tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83141663351450417322024-03-13T13:14:57.959-05:00Ducks: A Journey with FreyaThe ongoing story in the lives of Conner, Sally, (the baby Rouen [pronounced Roane] ducks) and Jeremy ([pronounced Jeremy] their first time owner), and their newest friend, Freya!
To all my fellow educators who are now following in some capacity, feel free to ask any questions you wish.
To all my parents who have been following, feel free to ask questions as well, any and all are welcome.
And to all of you, thanks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-61615527661683339582011-09-15T20:01:00.005-05:002011-09-15T20:17:41.024-05:00Truncated photo galleryHere are a few pictures of Freya and me and other things. And the pond, and the fort.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJ3ELcKigvoaKfpilzg57ISyKpocTgfLjPebztVcBh6xOdYN2U2TzJ91IUTR-BCouL_P3mWkaJa85cuEm7-R6KbGa-hwHDfLUER9eopQtpp2MxWRplAJ3VRMOk_4zwLhmjgBkkGIYAxE/s1600/IMAG0263.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJ3ELcKigvoaKfpilzg57ISyKpocTgfLjPebztVcBh6xOdYN2U2TzJ91IUTR-BCouL_P3mWkaJa85cuEm7-R6KbGa-hwHDfLUER9eopQtpp2MxWRplAJ3VRMOk_4zwLhmjgBkkGIYAxE/s320/IMAG0263.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757769778977922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQMZ8zwG3ZP3StdGlit29I1-IDhtCLv_OFRsXysxMOf_94y0z-I2-CbLQHeWti9bsUT08iirZC63u9U8NuF6wfy8TS6dC1_XXvahyphenhyphenQsFT6ndXG1T_pCNUOYYeItWbGDaEsLa8vBhi7rI/s1600/IMAG0173.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQMZ8zwG3ZP3StdGlit29I1-IDhtCLv_OFRsXysxMOf_94y0z-I2-CbLQHeWti9bsUT08iirZC63u9U8NuF6wfy8TS6dC1_XXvahyphenhyphenQsFT6ndXG1T_pCNUOYYeItWbGDaEsLa8vBhi7rI/s320/IMAG0173.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757761581357186" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56ifZif7kjY6CahVpCIGFeHXm0KFaVWizc2Tly6pqT8DrwnyePeq-yxB_TQ4maPQLo-zSwCMI6SPcboK8mOE1KFI2PO3VpNGi_lqxUhJl_UljYY-BM2R7VMMpCipANHL-2AO1PAuodvU/s1600/IMAG0217.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56ifZif7kjY6CahVpCIGFeHXm0KFaVWizc2Tly6pqT8DrwnyePeq-yxB_TQ4maPQLo-zSwCMI6SPcboK8mOE1KFI2PO3VpNGi_lqxUhJl_UljYY-BM2R7VMMpCipANHL-2AO1PAuodvU/s320/IMAG0217.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757760408645362" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtRGg-N5vIThpGFPRTvlWvf4A0wVCJvFJL2Xjamw01KN8cRKpRRO-JBEJHtZuURDNGHzAGqsFku3q9dCJg7oSmtg0u_7KxOnzJCQEiovD_1jmsjw9HGHpIjeW5unVdxj4zMdePOxZ7sE/s1600/IMAG0211.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtRGg-N5vIThpGFPRTvlWvf4A0wVCJvFJL2Xjamw01KN8cRKpRRO-JBEJHtZuURDNGHzAGqsFku3q9dCJg7oSmtg0u_7KxOnzJCQEiovD_1jmsjw9HGHpIjeW5unVdxj4zMdePOxZ7sE/s320/IMAG0211.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757754075567506" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkjC4lyTPLf12K7EIR_Y66Bxdx8cw1C-rWhM5QFaHP389F4fxx1agU9c1gBWV-8fB38Ghyphenhyphen645sum0WwDjZITF5HqJ1tjusr6avbrA4U9i2Jx3FuswT03jf5pbZ7rJcm8KaczhpMlYGTk/s1600/IMAG0290.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkjC4lyTPLf12K7EIR_Y66Bxdx8cw1C-rWhM5QFaHP389F4fxx1agU9c1gBWV-8fB38Ghyphenhyphen645sum0WwDjZITF5HqJ1tjusr6avbrA4U9i2Jx3FuswT03jf5pbZ7rJcm8KaczhpMlYGTk/s320/IMAG0290.