Donkeys and happiness...

Jingle has settled in wonderfully. In fact, I think it is safe to say that she the leader of the herd. In this picture Abraham in on the left, Jingle on the right, and Sarah in the rear. Jingle does not answer to her name, or even flick an ear when I call it, so we have taken to calling her Jezebel. She ignores that, too, but we rather like it. She is wildly excited when every other day each donkey gets a bowl with 1/2 cup of vitamin and mineral supplement pellets.  These are designed to promote good health and sturdy hooves.  Her hooves are fine at the moment. The farrier was out last week and pronounced her sound. Meanwhile, Sarah and Abraham's feet were not as wonderful as they were on his last visit. He wants me to start rubbing Vick's Vaporub on them once a week. I need to buy a tub of the stuff. Sarah is supposed to be getting medication every day, but hates it, and we have to chase her. And chase her. And chase her some more. It takes more than one person. Sometimes I have to call in a dog. Many times I fail altogether. She is smarter, faster and stronger than I am. It's maddening. I have starting making her wear a halter all the time, to help me catch her. It does not help much as she can easily wrench her head away from my grasp and take off, bucking. 

I found a man that would deliver hay and on Saturday we put 100 bales up in the garage. This makes me wildly happy, because it means the goats and donkeys have a winters worth of hay stored.The spring and early summer have been so wet, I suspect hay will be expensive and hard to find this winter. I have 40 more bales at a friends farm, and we will start getting it soon and adding it to the stash.

Sister Deb came to visit for the weekend. Saturday we went to Arts in the Park in Camden, where booths of amazing crafts were displayed before incredible views of the picturesque harbor. I put a few Christmas gifts up, and we bought lobster to bring home for supper from a local fish market.  Deb made these delicious appetizers, with fresh Maine crab, sushi rice, mango, diced cucumber, a spicy saucy topping and toasted sesame seeds.

I made garlic studded focaccia bread. Rachel and Evans joined us for the feast.

Chris cooked the lobsters to perfection, but I failed to take a picture.  There is something so nice about eating a messy meal like that at our rustic picnic table. We had a fire dancing in the fire ring, and there was a lovely breeze. The goats and donkeys cavorted in the pasture. We had music and conversation. These are the summer moments I treasure.

When Deb left this morning she gave me a long hug. "I'm glad you are happy," she said. And what more can be spoken? Isn't that the wish we have for everyone we love?