8-23-09 Note from Melissa!

  Hi everyone.  The donkeys all got here safely this morning.  They are all doing great, eating and drinking.  We love them all.  Thank you so much to all of you.  Just a quick note to let you know everything is going well, and some quick pictures:

(Melissa, if you have these photos in a larger format, please re-send them to us!)

***UPDATE July 21, 2010***

Hi Sharon,

    Just quickly shot 2 photos I thought you might enjoy. 

     In the 1st one, notice the lengths we took to protect our trees from our donkey pals.  You can also see the 2 kids in the tree and Everett patiently waiting like he's done this before. 

     2nd pic shows my two lovely children actually bringing the tree branches down to their donkey pals!  What a gig :)

     Everyone is doing wonderfully.  Everett truly is content anywhere and with anyone.  His buddy is our mammoth,  who is often seen chasing Everett around the field, you know, helping him out with his excercise.  But the tables eventually turn and old Everett becomes the chaser.

     Tinker is just a sweetheart.  She is often the 1st one to visit when we go the the pen.  And if we pay attention to the others, we get the swift head butt in the back that you told me about :)

     So this was just a real quick update, as I have often meant to write you.  Feel free to share the pics with Tonnette, I just don't have her e-mail handy.

     Hope all is well - Melissa

**UPDATE July 2011***

Hi Sharon,

Hope this e-mail finds you well.  I just came in from the pasture and thought I'd drop you a note.  Everett and Tinker have always done well here, but I believe they now know this is their "home".  Everett knows his name, so he will always keep his name.  Believe it or not, we still haven't officially re-named Tinker.  I always just call her sweetie, doll, or honey.  They fit the little princess perfectly :)

Anyway, Everett is still just a great big teddy bear.  He would be perfectly happy if we could just spend hours brushing and hugging him.  He is perfectly behaved no matter what the situation.  Well, except if the kids try to ride him.  Then he stands perfectly still.  There will be NO moving him, lol. 

I can't imagine I'd ever find a kinder, gentler man.  We just love him.

And Tinker, she has come such a long way bonding with us.  When she first came here, she chose her "man", our pony, to be first in her life.  If he left us, so did she.  But this summer, we left the pony in the other field and brought Tinker and the other 2 donkeys to our house.  For the first time ever, she walked with us away from her man, and is perfectly happy and content that he is not currently with her.  She still tells us exactly when we need to give her all of our attention with a little nudge in the back.  She LOVES to be scratched.  And the biggest hurdle she has overcome is with the farrier.  You had sent along a twitch type thing and suggested we use it to make trimming easier on everyone.  I am happy to report that at her last trimming, for the very first time, we were able to get all 4 feet done with no problems, and no twitch.  Even the farrier was proud of her.

Thanks so much for everything you do for the donkeys.  They are an awesome and often misunderstood animal.  I am so happy that we, too, have discovered that.

Love,

Melissa