Archey

Every day I boldly face the dredded cart thinking "today I will pull
it so well the humans will not need to help me with the hills and
sloaps " but half way up the hill I no I can't do it alone. But in the
evenings it's ok , feel bad for merlin but I over herd the humans
saying somethink about a farrier coming nnnnnnnnnnooooooooo.I still
like the smallest human toe-bea last night he brought us water &
scratched me just under my neck that's were it is nicest. goodbye
From donkey whispera toby.a.c
Sent from my ihoof

Jasper speaking

Having the BEST TIME OF MY LIFE! Walking everyday, sleeping with
humans in their beds every night! I think Sarah likes the donkeys more
than me though. I think I get the best time because I just get to run
along but the donkeys have to carry all our stuff. I think Sarah wants
to leave me behind because in the mornings try go off without me and
then molly or toby have to come and get me. I let them know I'm there
by barking "don't go without me!" at the weekend we were at a bog
camp- lots ofmpeople threw my stick and I didn't see the donkeys all
weekend! At the camp last night I dug a great cave for myself, it was
so much fun. I had a sleep in it then I got some sticks and put them
in the
The fence keeping the donkeys in hurts when you touch it. I got sting
twice- but Sarah just laughed at me. I don't care though, because I am
having the best time of my life!!!!
From Jasper
Sent from my iPhone

Anna cooking fritters

Elderflower fritters

Kemble school art workshop , foraging

Sally running a workshop Kemble school

Anna introducing the donkeys to Kemble school

Toby asleep in the cart

China donkey in the washing up

Molly cooking breakfast at westley farm

Carrying on

Feel like this week has been not much journeying and I am itching to
do a long walk . Merlin has sore feet so for him that is good, we have
got the farrier coming today so think that will be an excitement /
drama. Reckon he needs shoes which could be tricky for all. Lovely
night at the tavern inn in Kemble, night before tunnel inn coates.
Brilliant places to stay and very welcoming hosts , reccomended, will
go back without donkeys. Ran a nice workshop at Kemble school , some
of the kids came down in the evening to see the donks .I went into
Stroud with piers which was a bit weird to do a bit of shopping, is it
my catholic up briging but feel we are not pushing ourselves enough
physically? Children are good, toby has decided to write a book and
has been scriblling madly whilst on the cart under a tree etc,
mollyvis enjoying it less , a bit of scowling and skulking in the
tent . Looks like rain which is z bit if an arse ,

Sent from my iPhone

Toby

Today we walked 4 miles well me and molly rode 3 miles so we onley did
1. As you no I am writing a story called conner durai & the world jewl
and I have 1 chapter. I have just got back from street dance Wich was
fun as. G.o.o.d.b.y.e

Sent from my iPhone

Toby

Okay may day was fun as , me and molly rode In the cart most of the
Way for about three miles,so we walked 1 mile .
Oh yaer I am writing a story called conner durai and I have alredy dun
1 chapter .… I have ju

New mascot

Our lush week one artists

My husband

Chopping wood in a cocktail dress

Lou leaving cherington lake

Fwd: As I Walked Out...

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Sarah <bleurs@aol.com>
Date: 28 June 2010 07:53:52 GMT+01:00
To: Lou GilbertScott <lougilbertscott@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: As I Walked Out...

Miss you both x x 

Sent from my iPhone

On 20 Jun 2010, at 10:37, Lou GilbertScott <lougilbertscott@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hello
 
Myself and fellow Artist Lyn Wait are going on a walk with 4 donkeys in the Cotswolds!
This is an arts project called 'As I walked Out....' organized by Fairgame Theatre in partnership with Stroud Valley Artspace (SVA) and funded by Gloucestershire local authorities. It is a recognized Cultural Olympiad project-part of the Quest SW regional programme. www.asiwalkedout.com and begins Monday 20th June until 27th June  ending up at Camp 0 -a residential camping weekend of participatory and collaborative events funded by ALIAS and SVA.
 
We have set up a blog so you can follow our journey www.lynandlou.blogspot.com
 
we will be looking for many things...
 
some to do with scarlet
some to do with fullers earth
some 2-do-wid-dung...
 
