Well…we were seriously considering walking a llama or two in the parade since almost all of LP county knows about Addie Acres. We don’t think the llamas would be able to walk that far on the hard road and thousands of folks yelling would probably freak them out.

So, for 3.5 seconds, I had this bright idea that we could walk Dunkay with an Addie Acres banner draped over both sides his of back! As soon as this bright light turned on over my head…I saw this black cloud come in like a tornado and sweep it away. This is the reality I was left with…

Chad and I are walking a sparkling clean Dunkay (yes, Super Farmer gave him a bath complete with bubbles and a rubber ducky that he ate) down the road. Dunkay has a cute Addie Acres banner that goes over both sides of his back. Chad has the lead and I’m walking beside them holding Chippie as he growls. We made the mistake by following a circus act with clowns that throws candy to all the kids. Within 30 feet of walking the parade, Dunkay, (who by the way is smarter than the average bear or famer) has figured out that there is candy flying over his head and landing within inches of his now watering mouth!! He breaks away from Chad and runs to a group of happy children with sticky fingers, chewing on the delicious food that Dunkay wants…NOW! The kids are delighted to see a donkey running towards them as Super Farmer runs behind him yelling for him to stop!

Oh a disaster is about to happen!

Dunkay doesn’t want to be petted, he wants to grab every piece of candy out of the hands of little ones! He starts with the smallest, the toddlers. He grabs candy out of their shaking hands, making them cry and run to mommy. Dunkay then turns to the other kids who are freaked out and throw their sweets to him to keep him away! They too turn and run to hide behind daddy. Dunkay is now doing his vacuum cleaner act, sucking up all candy, wrappers and all! Chad catches up with the naughty animal and apologizes to the line of angry parents with upset children cowering. He pulls him away back into line before the Herald Argus gets wind of the donkey terrorizing small kids! We walk another 40 feet when Dunkay realizes that there are two clowns within eye sight that throws candy to all the kids who have pockets and bags FULL of treats! He breaks away from Chad again and chases one of the clowns down the street as the poor guy throws candy at him to make him stop! Dunkay doesn’t want a few pieces, he wants it all! The last I would see, would be a clown running past all the floats, marching bands and tiny ballerinas with a donkey a nose behind him, mouth opening and closing like a machine, the Addie Acres banner flapping in the wind with Super Farmer right behind yelling at Dunkay to stop! I’m sure it would all be caught on camera to become a YouTube sensation with every news station in the WORLD showing clips of the circus clown being chased by a donkey and a guy yelling at the animal about not getting grain for a year!

That’s how I imagine our walk in the parade with Dunkay to go.

My neighbors, they either love us or hate us…no in between.

There is an older gentleman who walks his 2 adorable, tiny fluff balls past the farm every week. I’m not sure what kind of dogs they are because he usually runs past before my animals large and small, can see them, so the pups are a blur.  For some reason, he didn’t run past the farm…he walked them, on our side no less!! Well…that was his first mistake.  Biscuit our Pit, saw them and ran to the fence barking in his deep voice as Chippie and his high pitched, annoying Chihuahua bark, ran close behind. His two tiny puff balls saw our dogs running and thought they would show Biscuit and Chippie that they are not afraid of some big ol Pit, or a pipsqueak Chihuahua! They jumped, barked, squirmed, and strained on their leashes towards my dogs.

Mistake #2…he stopped to gain control of his puff balls. So that gave them the opportunity to run in circles around his legs barking. The poor guy. He has my 2 ding bats acting like rapid dogs at the fence, and his two smaller than cats, fluffy and puffy,  are playing cowboy and Indians by tying up his legs. He looked like a puppet master with his strings, working to untangle, separate the dogs and free himself as my pups are galloping back and forth yapping! He got himself free and dragged now 2 over excited fluffs down the street who were still straining against their leashes barking. He got as far as the pasture where the llamas were munching, when Lincoln our alpaca looked up, saw them now jogging past and yelled out his warning cry at them.  Yes…the tiny puffs got excited again and barked, strained, and circled. I think this guy falls in the  ‘ I hate that farm’ category.

Well, it’s a yard work day. This is how our typical sprucing up the farm day goes…

We spread mulch around the trees, plant new flowers, pick up loose sticks, rearrange porch furniture, mow the grass and chase animals out, around, into, and out again.

This is how our animals and feather friends see yard work day…

Newly spread mulch has been put down for the chickens and ducks! As soon as we walk away from a job well done, they all race to the fresh mulch with feathers flying and wings flapping just so they can peck away and scratch it to other parts of the yard where it doesn’t belong.  The beautiful flowers have been planted exclusively for Dillon…a gourmet snack! He eats every flower and plant leaving us with half eaten petals and chewed stems. The sticks that are now on the burn pile …off. The llamas are curious little buggers and take the branches off to see why we piled them up nice and neat to begin with. Laci is gorging herself on the freshly cut grass, eating until she’s sick which means an expensive vet bill is in the making.

