So we know that Japie arrived for the price of a pie.  But WHO do you imagine might be the broker for this donkey deal?  A shy guy?  Or maybe someone who has a questionable background and knows that a face on the internet might alert the appropriate authorities to his where-abouts.  We know that he definitely did NOT want is picture taken.  His motives for avoiding the camera are still under investigation - I’ll keep you posted.   Here’s what we got:

Whatever he’s hiding from, he is obviously kind enough to have found my very cute donkey, accepted a pie in payment, and transported Japie to our farm (I might owe an additional pie for the transport - but don’t tell anyone). 

Blackie was able to coral the donkey before we arrived.  Then he expertly moved the donkey to his horse trailer and off again at our farm.

Here I am trying to get Japie to eat a carrot - but he’s a bit distrustful.  Maybe he learned that habit of distrustfulness from the people he was associated with before moving to Gredemeer.

Actually, it’s CREAM CHEESE PIE

This recipe came from a great friend who we originally met in Delaware, and who we visited in Atlanta.  We ate this pie and absolutely LOVED it.  So I’m sharing it with a few of my good friends.  Enjoy.

Crust:

12-14 graham crackers, crushed

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Combine and press into 9" pie pan

Filling:

12 oz cream cheese

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup lemon juice (OR 1/4 cup Kahlua - YUMMMY!!!)

Beat together and pour into crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven for 5-10 minutes then add:

Topping:

1 cup sour cream

3 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pour topping over pie and bake 10 minutes longer.  Refrigerate 5 hours before serving.  Actually, it’s better on the 2nd or 3rd day (if you can wait that long).

So why is this post titled "Donkey Pie"?  Here’s why.  This pie is good enough to be full payment for the VERY cute donkey. 

Several of you know about my yearning for a donkey.  Prince Farming was not as eager to add another creature, but was willing to acquiesce (look it up) if the price was right.  I’ve been talking to people and spreading word about my need desire for a donkey, and I finally found one.  For the right price.  I’ll share that in another post.

Here’s my new little friend.  His name is "Japie" - named after my grandmother’s donkey.  She used to tell me stories about how she rode to school on a donkey.  The word is pronounced  "Yah-ppy" - where the vowel sound is a little longer than in the word "yuppy".

Isn’t he cute!?  I love his markings. 

He’s exploring his new field - all by himself for the moment.  No cows in that field yet - he owns it for the moment.  But I think he’s lonely.

It’s time to make friends . . . it’s going to take time because no one has really been interacting with him, but I know it will happen.

He’s curious enough.  I just need to remember to bring sweet treats down with me.  I’m loving looking out of my window and seeing Japie.

You can read about more critters of Gredemeer here and here.

You have to be able to read the signs on a farm.  I’m getting better at it, and now I’m going to help you too. 

Cows are herd animals.  They like to hang out together, and it amazes me how they unanimously decide to migrate across the field to eat, or drink, or whatever. 

The first sign of a compromised fence is when you look over to their field and see just a few cows.  SOMEthing is up.

Sign #2 is when you examine the herd more closely and you see this:

Now to regular folks, this would not be an issue.  But I know it’s a sign of a problem because we don’t own a horse.  Nor have we invited one over for a barn party.  The presence  of this horse means that it was able to come over somewhere from next door without too much trouble.

Sign # 3, and fail-proof evidence of a significant problem is when going on a fun ride with my visiting city-slicker friend, we came across this - about a mile away. . .

These cows are in an unfenced field.  They are black.  And they are ours.  So it’s time to gather the neighbors and do a bit of herding.  It’s always most adventurous to herd the cows when it’s almost dark.  It’s inevitable.  When it’s time to herd cows, it’s on it’s way to being night time.

Time to check on the fences.  Again.

Last summer I spent quite a bit of time telling you about the process of doing hay.   For city people, it’s quite an education.  I am still learning - in fact every time I get on the tractor, it’s like learning all over again.  Well, this year I learned something new.  It’s a bit embarrassing, these lessons of mine.  But I feel like you need to know.  I mean, if you ever get thrown onto a farm (willingly or reluctantly) I want you to have the knowledge that I wish I’d have had before this process.  It’s like the parent who wishes their kids would learn from their mistakes and not let their kids learn from personal experience.  It doesn’t always happen that way, but at least I’m doing my part. 

One day I was in a store - can’t remember which store.  I saw this, and thought it was a sort of gag item.  Something that might have been sold around April Fool’s day or maybe Halloween.

