We're Back!

Greetings Muleteers!  We are so VERY sorry that it has taken us so long to get back to the blogosphere.  Those pesky humans have been rather preoccupied with things other than our blogging.... hmmm we wonder what could be that important?

So here we are, we have wrenched the hoof-pad from them and we can give you an update - hoorah!  First things first... we are all still in mighty fine form; all hooves, waggy tails, kitty whiskers and long and short ears are doing very well thank you very much.  We hope that someone out there still cares for our animal selves but if not we are happy to talk about ourselves to ourselves ;-)

What's the news then? Hmmm well, much of the same but with a new human to own and enamour with our humour, good looks and wit!

As there's rather a clamour for the hoof-pad we decided that we should each be allowed a few neigh brays to say hi to our loved ones (of course you all love us all right?)... here goes (please note that Dragon had to be censored as her big ears = big ego (oops meant big brain ;-)

The Mini 

Neigh Brays my friends!  As you can see by my topping the bill (George Clooney and Matt Damon you are SO yesterday) I am still firmly Number 1!  I have been up to lots since we last spoke..... eating, snoozing, staring suspiciously at the local sheep and waking up my neigh-bours with a chorus all of my own - someone has to announce the arrival home of Queen FH or she may get an inferiority complex?!  Oh and I have also been busy doting over my new charge, for I have a new human pal to consort with these days, oh yes my friends HF (Human Foal) is just like FH but more fun and offers us treats more frequently. Although... I do draw the line at a wet scrubbing brush.... this puts me in mind of Roller.....

Roller

Not true, errmm ok, it is true.... I am the My Little Pony-a-like in this gang and it appears that FH has passed on her love of humiliating me to HF.  I don't mind really, a wet scrubbing brush gently placed on the botty area? Fine really, especially when it's accompanied with a squeal of happiness and the rattle of my treat pot afterwards :-)  Apart from looking handsome, pondering the meaning of life and acting as psychotherapist to the mules I have mostly been preparing myself for glitter-geddon.  Apparently this is something that happens when Human Foals reach the age of 3 or 4 and start to paint ponies nails silver and plait ribbons in my hair?  I am ALL for it, I can barely wait!  I am just getting in my rest now so that I can manage the late nights that will surely come with this glittery, disco pony existence!

Dragon

Greetings my mulificent friends!  Well my horizons have been expanding.... actually FH says that I have grown rather prosperous (does that mean fat?!) as I haven't been getting as much out and about exercise.  The cheek of it!  Hmmm maybe she is right?  I am definitely not getting ridden as much as I was but I guess I'll forgive FH, she appears to be the one carrying the toddler at the moment.  Thank goodness that Foal can walk well now, it won't be long until she is on board.  She loves me the best.... I like to do my best neigh bray for her.... she pronounces "Dragon Happy" whenever I do this, why can she not understand that this also means "I am hungry"?? A Dragon has to feed her expanding waist you know?!  Anyway I am being the politest of matron mules with my delightful HF (she is mine right?!) and love her, my gentleness with her is not to be confused with softness I am at pains to point out (just ask the local dogs ;-)

Finally FH has got her act together and we are going out more, often on hikes together (FH says she can't be bothered to scrape the mud off me.... the cheek!) which is splendid! More please, I need to get my stamina back for gymkhana games - haha I don't think!

Diesel Catanian Catty

Yes Muleteers I have had a name change apparently!  According to the new bearer of all that is important (those cat treats laced with cat nip) my name is now Catty.  Hey when it gets called and the results are so spectacular can you blame me for responding?! I was a little unimpressed by the squawking foal when it first arrived giving it a wide berth but these days I'm a total convert.  HF just loves stroking me and giving me treats and when I've had enough I just go for a cat nap.  I am still terrorising the neigh-bour hood including giving the dogs the evil eye at every opportunity.  What can I say? Catty life is good :-)

The Pocket Sized Labrador

A little greyer, a bit saggier, but still willing!  Just when I thought my days of puppy raising were over I have been blessed with another charge to bring along in the world.  My FH says I am the best Grandpa Dog a girl could wish for.  I protect, I clean (faces and floors) and I provide education on the important things in life.... good square meals, fresh air each day, a hearty diet, a healthy dose of laughter and lots of waggy love. What more is there to teach a little one?

Mino

Errmmmm what happened to my name?  Well Puppeteers I also have a temporary new name..... It would appear that Milo is quite hard to pronounce for HF so I now get called Mino.  I don't mino though.  I could never have hoped at the endless opportunities that toddlerhood could bring me.... food, glorious food, everywhere for Mino.... I just love clean up!  And I still love running at top speed. beep. beep!





Human Foal

HF cannot yet write so we report on her behalf that she is two mule years, funny, happy, delightful and wilful :-)  A blonde whirlwind with an attitude the size of a.... well a mule!  This little girl appears to have been born ready for life and knows how to enjoy!  She loves us (feeds us a lot), she loves the outdoors, she eats well, sleeps well and smiles a lot..... perfection!  Oh and she's also REALLY good at pointing out poo-poo and announcing to FH 'pick it up now'..... that's our girl!

