I had to go into town for a spell and on the way home, I noticed that not one snow flake was falling in Laporte. BUT….the closer I got to my house off of Waverly Rd, the snow started to lightly fall. By the time I got home, there was an angry snow storm in full swing. I swear there is an evil plan to dump snow over our farm just to make me miserable along with cranky animals!! And just for your info (as if you all didn’t know this already) guess who is standing at the gate in all this snow staring at the house??!! Yep, the mountain goat who was fed before I went into town 3 hours ago! Sheesh, you would think her feet would be frozen!
Category Archives: Dunkay the Donkey
Stir crazy animals!
My poor animals are so barn crazy! The back llamas haven’t been out for a month now. Although we keep the front door open a little so the others can go outside to stretch their legs if need be, the only animals or shall I say, animal, that comes out for more than 30 seconds is Sierra the staring goat! And she does what? Stare at the house…waiting, watching, stalking, plotting. As a matter of fact, there is a tiny trail going from the barn to the gate. Those are her tracks. No other hoof prints anywhere else by the other animals in the snow! Sometimes it feels creepy to have a goat watching your house 24 hours a day, everyday….waiting for you!
Snow? What snow?
For the last 24 hours all we’ve heard on the news is about this powerful snow storm heading our way with up to 24″ of snow and high winds over night! What do I see outside this morning when I got up? 5 foot snowdrifts? NO! Wind swept pastures with sheets of blowing snow giving us white out visibility? NO! It is sunshine galore out there! Not a cloud in the sky! We spent hours yesterday getting the animals ready for riding the storm out. We shut them in the barn, gave extra grain, plugged holes that we discovered from the last storm, spreading more straw. I gave them all a lecture about being nice to each other while cooped up in a tight spot and few a warnings along with finger pointing (Sparky) for a more dramatic effect if anybody nips at the other! I have trapped animals who I’m sure are very unhappy by this time of day and I’m the one who will be opening up the barn door! That means I have to slowly, carefully slide it open as I stand sideways so I don’t get trampled as they gallop for freedom! As soon as they gulp in the crisp fresh air, shaking off the barn dust they will realize that I’m in the barn and they’re not! That means they all run BACK into the barn to pounce upon the food that I was trying to sneak out before they realized it! IF I’m lucky, I will be in the back pen with the girl llamas and Stormy feeding them before the troops raid the barracks! sheesh!!
The Sliding Donkey
We have a small hill by the garage that faces the barn and the animals like to eat the grass up there. Well it’s been snowing allot making the pasture very icy. The horse and donkey droppings have now become hard rocks that stick up like tiny mountains hiding under the snow to trip me. Any who….Dunkay was pawing for grass under the crusty blanket on the slanted side of the hill, ignoring me since I didn’t have any grain in my hands. I yelled out to him, “Dunkay, what ya doing up there” he turned and looked at me, he then proceeded to come down so he could greet me, his favorite human. Because of the ice, he started to lose his footing, sliding towards me with his legs doing the cartoon act, you know where you all you see is a circle of legs going around and around but they aren’t moving? I’m standing there watching him slide towards me, no traction under his hooves that are pumping thinking a hundred thoughts per second like, “oh no, do I run? Do I try to stop him? Will he knock me down if I can’t move away fast enough? Is he going break a leg? Is he going to die? Am I going to die? Where’s Chad when you need him?!” I spread my legs a bit, bend down a little and put my arms out, sorta like a baseball catcher, only in pink, hoping to catch a 300 pound donkey. What am I nuts? I come to my senses within seconds and step aside and let him slide past me. After he got his footing, he looked at me with a grin on his face! I believe he actually enjoyed himself!