 
Lou and Lyn
 
 
 
 

---

Get a new e-mail account with Hotmail - Free. Sign-up now. =

Fwd: Week two

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Sarah <bleurs@aol.com>
Date: 28 June 2010 07:52:59 GMT+01:00
To: "bleurs1.asiwalkedout@blogger.com" <bleurs1.asiwalkedout@blogger.com>
Subject: Week two

The weekend has been a bit of a blur , we arrived Thursday after a glorious day , piers and I had a domestic which carried on into the next day , two pig headed people thinking that they are in charge, made up on Saturday. We joined camp o an environmental art camp, lou and Lyn did absolutely fab brilliant workshop in the searing heat digging a pit kiln and making clay pots. My lovely luke is Here for the week so spent time shopping and back at home getting bits for this week. Sat night liu and Lyn held a small cock tail party for their film that they had beenmaking, wasn't quite in the ethos of the camp looked jolly ra ra , very funny , persuaded three men to put on red jackets and ride over the brow ofvthe hill on the donkeys , I nearly wet myself laughing watching luke trying to get on ready for the shot. Got mildly plastered on rum, enjoyed wearing a frock, very very very sad to say goodbye to lou and Lyn they have been the best .
Sally has arrived and she also seems great so another week begins. Piers is not with us all week , aaaaaagh , he works so hard is slightly scary . Possibly no teenagers either ,ash and scott struggling , I feel caught would like them to stay for them but they are hard work . Donkeys may need shoeing , well merlin , that will be a movie in itself , think we are  going to get a few rubs and sore feet this week. Can't bear to think what we will do if it rains the weather is glorious . Still 10 stone ( it is the beer I think) what happens if I end up heavier than when I started !

Sent from my iPhone

Week two

The weekend has been a bit of a blur , we arrived Thursday after a
glorious day , piers and I had a domestic which carried on into the
next day , two pig headed people thinking that they are in charge,
made up on Saturday. We joined camp o an environmental art camp, lou
and Lyn did absolutely fab brilliant workshop in the searing heat
digging a pit kiln and making clay pots. My lovely luke is Here for
the week so spent time shopping and back at home getting bits for this
week. Sat night liu and Lyn held a small cock tail party for their
film that they had beenmaking, wasn't quite in the ethos of the camp
looked jolly ra ra , very funny , persuaded three men to put on red
jackets and ride over the brow ofvthe hill on the donkeys , I nearly
wet myself laughing watching luke trying to get on ready for the shot.
Got mildly plastered on rum, enjoyed wearing a frock, very very very
sad to say goodbye to lou and Lyn they have been the best .
Sally has arrived and she also seems great so another week begins.
Piers is not with us all week , aaaaaagh , he works so hard is
slightly scary . Possibly no teenagers either ,ash and scott
struggling , I feel caught would like them to stay for them but they
are hard work . Donkeys may need shoeing , well merlin , that will be
a movie in itself , think we are going to get a few rubs and sore
feet this week. Can't bear to think what we will do if it rains the
weather is glorious . Still 10 stone ( it is the beer I think) what
happens if I end up heavier than when I started !

Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: Day 4

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Sarah <bleurs@aol.com>
Date: 26 June 2010 09:47:19 GMT+01:00
To: "bluers@aol.com" <bluers@aol.com>
Subject: Day 4

Day 4: today I mouched about in town (Nailsworth) . because yestoday I went home for a brake + a bath + a bed. Ohhhhhhhh Yaer I went to the love potians ,just then the drinks that made you happy were lush as. I also laghed manicly for about an hour .
Finished bye
G.o.o.d.b.y.e…

Hot day inthe shade at avening school

Piers and I talking to children at avening school

Ash and jasper

Art workshop avening school

Breakfast of chapatis at home farm trust with flour from shipton mill

Mud art

First journey westley farm end of week one

We made it , nobody badly hurt,donkeys all in one piece not too many
rubs . It has been so many things almost every emotion packed into
four days , gone very quickly but also home seems a long way awAy .
Highlights; leaving! On Monday, the weather, the dog being far less
annoying than he has evercbeen, the landscape , swimming at
cherigton lake, covering myself with clay at cherington lake, the
generosity of so many people along the way, our lovely artists , my
family. Low points: realising that I had planned to long a route on
day two, piers and I stressed with each other a lot, pmt, teenagers
been teenagers, donkeys bolting in avening school garden ,piers ankle
getting twisted
Please anyone Reading pray for more lush weather.
Sent from my iPhone

