Tuesday 8 December 2015

Introducing Elmo

Well it's been a little over three weeks since Amadeous has been gone.  The first couple weeks Daytona was pretty down and lonely, I would go out often to see him, brush him and give him attention.  This past week though his attitude changed and he was pretty grumpy and irritable all week, at times he would even turn his back end towards us and give a little kick,  it was time for a friend.

Charissa was home this weekend so I set up an appointment for Saturday to look at some miniature donkeys.  I figured a miniature donkey would be a cute little friend and would be easier to keep and cheaper to feed than a horse.  I had read on line that they were affectionate and great with kids and since we're headed into the grand-parenting years :-) thought one of these little guys would be perfect. 

We have no horse trailer so we folded up the back seat of our pickup truck and put down a blanket.  A little donkey would fit in there no problem :-) And so we headed out to find us a donkey.

We arrived at the farm and went out to their donkey paddock. They have 22 donkeys and they were so friendly, many of them came up to us. We were introduced to little Elmo, the little guy that was for sale, he was just over 7 months old and so cute.  There were a few other full grown females for sale but they were a tad bit large to fit into our backseat.  Their donkeys are handled from birth and so they're really good with human contact.  

And so we fell in love with little Elmo and thought he'd make the perfect little addition to our family and agreed to purchase him.  I told the owners of our plan to take him home in the backseat, they kind of chuckled and said, "we thought we were the only ones who would do something like that."  Elmo was haltered and led out to the truck, I felt kind of bad taking this little guy from all his donkey friends but also knew he'd have a great home with us.

Charissa sat in the single seat in the back, held the lead rope and the owner and I lifted little Elmo into the truck and shut the door.  It was quite comical seeing this little donkey in the back of the truck with Charissa. 

  

Off we drove being careful of the bumps and wondering how our 20 minute trip would go. This little guy was so good, he didn't make a peep and didn't struggle or kick or anything, it was a dream ride. Though it did get a little smelly at one point when Elmo had a little accident :-)  Charissa and I laughed so hard, tears were streaming down my face.  Oh if people only knew what was in our backseat.  We thought it'd be pretty funny if we got pulled over for some reason and rolled down our windows to an officer to be met with the stare of a donkey but no such excitement for us ;-)

We arrived home with no troubles whats so ever.  Took some pictures of Charissa and little Elmo in the backseat and then headed off to introduce Daytona to his new buddy.


We had them meet each other through the fence first, it's safer that way.  I had no idea how Daytona would react to little Elmo.  Well, he went nuts, squealed, reared at the fence like he was going to push it over and Elmo just stood their, pinning his ears a bit. We took Elmo into the smaller paddock and Daytona was in the larger one.  He kept racing up the fence line jumping and pushing at the fence and gate and so I pushed him back from the fence and when he had somewhat calmed down we brought Elmo back to the fence so they could sniff at each other.  Once Daytona had fully calmed down we left them alone, each in their own paddock.  We kept an eye on things from the house. Elmo was wandering around checking out his new surroundings and Daytona was eating while keeping an eye on him.

After an hour or so we went back out and opened the gate so Daytona could come in with Elmo, I was a little nervous but they were great together.  Elmo even held his ground when Daytona was being a bit too in his space.  Daytona had a friend and it's like a weight was lifted from him, Charissa and I could both see it.  His attitude has changed since we brought Elmo home and that's been such a blessing.  It's amazing to see that animals grieve in their own way and we need to be aware of that.  What a marvelous world our LORD created.  






He's such a cute little guy with the tinniest of hoofs.


And he's so cuddly and friendly.




Things to be thankful for...

1491. Help with chores from a young girl
1492. Seeing and hearing her joy in helping with the horses



1493. Sharing joy
1494. A special woman in North Carolina who makes me smile and warms my heart
1495. Beautiful sun shiny warm day
1496. Chat with my sister
1497. Another gorgeous day
1498. Working with Nancy at the church
1499. Strawberry sunday from Reid's
1500. Good conversation with small group
1501. Great morning walk and talk
1502. A puppy visitor
1503. Beautiful clouds and colour in the afternoon sky
1504. Call from Jocelyne
1505. My husband's wisdom and care as a father
1506. Charissa's home for a visit
1507. Delicious meal
1508. Lying in bed in the morning watching a show with Charissa
1509. Bacon for breakfast
1510. Kayla and Charissa out riding




  






1511. Sarah and her cats


Actually this is Tony and he's my sister-in-laws special cat :-)





1512. Morning walk through the Frink Centre with Charissa
1513. Charissa back home, had a good drive
1514. Morning worship at church
1515. Some remaining fall colour for a family photo shoot for a beautiful family



