Old Year's Night

I mentioned the title today and the reception was surprising. No-one had heard the expression for years apparantly! The reason for my mention was a sad one. We lost Flossy the donkey. She was only 6 but Dave rescued her and the vets wanted to put her out of her suffering straight away. He had to persuade them to keep her alive. She was expecting and gave birth to a very healthy jet black male donkey who we call Dodge. She fed him and looked after him and did a splendid job. He pined terribly for a while and we looked for another donkey but in the end circumstances put us in touch with a pigmy goat called Dennis. He was visibly terrified at first when we introduced them but Dodge was so gentle with him. Dennis has his own corner to hide away in the stable when they are inside and Dodge looks and steps so carefully so as not to harm him by mistake. They are now inseparable and run around eachother when they are in the field. They even share a bucket of food. It happenned by mistake at first and we worried that Dennis wouldn't get enough food. He is very smart however - Dodge is the perfect gentleman and takes some food and then gives Dennis a chance. Not so Dennis. Once he sticks his head in the bucket his horns reach up the rim and Dodge looks on bemused as he lowers his head and gets his nose pricked!