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757773872837970" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjLt7uvGjJkfBB2DVgiqN42VAezPxp-xEOFO3WmRlsVpeBaysilrmUuQZWVlgN_3lr9WD-vziRAvZgJpl6v_cyqL4V2BBh94s83hFPxrMany_l0vtkZt8-vclJSJCUfeH6YIrrPN-hP8/s1600/IMAG0262.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjLt7uvGjJkfBB2DVgiqN42VAezPxp-xEOFO3WmRlsVpeBaysilrmUuQZWVlgN_3lr9WD-vziRAvZgJpl6v_cyqL4V2BBh94s83hFPxrMany_l0vtkZt8-vclJSJCUfeH6YIrrPN-hP8/s320/IMAG0262.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757324117236962" /></a><br /><br />This is the pond jerk that has made me so angry.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbukKEcC-iK0xnuydIB6YRkx7LU0CNDqLg8-Sfr_ZWU6WJ9v5A_NiBXY_ws46oBk1ipSojknqCdL1tKa5887KDMWPFP8QE-in6tydiwwZikLbmH0uq4bVxErbbtjD0uMuJoX3OQeI6BsU/s1600/IMAG0261.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbukKEcC-iK0xnuydIB6YRkx7LU0CNDqLg8-Sfr_ZWU6WJ9v5A_NiBXY_ws46oBk1ipSojknqCdL1tKa5887KDMWPFP8QE-in6tydiwwZikLbmH0uq4bVxErbbtjD0uMuJoX3OQeI6BsU/s320/IMAG0261.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757320466784882" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TTSBXQpW-CaueegSPwjIGPyy27xVo0arlPw2P6BEgeZy1g1w__TMsInCbM2VJ82Fbi0IBZgV-txENlYc4D_Hvs-7zTQam0b-TdAnKxau_-jjOCkDJYkQZPiZ-TCA_KGnjoY4_MHMEIE/s1600/IMAG0302.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TTSBXQpW-CaueegSPwjIGPyy27xVo0arlPw2P6BEgeZy1g1w__TMsInCbM2VJ82Fbi0IBZgV-txENlYc4D_Hvs-7zTQam0b-TdAnKxau_-jjOCkDJYkQZPiZ-TCA_KGnjoY4_MHMEIE/s320/IMAG0302.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757316878219410" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DZTS3_9zEyaAph6pUYyBoyD4ZOiEbdqQfpYZ1f6UpBFdtP1lEiF60Ke024eozU62tKX7d19-vhS-osRbGwaj5-7DHxvexKucBHqB4Tj2H0gzsQXARcafiGe6L7rRAqwKdkvVUE1JEzA/s1600/IMAG0289.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DZTS3_9zEyaAph6pUYyBoyD4ZOiEbdqQfpYZ1f6UpBFdtP1lEiF60Ke024eozU62tKX7d19-vhS-osRbGwaj5-7DHxvexKucBHqB4Tj2H0gzsQXARcafiGe6L7rRAqwKdkvVUE1JEzA/s320/IMAG0289.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757314419665810" /></a><br />Coco and Freya being pals.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFEmLAc5dIQjo-nR2RZW0kJBoHbJg2r0pPEY1mibReW6cnrxgfWENxswgA2TOCRx6r8FsQpKARTnJlpA1tQhJszBFTSeRMBwr3TrHV-h5ZzKDOPX0CqoCp94GtuE3VlaukdZ3Rmo3acMk/s1600/IMAG0249.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFEmLAc5dIQjo-nR2RZW0kJBoHbJg2r0pPEY1mibReW6cnrxgfWENxswgA2TOCRx6r8FsQpKARTnJlpA1tQhJszBFTSeRMBwr3TrHV-h5ZzKDOPX0CqoCp94GtuE3VlaukdZ3Rmo3acMk/s320/IMAG0249.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652757328371741506" /></a><br />Freya and my niece on the fort...yes this thing is so big we are using a hijacked trailer truck unloading ramp as a means of getting on it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-75025872728987772752011-09-15T15:49:00.002-05:002011-09-15T16:01:08.363-05:00Time elapsed: In real time: An abbreviation.Life with Freya has been an adventure. She is daddy's spoiled little girl. But I couldn't say why...I don't suppose I spoil her, but my lord you'd think I gave her everything she ever asked