The Finished Duck Run

It was such a beautiful sunny day yesterday I managed to finish nearly all the last little bits in the duck run. I painted their house, I just have one more side to go but ran out of time. The whole time I was painting naughty Carue our male duck pecked away at my ankles making it all much harder than it should have been. I just ignore him and carry on and I can see the annoyance on his little face I don't react! As I have said before we drove a 100 mile round trip to a farm to pick him when he was two weeks old. We had hatched one solitary duckling and wanted a companion for her. We rang around duck sellers and eventually found a farmer who said we could have a male call duckling as he had hatched too many and if we didn't take him he would have his neck rung anyway. I sometimes wonder whether a hatred of people developed in those first two weeks as he has never liked us despite all our salad treats! Scoot however who spent her first two weeks in our house and having a daily swim in the bath, loves being carried about and having her neck scratched. Carue looks so cute though waddling about we forgive him anything (almost!).

Even Scoot let me down when I was trying to film her enjoying a swim on such a lovely sunny day!

Although she really does enjoy her swimming. Our next job, now we have a bigger run, is to try and find her a bigger pool. She would love it.

This morning is a horrible comparison to yesterday, cold and wet with a forecast of heavy winds. I spent yesterday evening before it went dark checking the run and greenhouse were as weighted down as they could be. The last thing we want is it blowing away! All my planted seeds are back in the greenhouse so fingers crossed it's not too bad. I'm off to do my Dad's shopping today so I hope the rain isn't too heavy as queuing outside shops in the rain isn't much fun! I hope the coming storms are not too bad for everyone and you all manage to stay safe and enjoy your day. xx

Old Friends

 We finally finished the duck run yesterday evening. It was not the best day as by the time lunch time came it poured and poured. We were soaked through and very cold. I spent an hour as it was going dark checking every corner and edge of the run. It was as safe as I thought we could possibly get it. It certainly looks a bit like Fort Knox rather than a garden duck run but I have plans for honeysuckle growing up the edges which will hopefully make it a bit more attractive. It's quite exciting to start planning planting in a new area. I'll take some photos this weekend, even though at the moment it simply resembles a mud filled farmyard!

I spent yesterday evening chatting with an old school friend of mine. A group of us from school have been talking about having a reunion in September this year to mark 50 years since we all started together at secondary school! Where did that time go to! We even have acquired a teacher in our group. Not just any teacher but one that would regularly throw black board rubbers or chalk at us (Depending on how bad the misdemeanour!) It was his first job as a young 23 year old newly qualified teacher and to be honest he was a bit of a bully. Now as a man only 12 years older than us, all of a sudden he is on our level, although it was a battle for all of us not to call him "Sir". I wonder some days whether he feels a bit embarrassed about the way he treated us, particularly the boys, who some days were put through hell. None of us hold grudges as we're not really that kind of people, not even the naughty boy of the group who was regularly beaten by him, they were different days, but I can't help but wonder how he feels. It has been a strange shift in balances.

The main topic of conversation between my friend and I though was that we think we have found an address for a very close friend of ours. Four of us went everywhere together, we were so close and then in the few years after we left school we drifted apart. How wonderful it would be if we were back together again. We chatted all evening about those happy days and how wonderful it would be. I'm going to write the letter this weekend. If this pandemic has taught me anything it's not to waste time, to spend time with special people is so important. 

No time for rest today, Scarlett will be here at 7.30 so a busy day ahead but much more fun than standing in the mud and rain battling with chicken wire! I hope everyone has a lovely day whatever your plans. xx

The Ducks Are In The Dining Room

 Oh well! After working from 9.30 to darkness I'm afraid to say the duck run wasn't finished. The paving slabs were all levelled. The framework went together quite easily but the chicken wire was hopeless. I kept saying as we were attaching it. "The foxes are going to laugh at us when they see this wire!" We might as well just have said "Foxes come and get your dinner!" At the end of the day it just wasn't safe enough.  I'm not giving up. I read somewhere when you are thinking about foxes you must remember they have the agility of a cat and the strength of a dog. I will check every corner of the run to secure it somehow before the ducks go back in so we have another busy day ahead of us. I really love our garden foxes but I know they are wild animals. The vixen is probably pregnant now, which will make her even more determined to care for her young by providing food. We don't want our ducks part of that food! 

The ducks however are blissfully unaware of all these problems and are perfectly happy in the warm in the dining room! I think they have quite enjoyed their day yesterday, a bit of a change of scene!

I'm off outside again now. I really wish I could sit with a cup of coffee and look through some blogs but not this morning again. I hope everyone has a lovely day and it's a bit more restful than mine is set to be! xx

Planning The New Duck Run

 I have been out planning and measuring yesterday. I have studied the instructions (it all looks rather complicated) and today is the big day. Poor Tom is tired as he didn't get in from work until 11 o'clock last night but we can't have a box of duck run panels in the dining room another day!

We really love our ducks. I was checking last night to see exactly how old they were. We hatched Scoot the female duck in May 2014 so she is nearly 7. She was  the cutest little duckling. 

 

 As she was an "only duckling" we were worried she was growing up to think she was a dog, she absolutely loved them! We travelled to a farm on a round trip of 100 miles to rescue a two week old male Call duckling who was going to have his neck rung as the farmer had hatched too many males. I'm afraid to say he has never shown a minutes gratitude for our efforts but we still love him. 