The unexpected shots you find when you go through your images...love this one...the realness of life ;-)


1516. Beautiful frosty morning
1517. That I have a Father in heaven who hears my prayers
1518. Doing chores with a sweet girl
1519. A cuddly Amadeous
1520. Warm sunshine
1521. Productive day
1522. Remembrance Day - those who gave for our freedom
1523. Precious memories shared by a man who along with his brother was rescued from an orphanage after the war.  His words in regards to his father - "A 25 year old man who does that is a real man."
1524. Laugher, knitting with a friend
1525. Amadeous...a good horse...a real gentleman to be forever missed




1526. My vet, her care
1527. My husband's strength and compassion
1528. Memories of Amadeous
1529. Kissing Amadeous' soft warm muzzle one last time and having him nuzzle his head in my chest
1530. Seasons of life
1531. Daytona seems okay, he misses Amadeous but isn't constantly hollering for him
1532. Quiet day
1533. Chats with Charissa & Jocelyne
1534. Worship...a loving God
1535. Care from a friend
1536. Kind words from a 9 year old
1537. Matt spending some time with a lonely Daytona
1538. Call from my sister
1539. Family pictures with a beautiful full of life family


  


1540. Another gorgeous day with warm sunshine


My neighbour kids surprise christmas gift to their parents, pictures of the two of them.



1541. A coloured picture of Amadeous from Lily
1542. Seeing Lily and Daytona together
1543. Card from the neighbours
1544. Good morning walk and talk
1545. Sparkling frost on the boardwalk
1546. Stillness of the morning, beautiful pink sky
1547. A gift of homemade apple cider
1548. Words of blessing at communion
1549. Blessings flowing out of obedience
1550. Window of opportunity to do family pictures for a beautiful family





1551. Fun working with Nancy
1552. Inspiration - answered prayer
1553. Time with Daytona
1554. Day spent with friends
1555. Good conversation and sharing
1556. Prayer together
1557. Smiling, filled with life children at church
1558. Happy bride to be
1559. First snow, a covering of white
1560. Pink reflected on the early morning clouds
1561. Gorgeous snow covered boardwalk this morning









1562. Chats and songs with Jocelyne, Lauren and Keira
1563. Help from my husband
1564. Quiet night
1565. Tea and bible study with friends
1566. Commitment
1567. Connecting
1568. Charissa home for a visit
1569. Chatting with Matt and Charissa
1570. Laughter
1571. Early morning chat with Jocelyne
1572. Frink Centre walk with Charissa
1573. Warm sunshine
1574. Dinner out
1575. Card game with everyone
1576. Warmth of the wood stove
1577. Beautiful family service at church
1578. A walk with Charissa
1579. Aliyah is coming down for christmas
1580. Charissa home safe
1581. My church community
1582. My husband's safe arrival in Chicago
1583. Call from my husband
1584. Help from Matt
1585. Life and spunk in a young girl helping with chores
1586. Chats with Jocelyne and Charissa
1587. God's steadfast love for me
1588. Call from my husband
1589. New day
1590. Getting things done
1591. Beautiful afternoon sky
1592. Gorgeous frost patterns on the truck window
1593. Great bible study time
1594. Warm sunshine
1595. Small group time
1596. "I will not sacrifice to the LORD burnt offerings that cost me nothing." King David speaking in 2 Samuel 24:24b
1597. Refreshing morning walk and talk with a friend
1598. My husband, a good father
1599. Lunch and manicure with a friend
1600. Charissa home for the weekend
1601. Game of cards with Charissa
1602. One more day and my husband comes home
1603. Morning chat with Jocelyne
1604. Elmo the donkey a new friend for Daytona
1605. Laughter with Charissa over driving home with a donkey in our back seat



A selfie with Elmo, it's not very often your back seat companion is a donkey ;-)


1606. Matt got his first car
1607. Daytona and Elmo getting along


1608. My husband is home!
1609. Visit and card game with Kayla and Sarah
1610. Laughter
1611. Elmo and Daytona did well through the night
1612. Beautiful Profession of Faith service
1613. Salvation
1614. My husband's love and pursuit of my heart


4 comments:

  1. Everyone needs someone - How sweet yall got Daytona an Elmo...and I love that last pic! And the first one with Elmo in the backseat is a hoot.

    Hope you never put down you camera, Tina!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking at your pics again. I love the first and last and all in between! Hope you're having a great day, Tina!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Had your site on my blog list from years ago and clicked on it today. Enjoyed it so much. You seem to have the same love of our Lord, family, horses and photography as I do. But your photography is way out of my league. Beautiful pictures.

    ReplyDelete