for (and yes she asks, folks, Freya knows four languages aside from K-9). I guess I could be more strict, but I don't care if she sleeps in the bed...However I do care if she eats human foo, so no scraps. I Who knows, maybe I'm just the world's greatest owner and I don't realize it. But probably not, otherwise she wouldn't eat all of the belongings! Pulling garbage bags (sans garbage) out of a garbage can, only to leave garbage (sans garbage bag) in the can...crafty. She eats tissues and toilet paper and diaper that have been used. She rarely uses the bathroom inside though, maybe a forced accident, and even then she has A spot so we always know. <br /><br />She does love to play on this giant fort we are building....yes a fort, pictures forthcoming, naturally. She loves to live on the edge and fall into the stupid useless jerk ponds. She love eating honey bees, even if the do leave stingers in he chin like a poorly shaved middle aged comic book store owner. She will bark without cause or concern of people, surroundings, or logic when she hears a person coming to the door. But she is loyal as a dog should be. We share the couch while watching TV, or reading, writing, or just sitting. <br /><br />She no longer tries to beat Conner and he no longer tries to care. <br /><br />She loves our newly converted outdoor to indoor cat Coco and there will be a picture of them sharing food and water. <br /><br />She loves kids but is over eager with them. <br /><br />She is terribly allergic to fleas.<br /><br />And she is the worlds greatest dog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-75062089874243484292011-09-12T23:46:00.002-05:002011-09-12T23:51:48.747-05:00Hmm....sad days.Ok...this pond has become an uber-fiasco...over the past year of not blogging about it, I have had to drain and redo it countless times. We have bought a plethora of fish that have all died, all the while my babies have lived peaceably. Until we added on to the new section...then Pam died after being trapped and starving...then I thing a massive bull frog ate Jim....then the other day I found my favorite, my wonderful Dwight floating...so here I am, 15 fish, myriad pond attempts, and some angry days later giving you guys the heads up...my boys and girl are gone. I will post all sorts of things over the coming weeks to show progress, regress, and whatever else I have. <br /><br />If one thing comes from this that is cool...when they died they dried like seashells, so I have let them sit and dry in the sun then applied lacquer to them for posterity...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-68335484462373883252010-07-25T08:30:00.006-05:002010-07-25T09:06:37.648-05:00Take that Algae!We have been in discussions about how to better take care of the side of our pond, the rocks that fill it, and the new porous shells we dropped in for the frogs to hide. We were worried about the addition of a big fish like a Koi or an Oscar as these can occasionally become aggressive towards outward species, IE, frogs. And getting rid of mosquitoes is great and all, but they would also rid the pond of the frogs, which is a terrible crime.<br /><br />Then we ran into the problem of Connor. What would he do to the fish? I mean this is a duck who is so territorial that he will beat birds to death then rip them apart in some gruesome manner. Not rarely, or occasionally, but normally, and on a semi regular basis. So tossing some fish into this pond that hang out near the surface is asking for trouble. Now I'm not saying he'd eat them, but I full expect there would be some beaten fish floating belly up by the time he finished.<br /><br />Then we remembered back, there was the perfect fish we could get, a bottom feeding algae eater. A <a href="http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile34.html">pleco</a>. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlJNh5sYvVz__dEK-69ftIiY27vyvYo_hj-n_rFvBWTObhrs2GYTGegORqoclfPkV-7ky0OwNaBCn5eI28TGNMhqI44Ul9FYt6LFW7owbwTPGar3QhldKTgHFYHXc0rRTGSlmRfMFHtM/s1600/Liposarcus_multiradiatu.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlJNh5sYvVz__dEK-69ftIiY27vyvYo_hj-n_rFvBWTObhrs2GYTGegORqoclfPkV-7ky0OwNaBCn5eI28TGNMhqI44Ul9FYt6LFW7owbwTPGar3QhldKTgHFYHXc0rRTGSlmRfMFHtM/s200/Liposarcus_multiradiatu.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497839227055830034" /></a><br /><br />We used these a lot when we had our 75 gallon fish tank. They never got really big because of the amount of other fish to food ration, but one thing they did do, was get fat off the algae produced. And they did a marvelous job, are durable fish, and kept to themselves and most importantly on the bottom. <br /><br />So I bought three of them. Two mediums, who I named Jim and Pam, and a large one who I named Dwight. Dwight is about 8 or 9 inches and Jim and Pam are about 4, currently. But given that the pond is clocking in at over 500 gallons, they should have plenty of room for growth, and hopefully expansion (assuming they are boy and girl).<br /><br />Here the new kids are. <br /><br />This is Dwight, he is all of the images but one, which is Jim. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWK-BKNUA5gOJIJk_YEazPypOa8QPx7TBPBlgu7FudVU4VpKPPyCb6Nj65DixTNNu_HmoN51Lb29bV5BSqhkKKcu4C2xPLSLMeLRNakQrQiN2SetqNttASKLedRsqJ84Rt3_l7-j3jj_E/s1600/DSCN6552.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWK-BKNUA5gOJIJk_YEazPypOa8QPx7TBPBlgu7FudVU4VpKPPyCb6Nj65DixTNNu_HmoN51Lb29bV5BSqhkKKcu4C2xPLSLMeLRNakQrQiN2SetqNttASKLedRsqJ84Rt3_l7-j3jj_E/s320/DSCN6552.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497842876012986706" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtGbhStDjzM3SJduFd-y1nH5LxsmU_QSJ0TIZwKoKoZ_OvNWkqkhhqsgm4TNk6iU8O2rC2KzKr0xzegp0m1wFwDvtICts791pacAJP5oUVJ8mJQSFqR2dclgksKkKsxy5kuA3UyYzagY/s1600/DSCN6551.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtGbhStDjzM3SJduFd-y1nH5LxsmU_QSJ0TIZwKoKoZ_OvNWkqkhhqsgm4TNk6iU8O2rC2KzKr0xzegp0m1wFwDvtICts791pacAJP5oUVJ8mJQSFqR2dclgksKkKsxy5kuA3UyYzagY/s320/DSCN6551.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497842866632332626" /></a><br /><br /> This is Jim, he looks huge because I was rocking the zoom, but he and Pam are only about 4 inches in length. