Why We Call Them...

Dirty Donkeys!

We have finally started getting some rain and that means it is the season of  the Dirty Donkeys! Donkeys love,love, love to roll in the dirt! Well, at least ours do so I am assuming all other donkeys do too. You all will have to excuse the glowing eyes,I forgot to turn off the flash. Bonnie and Clyde really are not zombie donkeys...honest!

Clyde is a nice bright white when he is clean. Now he is a lumpy ,clay pot gray! Bonnie does her share of rolling in the mud too, but it doesn't show up as bad on her spotted coat.

They share a feed pan always ,even though there are several out there they will always eat out of the same one. Bonnie and Clyde are very bonded and are never far from each other.

Donkey love..it is a sweet and dirty thing!

Fun

I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving!  Hubby made it home just in time for ours and will be home through Christmas so we are really happy about that! I don't think he has ever been home for both holidays since he has been working overseas.
 Yesterday we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival.We go every year but I can not get Hubby and the Boy to dress up for it!  I think they would both look great in a kilt! This was the last weekend  of the festival. I am glad we went yesterday because it is raining this morning. I thought I would share a few pictures with you...

This  one needs no explaining...! There are so many shops at the festival you can find whatever type of medieval  dress you want!

I love all the costumes! This is a group of faeries.

 A Lord and Lady...

 A Knight,a Lady and Maiden and possibly a pirate! Oh, can't forget my favorites, the Highlanders in the back round!

 This is the band Wine and Alchemy...

 They were very good!

I did not take these videos but found them on you tube.

 This is the group Tartanic. They play the bagpipes and drums and are very funny and have a lot of energy!

 This is one of the wedding chapels. Even with the heat and drought of summer it was still lovely.

 Pirates and a barbarian...

A highlander and  some friends...

 There was even a storm trooper there wearing a kilt! I wish I had gotten a picture of that.  There were so many great costumes and all kinds of performances! If you have never been and you live close enough to go you should ! I think next year I will make my self a costume even if the boys won't wear one...what do you think..a pirate..a lady..a barbarian....a fairy...What would you be?

Before and After

 Rascal is adorably all grown out and  wild looking . He kind of reminds me of an Ewok from Star Wars. Yes my sci-fi nerdiness shines through again! I would happily leave him that way but,and it is a big but let me tell ya, he gets to smelling like I can only imagine Chewbacca might have smelt like after the dip in the garbage compactor! One day I may make him a little Ewok hoodie....Rascal would happily wear it too because he loves to be dressed up...

  Since I am the only one who will bathe him I take him every so often to get all that hair shaved off!  Because, let's face it, men and boys do not care if the house they dwell in  smells like stinky dog! Let me set the scene if you will...

 Man and boy sitting on the couch watching some show involving shooting and exploding. Woman walks in and states,"Ewww,it smells like dog in here!" Man and boy both sniff and say,"I don't smell anything..." Boy leans down to scratch nearest dog and  lovingly says to said dog,"Don't listen to her,you don't stink." The Boy then shoots the woman a dirty look like she hurled the worst insult ever to said dog. Woman sighs,rolls eyes and walks away.

 He is still cute and he gets a lot more scratchins from me when I don't have to hold my nose!

Plus, it cuts down on the baths and me and Rascal both enjoy that because for some reason I smell more like a dog than he does after a bath and I have never met a dog who liked a bath! They work hard at building up that stink and don't appreciate us washing it all off!  Maybe I will get him a Santa coat.....till his hair grows back...just to amuse myself...besides Rascal really does like to wear clothes..honest!

Garden Dreaming

It is still unseasonably warm here. This fact is driving me crazy because I did not plant a Fall garden! I just keep thinking how it would still be going strong! Of course....the only way to have broken the rock hard, baked to a brick soil that was once my garden would have been dynamite! I mentioned this in passing one day and you should have seen The Boy's eyes light up! He was suddenly all about gardening! Something about a new explosive he would like to try out...! I do have a few things in my raised beds. I always plant fall tomatoes but have never manage to get red ones before frost, this year I may actually get a red one or two. Well,if I will quit picking them green and frying them up!