The Others

Haha, OK we guess we should mention the caretakers!  MH and FH are both doing good too!  They appear a little greyer,  a little more tired but even happier than before.  We all like to keep them on their toes but we have been super duper good for them and they tell us how good we are all the time.  Two jobs, three equines, two dogs, one cat and a little lady.... no problems?!

Mule V's Chainsaw.....

So I heard that my family fans were coming over to visit me.... of course they are!  How could they fail to want to visit and pet your mulificence Queen Dragon?  Hmmm..... or so I thought!  My Uncle and Auntie brought GH to see us all, GH has been a little careless and broken some bones in her front fetlock, not a good idea GH.   Perhaps mud will stick them back together, if not shall we try baling twine?  These are the quick fixes for everything.... let us know if the human docs don't sort it out and we'll get the baling twine ready :-)  

So there I was thinking they had all come to see me when all of a sudden it appeared that they had actually come to play with the wood pile that I had so effortlessly created last weekend with my mule power.... now they had come to destroy my wood pile.  

Ermm hello boys why are you not paying us mules any attention, we're right here and hungry for carrots!

That's when I noticed what they were up to, they had this monstrous log eating thing called a chainsaw, I've heard about boys and their toys but really?!  I decided to get a closer look and swish fiercely at the monster in the hope that it would go away so that I can once again get all the attention.

Even Roller's cuteness couldn't manage to tempt the boys over.... there is something seriously wrong here.... how can they like chainsaws over mules?  Weird!

After what seemed like forever of the monstrous noise (and they call us noisy?) the boys finally finished playing but then they moved on to the next 'task'

Yes that's right burning things!  It seems even GH and Auntie have been lured in to the bonfire fun..... no sign of FH, oh yeah that's cos she was busy petting us, at least someone appreciates us!  Hmmm the fire was rather sedate.... seems they needed a Dragon to blow on it.... well if you're going to ignore me I shall let your flames splutter out...... harumph!

Alas failure to light much more than a small ember sent the humans dashing for the gate.... haha!

Not so fast Uncle!  There is a price to exit this gate!  A stroke of the nose and the finest carroty morsel you can find is the price to pay the Dragon mule gatekeeper....

And GH where do you think you're going?  Wouldn't you like me to try the baling twine and mud fix it trick on your broken fetlock?  If that doesn't work there's always salt water, sudocrem and Roller snuffles?

Come on folks how about a little attention here.....

What's a girl gotta do?  PULL FACES???

At last that seemed to get their attention! Nice to see you family, next time don't forget the carrots, scratches behind the ears and that every moment of your attention should be focused on us..... we know you come to see us not the humans ;-)  

A Family Portrait.....

FH has been trying to get a family picture for the album.... it is proving rather difficult..... you see us Muleteers are prone to fidget rather..... oops!  These pictures give you a little glimpse in to our funny little family.   MH - is busy behind the camera trying to do as he's told (we think he may have the patience of a saint ;-), he is telling FH to look like she's enjoying herself instead of looking at us minis. Surely that means she is enjoying herself?

Dragon is busy looking all lovey dovey at us minis and wondering why we're taking so long to behave? She then starts to pull a 'mule face' when we decide to stand all pretty.....

So then I decide to get bored and have a little munch... I thought this is supposed to be family dinner time?

In the meantime The Mini is getting jealous as ever... and is desperately trying to climb in to FH's pocket as he is (in his mind) Number 1 .... we are pretty sure that The Mini has invisible apron strings attached to FH.

In amongst all of this FH was getting hot and bothered, wanted to give in to The Mini's requests for attention and abandon any idea of calm and order in the Muleteer Family.... why change the habit of a lifetime?  Oh yeah and Catanian was laid a few metres away watching the proceedings in a supercilious cat way :-)

Ok so the family portrait might need a few more tries.... oh well we sure had fun!

We are looking forward to a lovely family weekend with our extended family, Granny is coming to stay (that means extra apples and cuddles :-) and we might even get to see Aunts, Uncles and Cousins - hooray! 

With all that in mind here's my quote for the day....

Family is not an important thing.  It's everything.

Michael J. Fox

Puppy Referee

Puppy refereeing is such hard work....

Greeting Wooferteers, Murph here (aka Cloth Dog, aka Pocket Sized Labrador, aka Chief Referee).  Do you know how hard it is to keep one puppy under control?  Yep - I'm prematurely greying for a reason.... Imagine my terror at the thought of refereeing not one but two puppies..... 

Two of my favourite humans came to visit and brought Milo's partner in crime with them Cousin Archie..... Arch is a bit of a ruffian like young Milo.... he isn't quite past his first birthday and has yet to find the delights of snoozing all day like a Cloth Dog should.

