Pumpkin Bread and Chestnuts

We are experiencing a brief return to summer weather this week.

After a brief shower yesterday morning, the temperature soared to the low 80's

and will reach the same again today.

"And I thought summer was over!"

The rain shower gave me time to do a little baking...

seven loaves of pumpkin bread from the one long-neck pumpkin 

that I successfully grew this summer.

This recipe is great... I found it yesterday on a favorite blog.

It's delicious. (Especially with a little freshly whipped cream!)  You can find the recipe here.
Perfect with a cup of hot tea.

In addition to the usual farm chores, there were a few errands to run.

A trip to the mill for pine shavings, a trip to the feed store for chicken feed and scratch,

and also what I hope is the final mowing of the season...

filled the afternoon.

When the chores were finished, it was time to enjoy some donkey time.

As I have shown you so many times...

it is hard to take pictures of the donkeys when I am with them,

as they spend most of the time right on top of me.

I do little grooming tasks for them while they stand so close.

Like... clean the "eye boogers" from the corners of their eyes...

rub their ears...

scratch their butts...

and peel off their chestnuts...

Donkeys (unlike horses) only have chestnuts on their front legs.

Most horses have them on all four legs.

They are a calloused area that, if allowed,

will grow many layers and become quite thick and hard.

It seems they are a vestigial remnant of something...

perhaps a scent gland, or perhaps a vestigial wrist pad, or vestigial toe.

It's all a bit of an evolutionary mystery.

Regardless, I keep the donkey's peeled so that it never has a chance to grow thick and gnarly.

While I worked on Chloe, Daphne found a way to scratch an itch...
one of those itches that are impossible to reach (if you are a donkey)...

Judging from the closed eyes....she must have gotten the right spot!
Doesn't she have lovely eyes?