Matriarchal Mule

Greetings Muleteers!  A very damp Callie here!  Oh dear the rain has descended upon us again.... I can't bring myself to venture out of my mule palace, it is wet, windy and cold :-(

FH and I managed a small window yesterday without rain (even though it was very windy!) to go out with My Heroine and Calm Human, we had sooo much fun, we wandered around the lanes so that I could check out the happenings in the local area, whose sheep are where, what is in the local dustbins and how much water is flowing in the drains (lots!!), I also managed to meet the 4 o'clock train which as an avid trainspotter made my day.  I've never got so close to one and FH was very pleased with me standing within a few metres of it thundering above my head - I was very exciting to see the carriages going past and tried waving with my ears!  Alas there were no more trains so we had to motor on back up the hill, when we got home and it was time to say goodbye to My Heroine I had a little 'mule moment'.  Why should I have to go home first, I wanted to carry on further, it was not time to go home to baby sitting duty yet!

Which brings me to the real subject of my post....  FH has said that I am turning in to Matriarchal Mule.  Now I'm not too averse to this title as the definition is:

1. A woman who rules a family, clan, or tribe. 2. A woman who dominates a group or an activity. 3. A highly respected woman who is a mother.

Now best not tell The Mini as I think he would certainly have something to say about numbers 1 and 2...  You see being Matriarchal Mule is all very well and good but it does come with some drawbacks.  On Saturday morning I had to babysit Ro-Land on his hike back to the mule palace, he walks soooo slowly, I had to keep stopping and starting but as FH wanted to walk us both at once I had to be extra specially good, no pulling on the rope, no picnicking and definitely no trotting, otherwise my mini friend wouldn't keep up!

The other downsides are that I am always 'on guard'  when the little ones decide to sleep I have to stand guard, they are so small that even a gust of wind might get them and as for those nasty dogs that we sometimes see well they're nearly as big as Roller Polar.

It seems that the little ones also seem to think the best place to be is by my side so I even have to share my haynet, and my stable, this morning all three of us were squashed in - we're aiming for the record of how many minis and mules you can fit in a one mule stable, theirs was open for them but no they wanted to just be with me, well can you blame them?

It is a lot to live up to, the boys are always checking out my beauty and sometimes I feel like I have two minis on my apron strings!

I am also the dispenser of scratches and massages, these boys know that I can reach the parts that they can't, sadly they can't scratch my back for me so I have to ask FH nicely to do that for me.

However...... there are plenty of good points of being Matriarchal Mule!  These two extras from Mullivers Travels are my very own gang and I have not one but two boys to flutter my eyelashes at (3 if you count MH who is very won over by my good looks!).  They're not too difficult to look after I guess, despite their size they are quietly tough and The Mini always joins in the guarding duties.  Besides it is always nice to be somewhere that you're appreciated and I sure feel like that here!  There's no place like home with your very own family :-)

Til next time muleteers, I'm going to be dreaming about some sunshine, I've heard Italy is nice at this time of year??