The perfect ending to an otherwise icky day

The Mistress of the Manor had not been herself lately.. She had been transformed into a basket case.. Buried beneath piles of papers,( we are not talking water-color papers here, rather, those  papers full of figures and dollar signs and "paid in full" stampings); the Mistress was ready to pull out her hair and die a slow and agonizing death. This kind of paperwork is not the sort of thing that anyone likes.. least of all artists, who are allergic to math.( Fellow Americans know that of which I speak)

 The Mistress needed a breath of fresh air.

 She kicked her adding machine, and headed out the back door.

 She grabbed a basket and walked through the potager, plucking tomatoes along the way. 

She strolled  to the pear tree to pick a few small, fallen pears , took a deep breath and muttered to herself, "I'll give these treats to the "critters"  She pondered on the fact

that Critters never need worry about figures, sums and dollar signs and TAXES.... lucky critters.

 She leaned her elbows on the aged old farm fence and called out,"Sophia! Beatrix! Margaret! Goat gals! Ursula!. Come and get it!"

 The sheep gals galloped to the fence with great anticipation knowing garden goodies awaited , and anxious to gobble up as many tomatoes as possible before the goat gals arrived from behind. (If the truth be told, they are GLUTTONS)

The Mistress spied the long velvety ears and stunning donkey face of Ursula as she strolled  casually  over the hill.

but Alas.. what to her wondering eyes does appear?? She stares aghast as another set of long velvety donkey ears appear, trotting alongside Ursula.....

  but these are smaller donkey ears attached to a  most adorable wee black BABY donkey!

Who is this and where has it come from!!!??? 

Good grief and Good heavens! Ursula has had a baby and no one even KNeW she was pregnant!
Everyone knew she had a healthy appetite, she was quite large, indeed,
and could devour animal crackers by the bucket. (But all the gals have a bit of belly fat, for food is the joy of their lives) 

(DEJA VU... the same kind of surprise occurred 2 years ago, when Rosebud the goat surprised everyone with a lil kiddle)

 

 Oh what delight and happiness!

   Ursula has been keeping a secret from us for 10 months. She must have been "with donkey" when we bought her, for there is nary a donkey dude within miles and miles of us.

 The Mistress welcomes this precious little gift from heaven, smiles the biggest smile of her day, and looks up at the gorgeous vast sky above.

   The same vast sky that our little Esther flew off into, just one week ago.

 It only takes the miracle of life to show you what is really important in this world. And that sometimes, our troubles are really quite small.

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?
 Whether a male or female remains to be seen. but the Mistress is picking out names for the darling donkey baby. Only one day old today!

A new member of the Hopalong Hollow family.

   You will be hearing a lot about this little person, as soon as the Mistress finishes her paperwork.

  PS: We learned that a donkey can carry a baby for up to 14 months. No. wonder nobody knew!