Time Flies When You’re Hugging Donkeys

You know, in recent years, February has been a very unexpected month for me. I mean aside from everything else, February, by its very nature, is the sucker-punch of the entire year. On top of that, in 2012 it brought me this unexpected house and in 2013, well, these guys…

You might remember that I was totally unprepared for them. The barn looked like this…

It was, like today, approximately negative one-million degrees outside. And I had to haul a few thousand pounds of bricks out of the barn to build a stall. Here it is (plus chicken coop, minus donkeys where they actually belong) a year later…

On one hand, it’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole year. On the other hand, I kind of feel like I’ve been on the receiving end of these donkey hugs forever.

I know this is going to come as an absolute shock to anyone who has spent more than five minutes on this website, but I have been known to, on occasion, ah, overestimate the amount of shit I can handle. Both figuratively and literally, actually. (That’s farm life.)

Once I started adding farm animals into the mix, my entire focus changed on the property. The last year has been so much less about doing fun projects around the house (I realize I’m lumping 18 hours of floor-sanding into the “fun” category there, but you get what I mean… ) and more about getting the foundation of the farm in place.

That meant so much work on the littlest barn on the property.

A new roof…

The barn stall…

The big chicken coop…

The hay loft…

The new doors…

And the fence. Dear god, the fence…

And Doc, who, bless his heart, manage to thwart my fence-building/containment attempts at every turn.

Seriously, donkey?

I’ll be honest, part of what I love about the donkeys is that they can basically outsmart me at every turn…

Also, just these faces…

Just. How do you not…? You kind of have to love them on the spot.

Truth is, it hasn’t been all easy. There was the dragging incident.

And the many escapes.

I haven’t found a farrier that will come to the farm just to trim donkey hooves, which means I’ve been muddling along on my own, and not feeling great about it considering these little guys have faltered before.

But, I’ve learned. I know how to treat rain-rot, and ticks, and scrapes. I learned how to bid (and win) at a farm auction.

I’ve also learned that there’s nothing better than donkeys in hats.

Unless it’s a donkey selfie…

Or, frankly, the definition of the term “smart ass”. He is literally sticking his tongue out at me…

So, not easy, but what I’m saying is… definitely worth it. Like pretty much everything else that comes with life on the farm. And I wouldn’t have rather spent my time this last year any other way.