Day three

Shattered, hot ,workshops at avening school lovely lovely school ,
lovely kids lovely scones lou and Lyn did great workshop piers and I
did same workshop 7 times, donkeys bolted as they were scared by a
dog, arrived at home farm trust, we all nearly fell out with each
other , I cried for a minute behind a tree. , toby cried with
frustration, piers and I exchanged bad looks ,ran another workshop for
home farm trust , lush supper , going for a quick pint , can't wait
for bed
Sent from my iPhone

Toby

Day three : was .…............
goooooooooooooooooooooooooooddddddddddddddd (sorry ) annnnyway um well
it was a long walk to avenning ,were my muver and faver did a work-
shop with avenning school.
And I GOT TO PLAY on my mums I-phone ,wile they (Mum and dad) did
their work-shop . Before that me,ash,scot,molly
And Lucy went to the shop and shopped for uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
fooooooooooooooddddd .okay that's all I can rember
G.o.o.d.b.y.e..…

3.53am

Had a wee ,incredible light,donkeysmunching, mist,everyone elsezasleep ,

Sent from my iPhone

Day 2

Hot day today! Apparently 30 degrees according to toby but I think it
was 25. We're staying at shipton mill and just had a great dinner of
pasta, tomato and bean sauce and salads and lentils. The donkeys were
great today- Chester and teddy lagged behind a bit but when they got
too far they trotted on ahead! Me and daisy sat on the cart most of
the way. Because the weather was so hot me and daisy took our shoes
off but then realised the Tarmac was so hot that it was melting and we
were leaving sticky footprints!
We walked 9 miles today, most of it was on straight roads which was a
bit boring but it was worth it when we got to the camp and we found
the river. I was so hot and clammy that I went and washed in this
little clearing. The water was cold but not unbearable and I felt
loads better afterwards.
Tommorow we're going to avening primary school. School children annoy
me- and with donkeys they'll be even more screechy. I might have to
kick them if they annoy me and blame it on Chester.
Molly x

Toby

Day two: Weeeellllllll it was HARD (we did 11 miles) but
barrible...just (said that yesterday). I am curuntly camping (posh) at
shipton mill ,I HAD A RIVER BATH . Lovly ,well cold but nice .today
was boiling t'was bout 30 degreys .oh yeah we just knocked of someones
car mirrow off and he
(the car owner) gave us a ten'er , no big deal. We had CHIP'S (i'am
bragging) at a pub ( oviasly ) . Going bye.........till tomoro
g.o.o.d.b.y.e...........…

Sent from my iPhone

Day two

Pretty special day , the weather is unbelievable almost like being
back in Spain tiny quiet roads , blue blue skies the mostextrordinary
houses proper rich . A very nice lady pulled up and asked what we were
doing and promptly gave us a fiver , half a mile later merlin knocked
the wing mirror off a BMW with his panniers the bloke jumped out, I
was praying the insurance would cover it when he apologised profusely
for hitting the donkey and handed us a tenner ! It's the donkeys ! I
completely underestimated the map (orobably my map Reading skills)
and realised half way through the day that wexwere walking twice the
distance that I thought it was (nine miles) wooops thank god for jez
turned up at the pub in shipton moyne and put all the kit in our van
and took it to our camping spot . What a camping spot shipton mill
where they make lush flour . I washed in a river and felt truly
alive , lovely owners of the house bought us a basket of food wine
beer and milled flour wow! Ash suggested we should do an urban tour
and see how generous people were there . Proud of allmy family who
washed in the river, the others have taken advantage of the offered
shower .

Sent from my iPhone

First morning in the tent the convict look

Morning

Molly woke me at half past five wanting a lighter (not for a fag but
for the fire) got up 2x before that to check donks hadn't done a
repeat performance of last week and escaped in the night to visit the
nice man round the corners garden.feel knackered and dirty luckily
piers making me a cup of tea , body gearing up for first poo, first
outside poo) where we are is on the school car tun for mollys school,
will make sure I hide well. When I came back from Spain dad asked me
not to tell any poo stories so will try and refrain. Suspect that they
will be topic of much conversation though . Ashley has said he us not
going to go at all unless it is in a toilet ? Wexate lentils last
night so let's see . Long walk ahead today .

Sent from my iPhone

Toby

Ok ,first day (riming!)was good-ish,well barible..just. It was such
hard work ,god it was hard (my feet have just stopped hurting). any
way , ummmmm,oh yeah ,me and ash went round the electric fence seeing
if it worked ,it didn't work for a bit ,then it started
working .ouch .that's it um bye.

Toby

Sent from my iPhone

Molly and daisy first night

Chester and teddy first night

this is it

I may write two blogs today as this is at the start and think there may be some to write at the end

so: back to last night

well , as always we seemed to be doing a million things at once, saddles still being stitched, packing, cooking, artists arriving and then because it was /is  solstice and I am a token pagan and piers is the full monty and it is customary too as well we had a fire on the green.

I always find this events potentially stressful, I was also running on my ownb version off ritalin by this point so when it came to actually lighting the fire I was so high on adrenalin and nerves that got completeyl paranoid that Piers was going to do some extreme weird pagan thing in front of our new neighbours (who \i really like) so I jumped in and said in such a jolly hockey sticks way heres to a lovely summer, walk ,love , life and beauty and hastily lit the fire before in my fever imaginantion we were all forced to hold hands

so the peaceful fire didn't start too peacefully the rest of the evening great, lyn lovely lovely lyn bought me round a windup radio, I kept pledging to not get drunk and of course did, neighbours cooked terrific food lou and lyn this weeks artists arrived (seem very nice) .

this brings me to a dilemma, what if there are people who annoy me or I annoy them, will be so tempting to write about it but then is probably not very nice but oh dear will cross that bridge when we come to it

guess I can be honest about the children, husband an definitely the dog (jasper)

am paranoid at the moment that I am snappy and abrupt and dont give people the time of day (which is true) so new formula aplogise in advance cover all bases.

Anyway woke up at 5.30 this morning feeling sick, have had some amazing dreams recently (got sectioned in one the other night) so lay there running over various dissater scenarios

got up at 7.30am

this is the big one

got on the scales

bloody 10 stone

10 bloody stone

what an awful start to the trip

I have not been 10 stone for a long time

I knew it , I knew it was creeping

so without being to bridget jones

IT HAS TO GO

 

why , why  why cant the stress, the heart beating to fast , the endless walking donkeys, why ? surely I would have lost weight or at the very least the gain could have gone to my boobs,

even more why, why do I care

but there it is I do

 

so

stop procrastinating and get back on  with packing and lists for lists

 

am very excited/nervous

 

Fwd: 24 hours

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Sarah <bleurs@aol.com>
Date: 20 June 2010 14:35:59 GMT+01:00
To: "bleurs1.asiwalkedout@blogger.com" <bleurs1.asiwalkedout@blogger.com>
Subject: 24 hours

The calm before the storm. It all feels eerily quiet maybe because the sun is shining I have so many lists I almost need a list for my list . The living room is full of piles of stuff, stuff everywhere piers is making last minute alterations to the cart . We took it into town yesterday and it nearly tipped over at one point, it is top heavy with the table on it .all four donkeys are over now , guess IShould pack and check that everything does fit .toby is in denial I Think he is lying in the hammock Reading with his animal blanket on, I guess he knows that IWill pack for him.
Sent from my iPhone

24 hours

The calm before the storm. It all feels eerily quiet maybe because the
sun is shining I have so many lists I almost need a list for my list .
The living room is full of piles of stuff, stuff everywhere piers is
making last minute alterations to the cart . We took it into town
yesterday and it nearly tipped over at one point, it is top heavy with
the table on it .all four donkeys are over now , guess IShould pack
and check that everything does fit .toby is in denial I Think he is
lying in the hammock Reading with his animal blanket on, I guess he
knows that IWill pack for him.
Sent from my iPhone

three days to go

lionel from the donkey sanctuary came out today to see the boys and give them the thumbs up

wasn't quite sure what to expect, had stereotyped view of someone in tweeds and old farming stock maybe not smartly dressed

very wrong, a rather attractive man( hope your'e not reading this lionel!) good clothes and sun glasses and a pretty nice car

I am obviously in the wrong job

anyway we walked down to see the beasts he was really taken with them, they are beautiful, big, strong, black with white eyes, great temperament

we got them out and put on the tack, he wasn't sure about all our tack and whether or not it fitted properly

someone (liz I think) is going to meet us on sat to let us know what she thinks

their is an entire donkey fraternity out there quite incredible

my best quote of the day from lionel was "that's a lovely pair you have there sarah"  It was a great triumph for me that I managed to not make a tawdry comment about my own pair but focus my attention on the donkeys who are truly a beautiful pair.

I felt calm yesterday but not today, the lists have reappeared, had a dream that piers invited half the village to walk with us and came outside to lead donkeys dressed in a full length taffeta skirt, an 18th century bonnet and jacket and was only annoyed when I asked him to dress apporpirately

significant?

probably not

I enjoyed another sneaky watch of Big Brother, they are imbeciles

an old friend of mine from drama school is the Big brother voice so that was good to hear

ok back to the lists   

Fwd: 4 days to go

 

 

---

From: Bleurs@aol.com
To: aslwalkedoutdonkeys.blogspot.com@aol.com
Sent: 17/06/2010 09:55:58 GMT Daylight Time
Subj: 4 days to go

 

am now living breathing sleeping donkeys.

this is supposed to be an arts project and I am an actor but currently feel like a donkey herd (which is what piers put his profession as on tobys birth certificate to my horror).

endless conversations about collars, breeching straps, traces, swindle trees, rubs, creams, vet wrap, and on and on and on

when I walked back from spain with lovely old dependable tess I didn't have a first aid kit, probably did have a hoof pick but that was it

the latest ridiculous niss from insurance and health and safety is anti-bacterial hand wash

marianne has been reseraching the cheapest place to buy this and is now going to have to buy gallons of teh stuff because apparently every time anyone touches a donkey they have to wash their hands with the stuff

for gods sake

they are donkeys, people with cats and dogs do not carry round disposable things of tcp handwash everytime they stroke their pussy , or maybe they do,

do the people in these offices who come up with these policies ever get out of their office and into the real world.

have actually had to write a risk assessment about what to do if someone gets stuck in a toilet

actually toby did get stuck in a toilet last year and he said it was very frightening but the whole health and safety does get right up my nose as well as make me incredibly paranoid.

I have endless lists around the place which I am not convinced that I will ever get to the end of.

on the plus side merlin and archie are lush lush lush

never mind the artists who are coming this week which I find a bit scary!

merlin and archies tummies are like fluffy teddybears, so unbelievably soft

walking through the woods with them I feel like a timeless person, it feels so old and companionable

, yesterday piers and I walked them back up through the woods, perfect time of day dusk, sun just coming though the trees, I jumped on merlins back it was really peaceful just for a minute, this is why I thought,

of course the moment was wrecked by you know who, no, not voldemort bloody jasper hurtling through the undergrowth spooked merlin who reared up and bolted, i fell off the back luckily my bum is well padded and the peace was gone

shouts of "get away satan" to the dog from piers, and catching the donkeys meant a sharp jolt to reality, bum slightly sore 

evening spent stitching saddles

I watched big brother, have never watched it before but as this is the last time and we wont be around next week piers can hardly object

god whatt awful people

donkey sanctuary coming tomorrow to check donks

night

Fwd: not so good

 

 

---

From: Bleurs@aol.com
To: asiwalkedoutdonkeys.blogspot.com@aol.com
Sent: 15/06/2010 13:21:11 GMT Daylight Time
Subj: not so good

 

archie has a rub mark

we had to abandon the cart at a friends house and so we went home feeling pretty gutted.

we dont know why he has a rub, it is from the collar and he has two raw patches on his neck

small but we knew we had to stop straight away in case they got bigger.

