Donald Trump and the Mechanical Lamb

Once upon a time, back in the summer of 2004, Ken and I bought Ingleside Farm. It was a beautiful old pre-Civil War house, but it was very run down.


Even though the inside of the house was filthy and in poor repair, we had big hopes of fixing it up and decorating it in the grand manner that it deserved. Both of us being avid readers, we were excited to see that just off the living room was a large, spacious room that could serve as our library. We imagined fixing it up in the classic Masterpiece Theater style of decorating, with floor to ceiling bookcases and a big fireplace at one end.

Once day, while browsing in a used-furniture shop in Charlottesville, I fell in love with a dark red leather couch that I knew would be just perfect for our future library. It was exactly the right size, exactly the right style, and even exactly the right color to go with the thick oriental rug we already had.

Even though the library wasn't fixed up yet---at the time, we hadn't even moved into the house yet---we splurged and bought the couch. When the shopkeeper saw what piece of furniture we had selected, she said, "Oh, if you're buying that one, I have to tell you where it came from."

"Really? Where?"

She smiled. "That couch used to be in the penthouse of Trump Towers in New York!"

I would have loved this couch no matter where it was from, but we thought it was hilarious that we were getting a famous person's couch.

I'm sure the couch thought it had gone to some kind of Furniture Hell, being demoted from its former palatial home to our bare, empty not-yet-a-library in our run-down, dilapidated house. There is a tiny smear of white paint on the leather of the couch back, which I'm guessing is the reason for the poor couch's dismissal.


We had a great time telling our friends and family that we had Donald Trump's couch in our library. They thought it was funny too.

My sister Donna sometimes sends me funny presents, little things to make me laugh. One Christmas, she sent me a fully jointed, talking Donald Trump doll to sit on my Trump couch. Perhaps the couch would feel more at home then!

He says things like:

"I have no choice but to tell you, you're fired!"

"Stay focused!"

"Remember, the buck starts here!"

Today, several years later, Donna just sent me another bunch of presents. Among them---because we are shepherds, and we are waiting for spring lambing time---was a mechanical toy lamb. When you pet its back, it wags its tail, bobs its head, wiggles up and down and bleats.

Clearly, this lamb needed to be put under the supervision of our talking Trump doll. What luck! The doll is fully jointed and the lamb is just the right size that The Donald can ride it!



So now they can sit on the Trump couch and carry on conversations with each other:

"Think big and live large."

"BAAAAA!"

"Do you really think you're a good leader? I don't."

"Maaaah, maaah, maaah!"

"Never give up under any circumstances. Never give up."

"Baaah?"

"Always enjoy what you're doing."

"Baaah."

"Go with your gut instinct."

"Baaa, baaa!"

"Always maintain your momentum."

"BAAAA!"


Clearly, it really doesn't take a lot to keep me entertained! :-)