When I don't post here at Brays of Our Lives, you can assume one of two things:
A) I'm out in the woods being Intrepid and Mighty, with FarmWife astride. This was the case this morning, and tomorrow I'll give you all sorts of …
How to Live
1. Find the thing you love to do. Do it. 2. Know what skills or traits you're proud of. Grow them. 3. Surround yourself with people that inspire you. 4. Make others happy. 5. Smile. 6. Sing. 7. Notice beauty. I've been thinking a lot late…
Evil tires, evil vegetables.
I changed my mind yesterday. Instead of carrying FarmWife and Clover up the mountain, I told FarmWife that I wanted to do her a very special favor—I wanted to show her that I could pull the tire about my pasture with poise, confidence, an…
A B question
Speaking of my housemule, B, there is this mystery:
Our neighbor, the Chicken Lady, announced today that she is in the market for a queen and four pounds of B's. I'll bet my B weighs about five pounds right now and, unlike some of…
Yo ho ho and a bothered bun
B, the minimule, regrets to inform the public that she is the humiliated heir to a "too small for the chihuahua" pirate sweater. She rocks the Jolly Rodger with disgruntled resignation. The fit is perfect, the style sassy, and th…
An honor and a privilege—the Stylish Blogger award
I am honored recently by being recognized as a Stylish Blogger by Sheaffer the donkey . I could not be more tickled, for not only does this grant me the acknowledgement I so obviously deserve but it also awards me the privilege of nominati…
I am the only animal blogger in the family.
To those who have asked whether B, Harriet*, Clover, Paisley, Townes, Desmond, B.G., Missy, Jasper Jules, or the chickens will be starting their own blogs, the answer (respectfully) is no. At least not, says FarmWife, until they learn to …
Arts and crafts
FarmWife wouldn't let me use the play-doh (she was afraid I'd eat it, I suppose, or get it hairy) but I did convince her to make you this lovely little donkey.
Thanks, FarmWife!
FB
The Bold and the Brayful: fantasy versus reality
The
Bold and the Brayful—a column by Fenway Bartholomule reprinted from the Brayer, the magazine of the American Donkey & Mule Society Fantasy
versus Reality When
my FarmWife bought me, I was a Pasture Mule. Like Reining Mules,
Working Co…
The Breeding Question
We bred our doe today. Good news! As a dairy goat, B.G. has an obligation to the family beyond baaing beautifully and entertaining us with her doglike adoration of human company. If luck and fertility is with us, she will kid in five month…
January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968
On April 9th, 1968, the body of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. was pulled in a rustic farm cart through the streets of Atlanta by two humble brown mules. His funeral procession included a trailing throng of tens of thousands. …
Up at Dawn
FarmWife and Weanling Human were up at dawn with a clever scheme to squeeze in a trailride before the rest of the family rose. Luckily for them, "up at dawn" means up by 8ish in a northwest January! I breakfasted at 7 and and wa…
Ode to a Tractor Guy
This poem is dedicated to Mr. S, our friendly neighborhood tractor guy. He cleaned out a very deep goat litter bed today, and accomplished in half a morning what FarmWife could have done in many, many, horrible hours of backbreaking labor.…
For Alan, who wondered about my name
When my FarmWife met me, I was Buck. Buck from the Buckeye state. Now, for those who wonder how she justifies changing a fellow's perfectly fine name just because he's joining a new family, please note that FarmHusband changed his…
Chihuahua Love
Before there was Clover, there was Duke. The Duke of Wickersham, to be exact—a handsome fawn chihuahua from the other side of the tracks. He's a dapper lad of nearly three, neutered (as all the best gentlemen are), and polite in all c…
Anyone take their little dog riding?
FarmWife lets Clover join her on muleback these days. Doesn't bother me, and Clover seems to feel secure and restful tucked hands-free into FarmWife's coat (or custom-made apron, as it were). She wears polarfleece, since she's…
Deep $#!%
Happiness is having a nice neighbor with a John Deere tractor—especially around shed-cleaning time! Deep litter bedding. For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the animal bedding system wherein you throw clean straw on top of the …
Does this sheet make my butt look big?
Saturday, the snow fell. Sunday, it was just right for a frosty ride: not too heavy, not too slick. Crunchy, but not so much as to be hard on the hooves. Icy, but not so much as to be slippery. FarmWife and I got a good hour in, and the f…
Eagle infestation
We seem to have a bit of a bald eagle infestation in Wickersham right now. FarmWife and I counted 47 on our ride yesterday . . . in the first ten minutes, after which time we got tired of keeping track! They are EVERYWHERE! I know, I know…
Eight things that have been on my mind
1) The humans ventured to Baker Lake without me yesterday, and the chihuahua turns out to be the family's best hiker. Who'd have thunk? Gets me off the hook for doing serious day hikes—FarmWife does well to travel with a more nimb…
State of Mind
It's been hard to blog about happiness—since Christmas, I've been an irritable bitch. I've been stewing over things that don't need stewing over . . . wishing I had arena footing when I hardly have room for an arena, wishing…
Work defined
Today we are going to work. So says FarmWife. I interpret this to mean that I will have an immaculate shed, a graded paddock, a raked yard, and laundered blankets.
FarmWife interprets it to mean that I am going to trot until my breathing …
Sitting
FW is planning some vacation time this summer (and no, I'm not going to tell you when—this IS the internet!). She will need a Farm Sitter. It is not a hard job.
All you need to be able to do is fill my hay net twice daily, give the go…
Paddock Paradise?
FarmWife likes this idea of a Paddock Paradise —a long track, describing a circular or irregular shape around one's property, dotted with hay, diverse footing, water, and interesting natural features to enrich the lives and the exercis…
failgoats
The goats made an admirable show of ingenuity today: they broke out, shoving the gate aside as FarmWife wrestled with her barrow full of frozen droppings. They had freedom. They had liberty. They had adventure.
They traded it all in for a …
Mental exercises for the physically unfit
FarmWife may have failed in her duty when it comes to caloric monitoring, but one thing I can say for her is that she knows how to exercise a fatty—gently, and with care. She knows that it should take me a month or more to get fit, and th…
Longing alternative
FarmWife went sledding at Mt. Baker with her human family today. She saw a man skijoring with his huskies, and it stirred her heart.
I could do that. I have a harness (different kind, but surely workable!), I have enthusiasm, I have tenac…
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