Goodbye Runner Ducks.

    Our lovely little runner ducks have had to be rehomed. Sadly with all that is going on at the moment we felt they weren't being looked after as they should be. We had to clean them out every day really, as anyone who keeps ducks will know how messy they can be, and we were struggling to keep on top of that. We tried really hard to keep them together as the are such good friends but all the city farms would understandably only take the girls. I was adamant that I would rather keep them and struggle on than let them go anywhere were they wouldn't get a really good quality of life. Then someone recommended the swan sanctuary near Teddington who were delighted to take them all as they have so much space.
    They have several enormous ponds and the pens are completely fox proof. They even have a hospital and operating theatre! Tom took them and said they all walked off in a line together and went straight into a pond without a backward glance to their Dad! . He said the woman who runs it was possibly one of the kindest most dedicated people you could wish to meet and we cannot say how grateful we are for their help. I can't help but feel sad when I look at photos of them but we could never have given them the quality of life they will have there. I'll always remember those cute little ducklings though and I know I'll miss them for a long time to come.

We still have our little ducks Scoot and Carue though and I definitely get the feeling Scoot is looking very smug to have the other ducks gone and the whole house to herself again!

The Last Rose Of Summer

Although summer seems a long time ago now we do have a few roses still blooming in our garden. I will be pruning all the rose bushes down in the next few weeks so I took this photo to remind me of the beautiful blooms we have enjoyed this year and look forward to them again next year. Gardening is so much about looking forward and planning for the next year it's hard not to have hope when you think about the future.

I just had to add this photo of our five Indian Runner ducks as they sat and watched me from their house. Even though they are ducks they don't really seem to like cold wet days that much and spend much of their time sitting in their house watching the world go by. At least they laid two nice big eggs whilst they were in there so I can have an omlette for my tea. Thank you runner ducks!

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