Suddenly it wasn't fun any more and we all felt gutted.

The donkeys are so lovely and it is so so important to get it right , as piers pointed out they are the only (apart from jasper and my kids!) non-consensual beings there , the panic has now started to set in why did it rub, it hadnt before and we really need to pull the cart.

A  frantic day on the phone yesterday spoke to some great people, really friendly and helpful.

We have discovered a collar called the empathy collar and have ordered one.

Please god, it comes tomorrow it looks good, but we are now two days down on training and I think piers and I starting to feel really truly stressed.

Endless lists, risk assesments, was actually rude to some friends yesterday as I couldn't bear to hear their light conversation, al I have mental time for is facts , straight to the point, not great for my marriage or friendships,endless concerns about donkeys, hooves, hair (not just my own!) and width of gates.

house also falling to pieces, upstairs toilet is leaking and stinks cant find a plumber to fix it

oh well, maybe get used to the smell of urinals, jasper endlessly scratching have de-flead him so often Im surprised he hasnt been poisoned

five days to go

this time next week

sort of great and shit!!

sarah

Fwd: 4 days to go

 

 

---

From: Bleurs@aol.com
To: aslwalkedoutdonkeys.blogspot.com@aol.com
Sent: 17/06/2010 09:55:58 GMT Daylight Time
Subj: 4 days to go

 

am now living breathing sleeping donkeys.

this is supposed to be an arts project and I am an actor but currently feel like a donkey herd (which is what piers put his profession as on tobys birth certificate to my horror).

endless conversations about collars, breeching straps, traces, swindle trees, rubs, creams, vet wrap, and on and on and on

when I walked back from spain with lovely old dependable tess I didn't have a first aid kit, probably did have a hoof pick but that was it

the latest ridiculous niss from insurance and health and safety is anti-bacterial hand wash

marianne has been reseraching the cheapest place to buy this and is now going to have to buy gallons of teh stuff because apparently every time anyone touches a donkey they have to wash their hands with the stuff

for gods sake

they are donkeys, people with cats and dogs do not carry round disposable things of tcp handwash everytime they stroke their pussy , or maybe they do,

do the people in these offices who come up with these policies ever get out of their office and into the real world.

have actually had to write a risk assessment about what to do if someone gets stuck in a toilet

actually toby did get stuck in a toilet last year and he said it was very frightening but the whole health and safety does get right up my nose as well as make me incredibly paranoid.

I have endless lists around the place which I am not convinced that I will ever get to the end of.

on the plus side merlin and archie are lush lush lush

never mind the artists who are coming this week which I find a bit scary!

merlin and archies tummies are like fluffy teddybears, so unbelievably soft

walking through the woods with them I feel like a timeless person, it feels so old and companionable

, yesterday piers and I walked them back up through the woods, perfect time of day dusk, sun just coming though the trees, I jumped on merlins back it was really peaceful just for a minute, this is why I thought,

of course the moment was wrecked by you know who, no, not voldemort bloody jasper hurtling through the undergrowth spooked merlin who reared up and bolted, i fell off the back luckily my bum is well padded and the peace was gone

shouts of "get away satan" to the dog from piers, and catching the donkeys meant a sharp jolt to reality, bum slightly sore 

evening spent stitching saddles

I watched big brother, have never watched it before but as this is the last time and we wont be around next week piers can hardly object

god whatt awful people

donkey sanctuary coming tomorrow to check donks

night

Toby

Today I wock up at 6(saddly)and donks gone!!!!!! Mum saw first , and
her language came to life dads to . Found them at last ( in some nice
mans who we met day befor) brought them back to camp,(chavernidge
green). read for 2 hours then me and arro gosipped for a bit. Next we
got up for breckfast and gasper got eletricoughted (spelt wrong ,right)
and was shaky for ages .AND THEN our nabours came with bacon and eggs
and sauges ,delicous. Then we got reddy for the work home (washpool) .
On the waytheir we stopped off for a bit at arros house and no one
home but car there ,spooky. On the way home I got rearly di-highraited
then we finerly got home and I begged mum to let me do my blog(this)
and this is weare my blog ends ,bye. :)

Toby

Today I got up at 6(saddly)and donkeys gone!!!! Mum realised first
started swering , dad j

Sent from my iPhone

Toby

Today I wock up at 6(saddly) and donkys had gone!!!

