Quackers

It's been a while since I've updated you about our runner ducks.

You might remember that early in the summer,

one of the older five ducks disappeared.

Weeks after that, one of the female youngsters disappeared

as well... only to return to the flock the following morning.

She repeated that behavior again later in the week.

So, we decided to keep the ducks in for a while

to break the habit and prevent a predator from

taking Mrs. Duck.

Well, sadly, one day, she disappeared again...

this time not returning to the flock.

We searched and searched and could find no trace of her.

Then, one Saturday morning, our neighbors informed us

that there was a nest of duck eggs way down in their front yard...

quite a distance away from our property.

I walked down to take a look and found this nest:

I gathered up the eggs and took them across the pasture to Anna,

our part-time farm helper, neighbor, and friend who was out

mowing the upper pastures.

Earlier in the summer, we had given her our incubator so that she

could hatch out some chicken eggs...

and I wondered if she and her girls would like to try hatching

out these duck eggs.

There is nothing more wondrous to children than watching chicks and ducks

hatching.

She, of course, said yes... but that she did not want to keep the ducks.

No problem, said I... we would grow them and eventually add them to our flock.

Yesterday morning she texted me this photo.

By afternoon, this...

Most likely, some time today we will have a few baby ducklings

finding their way into the world.

And in the next several days, they will come to live at their forever home,

here on the farm.

Until they are full grown, we will raise them in our brooder house...

keeping them safely inside until they are big enough to venture

out into the safe, enclosed yard.

Because we were gone over the weekend, I needed to get out

and harvest vegetables yesterday.

As Hubbs and I worked, picking all of the produce, thunder

rumbled around us in every direction and skies were dark.

We worked quickly, hoping that a cloudburst would serve

to water our dry garden and our dry earth.

The thunder rumbled, but no rain fell.

There were peppers, both hot and sweet,

tomatoes, and another batch of Mexican sour gherkins,

which I promptly put into brine to ferment.

Today I will be working on preserving peppers.

For a period of time I will be in the kitchen sniffing, sneezing, 

eyes watering, and more while I work on all of those 

hot, hot, hot peppers!

It's a sight to see.