happy world donkey day!

Go hug a donkey today! I will be hugging two. :)

the view from the back deck, and a heart-full Pixie/Kyra tale

It's been lovely being home again and looking out to see this view. I don't think I ever get enough of seeing the horses so close to home and heart.

Another thing I've been seeing when I look out back is a 15-year old Corgi girl named Kyra who in many ways seems like she's having a renaissance. She is bossy and playful and eating like a - well, like a Corgi! - and she is happy.

Still, she sometimes wanders out to the corner of the back yard and for a little while it seems like she is lost in her own world. A little bit of a fog.

I call her and she doesn't seem to hear me.

Pixie (the calico kit-meow) has taken to going into the back yard with Kyra when she heads into this foggy place. Pixie rubs against her face and gently herds her back toward the house. Right now Pixie is sleeping beside my bed on one of Kyra's blankets, right beside Kyra, who is also taking her morning nap.

I'm so intrigued with this little friendship and with Pixie's care-taking behaviors. I have seen similar behaviors bloom between our cats and the Corgis, the horses and donkeys, and of course all of them within their own species.

When I see these friendships and loving behaviors it makes me wonder how anyone can hold out the theory that animals do not have feelings, emotions, or intentional friendships.

Those of us who live with animals see things every day that prove they do.

rain

Today's the day I am supposed to get back to work on book stuff, and back in the saddle, but it has been raining most of the night and all morning and is now once again pouring down at a steady rate.

Good for book stuff, not so good for riding!

I think I might make a cup of tea and listen to the rain and get rolling with my book to do list. 

And hope the horses and the donkeys aren't too grumpy when hay and stall-cleaning time rolls around!

This kind of day makes me long for an indoor arena.

home!!

And as lovely as it was to have time away to write (I finished the first draft!) it was even more lovely to get back home again. 

Bear and Kyra Corgis followed me every step all day on Monday, as soon as the donkeys heard my voice they took up braying and calling to me, Keil Bay was a bit distant (as he usually is when I first return) but a belated birthday celebration soon lured him back to his regular self. He is now 26 and the pony is 15! 

Pixie Pie (kit-meow) ran up and down trees she was so excited. 

Once I get back home again I wonder how I ever managed to be away. 

more hunt room, word count report

I'm at 70k today and it's only 10:35 a.m.!

And I found out that the woman renting the stables on the grounds here is someone I know, so I'm looking forward to a barn tour before I leave.

I wandered down to the hunt room this morning and thought I'd post another couple of photos:

This is the same hunt my daughter has ridden with over the past few years. I have stood and watched riders and hounds leave the fixtures and except for the newer style helmets, the scene could have been any year since 1914. The 100-year anniversary of the Moore County Hunt Club last year was quite an accomplishment. 

I'm here until Monday and then I will be home again, just in time for the sun to come back out and hopefully I can get right back to riding the Big Bay.