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd55DR2KCEzqkVb_jiWBx2SaASdIrusBOjvD2f-p7mUIFwV8hNQv_Qzmu5FsTbdU6WSq99q_h_3ACZQwA3qsTB8ZxE9hZ_4goWCKTXGxFxU08Ylbe7riTOYrtvglDoro-TzcUESHkmXoI/s1600/DSCN6550.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd55DR2KCEzqkVb_jiWBx2SaASdIrusBOjvD2f-p7mUIFwV8hNQv_Qzmu5FsTbdU6WSq99q_h_3ACZQwA3qsTB8ZxE9hZ_4goWCKTXGxFxU08Ylbe7riTOYrtvglDoro-TzcUESHkmXoI/s320/DSCN6550.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497842860433638930" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxuo7d-3ZaxpYrHvf13G-z6_TJw9VZP81xSwRSX8SxQHVyvwC9HWjOIYQf9uZZe80PVZztZfcPJDh92jiMPyS-6Hx78qjLgiF6gnwBIApUeYe4AZBv6p_eN4TyjGNgSDThSckSGPKUto/s1600/DSCN6549.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxuo7d-3ZaxpYrHvf13G-z6_TJw9VZP81xSwRSX8SxQHVyvwC9HWjOIYQf9uZZe80PVZztZfcPJDh92jiMPyS-6Hx78qjLgiF6gnwBIApUeYe4AZBv6p_eN4TyjGNgSDThSckSGPKUto/s320/DSCN6549.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497842853746625954" /></a><br /><br />As you will notice Dwight is rather long. Which is good, I didn't want a ton of tiny suckers in there so I forked over the 30.00 and bought Dwight. There was a larger one, but he was 40.00, and in all honestly he was only darker in color and a little fatter. He wasn't 10.00 larger by any stretch. (And if you are wondering Jim and Pam were 9.00 apiece.) <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8y7TMqLChqMtHC-vTwTlBQGf69Wg4snEUwyRTnZWfA2jsW_r7JygdlE0rSxn9lJHKEaoVtvZLgBYgZNGubt7-yhDi7ZejIcYr9_05CEXI-A7vmo1KKOaFzLFiLoB8pF3GxFBjiGgQc4/s1600/DSCN6548.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8y7TMqLChqMtHC-vTwTlBQGf69Wg4snEUwyRTnZWfA2jsW_r7JygdlE0rSxn9lJHKEaoVtvZLgBYgZNGubt7-yhDi7ZejIcYr9_05CEXI-A7vmo1KKOaFzLFiLoB8pF3GxFBjiGgQc4/s320/DSCN6548.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497842844250270418" /></a><br /><br />You will notice Pam is not in any of the images. This is because she immediately took off around the pond like lightning, then hid in the stacked mass of rocks in the middle. Kudos to you Pam, you camera shy scamp. <br /><br />As of this morning none were out and about, but I attribute this to them being twilight fish.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-1649124251508774122010-07-24T08:32:00.006-05:002010-07-24T09:07:12.267-05:00Hide and SeekLate at night, usually when Freya needs to go out because she is certain I need no sleep and that he bladder is the size of a dime, I will take the time to play hide and seek with nature. I creep up to the pond and red light the animals, then I will walk around the gazebo because the frogs like to take little dry ground trips. And finally, usually to very little end, I will look for the croaking. The wonderful little frog who sits content in a tree and teases me with his talking. Until a couple of night ago I had never been able to find him. But that all changed. Armed with my headlamp, camera phone, and a dream, I searched, pulling back prickly limb after prickly limb. Then I found him. <br /><br />There he was, hiding near the top of the short holly tree. I always croaks and sound like he is on the running, flowering vines behind the holly on the fence. I guess that is his own little art of deception. Well not last night. Last night was my night for victory. When I saw him I inched in close because I didn't want to startle him. You know how frogs can be. And as I snapped photos of him another revelation came! There were two of them! Probably having a good laugh at me, no doubt. Well jokes on them, because the Midnight Creeper, Nature's Paparazzi has plastered your faces all over the internet! