Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I want to create something good, and I have 40 minutes before nursery finishes! Did you know that I once did great things? I once scared myself daily, pushing myself to the tops of hills, along dual carriageways, through fields of lively bullocks, and so far out of my […]
It’s been grim few months. Four, five, six months. Maybe a year really, since I passed the self-imposed deadline for finishing this project. I set it arbitrarily during the Kickstarter campaign, thinking I’ve never had six months to do one project before – what luxury! – there’s surely nothing I […]
Let’s face it, I was flattered. A few weeks before the end of the walk we were asked if we’d lead the lantern procession through Aberystwyth, and I said yes without hesitation – what a homecoming honour! Then we got back, got miserable, and then started to get used to […]
Listen to your donkey, said two donkey godmothers and a couple of other kind donkey people, after I posted a picture of Chico refusing to move, or ‘planted’. He’s trying to tell you something. To me it sounds like this: “Are we nearly there yet? You didn’t tell me we […]
It’s a mere three days before departure, and if it wasn’t for thirty years of socialisation I would probably also poo copiously on the ground like Chico does every time I frighten him (which is daily at the moment, and today was quite green, and inside kind field-lender Hazel’s garage, […]
I have been the owner of an animal for ten days, and he is still alive. But there are nevertheless a fairly regular number of things that could kill him. This week, so far, massive territorial horses, and rain. The massive horses were my own stupid fault. I had seen […]
Today the vet gave Chico the all-clear; all he’s concerned about, given the magnitude of my intended undertaking, is Chico’s hooves getting too worn down, and his harness rubbing, and both of those would be his worries with any donkey. So, pending the results of the blood test on Thursday, […]
Early on people said, “How on earth does one go about buying a donkey?” “Easy!” I said, deliberately breezy for laughs, but also blissfully unaware of the pain to come. “Horsemart!” Horsemart exists, but I’ve not looked at it recently – instead I’m doing the rounds of donkey dealers and […]
A few days ago I wrote a long blog full of woe. I’d realised that the donkey I had lined up, Mali, wasn’t the right one. She’s young – only just four – which is pre-teen in donkey years, arguably not yet finished growing, and certainly not accustomed to the […]
I’ve got pretty adept at answering these top 11 questions to the satisfaction of concerned/amused/bemused friends/relations/strangers. Every now and then I get this nagging feeling that I’m so relieved at managing to allay other people’s worries, I’m just smoothing over my own. Ah well, anyway – read on and be […]
Chico gets on Ramblings with Clare Balding!Chico and I are about to be on BBC Radio 4’s
Getting a donkey to an islandOur little appearance on Wonders of the Coast Path is
Island nesting: the imaginary movieThis is all out of order, like leafing through the
Self-islanding with a donkeyNice to get the chance to dust off the donkey!
Free the mothers! We are not the number-one parents!Anyone who’s been watching the whole donkey story
Walking to Hay FestivalWe walked to Hay! Ursula Martin (One Woman Walks) and
Triple-bill speaking tour next weekend! Plus, Hay Festival. Eep!I have talking dates coming up! I’m beside
