Reading A Face

2015 will be the year that we do a little more travelling. We hope to gets some downtime in Sitges, Spain, catch up with old friends in Australia and fit in a city / conference break in Ottawa, so with this initiative must come some reality.
Looking after a menagerie of waifs and strays is not always conducive to an out-of-village social life, so it was with a pragmatic heart that I have decided to streamline my responsibilities on the field.
The geese and the hens will stay, but I  am  now firm that I will not be taking on anymore needy creatures into the Ukrainian village and I decided that the ducks, who only provide a few eggs to the general kitty , needed to be moved on.
After much searching , I found a committed smallholder who I thought would fit the bill, and today she drove over from the Island of Angelsey to view the ducks.
Now when dealing with re homing animals it is vital to " read" any potential owner carefully, and I was pleased that the woman that arrived had a wide,  open face and an easy smile..
Before I even took her over to the field, I watched her reaction to the dogs, and I was relieved to see her react to them with with an easy relaxed manner.

She even coped with Winnie's masturbatory overtures against her wellies with an unflustered alacrity stating simply that " That bulldog needs a touch of bromide in her tea!"

She was an animal woman for sure .
And so , in a selection of boxes and cat baskets the ducks headed off to a new life in an open field and a new pond.
A post coital Winnie this afternoon



34 comments:

  1. Good-bye, Duckies!
    You will get more when you come home, won't you???

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aw, we are on opposite ends of the path. We just adopted two ducks and two new hens in the past few weeks. A new rooster is coming tomorrow. What are we thinking? Our old dogs all died and now cats and birds are filling in the vacuum.
    I am glad your ducks found a good woman to take them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That was really nice that she was able to home them. Winnie looks adorable in the last picture. With her pink chin.

    Maybe some one who is crafty on her could make you a new sign, saying you dont need anymore animals or fowl. you could put it on your blog and on the gate post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps a simple "No Vacancy" sign?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous4:29 pm

    I hope you can hold to your promise John but it will be hard I'm thinking.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Eegads! Ye can't beat an animal woman - especially when she growls! Grrrrr!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous4:59 pm

    Oh Winnie. lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Winnie looks very content :)
    Twiggy

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am in the same fix. I can't go anywhere unless my husband is here to take care of the animals. It is hard with animals. My dog is diabetic and I have to give her injections and cook her meals since she won't eat the diabetic dog chow. Nobody around to help feed the chickens, cats and horses that we could trust. So, I can't go anywhere. I don't have an answer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sometimes you have got to be pragmatic with your livestock John. I cut my cattle down to six this Winter. You can always get more in the Spring when the grass starts growing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Replies
    1. You hope to get some down-time in WHERE?

      Delete
  11. I have found that if you plan ahead, you can set up your place to handle the animals more easily and it's easier to find someone who can watch them. It's always hard to take dump offs because they often require emergency accommodations that are never improved. Stick to your plan, John.

    ReplyDelete
  12. You need to visit ME! It's cold and snowy though, not like Spain. xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  13. Brave move, be strong.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It must have been hard to do that, but a bit easier to know they will have a good home. We have four special needs cats, and I haven't yet met the person who wants to take on any one of them. I might not be looking all that hard, though ...

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am desperate to get hens at my allotment, but each time I discuss it, I get all of these practical people advising me not to because what would we do with them when we are camping!!! We may have to wait until the children are grown and I can use the old "I was in labour with you for 3 days" guilt trip to get them to do chores for us when we are off on a cruise!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very sensible move John I must say.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Winnie looks exhausted .... they must have been hard wellies to mount ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. "fit the bill..." Ha Ha HAAAA!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'fit the bill' and ducks reminded me of A Condom for Donald Duck joke. You can search for it online! Very funny!!

      Delete
  19. Good luck. I am wondering whether your heart will outvote your pragmatism. Again.

    ReplyDelete
  20. That's the problem when keeping animals they can tie you down when it comes to holidays.......xx

    ReplyDelete
  21. Glad you were able to find the ducks a good home.
    That is one of the reasons why we never got chickens. It is hard enough having to take our lovely, but insane handicapped Jack Russell with us everywhere, she travels beautifully, but can't fly so we are East Coast bound. I can't worry about livestock! LOL
    May you enjoy your travels. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. That must feel good John to know that they are in good hands. Smart move. Now your trips will be more relaxed.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous1:53 am

    And what would have happened had you not liked the person who took on your ducks? Tell her you've changed your mind?

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think you are quite happy to have realized it's not all on you. Your spare time probably will grow only by the amount previously consumed by some ducks. I hope it's more than five minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  25. You'll soon take in others.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  26. My eyes are already tearful for those poor ducks who won't know what's hit them when it happens. I hope you're now feeling terribly guilty about it. (Tee hee!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh that's a bit dramatic.....they went as a flock and now have a nice new duck house and a new pond to deal with!
      What's upsetting at that?

      Delete
    2. The gap in your life, J.G. Reflect on it. Unfillable!

      Delete
  27. It's true, people always look what they are.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Congratulations on simplifying your life in such a satisfactory fashion. I hope the suddenly freed-up space doesn't give the local animal abandoners any ideas!

    ReplyDelete

I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes