so she can show that her hooves are worthy of carrot rewards too! 😉
Hope you and yours have had a beautiful outdoor weekend too!
Hugs from the Meadow Mice