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvUWqtcRXjGb4LnEmubRr1uuDVWrZZ4YvSvSOBherV08lyoZ2lAWViQy1u5mFi-UOa_g24t_IBzmRP8Byyer4q8ct4L7X3LxgAHibFhhre1lt_XZG5GMSRGvxhtdYYaqI-ot8ajBBAvE/s1600/IMAG0137.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvUWqtcRXjGb4LnEmubRr1uuDVWrZZ4YvSvSOBherV08lyoZ2lAWViQy1u5mFi-UOa_g24t_IBzmRP8Byyer4q8ct4L7X3LxgAHibFhhre1lt_XZG5GMSRGvxhtdYYaqI-ot8ajBBAvE/s320/IMAG0137.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497468457971179506" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mwG_LtbOCbjr5P_Nh_sxLr1BPeDa47gek8UWGYb7owacjiF7TcLTsJhcxcMhuET1dycQ4tSbPOy9VZ0gfaWhUAxEvCyWhFwExAQk5SXsGY9reoUXSuo0cWfldoqSwPq2KsugOwyKvlc/s1600/IMAG0138.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mwG_LtbOCbjr5P_Nh_sxLr1BPeDa47gek8UWGYb7owacjiF7TcLTsJhcxcMhuET1dycQ4tSbPOy9VZ0gfaWhUAxEvCyWhFwExAQk5SXsGY9reoUXSuo0cWfldoqSwPq2KsugOwyKvlc/s320/IMAG0138.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497468461750109570" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFegsUP-25OoXRIy609xQez39iHzzmOsseSnHZyBBXJ5zEgUmSqIM1XDWhjiegQXBKnttJym4rj6c0_PsaxX-rIetcJUh2D1SgU4xCCZZ4-UDaZk2fyxAMyrykgifuwgXMyxRV3Hmz_gM/s1600/IMAG0139.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFegsUP-25OoXRIy609xQez39iHzzmOsseSnHZyBBXJ5zEgUmSqIM1XDWhjiegQXBKnttJym4rj6c0_PsaxX-rIetcJUh2D1SgU4xCCZZ4-UDaZk2fyxAMyrykgifuwgXMyxRV3Hmz_gM/s320/IMAG0139.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497468469835785266" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfu97mlr9F_2NJn2KrDHNt0MtqCmof2g-zqF50a8pmr4PdmUR-kx7MBzUGhJvuwR-lCQ1VPTud9qJcScWhck_i0MtwiNLCZsqxGJIfv4ZcI_TESuFd880ayX0S3c-YnydMpuHka_czNmI/s1600/IMAG0140.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfu97mlr9F_2NJn2KrDHNt0MtqCmof2g-zqF50a8pmr4PdmUR-kx7MBzUGhJvuwR-lCQ1VPTud9qJcScWhck_i0MtwiNLCZsqxGJIfv4ZcI_TESuFd880ayX0S3c-YnydMpuHka_czNmI/s320/IMAG0140.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497468474411836562" /></a><br /><br />Whoa! Two of them! What fun we've had tonight! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMl9VCM36mZzE7y-ouK93jctkASm0a3S9aA-7-FvRrTCAkpbB5SHke4vN3NctoZ5fVswtNmSuDJwDWbu1vBpRR6qnteAGsi3mkcUfYPVVc2L4bMyCtE-yLiR5FdP6lS-eFvNiZ9dooc0I/s1600/IMAG0141.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMl9VCM36mZzE7y-ouK93jctkASm0a3S9aA-7-FvRrTCAkpbB5SHke4vN3NctoZ5fVswtNmSuDJwDWbu1vBpRR6qnteAGsi3mkcUfYPVVc2L4bMyCtE-yLiR5FdP6lS-eFvNiZ9dooc0I/s320/IMAG0141.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497468477407046834" /></a><br /><br />Speaking of hide and seek, Conner has always been one for hiding himself wherever he thought we wouldn't see him. When he was a wee little duck whose feathers were just changing color...