Starting The Farm
When Chad and I started our little farm almost 5 years ago, we were as green as green gets! Chad did have a few years growing up on a farm when he was a boy. My dad was born and raised on 48 acres raising dairy cows in Kansas. Every summer my folks would pack up us kids and we would spend 14 fun filled hours in a car driving to KS to visit relatives and get some farm experience! Well, even thou my father hated farm life, it must have rubbed off on me because as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of having horses and other critters! Unfortunately, life does a detour forcing your dreams to take a back seat until the time is right. My time came when the Lord opened a door for us to live on a llama farm that was already well established in Laporte. Our first 2 Llamas were given to us by dear friends, I had our horses, Laci & Sparky on ‘lay-away’ until I could pay them off (yes you really can put a horse on lay-away!). Chad and I started this adventure together even thou some family members objected. We both felt like it was God’s will for us to start our own little farm, making it a blessing for young family’s with little ones. Our herd has grown from 2 llamas and 2 horses up to 4 llamas, 1 alpaca, a donkey, 2 goats, our original horses, various chickens, 3 quackers and too many barn kitties, not to mention the escaped bunnies who are now helping the wild rabbit population go from basic brown to funny spots and droopy ears! We talk quite a bit about how different things could have been for us when the kids were growing up if we had the farm 14 years ago with all of Gods creatures, big and small a few feet away. I am so blessed to be here and I try not to take what God has given us for granted. I’m looking forward to sharing all this with many grandchildren. We hope to be the fun grandparent’s that are considered cool and have the ‘must-go-to’ place in the eyes of a child! A home where the next generation will always be safe, happy and drama free! We both desire that the days with Baba and G-pa, imprint sweet memories in the hearts of all our grandkids for years to come!
llamas in the wrong place! (wrote on nov 6th)
Oh what a wonderful morning! The first thing I usually do is open my curtains to spy on the animals to see if they are being naughty or nice! This morning they have decided to be naughty! I see Sweetie our black Llama in the front field, where she is NOT suppose to be! NOT A GOOD SIGN! I quickly get dressed and run out the non-stop swinging door, which I seem to be doing allot lately. I can now see Sparky, the Tank and Dunkay in the Llama field, a very bad sign. I don’t see our boy Llama Stormy, Sammie or Lincoln, an ‘Oh NO’ sign! I sprint to the barn where I hear two Llamas fighting and Lincoln my Alpaca is now running to the back field screaming…I didn’t know Alpacas can scream! It’s an eerie sound, nothing like their warning call. In the barn are two full grown male Llamas that out weigh me by 150 pounds each, fighting, making sounds that would make a grown man stop and back away praying that they don’t see him! I have to form a plan, quickly. Do I let them fight their way out of the barn or do I yell like a crazy lady waving my arms outside where people can see me? I yell. They both stop, look at me, look back at each other, then back at me. I swear they both had a look of amusement on their faces. After sharing a laugh between themselves, they decided to go back doing what boy Llamas do best…fight. I gave up. I trudged my way through the thick mud to the back field and chased 2 horses and a donkey back into their own pasture. Meantime Lincoln is in the corner of the fence panicking, wailing out his distress sounds. Both goats are in the barn hiding under the food bin and the kitties are going about cat business, they want to be fed…now! Stormy decided that he had had enough of Sammy and searches for Lincoln which got him out of the barn. He galloped over to where Lincoln was trembling then chased him along the fence. A grunting Llama with his head close to the behind of a screaming Alpaca! Oh where was my camera! While those two were running back and forth, it gave me a chance to herd both girl Llamas into the side yard with the promise of tasty grain. Lincoln runs back to the barn with an angry Llama snipping and spitting close behind! By the grace of God, I got Sammy & Lincoln into a pen (where the goats were hiding) and shut the gate to keep Stormy our boy Llama from biting them! Now I have 2 girl Llamas in one field, 2 horses and a donkey in another with an unhappy boy llama running from barn to pasture where his girls are. Now all I have to do is trick 3 Lamas into their own territory! HA! With a cup full of desirable grain, a slide of the hand on the gate, along with a few herding tricks that involves out stretched arms mixed with my own animal noises, they are back where they belong! I shut everybody into their rightful places and inspect for damage inside the barn. Not too bad, they didn’t consume all the grain, 2 hay bales were toppled, the chicken and cat food I left out last night had been eaten and only 2 piles of horse poop in the main area. I gave the horses their pills and fed chickens along with kitties, I scolded everybody for being bad boys and girls which doesn’t do me any good, they only stare back with a blank expression. I will keep a close eye on the herd today. If they worked the inside gate open once, they will surely do it again.
Chad chases horses back into barn!