Doing research for this post, I happily stumbled across this:

Let me ’splain.  It’s been hay time again.  And while I’ve helped fairly extensively in past years, there’s always been reprieve.  Prince Farming’s dad and his help have come over, and Prince Farming has done at least one of the processes himself, so my time on the tractor was broken up.  But this time I had to mow, fluff, and rake three huge fields.   Normally I mow with a tractor that has an air-conditioned cab.  But on my way down the hill when I tried to raise the mower arm, there was a hydraulic hose in just a wrong spot, and the hose got pinched and broke, rendering the hydraulic system useless.  With very little time to spare (rain in the forecast), I parked that tractor, and rode over to Prince Farming’s dad’s farm and borrowed their mower, which was already conveniently attached to their tractor.  An open cab with a canopy.  No worries, I can handle an open cab.  Never mind that this tractor has to be started, not with a key, but with a loose wire that you hold to two spots and it kicks on.  That’s another post though.  So I got started mowing, and only an hour later than I’d hoped.  The shade of the canopy was good, but it was still hot.  I was in shorts and flip-flops, and figured I’d probably get a bit of sun, which couldn’t be a bad thing.  First day - all the mowing was done. 

Second day - on to fluffing (or teddering, for those of you who can’t stay on the farm when the word fluffer is used).  This time I could use our own tractor - but not the air-conditioned cab one.  The little cub cadet - also with a canopy - was the vehicle of use (not choice).  I don’t love this process because I can’t see where I’ve been as clearly as when I mow or rake, but it’s a necessary process to help in the drying of the hay.  I got all the fields teddered, and went to bed exahausted.  Spending 6-8 hours on a tractor might sound like a lazy day, but my body was sore and my mind numb.  I woke with a start at 2am.  It was POURING RAIN on my freshly cut and teddered hay.  That means that instead of raking first thing in the morning, I had to go over and fluff all over again.  So there I was - on the open tractor.  Let me paint a little word picture for you.  It’s HOT.  The fields are BUMPY.  On the sides of hills, you can barely keep yourself from sliding off the seat. And you’re SWEATING.  The combination of wet, sweaty shorts, very bumpy, slidey riding . . . well.  Here.  This might give you a better idea.

This is what spending endless days on a tractor leaves you feeling like.  I’m not kidding.  Prince Farming came  home from work when I was just done with the teddering and suggested I take a break.  I was SO relieved.  I really didn’t want him on the tractor much - especially on the bumpiest of fields because he hurt his back a  few weeks ago, and I didn’t want him to aggravate the injury.  His dad came over to help bale.  I’m not sure how the conversation went between them, but Prince Farming made it known that I needed a break from the tractor seat for a while.  He finished raking and his dad did the baling.  And my butt got a break. 

It took a couple of days to feel totally better, but I was able to go back out and load the hay bales onto the trailer and bring them to the barn before too much more time went by.  And I wasn’t on the open tractor for long enough to aggravate my injury.

There.  Consider yourselves educated.  And warned.

Those of you who have read my blog for a while or keep up with me on Facebook know that I love numbers.  I take photos of my odometer when I’m on the road and a cool number shows up.  And when I look down and see this:

I get slightly quite very annoyed.  Anyone riding in the car with me wonders if we have a flat tire, or if I forgot my phone or purse at home, or something else worthy of a loud gasp and an emphatic statement.  But I have learned to take it in stride.  I can anticipate the next good number, and often I actually can capture it ON the number, not a mile or two past.  Like this

  People make fun of me, but the more I talk about it, the more I realize that there are other people who appreciate symmetry in numbers.  And really - who wouldn’t!?  It makes perfect sense to me.  In fact, someone recently emailed me this photo.  Notice the odometer reading AND the speedometer reading.  I had to text back and inform this person to be careful of the pictures that get sent.  They might be used in harmful ways if placed in the wrong hands.  But it’s safe with me.  I’m just sharing it with a few personal friends, right!?

Well, today is an amazing day.  My dear friend Louise reminded me of it’s approach, and today it happened.  Check this out.  This morning at 5 minutes and 6 seconds past 4am, the clock and calendar said this:

04:05 06 07/08/09

Now THAT is a beautiful thing.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

UPDATE:  For those of you who don’t read through my comments, Madge pointed out an even COOLER number (can’t believe I didn’t see it coming . . . I must be slipping in my old age). 

12:34:56 7/8/9