So hopefully today we can get it all done and secure against the foxes by this evening, otherwise I can see the ducks in a cage in the kitchen overnight! I hope everyone has a wonderful day what ever your plans. xx

Looking Forward To David Essex

 It was another warm day yesterday, a sunny cheerful sort of day that somehow brightened us all. Tom is on late shifts all the way though until next Tuesday but at least that means he gets the morning at home. I had ordered an extension to the hosepipe with the replacement attachment and we ran it up the side of the garden fence so not only does it look much tidier I can sit on the bench and give the ducks a shower instead of them just having a swim about in their little pool. They loved it and I can see on warm days this will be a job all of us will want to do as it is so amusing to watch their antics when they are enjoying themselves.

I may even try the cockatiels with a bit of misting on warm days now the hosepipe reaches right up to the end of the garden. They certainly seemed to enjoy the early spring sunshine yesterday.

There has been more news about things hopefully opening up later in the year. Musical festivals have announced they will be taking place later in the summer. A friend of mine who is a musician has announced he will be playing at venues later in the year, after a year with no work I am so pleased for him. For me, one really exciting thing I am looking forward to almost seems possible now. My sister and I were meant to be going to see David Essex in concert last September which was of course cancelled and postponed until this September. It was looking as if it was a distinct possibility it may not even happen then but now suddenly it seems a bit hopeful! We saw him at The Sutton Granada and The Hammersmith Odeon in 1974 and 1975. Sigh! What happy days. For any one else who remembers that twinkle in his eye here is a trip down memory lane!

Scarlett is coming today and sadly the weather doesn't look quite so good for us, but other parts of the country who have been having rain are at least due some sunshine. Hopefully we'll still get out for a walk and have a bit of fun today. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing and is managing to plan something nice for after lockdown. xx

Out In The Snow

 What a cold day it was yesterday! Tom was back at work after nine days holiday so I felt quite lonely. He has been going out and feeding our birds and ducks while he has been off so it was a shock to my system on such a cold day going out to see to them. It took me such a long time as all the water was frozen and the ducks little pool was frozen solid too. After the struggle of chipping all that away, of course the hose pipe was frozen so I had to walk up and down the garden with buckets of water from the kitchen. We have steps up to our garden which are pretty treacherous at the best of times so I felt I was risking life and limb doing it yesterday. I carried warm water for the ducks little pool as a treat and even though it was only just warm in the freezing cold there was steam coming off it. Scoot our female duck just sat there with her little legs floating for ages she enjoyed it so much.

The whole time I was walking up and down, the beautiful vixen who always sits at the end of our garden was watching me, no doubt in amazement at my antics. I always think she has the most perfect face I have ever seen on a fox.

I felt so sorry for her sitting in the cold and snow I went into the house and gave her a bowl of dog biscuits before I went inside. While I was sitting in the warm enjoying a cup of tea I sat and watched the fox carefully carrying some of  the biscuits and hiding them around the garden.  When I was talking to my eldest daughter on the phone yesterday evening I told her about the fox's behaviour. Before she was a police officer she worked for two years in the London Wildlife Hospital and she said if a vixen is displaying different behaviour she may be pregnant. I do hope so, she had three cubs last spring and it was such a pleasure watching their antics in the garden as they grew up. 

When youngest daughter got in from work she said she saw, on the way by, the local park was completely packed with families out sledging on the big hill there. All off school, I suppose they deserve to have a bit of fun. Tom said the buses were empty though and he spent most of the day driving round and round with only a few people on his bus. I start to wonder if the days of busy buses will ever come back.

It was such a cold night last night. We leave the kitchen heater on all night when it is cold, for our dogs and Cleo our cat who sleeps pressed up next to it. Cassie our little Yorkie sleeps on our bed and even she got under the covers! I kept waking up and thinking about the poor fox out in this snow. It is still snowing today though only lightly but I think it may be a while before this clears. I have plenty of work to do inside but I will be glad to get out walking again. Have a lovely day everyone and I hope you are all able to stay safe and warm xx

Bantam Ducks

Another cold day today but at least the sun came out for a few hours and that cold northerly wind has dropped. Our house faces north and we are raised up above the road on a high bank. Although it means we have a nice view looking over the houses into the distance, when the wind blows from the north it is absolutely freezing as we have nothing to break it.
There were lots of jobs to do around the garden today looking after our chickens and ducks and I took this photo of Scoot and Carue our bantam ducks as I was out there. Scoot is a Minitature Silver Appleyard duck we hatched from an egg and is adorable.  Carue is a call duck we rescued from a farm at two weeks old. The farmer had hatched too many male ducklings and was going to wring his neck. We drove a 120 mile round trip to pick him us as a friend for Scoot and I'm afraid to say he is decidedly ungrateful. Even though he looks very cute he can be a proper little demon and spends most of the time when I am in there hanging off my trousers and pecking at any bit of me he can make contact with. It's not too bad in the winter when I am wrapped up but in the summer, when he can make contact with bare skin,  it is slightly less amusing.
There is something about his little round face and waddly walk though that I just love and even though I regularly threaten him with the same fate the farmer had in store for him I can't help but like him.!

 Scoot And Carue The Bantam Ducks