This kale is Blue Curly Scotch and it has survive all summer through heat wave and drought with very little care! It has produced like crazy and is still going strong.

I have lots of green tomatoes on my plants.I did not start my own seedlings this time so these are not heirlooms.

 I had planted some cabbages too but a rogue chicken decided to fly over the fence and eat them. That is OK ..I know who he is and soon it will be chicken killing time and he is marked for dumplings!

 The bunching onions really bunched! They all died down this summer but as soon as it cooled just a bit they exploded! I have no idea what type these are,when they were given to me I was simply told they are bunching onions.

 These onion seedlings are purple bunching onions and if they do as well as the white ones I will never be lacking for an onion!

It has been a tough gardening year no doubt. But when you have the need to grow things deep down in your soul you will find away! It may not be the garden that you dream of...it may just be a tomato in a pot but that is enough to keep you going till the next season...till you can sink your hands in the soil again. You gardeners know what I am talking about. My mind is full already of next years garden...seeds,compost..canning...sigh! I have seeds ordered...compost going...plans laid out and prayers ! Prayers for El Nino to go away..for Spring  rains and normal temps...for lots of goat poop for the compost! So are you garden dreaming already or is it just me?

Clyde ask...

Got a treat for a cute  dirty donkey?

The Birds

The flocks of Starlings  love to visit the big oaks around the house....all day..everyday. They are noisy and they make the acorns rain down. It really sounds like  hail hitting the roof of the shed and house!  And,let me tell you,it hurts to be rained on by acorns! You can also hear at the end of the second one a Banshee screaming. It really is not the Banshee even though I think it is probably close to her horrible wailing. It is just  Zippy in heat. Yes folks,that is the music of the barn yard these days,sounds of horror movies! I guess I am a day late and a dollar short  for a Halloween post! Oh,I forgot to add the howling of the coyotes every night but I don't have any videos of those! So enjoy my real life version of The Birds....

Back on the Farm Again

I am back! I had a wonderful trip with Texan! Since she already posted where and why we went I feel safe to say it too! We went to the beautiful Northwest corner of Arkansas. It was breath takingly beautiful as always! We timed it just right for autumns glory! As far as pictures go,this one is not even close to doing it justice!

When I got home I found I did not have a lot of scenic photos because we were taking pictures of properties we looked at up there mostly. Plus, we were having such a good time we really didn't think about taking pictures! Both of us lived in Arkansas as children,all you have to do is hear us talk to know that because that accent never leaves! Somehow, that place seems to be calling us home. I think if you ever make it to those mountains they will forever call you too.Texan described the feeling beautifully on her blog,she is more poetic that me!

You all know how it is,when you leave the farm it falls apart! While in the beautiful Ozark Mountains The boy calls to let me know my brand new dryer quit working!  Then the next day,"ummm, Mom, the well pump stopped working." Gee wiz ! You have got to be kidding me! All I could think of was  Drought=Dry well! The Boy can fix many things. Like the dryer which he got back running in no time after I got home. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with the water so I had him call out a well pump repairman.We can go without a dryer but we got to have water! Our little town has surprisingly a lot of things considering it is only about a population of 700. One of the things we do not have is a pump repairman. So we have to pay the extra for one to come out from about 45 minutes away. Well, this turned out to be not so bad! It was not the well sucked dry by this never ending drought! It was not the pump out either,even though it is about 60 years old. Nope,it was that the electrical line underground to the pump had broken somewhere. Considering it was installed 60 years ago...I can live with that! Mr. Repairman also confirmed that the well is around 300 feet deep and would have to have a 20 year drought to go dry and  it was probably fed off the lake! Insert middle age woman doing the happy dance here. I am going to be watering freely now let me tell ya! So...if your life is feeling boring or you think you don't have any adventures..just by a farm! Your life will be full of adventure and if you want to take it up a notch,just leave the farm for a few days and let the really big adventures start!