What's the first clue that trouble is looming around the corner?

tunie took three cookies very gently from my fingers this morning so once she knows you, she will take them.
jenny and winston are the obvious culprits but trust me, the front door break and enterer is gideon...mr. limber lips can open clips like a lock smith. he is just way more sneaky and subtle than the donkeys.

Having just spent some time in the barn I'm convinced that the chaos yesterday, if not the fault of a human newcomer to Saints, was instigated by Winston and Jenny. The whole time I was there, they were trying to find a way to demolish Petunia's patio fence - they checked every clasp, every inch of wire, every fastener on the x-pen fence. They banged against it, they banged the doors, they rubbed along it. At one point Winston tried to lift the fence with his mouth while Jenny pawed the ground and snuffled her nose underneath. I have never seen two such determined donkeys!

Petunia coped well with the intrusion (I remembered to say "excuse me" even if the donkeys didn't), and she did stand up several times - the full extent of her exercise for today I would assume. She wouldn't take carrots or cookies from my hand, but did gobble them down when I put them in front of her and backed off a little. And I mean "gobble" - at one point she was choking so badly (on chunks of carrot) that I envisioned having to phone Carol to ask how to perform the Heimlich maneouver on one very overweight piggy!

I did learn that Petunia doesn't seem to like my singing - at least, not my rendition of "I'm a lonely little Petunia in an onion patch". But then I never liked it when people sang "Jeanie with the light brown hair" to me when I was a kid. And I also learned you don't put a wheelbarrow full of warm fresh horse manure down sideways on the slope of the pasture. It creates a mess when it topples over. Duh!

I think we should change the clasp that is on the gate going into the riding ring & put it on the barn door. When I arrived at about 10:30, the barn door was open & I know I closed it when I left. Gideon I believe is getting better & better at using his lips to undo things..unless another human came along after I left.... but the back gate to the yard... was it open ? If so that means that they have learned how to push down on that clasp.. man these guys are way too smart. Thank Dog they didn't get past Petunia, who by the way loves to be brushed....softly

I would have loved to have seen Petunia's face and heard HER comments when those hooligans busted in and threw a party with the hay.
Move the computer into the barn, would ya? I think she might want to write a column for the Post.

one is always hopeful that the trouble stops just short of disaster...thanks to Petunia tonight, it did...i love that pig.

Carol, did you really need to go past the 3rd clue?

it was the original clasp on there (or should i say the original was in the dirt with the chain attached)...i should have got you to leave a note, my fault...premonitions are only as good as the communication that goes along with them. those bloody barn guys (aka GIDEON!) are probably pyschic and messing with our heads to get around us. i am sure i telepathically picked up their plotting this morning, still, they managed to take advantage and still win the game.
anyway, no telling who was in and out of here today, maybe the kids that wanted to volunteer last week but didn't come yesterday as planned, came today when no one was here. i have been thinking of padlocking the gates for added security lately, maybe i should quit thinking about it and do it. all we need is the barn guys or a bunch of the dogs off the property and out for a stroll.

hmm.. perhaps... maybe they bribed Mo this afternoon.
or they are becomming waaaaay too smart!

Oh NO!!! I did go over early this morning and changed those clasps as you asked - and even put one of the better ones on the double doors at the end where the animals usually go in. And I KNOW I closed the gate because I had some stuff in my hands that I had to put down in order to close the latch.
Cr*p. I was going to go back over this afternoon to walk Copper, but was late getting back from visiting mom.
So does this mean they figured out how to open those other clasps?