I love Thunderbirds....this video made me smile
World swallow me
Still had the bilious stomach this morning but felt a lot better than I did.yesterday so got on with chores and duckling counting (we are up to a grand total of 18 with two more of the caramel ducklings still to come possibly tonight)
With no mother to direct them they seem to have short periods of excited animation amid long bouts of eating and sleeping in a huge lump of down.
William has wound himself up totally with this sudden frenzy of noise ( they sound as though they are tap dancing in his crate) and is almost in a state of nervous exhaustion in his attempt to watch the brood running around in small circles. Funny Joan and the other three dogs have ignored the newcomers.
Anyhow one of the jobs that had to be done today was the delivery of the old stool specimen to the Hospital's Occupational health department. I duly filled said bottle ( let's skip the details) and with the dogs in the car I went to post a few birthday gifts at the post office before driving the 5 miles to the hospital. As I was driving back through the village I saw Trevor, an elderly neighbour walking up towards the village shop ( which is a mile out of the village). I usually stop and give him a lift, so without thinking I stopped and picked him up.
Yes......readers may be miles ahead of me here, sitting proudly on the dashboard tray, clear for everyone to see was my specimen bottle, very clearly labelled with my name and date of birth written on the side. The contents of the bottle was ...well shall we say.....unmistakable, and I drove Trevor all the way to the shop chatting inanely, hoping against all hope that he hadn't noticed it.
Now sod's law, came into play as we turned into the spar forecourt, as moving with the motion of the car, the bottle slid noisily across the length of the dash board and I grabbed it as coolly as I could and popped it into my car door pocket. I am sure Trevor pretended to have noticed nothing at all, but he soon jumped out of the Belingo, quick sticks.....leaving me scarlet and dying of embarrassment. Bet it's the last lift he'll accept from me.
With no mother to direct them they seem to have short periods of excited animation amid long bouts of eating and sleeping in a huge lump of down.
William has wound himself up totally with this sudden frenzy of noise ( they sound as though they are tap dancing in his crate) and is almost in a state of nervous exhaustion in his attempt to watch the brood running around in small circles. Funny Joan and the other three dogs have ignored the newcomers.
Anyhow one of the jobs that had to be done today was the delivery of the old stool specimen to the Hospital's Occupational health department. I duly filled said bottle ( let's skip the details) and with the dogs in the car I went to post a few birthday gifts at the post office before driving the 5 miles to the hospital. As I was driving back through the village I saw Trevor, an elderly neighbour walking up towards the village shop ( which is a mile out of the village). I usually stop and give him a lift, so without thinking I stopped and picked him up.
Yes......readers may be miles ahead of me here, sitting proudly on the dashboard tray, clear for everyone to see was my specimen bottle, very clearly labelled with my name and date of birth written on the side. The contents of the bottle was ...well shall we say.....unmistakable, and I drove Trevor all the way to the shop chatting inanely, hoping against all hope that he hadn't noticed it.
Now sod's law, came into play as we turned into the spar forecourt, as moving with the motion of the car, the bottle slid noisily across the length of the dash board and I grabbed it as coolly as I could and popped it into my car door pocket. I am sure Trevor pretended to have noticed nothing at all, but he soon jumped out of the Belingo, quick sticks.....leaving me scarlet and dying of embarrassment. Bet it's the last lift he'll accept from me.
Hypochondria? and some good news
I have felt a bit rough for a day or so (suffice to say jippy bowels and that's all you need to know).
Tonight I went into work after uncharacteristically sleeping very deeply for two hours before shift and by midnight I was suffering a banging headache,nausea and was sh*tting for Wales.
Oh the shame of being given a stool specimen container by the senior nurse on duty ( and a plastic bag and latex gloves for the journey home), She is convinced that I have picked up salmonella from the influx of ducklings (hence the gloves) and by the time I got home I was totally convinced of that too. Tomorrow I will be wearing said gloves every time water and bedding has to be changed.
It is now past 1am and I am wide awake and still rather bilious (don't you love that word?) I have been checking out e mails to pass the time and was delighted in receiving an e mailed photo from Meggie an old colleague of mine from Sheffield. I always have had a soft spot for Meggie as she had one of those warm bouncy personalities that made you feel well supported and happy to be at work and I was lucky to be able to"poach" her from a neighbouring ward where she worked as a Staff nurse. As I was leaving Sheffield it was great to hear that Meggie and another of my favourite Staff nurses Mick had started a relationship and only recently Chris and I have been invited to their wedding in August.
I love a good wedding.
Anyhow when I did finally get home this morning I was surprised to see yet another two caramel ducklings flopping around in the incubator. Another two eggs are piping away, so by tomorrow we will definitely have 16 ducklings maybe more. Thank god I have several people wanting to buy.
Off now to sit on the loo with Homes and Antiques.
The "D" word
Lovely day again today, fresh and bright after the overnight rain. Was given Breakfast in bed (nice) before chores and I think we are off to see an "open garden" near Wrexham later today. The Church bell is ringing as I give the top potato bed the once over (above),Chris has gone power walking with Janet instead of attending Sunday service, so I can have a mooch around with some proper coffee and enjoy a good day dream.
Most people day dream about fantasy figures don't they? a film star,? a luxury home? a fantastic car? lots of money?
what do I day dream about?....a polytunnell...............what does that make me?....yes answers on a postcard please.
Anyhow no mention of the little D's today (or a photo)........it is hard but I will resist.
Working later on nights.....
Gardening news
It has been raining today, but for once I have not minded as the allotment needed a watering kick, to help get the new veg going. My garden looks lovely as all the aquilegia have recently flowered 
I have spent a few hours today weeding row after row of sprouting vegetables. It is a monotonous job, but wonderfully satisfying when it is all completed.
Duck update: Little Fin & the "alien" brood
The final egg from the Ebay runner duck eggs hatched this morning, so we are now up to eight in the brood and 14 ducklings in total. The last little chap is rather small and a bit weak, and although I have decided not to individually name the new comers, I have decided to name this runt duckling "Little Fin" Janet Jones (one of my sister's affable despot allotment chums) will adopt a couple of ducklings and will name them for swaps of vegetables and seedlings, which is a bit of nonsense but fun.His siblings seem to be happy in their crate, even though I did have a small panic early this morning when the house fuses went and I realised I didn't have a spare bulb to heat the nursery.
Ripley and the others from the first brood are quite perky and double the size they were when born. They and Blanche have been a bit stir crazy today, as they have only been outside in their run for an hour or so. It has been colder and rainy today, and strange as it may seem, ducklings must not get too wet until their feathers have developed on their backs.If they do, they can chill very quickly and die.More ebay ducklings
We now have seven ebay ducklings, though the advertisement stated at all ducklings would be pure white, which obviously is not the case. I have transferred them all to William's crate/nursery under the heat lamp, their home for a few weeks.One lone egg is left in the incubator, the little chap inside has pipped but not broken through the shell as yet.Planted leeks into my final gap in the fifth vegetable plot this afternoon.
The Ebay ducklings
At 6 am this morning the first of the ebay ducklings have already arrived, tired and wet but clear of their shells.So far there are four healthy little blighters out of 9 eggs and already another two others have started to chip out of their shells. It remains a magical experience, watching these tiny scraps of fluff start their journey into life, but I know that with two lots of babies to care for, life is going to be busier than ever.
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