I looked out the window and Laci the mini tank was standing outside the barn as Sparky stood half way in the barn door. Laci was standing, not moving a muscle, staring at the house. I didn’t think too much of it until I looked out almost 15 min later and they were both in the same spot. Now on a normal day I wouldn’t have cared…I would have shook my head and thought to myself, ‘what a couple of ding bats’. But the wind chill is MINUS 50 and with open fields all around us, the wind is blowing hard! I watched them for a few moments and noticed that Laci was moving one foot up, then another….duh….she’s cold! Go inside! But she stands there, switching feet slowly freezing to death! Well my farmer instinct kicks in and realize she might be A. frozen to the ground or B. the cold has made her mind as fuzzy as her winter coat and she can’t figure out how to get back inside the barn! So what do I do??? I tell Chad to go out and chase the horses back in (I’m not going out there, its too cold for humans!). My faithful hubby gets bundled up with a forced ‘Yes Dear’ smile on his face to chase horses back into a barn as the wind blows tiny ice particle’s onto his exposed face making it go from warm to frost bite in less than 4 seconds! I watched him trudge through the thick snow with a warm heart, knowing that my hubby loves me and that the horses will be saved from Mother Natures wrath! He got to the barn and what did those horses do? They ran opposite from the barn and into the pasture! Chad sort of chased them back towards the barn but they did a wide circle around him and stood there facing him…oh good, a stand off! I could see him shaking his fist at them and I’m sure he was using threating words as his skin turned from pink to a frosty blue. He finally gave up and did what I always do, trick them back inside with tasty goat grain! These horses will follow a hand full goat grain to the ends of the earth! After a few tense moments and a few snickers on my end, he got the horses back the into barn!! Good job honey!
Chad Chasing Horses in Blizzard!
lets see, what was the most fun today?? Oh yeah, this is good….I was in the house when I heard Chad yelling out my name over and over. I look out the window to see Dunkay running past the garage headed to back yard. I quickly put on my coat and hat that I just peeled off to find Chad chasing 2 horses and a donkey away from the open gate that leads to the road! I go around the Jeep and Dunkay is coming back to greet me, happy to be playing. Chad is running towards the other two as I sprint past him to guard the gate. He loudly calls out his famous “Yee Haw” farmer yell, encouraging both horses to run in the direction of the barn. It didn’t work, they circled around the half buried car and maple tree, eyeing the wide opening that leads to freedom. I spread out my arms and do my baseball catchers stance as they run in my direction! Following close behind is Chad, arms out stretched, stomping clumsily through 18″ of blowing snow in his green, heavy one piece winter suit! Oh the fun! I successfully kept them from storming the gate! Dunkay and I stood together watching daddy chase his sisters around and around!! After about 5 min, the horses had enough of the blizzard and went back to the cozy warmth of the barn! Chad now panting, grumbled under his breath as I walked past him with Dunkay putting him in the barn with no problem. WOO-HOO!
Dances With Horses!
Dancing with horses is my new winter fun past time! All I need is a thick patch of ice and a horse with stubby little legs who makes up dance steps along with me. Laci the min tank, is a great partner! I slide to her, she slides past me. I grab for her mane as I skate on past, she does the splits. I twirl around trying to hang onto icy fur, she throws her head into the air as her hooves run without moving. After about 40 seconds of our dance, we both stand completely still, afraid to move. I look at her, she at me, each of us waiting for the other to move first. I roll my eyes, take a deep breath and try to move along side her, using her wet back as my brace on the ice. I got past my dance partner and carefully step towards the barn where Dunkay is standing watching the show. He comes trotting out with his ‘play time’ look in his eyes and trots towards me. This girl is not going to dance with a donkey. I turn around and go back to the house, no more dancing with animals!
Talking Goats
Okay…this was weird. I went out to feed everybody (their favorite past time) and the goats were in the far corner away from all the other animals, not unusual since they don’t like anyone else and keep to themselves. I noticed they were facing each other, almost nose to nose making soft grunting and baaaing sounds back and forth…like they were ‘talking’ to each other. They were so deep in ‘conversation’ that I didn’t want to break-up their special moment. So I stood there watching with a smile on my face silently kicking myself for once more forgetting to bring the camera out with me. I didn’t get to awwwww every long, Dunkay butted me from behind and the mini tank made sure I saw her, all of her. Apparently the other animals don’t think it’s as cute, they want to eat…..now.
ONLY AT ADDIE ACRES 