I have tactics for puppies though, it's called the 'let's tire them out on Dartmoor tactic'.

So I took the pups for a walk to the moor, I invited the humans along but honestly they are useless at controlling those puppies, call themselves puppy owners, I'm the puppy parent round here.

First of all the naughty pups thought it was fun to run around at top speed, snapping and playing furry crocodile games.... honestly I kept having to step in to the middle to break them up and referee the game of chase... pups will be pups.

After much ball throwing and chasing Arch found a tasty bit of wood.... he hasn't learnt that what's mine is Milo's, what's his is Milo's, come to think of it everything belongs to Milo in his opinion?!

After quite a bit of chasing.... I decided to leave the pups to this one.... you'll never believe it they are actually learning to share... wonders may never cease!

Then on to some more high speed run arounds....

After many puppy miles, high speed runs and sheep poo hoovering I was convinced that my 'wear them out to the point of exhaustion' tactic must work.  How could they have energy left?  So we invited Cousin Arch home and sure enough the pups looked serene and cute for about.... a millisecond.

Now time for the next game to referee, the pups decided it was time for a game of tug of war!  Honestly who let them have a rope toy?!  I'm exhausted.  As the humans seem to just want to giggle at the pups  as usual it's up to me to referee...  

Now then pups, take your end of the rope, take the strain.... and PULL!

 That's it pups.... PULL! We'll have no cheating on my watch!

It was a tie, surely after that they must be tired???  Ermmm no, time for the next game of puppy wrestling.... Oh dear!

The Snapping Furry Crocodile appeared again, that is fighting dirty Milo, not allowed!

Finally the game changed to My Stick, I'm too exhausted by now... those pups are something else, I think FH must be feeding them Red Bull or Coffee??

Only one thing for it, time to seek sympathy from my Auntie....

And finally.... time for a snooze.... who asked if I could puppy sit again?  Sorry I'm busy sleeping!

Roller's Philosophical Friday: Family

Oh My Mule I am a little tired by all the festive celebrations, days of tinsel, food, drink (for the two legs), presents and best of all family!  We always love a celebration because it means that we get to see the extended family or get to chat to our blog family here :-)  Have you noticed that no matter where or who you are there are always the stereotypical family members?  Our family seems to have them in abundance....













We have...

The Juvenile Delinquent

Most likely to mutter under her breath 'can I go out now, this is boring...'
Best Gift: A can of Red Bull and anything that involves her getting out of the house...

The Drama Queen

Most likely to say 'look at me, I'm climbing on the humans again!'
Best Gift: Gift box set of James Bond films, who said spies have to be male?

The Embarrassing One

Most likely to say 'oh my darling 'insert name of poor animal' you do look so cute in that hat / tinsel / scarf / other unbecoming decoration...'
Best Gift: Gloves to poo pick with, essential and useful every day!

The Matriarch

Most likely to say 'I've got a plan.... have you remembered....to cut a long story short...'
Best Gift: A mug with pictures of all of her 'darlings' i.e. us muleteers. 

The Long Suffering One

Most likely to say 'yes dear, why don't you go outside and see The Muleteers'
Best Gift: Anything to keep FH quiet... in desperation ear plugs!

The Nutty Uncle

Most likely to say 'what have you bought me that for, I don't 'do' Christmas (whilst smiling and laughing) or 'I am the Chosen One!'
Best Gift: Anything as long as it's wrapped in abundant Christmas wrapping paper with loads of sellotape, bows and ribbons....hehe the vein in his temple starts pounding!

The Organised Aunty

Most likely to say 'behave' to Nutty Uncle or 'let me help you with that'
Best Gift: Anything to try and keep Nutty Uncle on the straight and narrow, maybe a training manual or a mallet?

The Obsessive Compulsive

Most likely to say 'must lick my leg just one more time, no wait must chew bone, must squeak ball, oh no must do it all over again....'
Best Gift: More balls, more bones.... oh no, more to obsess over

Head Chef 

Most likely to say 'I've tried this new delicious recipe, you really must try it'
Best Gift: Baking utensils and the best gift of all, appreciation of their baking :-)

The Soppy One

Most likely to say 'yes FH whatever you'd like to do with me is fine, just don't ask me to do it on an empty stomach'
Best Gift: Food of any description, best make the most of the festive period before the diet starts again in the New Year...

The Quiet One

Most likely to say 'errrmm I've forgotten, I've thought about it for so long that I forgot all about it...'
Best Gift: Hair products and the complete works of Dickens!

We hope you've enjoyed some family time over Christmas and avoided arguments, we did miss those friends that couldn't be with us though :-(. They say that you can't choose your family but you sure can make the most of who they are!  We are lucky to have a very mulificent family to keep us smiling through the year, we hope you do to :-)  With that here's my quote for today....

The family is one of nature's masterpieces.
George Santayana