CHRISTMAS IS OVER, ON TO THE NEW YEAR.....!!!

It was 19 degrees here this morning, after yesterday being windy, cold, rainy & even some snowflakes to add to the misery. Last night Pepper & Sha'ba got their blankets. They were wet when I put the blankets on, but the material wicks moisture away from them, so this morning they were nice & toasty. Today hasn't warmed up a whole lot, so they are having to stay in their pens. That's the bad thing about blankets, once you start putting them on, you have to use them as the weather dictates. Sha'ba doesn't mind staying in his pen, but Pepper acts like he's being mistreated, & tries to ram thru the gate if you open it.

Sha'ba is "helping" John pick up poo. Actually his interest is in the "treat" pocket. I don't carry treats, but they all know John always has something in a pocket, if they can just figure out what they have to do to get it. Sha'ba's speciality is standing in the way of the poo bucket, till John gives him a treat to get rid of him. Of course that doesn't work, it just makes Sha'ba more determined to get another treat.

We did the home study for Gus yesterday. It should be a wonderful home for him, he'll have a run in shed to eat in, & plenty of room to roam with his new friend Leo. Leo is a real people horse & likes to be the center of attention. The man has trained & also owned mules which is good. Gus wouldn't be a good donkey for someone that had never had equine. He is the type that if you give him an inch ("Oh! isn't that cute, what he's doing") he'll take a mile ("good heavens he's getting to be pushy") We're going to have them take him for 30 days to see how it works out, since he will be going to a home with no other donkeys. It shouldn't be a problem, since he doesn't pay any attention to donkeys anyway. In fact his only play buddy is Rusty the white mule & they don't play that often. Leo looked like he might like to play, so Gus should have a good friend to hang out with. We'll haul him to his new home next week.

I'll be glad when the wet cold weather is gone. I know our weather isn't nearly as bad as a lot of folks get. But after living in the desert for years, we get real whiney when we have to bundle up to do chores. John broke & dipped ice off the water buckets this morning. They immediately started freezing over again. A few years ago we tried using a heater in the big stock tank. The donkeys refused to drink from it & we found out we had an electrical leak that was causing the water to tingle. I worry about them not drinking enough & colicing, so we're trying to come up with a plan. I wouldn't let him experiment on the big tank for 2 reasons. # 1 it's their only large source of water & it usually doesn't ice completely over. # 2 I didn't want him to stick the heater in the water & make it miserable for the goldfish (3) that live in that tank. They would have no way of escaping if the water was charged. So he set up an 18 gallon tank with the heater to see if they'll drink out of it. If so, we'll go ahead & get another stock tank, 18 gallons won't last long, if they all want a drink.