Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A Happy Ending and Please VOTE!



Computer time has been a bit scarce these days. Summertime around here is a lot busier then winter. Lots and lots of grass to mow and right now with all the rain we have had it's growing like the proverbial weed.
Still haven't put my annuals in as there is still a threat of frost. I think this is a record for me being this late getting things planted. I did get some white and yellow daisys planted along the front of the house but they are in big pots and are hardier then the little seedlings. I don't think a bit of frost would bother them.


My vegetable seedlings are still on the sun porch waiting to be put into the ground. Maybe tomorrow. I keep reading about how so many of you have these wonderful veggies already and am rather jealous! :o)

A couple posts back I mentioned that I had a happy ending story. Well here it is. My yard man was working over at my husbands office building putting down new mulch for the summer. As he was working he noticed a female mallard wandering around the parking lot with one wing hanging down rather pitifully. He tried to catch her but she just stayed out of his reach, all the time with this dangling wing.


He called me to see what could be done so I called the animal control office which turned out to be closed on a Saturday so I called the Police Dept. to see if they could help. Well it seems they don't handle ducks and gave me the number of the wildlife department. I called and talk with a very pleasant warden who was quite a distance away and couldn't come to the office immediately so he said he would call a wildlife rehabilitator who would contact me.

He called and he and his wife said they would meet me at the office after she finished bottle feeding a baby raccoon and a baby squirrel. T and I went over to keep an eye on the duck as the yard man had to leave. Well wouldn't you know when we got there we couldn't find her! We hunted all over the grounds and around the building and parking lot and no sign of Mrs. Duck. Rats! I had this couple driving here from quite a distance and now couldn't find the duck.......

They drove in shortly after that and I explained the situation so they got out and we all started looking some more as we knew a duck with a broken wing wouldn't stand a chance against predators or dogs. Finally he asked me if we had checked in the shrubs around the building which we hadn't so that's where we all headed next.

The nice man hollered that he had found her under one of the shrubs and reached in to grab her with his cage nearby to put her in. Well, wouldn't you know shew FLEW about 20 feet away and then stood there looking at us. He looked under the shrub again and there was a nest with 12 eggs in it! She wasn't injured at all she was just trying to lure the yard man away from her nest as he had been putting mulch within a foot of her nest!

Of course I just happened to have my camera with me in case of a good photo opp so here are the eggs. You can't see them all but trust me there are 12 in there!
The rehab man said they looked like they were hear hatching and to not tell any of the 60 people in the building where the nest was so that it wouldn't drive her away.
A few days later I called one of the managers there and asked her to just peek under the shrub and sure enough they were all hatched out except one and the whole family had moved on! Yea for Mrs. Duck!!


I took Miss T to her riding lesson yesterday and she was happy to be back on little pony Divit. I tried to catch a picture of the two so you could see the difference in size. This is T on Divit on the right hand side and Duffy the horse she rode last week on the outside left! Quite a difference!




Sweet little Divit is almost 30 years old. I didn't know that until yesterday! I thought she was in her teens!

How do you like the new hoodie that I found in one of the many horse catalogs that I get? She thought it was a hoot! What you can't see is that the sleeves on her arms are rolled back, if you want to keep your hands warm they roll down with a hole for your thumb and the ends of your fingers. I wish they'd had them in my size!



Hubby and I are planning a date day on Friday. Of course we will be going to the coast as it's our favorite place. I hope the sun is out this time so that I can get some pictures. Last time it was rather foggy on the water.

I got an e-mail from Jo-Lynne my niece at Musings of a Housewife today and she has fallen behind a bit in the Best Philly Blogger contest and needs our votes!! It only takes a few seconds and you can vote every day till the end of June. Let's give her a boost as she is very active in the blogging world and this would be a major win for her!! Thanks so much I appreciate your help!!!!!! xoxo

http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/parents-picks/philadelphia-pa-usa/best-philadelphia-local-blog

14 comments:

Donna. W said...

Which blog is hers?

Renie Burghardt said...

We have the same problem here with the over-abundant rain and the proverbial grass growing. My yardman (son Greg) just cut it here at the house and at the cabin Monday, and it's raining again! But my garden is doing great-tomatoes and zucchini blooming, cukes will also be in the next day or two, and that's the extent of my veggie garden. Hope you get a chance to plant your seedling soon.

Love the pictures of Miss T riding. Divit sounds like the kind of little horse I even might be brave enough to ride these days. LOL.

Glad the eggs hatched and the duck family moved on. Hopefully to a nice pond or lake near-by.

Have fun on your Firday date day!

Huggies,

Renie

Callie said...

That is a happy ending indeed. Love the hoodie "T's" wearing, too cute!

Susie said...

We'd love some of your rain! Send it this way. Our garden is doing pretty well but we have June gloom which are very overcast days.
Miss T is certainly growing. Great Pictures :)
What a happy ending to the duck story. You have the most tender heart for all creatures.
love you,
xoxo

Kerri said...

What a delightful duck story. My hubby was telling me about it (he always gets to the blogs before I do) and I had to come read it for myself :) Your Mrs. Broken Wing reminds us of the Killdeer birds. They do the same thing. Isn't nature amazing? Glad the story had a happy ending but it's too bad you missed seeing the babies :)
Love T's sweatshirt...very cute..and so is Divit...he's just her size :)
Hubby just planted our veggie garden these past 3 days. The soil was too wet and cold before this week. It's not overly warm today...cool breeze blowing...but the sun is shining, and we'll take all we can get of that, right?

Tammy said...

Loved the sweet story about the mama duck!
And always love to see the horse riding pictures!
Come by when you get a chance...I know how busy summertime can actually be!
Hugs,
~Tammy

Mary said...

Beautiful photos of horseback riding. Such memories these will make.

Enjoyed the story about the duck. I'm glad it all ended well.

Blessings,
Mary

palmtreefanatic said...

awesome hoodie! I LOVE IT!!!!
awww how sweet to have found all them duck eggs... hope they are all safe!

Carole Burant said...

I know what you mean about computer time being scarce...sheesh! Some days my computer doesn't even get turned on!!! I finally planted my annuals today so fingers crossed that there is no more frost. Our veggie garden hasn't been planted yet either but hopefully this coming week we can get it done.

Awwwww what a great story and happy ending indeed for the duck! I had heard that they would pretend to be hurt just to lure people away from the nest...smart animals!!

LOL I love T's hoodie you got for her! hehe She looks so comfortable on her horse and it must make you so proud to see how she has your love of horses as well:-)

Hope you had a fun time on your date night! Love you tons! xoxox

Margaret Cloud said...

I hear you about the plants, mine are out but not growing too good, it has been chilly. Glad the duck was not hurt, they make great moms. Those pictures of Miss T are so cute. Have a great weekend.

Dawn said...

I keep checking Maine's weather to see what's happening in Kev's world, and it's amazing how close you are to our weather patterns.

We're getting enough moisture to keep the grass and flowers looking really good. God does so much better at watering than we do! And it's free!!

Tassi said...

You always find such good pictures to take! We saw HUGE turtle at my sister's yesterday but somehow it wasn't very photogenic on a camera phone!

Have great day.

Donna. W said...

Blue is doing just fine. You asked about putting his feet in water. No, I didn't do that. When my other horse foundered, the vet didn't have me do that. All he did was lecture me about getting that horse off pasture, never ever giving him grain or alfalfa or treats again, etc.

I'm sure Blue's founder was nowhere as serious as Buddy's. I'm just keeping him off pasture until fall.

Andrea said...

I love her new helmet and her new hoodie!! I need one, do they have that in my size? LOL!!