I saw the joy our little donkey Pino Blangiforti brought when I walked him to a neighbor's, carrying a home baked pie.
Making a pie is an act of love. It takes the earth's bounty and mixes it with the baker's heart and soul. So making a pie and giving it to someone is a simple pleasure that all can partake in. And aprons? Well, they are functional, and they make this old muddy farm girl feel...special. And you can carry eggs and feathers in the pockets. We encourage worldwide participation by asking readers to reach out in their own communities, bake one pie and deliver it to a chosen recipient. We welcome your stories.
We had beautiful weather, and I took the opportunity to hang out with Pino, Paco and Lucia [shown here in that order]on Donkey Hill, which merges with Oak Hill. It's a magical spot. Stella and Iris live there too. And when you drive up our driveway, and look to the right as you near the barn, you'll see Old Oak Tree, battered and worn, but still vibrant. Still loved.
If you come to Pie Day, you'll get to meet these two lovely creatures.
Georgie and Gertie are the farm's two grand dams. We adopted them last fall. Georgie is about 11 and Gertie is supposedly about 15. They lived together up in Washington somewhere, and were eventually surrendered to New Moon Goat Sanctuary last year some time. Their feet had been badly neglected, causing a lot of deforming of hip joints.
Georgie is actually worse than Gertie, and spends most of her time lying down. But for her to actually lie down, oh, it's just painful to watch. Still, she's a good eater, and loves her massages. I always take time to go in and sit a few minutes with her in these rainy months, since she really doesn't get up much. Sunny days, she does get out for sun naps.
Gertie has actually improved I think - although she'll always be crippled. She is venturing out away from Georgie more, and even at 15 wails up a storm when she's in heat. Both are sweet, really like to be petted. Really hard to photograph though!
You can sponsor these two old gals- every bit helps, and you get art in return. Read the details here.
The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys, in the UK, does wonderful work helping children of special needs through their therapeutic riding programs with their donkeys. They are also reaching out to elderly people - Read more here. [note: image is from thier site ©ElizabethSvendsentrust.org]
This is my goal, to somehow not only help elderly creatures with donations and adoptions, but to bring elderly people to our farm for donkey therapy. But I'd really like to have days where I can have a Pino visit at an elder facility.
Pino has many that love him, and some like the sweetness of remaining 'secret'...Pino likes it too. He relishes in wondering who this secret admirer is? Could it be another donkey who likes aprons and sharing? We don't know, but we love getting secrets.
Last year, his Secret Admirer sent him this lovely package, which we still have. The package that arrived yesterday was also embellished with sewing, and had this fun sticker on it saying, "Who?"... I think there was one more, I will have to go look.
Anyway, it made my day. Thank you Secret Admirer. We love you.
I got up today and made a pecan pie...I had read that some group declared it National Pie Day today, and even though their web site seemed to be very interested in selling the products of many large flour companies, I thought we had one thing in common - sharing a pie with someone is kind and gentle. And who is more deserving of fresh homemade pie than the Dirt Farmer.
So after barn chores this morning, I made a pecan pie...okay, with crushed walnuts. We spent much of the morning in the lavender field pruning, but when I was good and tired, and my back ached, I knew what I needed. I knew what I wanted. I boldly declared, "It is time to eat pie."
We brought Pino out too for the pie picnic. I can't tell you how happy I felt. One of our first really dry, sunny, warm days...the birds singing, the chickens clucking nearby...and having Pino out with us was so nice. Winters make it hard to have pie picnics, but today was are first of the new pie year...pie, donkey, dirt farmer...love.
post script...Now please don't go out and feed your donkey pecan pie. Pino had one teeny weenie bit of crust. His approved pie list consists of the earth's fruits, with apple being his favorite, followed by blackberry, peach and blueberry. 
Original art just posted. A woman floats, a donkey floats. And pie is served.
To see more close-ups details of the piece, or to purchase, visit the store blog.
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