Sent from my iPhone

Ash writes a blog

Day one. Last night as I sat in the middle of no where around a warm
blazing fire sat bk on a sheep skin rug looking up to the stars
slighttly tipsy chatting to people my freinds would jugde as hippys I
fort to my self... What the he'll am I doing here? But uno what I'm
having fun out here. My only worry I have is if my hat gets wet ! I
fort I would feel like I'm missing out on what my freinds are doing
but real talk this morning I'm having a fry up cooked on an camp
fire.. who's really missing out right now?

Sent from my iPhone

Toby writes

Today the donks ascaped from their incloser,and into a mans garden
(6.oo in the morning),mum and dad swering their heads off .last night
was cr

Molly writing

Jasper got electrocuted today. He was shaking for ages! It rained this
morning a little bit. We got up thinking it was 9 but it was actually
6. It was lucky we had got up at 6 because the donkeys had
dissappeared! Mum and piers found them in a garden belonging to a man
who we'd seen the previous day. Luckily he didn't see them.
My tent was really warm with jasper in it and my sleeping bag was
really comfy. It didn't get wet at all last night (unlike some I've
had) and it was quite easy to put up and only took 10 minutes!
Mum hopes she looks attractive but she smells and said in her blog
that she thinks she looks wildly disheveled. I think it's lucky there
is no mirror or she'd probably have a hissy fit. I probably can't say
much.

Merlin laden with sleeping bags

Beautiful daughter on walk

First night

Quite an adventure first day went really well. We decided to trial the
kit ourselves and of course the donkey to see it it all worked .
Pretty good merlin looked like a Moroccan donkey piled high wasn't
heavy though just bulky sleeping bags and mats . Archie was amazing
pulled the cart and the kids even rode it at times. . Jasper not to
unbearable and managed to not get run over so I suppose that was a
good thing . So to the camp took ages but ok god there is a lot to set
up firewood to get tents to put up marquee ( tarpaulin reall) electric
fence big debate about whether we needed it then cooking . Drank a bit
to much And fell into bed sleeping bags and mat very comfy . Woke up
for a wee at 5 ish , Donkeys gone donkeys gone shit donkeys gone .
Tracking skills came into play found them in someones garden, reminded
of Spain when my donkey got out into andres veg patch and ate
everything , it was a public relations disaster. Anyway donkeys found
and brought back.crawled back to the tent there is a lot of work to do
we get through water very quickly I am already filthy and stink of
smoke. As there is no mirror I have a romantic view of how I look c,
disheveled but definately wildly attracitve ! Probably a good thing
that there is no mirror.

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donkey cart adn bald patch, me and my ass, archie pulling

chickens, children and hair

Archie and merlin are doing really well at the moment

we took them for a long walk in the cart last night and the night before, archie seems unfazed by the cart, in fact I sat in it for a while and though YES a moment, a lush moment walking out, quiet roads jsut the sound of the hooves and the cart.

 

things a bit frantic at home, there is so much to do my life is run by lists and trying to not to get stressed.

Molly is behaving like a teenager (which she is) and I realised the other day that she is not completely looking forward to the trip. I tried to give her loads of reasons why it will be brilliant out of school for a month, but she wasn't convinced."why cant we just be a normal family and go to the seaside for two weeks.

I suggested that she invite her friends for a few days I was rewarded with a curled lip

they wont want to come walking with donkeys , invite them over for a BBQ before you go, again the curled lip

maybe the cool activity that we are doing is not so cool to a 14 year old

I also remember asking my mum if she could just be a bit more normal and stay at home and make cakes.