The porch furniture…Dunkay…need I say more? Yep, it’s knocked over and now has permanent donkey teeth impressions embedded on each arm rest. So now it’s back to chasing animals into, out, around, and into again.  Chad and I usually stand in the middle of our yard looking at the damage with long sad faces as the llamas, Dunkay and Dillon do hoof high fives in the barn.

Good morning MC!

Ahhh, a crisp and clear morning with lots of sunshine and blue skies! The birds are chirping, as the flowers soak as up the golden rays on this beautiful Spring day. Perfect for an early morning jog!  Drivers nod and wave as they pass you by, your thoughts drifting to pleasant things…until you get close to ‘that place’!

Yep, there was a young woman out enjoying her early morning jog on what she thought was a picturesque country road, enjoying this sunny Spring day. Her jog turned into a full blown run as she approached the farm. Why? Because as soon as Biscuit saw her, he barrled through the door as Chippie in his high pitched yelp, followed close behind. They ran to the fence barking, falling all over each other. Lincoln our alpaca, saw a person he didn’t know, therefore, he yelled out his high pitched warning cry in the middle of the pasture which forced Dunkay to look up, making him do his “HEEEE HAAAW” because he thinks food is now coming his way. That of course stirred up the rooster to get in the action and do his “COCK-A-DOOODLE-DOOOOO” to impress the hens.  Which of course made me, the crazy farm lady come out of the house in my fluffy red puppy dog robe, and yell at everyone to shut up! So…in the 20 seconds it took for her to run, not jog…run…past the farm, she heard and saw…3 dogs barking, franticly running along the fence like ‘mad dogs’, an alpaca staring at her screaming, a donkey who sounded like he was on a bulll horn, a rooster flapping his wings as he woke up the rest of the neighbors, and a lady in a fluffy red puppy dog dog robe outside waving her arms yelling at animals to be quiet so the jogger can enjoy her peaceful run!

As most of you know, we have a nice room that is on Airbnb (bed & breakfast). We have an older couple staying with us all weekend from N. Carolina. They aren’t exactly animal people and have no interest meeting the large fur balls in the pasture who have been staring at them like stalkers every time they go outside to eat on the porch. The llamas along with Dunkay, line up at the fence and watch these folks…every move they make, they see it…watching…waiting…hoping they will come over and give them a treat. Heck, it even creeps me out! Any who…I got up this morning and went downstairs to check on my guest.  They were standing by the front door, in their jammies, holding plates of food and coffee. They looked a bit ‘startled’. I asked what was wrong.  They told me they fixed some eggs and toast went outside to eat, hoping to enjoy the beautiful morning, when Dunkay barreled through the gate and galloped straight towards their plates of food! They sat there frozen to the chairs not sure if they should give up their breakfast to the beast or grab everything and run! They chose the latter! They got up, held the plates high and quickly walked to the front porch. Dunkay knocked over a chair and broke a plate as these two elderly folks tried to get away!  After he was done ‘wrecking havoc’ as she put it…he trotted to the front porch where they were trying to eat and demanded all the food…NOW! They ran back into the house, stood at the door, staring at it in disbelief.  That’s where I came in. I assured them that he really is harmless,  and coaxed them back to the kitchen.  I tried to make a joke out of it, but they didn’t think it was funny. They just looked at me with a blank stare!  I went outside looking for Mr Pain In the Butt. He was already back in the barn harassing the chickens.  I swept up the shattered plate, picked up the chair and scolded Dunkay as he stood inside the barn with his head peeking around the corner cause he knows better!   I don’t think these folks will be back.

Well, I hear there’s a storm brewing out there. Rain, lightening, thunder, blowing wind, scared animals. That means the barn door has to be shut, lights turned on so Dillon doesn’t freak out, Dunkey separated from the herd cause he will, on purpose, try to push the goats out into the rain, and anything loose on the ground needs to be picked up and put away. Sounds to me like a job for SUPER FARMER!!!!

Well, the weather is damp, foggy and blah. All animals have crammed themselves into the barn except for one young rooster. He is standing in the field, crowing like there’s no tomorrow. He must have woke up late…it’s way past dawn. He missed the morning crow contest at 5am. I guess he is trying to catch up with the others or he just feels like being a pain by screaming out his male macho call of the wild. I wonder if Mr Axe has been sharpened!

It is dark, cloudy, some drizzle, scary low hanging clouds out there. The type of weather where one wants to say, “woo hoo, I can’t wait to go out to the barn and fight with animals who claim ‘animal abuse’ because they haven’t had lunch yet!!! My ducks however, are happy as Larks in this rainy weather. I wonder, does anyone really know how happy a Lark is??? And how do we really know IF they are happy? How can you tell? Do you think they ‘fake’ being happy???? I ve never heard them laugh…or make any other kind of sound, heck I’m not even sure I can point one out!!! Inquiring minds want to know!!!