By 
And we’re back in business! It has been ten days of ups and downs. Moldy hay gone – check. One hundred bales of straw moved under shelter – check. Then revamp plan to include some hay … so … 20 more bales piled into a truck and also stored safely under shelter … Cha – ching! Quite a few dollars later we are now onto Meal Plan number … oh heck! I can’t possibly remember how many times over these past seven years I have learned that I needed to change something.
It sure has been important to be able to talk to the Donkey Sanctuaries in both England and Canada. Great tips for how I could transition our jennies from their diet of timothy hay … too much timothy hay … to mostly straw. Each morning they are getting some grass hay. I’m measuring it out to be about 1% of their ideal body weight. That means about 2 pounds for Rosie and Bella and about 4 pounds for Darby. They sure are glad to see that hay flake heading their way!
At first they balked at the straw. But over the past four days they’ve gradually developed a taste for it. I am giving them fresh flakes of it throughout the day. I’ve been so relieved to see them munching on a good mouthful. The goats seem to have decided they’d like to chew on that as well. Keep your fingers crossed … we may have a new system that will work for us. It does mean that our hay needs to come from a farm that is farther away than our neighbour… and it also means that we’ll need to store it here. If I can find square bales that will work …
Last week was a busy family gathering. Our crew has a number of July birthdays that all fall together. James and his family rented a cottage in our area that brought us all together for his 40th birthday. Kate and Corey were up from Philly, and Simon and his girls arrived as the girls were beginning a week of Gramma Camp here with us. The ‘little cousins’ had a chance to play together. Some lovely memories were made that week.
I am still pinching myself to find that “I” am one of the grandparents! Our kids are the middle-aged layer and THEIR kids are the kids. Boy that happened quickly. So many blessings to reflect on those evenings…
This week then rang in the first of three Gramma Camps planned for this summer. My junior farmers were back! They sure are growing up these two juniors. Each morning as we headed out to the paddocks I was blown away by how quickly the chores were done – I’d barely turn around before the girls had all the manure raked up and Kyla had driven it away in the tractor. The jennies all enjoyed lots of extra brushing time – and we all took turns distracting Goldie while the new hens made friends. Lexi renewed her friendship with the goats – and had some great wrestling matches with May-May.
Our visit was not ALL work – we did manage to spends LOTS of time at the beach swimming and eating ice-cream. Love that our beach has an ice-cream shoppe right there. A perfect combination in my mind! We sang and played our way through Beatle songs – celebrated another birthday – played some ping pong and darts (not at the same time) – and swam some more.
Hello summer!
The Meadow View 
So much summer happiness in your wonderful photos. Lovely time.
We sure do appreciate our summers around here!
Glad Bella is feeling better. They all look like they have lost some weight, but that might just be their winter coat thinning out. We are mid winter now and I can’t wait till we claim summer back from you. You all look like you are having a fabulous time – enjoy. Lots of pats to those in need. Laura
I know what you mean about the ‘slimming down’ look … I think it is partly their shedding of their winter coats but ALSO I’m thinking there is a certain amount of bloating that goes along with eating grass all day. This next week’s project is to begin the process of measuring them each week to monitor their weight levels.