It has been a cool, sunny week. This morning there is dew on the ground, and green, green everywhere. The black raspberries along the driveway that I was going to trim so my brother could mow the lawn without getting scratched up - they're in bloom. Now I don't want to clip them. I want raspberries! I did about a 5th of the way up the drive, so he can do the corner okay.
The duckies have become more human. They look full-sized, but they won't be old enough to lay eggs until September. (This is May). That's if they're female. We can't tell yet. We have to wait until they form drake feathers if they're male, to see. I tell you, it's worse than waiting until it's time to turn a pancake. Everything I read says that the only other way is by ultrasound. You can injure a duck trying to find out if it's male or female any other way. So we just have to WAIT. We have 3 white pekins, and 1 muskogee (or however you spell it). The pekins quack like a normal duck, and the muskogee looks like a duck, but it cheaps like a bird. (No wonder I could never hear wild ducks at the lake). They're like dogs. We keep them in the kennels during the day, and in a big rabbit hutch at night. We have a kiddie pool in the dog kennels for them. Don't bother trying to keep the water clean!
Did you know that ducks will quack to be let out in the morning as soon as they hear your voice; and quack to be put in at night when it gets dark? Did you know that ducks rinse off their food in water? And then they dig through the dirt in the bottom for bugs they may have lost? They quack when they want their swimming pool filled. They are cool birds. We have to keep them in because ducks, unlike dogs (or like dogs, whichever you prefer), don't come back when called, or until they darned well feel like it - and the fox and coyotes around here, although you can't see them, will take full advantage of that. I have lost every duck I ever tried to raise here. I am not going to lose these guys. They're hanging with the chickens when we get a coop built!
The chicks are now pullets, and they are a little bigger than a clenched fist. They have their red feathers, but the combs and waddles haven't grown on them to be able to tell if they are roosters or hens yet either. The roosters go in the freezer in August or Sept.. I am NOT looking forward to that! But we've done it before. I can't have 10-15 roosters fighting over my hens, and chicken is expensive. We planned this, but the more I think about it, the more I hate thinking about it.
I'm flying to Phoenix in less than a week to watch my son graduate from high school, and bring him back for a month before he begins college. He lives with his dad. He's wanted to be a computer programmer like his dad since he was 2. He hasn't seen Ohio's green since he left last June, and he has missed it terribly. It will be wonderful to have him home!
My husband has got the coffee just about done. He is feeling romantic because I have had some vacation time off for a few days, and started in on cleaning the house. It is far from "clean," but it sure looks a lot better! It is making him feel happy. If only I had more time off like this. I need 4 weeks, not 1 1/2. There is so much to do. Tomorrow we are driving halfway across the state to look at rams. Today, my second son signs up for college in high school, and my daughter has a band concert. I'd rather work outside in the garden, or trim the hedge, or mow lawn, but there is only time for so much.
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