I took her clothes shopping and she half forgave me, I think it was when I pointed out that she had hardly said anything nice to me for days and she retorted that it wasn't really worth talking to me at all because all I could seem to talk about was donkeys

felt a bit guilt at that point which was why I ended up buying clothes that were not the practical clothes that \i had threatened for the trip

but Ill look really nice in this black lace gypsy style dress mum amazing what guilt can do

then she put it on , jealousy, why aren't my arms like that anymore and suspect that they weren't even like that when I was 14

so she is now talking to me again, and will look great on the trip

 

our chicken population is decling daily, mainly due to the fact that piers and I keep forgetting to lock them up at night

lost our olded one last night and our duck seems to have gone

there are three scared looking bantams outside looking at me with reproachful beady eyes

yes ok I will try to remember to lock you up ti=onight

must confess that had fleeting thought that if they all get eaten thenwe dont have to take them

almost a shame at times that a fox cant get the dog

although i sort of love him he keeps trying to round up the donkeys and however well I shut him in the house he always escapes and finds us, even if it means crossing a amain road and hiding until we have walekd so far that I cant send him back

if I tie him up he howls, someone helpfully pointed out that it was separation anxiety

I dont want him to love me that much

 

had yet another new haircut today

piers will probably not notice which is good as we certainly cant afford it

had gentle highlights put in

what am I going to wear for the trip?

feel like I want to look ok but suspect that I wont

 

we are doing a trial run this weekend

dog, cart, donkeys, children, camping, fire, husband, tent,

fingers crossed

 

Lice shampoo

Spent an hour washing them hoping to regenerate hair growth and kill
any beasties found a small red creature on my face yesterday which I
am convinced came from archie or merlin. Day three in the cart and all
pretty hood although I did get trapped against the wall and stung to
buggery piers and I managed to not shout at each other. Felt
disproportionate rage towards molly (14) for a minute how dare she
talk to her friend and not focus fully on the donkey calm now

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Washing archie

Omg this is for real

Day two with the cart. Archie and merlin are both looking pretty
skanky am fairly sure that merlin is just moulting very fast (faster)
than he can grow but they still look rough . We o put archie in the
cart again it was ok in fact he was really good but but but it is a
long way from knowing that we can safely take him on the road, piers
looks quite grey with stress everyone thinks oh how sweet (which they
are) but they also weigh 300 kilos + are young and quite scary when
they get going. Both of us are having trouble sleeping my heart feels
like it Is beating to fast ( have not lost the weight that might come
with this sort of anxiety) any way here's hoping ( to success with the
cart) but half a stone would be great as well

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Day one cart training

First day of cart

Merlin over night has terrible alopecia literally many handfuls of
hair have fallen out archie has sweet itch and also has serious
amounts of fur missing both look like new candidates for the donkey
sanctuary today is first trial for the cart aaaaagh fingers crossed
what happens if all their falls out bald donkeys ? Not a good look
sure to invite endless RSPCA visits

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First trip to a roundabout

So firstly went pretty well Adrian is new donkey manager. And managed
fine all very lovely hot day donkeys cool merlin however developing
bad obsession with man hole covers by the time we were half way
through town it was pretty extreme . I thought it good to carry on to
morrissons merlin didn't agree almost nasty incident with a series of
man hole covers and traffic not helped by toby asking me if were
stopping for a cake at Hobbs bakery whilst i was forcibly restrainig
half a ton of donkey from oncoming traffic but slls wells that ends
well back in one piece donkeys safe and I didn't kill the children

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Donkeys trip into town

We are going to walk into Nailsworth pm children are a bit fractious
and all I really want is a pint and to sit for two hours uninterrupted
but sadly it won't be like that fingers crossed no donkey dramas
archie has itchy ears and is scratching them

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Second blog

Great on line new I phone dodgy haircut learning new tricks two weeks
to go

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Preparations are now well underway

The donkeys are all resident in Gloucestershire and require attention
every day. They have been being trained and can, on occassion, be
quite naughty!
Piers has also been working hard making saddles and the carts for all
the equipment to be carried. Michael has come over from Prague to
visit us and to weld the carts - thank you Michael.
Sarah has been busy with finalising the route and making links with
schools and other organisations to pop in and see on the journey.
Sue and Lucy have been finalising the walk leaders, and making sure
that everything is in place for the weekend events.
So as you can see - the whole team has been very busy to ensure
everything is in place so you can come and join us. Find out how to
get involved CLICK HERE