2ND FAMILY'S NEW DUCK

Recently, we mentioned about 2nd Family losing one of their ducks.  Well, the next door neighbor was heading to a livestock sale and so they asked if they could come along to see if there were any ducks.  

They went and found this one...

...not sure what species she is but she's the newest member of the family.

Her name is "Nui" (pronounced like saying newie) and I guess you could say she's a rescue duck of sorts.  She is fitting in nicely with their other animals and most importantly, Ginkgo really seems to like her as well.  She follows him around all over the place, learning the ropes of her new home.

Nui and Ginkgo

She is grooming, eating well and playing in the kiddie pool that they keep water in.  She's very friendly and seems happy in her new home.  

Two ducks and a dog

And Alice, the family dog, is getting to know her.  
She approves. 

RIP PUDDLES

We heard some sad news at the farm today from 2nd Family.  

They have two pet ducks, not counting the group that sort of adopted them.  Well, "J" let us know that Puddles, the sweet white duck in the picture below, died suddenly a few days ago.

Puddles the Duck

She said Puddles was perfectly fine one day, and gone the next.  No signs of injury, no broken limbs, no wounds.  Just happy and seemingly healthy one day and then when they went to feed her, she was gone. They are very sad around their homestead and so is their remaining duck, Ginkgo, who was best friends with Puddles.  They are thinking of getting another so that Ginkgo isn't alone.  

They had Puddles for about 2 years, she was their first ever duck.  She was already grown so there's no way to know how old she was, though she always seemed young and playful.  I remember we went down there recently and were all leaning up against the fence watching the ducks and we realized that we had just let 20 minutes go by without talking, just watching the ducks do their thing.  It was a great moment, I can't imagine a better way to spend an afternoon.  

Goodbye Puddles...you will be missed.  

NOT SO UGLY DUCKLINGS

For those new to the blog, 2nd Family is the daughter, son in law and granddaughter of "Ma" that we bought the house from.  I've known them for more than 25 years and so we both consider them like having our own "2nd Family".  They live on a piece of property that is at the front end of ours.  We actually share the first part of the driveway from the road.  

Anyway, we stayed in town today because of the weather (rained but not at the farm, go figure) and just a few minutes ago, I received this picture in my email:

Ducklings!  

They found these cute guys in their yard!

At first, they had no idea where they came from...until they called the guy who owns the property next to both of us.  He had them at his pond but left them alone overnight and not fenced in, so they wandered off.  They spent the better part of a day wandering through heavy brush across several acres.  

2nd Family agreed to take care of them in their duck area (they have two grown ducks already).  They made a separate space in the duck pen and went to get additional supplies...they are awesome people like that.  Their pen is safe from predators and they can't escape, not to mention they'll be showered with love and attention.  They came to the right place, ha.  Next time we go out, I'll have to make sure to get some new pictures.

Never a dull moment!