Mule Polly throws a long shadow as she browses the frosty grass under the walnut tree in our backyard. It's hard to imagine, on December 31, that in only two months, the grass will start sprouting. I hope 2023 went well for you, and I wish you all the best in 2024!

I use hoof boots on my mules instead of steel shoes. That allows their feet to expand and contract the way they should instead of being locked into place by a ring of steel. Plus, they don't have to wear them all the time, only when they need to. Nobody likes to wear their shoes to bed. Here's what the bottom of my mule Brick's hoof looks like right after I've trimmed it.

Our wood shed during an early winter snow. Our only heat source is our wood stove, which means it feels mighty good to have our wood shed full come winter. I built the shed from the ground up and sided it with old white oak and chestnut boards I salvaged off another outbuilding I took down. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! I hope you're cozy wherever you are.

My mules Brick (L) and Cracker loaded up in our horse trailer next to my wife's Haflinger pony Pie (R)

They say fire wood heats multiple times, from the time you cut it down to the time you put it into the wood stove. I'm leaving out about a half dozen steps, including this one, splitting it. Most of this wood is black birch, one of the best fire woods you can find in western North Carolina. It smells like wintergreen and mint when you split it.

One of my all time favorite photos- a puddle in our driveway that's reflecting the hill on the other side of the valley we live in.

My wife's Haflinger Pie and my mules Cracker and Polly in my old horse trailer. It's at least fifty years old and is the only two-horse trailer that can haul three animals that I've ever seen.

Brick waiting for me to take her for a trail ride.

Everyone should have a best buddy to roughhouse with. My mules Brick and Cracker and horsing (mule-ing?) around in the pasture just off our front porch. A few moments after I took this photo, they were grazing calmly next to each other.