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvrMalSZKAutNkYgjKnaewBMasePqj7cqUwGjWCW7xmGlg_tg9Pn0nPyV5CkMqnCMIo2XGiqGAyxKANX9o7OqtfEb9YJn4Gp3EmgUc9t_05RUtdVybPBZFsQ5F42VGKWsLeC7L_TyNKw/s1600/100_1354.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvrMalSZKAutNkYgjKnaewBMasePqj7cqUwGjWCW7xmGlg_tg9Pn0nPyV5CkMqnCMIo2XGiqGAyxKANX9o7OqtfEb9YJn4Gp3EmgUc9t_05RUtdVybPBZFsQ5F42VGKWsLeC7L_TyNKw/s320/100_1354.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497471720657474114" /></a><br /><br />Even to yesterday while I was taking pictures. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqnBePYhvB0DzbC3-6tAxNMC4IvlktPUvl9QZxrg_Mtba0TFYgygxS3KEjq5-Q9h2a_mE9hmCkNCzz7e42eIi8vivYuw9lsDK5sJrKH1Jhx_bI_gfcv1GjRwJm_aMzbEZurAIh8iHNlY/s1600/DSCN6515.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqnBePYhvB0DzbC3-6tAxNMC4IvlktPUvl9QZxrg_Mtba0TFYgygxS3KEjq5-Q9h2a_mE9hmCkNCzz7e42eIi8vivYuw9lsDK5sJrKH1Jhx_bI_gfcv1GjRwJm_aMzbEZurAIh8iHNlY/s320/DSCN6515.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497471723021761058" /></a><br /><br />I've noticed he spends a lot of his time in shadowy corners lurking about. Sometimes you catch him looking at you like a foreign spy, other times he is playing coy looking the other way. He is quite good at what he does. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJK-zxxqqrey3PcJn9hVt2M5iNesL3NBbD-5y8nE8y7R3XyJet_pFSRwYqy4ADqiZotj-bkLo8pr1CzcpdwWUP_KpS2RK6mLT19o-Iyuo49XSKzeK25VKCnrHefTzfJ7Ukyjq3z4m_2s/s1600/DSCN6513.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJK-zxxqqrey3PcJn9hVt2M5iNesL3NBbD-5y8nE8y7R3XyJet_pFSRwYqy4ADqiZotj-bkLo8pr1CzcpdwWUP_KpS2RK6mLT19o-Iyuo49XSKzeK25VKCnrHefTzfJ7Ukyjq3z4m_2s/s320/DSCN6513.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497473461468056114" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oGJ-S9lSlJYs9fjkNLSCH7BiNRlnNYd1KHky6w4bOo3a1j2bIcX7SVPD5oNOWW7fjQ2AynS82y5pBN_Oea2UnxdbYAxfl09ayZifJqYGHZyZPitjPuZUVzG2SVuxVaUrcDSB6dAcBPo/s1600/DSCN6516.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oGJ-S9lSlJYs9fjkNLSCH7BiNRlnNYd1KHky6w4bOo3a1j2bIcX7SVPD5oNOWW7fjQ2AynS82y5pBN_Oea2UnxdbYAxfl09ayZifJqYGHZyZPitjPuZUVzG2SVuxVaUrcDSB6dAcBPo/s320/DSCN6516.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497473458212514930" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTCGUsgHMvplSbzrSX85Wf6DP8BeKr7v3nJDHvN5hY8vAsFBC-V_lWnnBykgp6uEZ3uYHteNQHWLV7ht4YxAeZ9i0Mz8MPBGCqmhNnbwTITuak5NI7tNa7hiamw1qPt_zccTSE6dKAEQ/s1600/DSCN6514.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTCGUsgHMvplSbzrSX85Wf6DP8BeKr7v3nJDHvN5hY8vAsFBC-V_lWnnBykgp6uEZ3uYHteNQHWLV7ht4YxAeZ9i0Mz8MPBGCqmhNnbwTITuak5NI7tNa7hiamw1qPt_zccTSE6dKAEQ/s320/DSCN6514.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497473454072167922" /></a><br /><br />Even Freya likes to get into the act occasionally. (By the way, look at that tongue! Gracious!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZZEMBE3yd47PaGAK8sNKyZvuKjjboh1PBLgbQtBwc3i5CkzklH2_huIiWtZ3ORMKhnMtf9loTQkiARdz9DUhVKrrIplK16e1s_jphTVKA_ftQJ024tbFLCM75vOvHeQxr5Md5lSZvq8/s1600/DSCN6508.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZZEMBE3yd47PaGAK8sNKyZvuKjjboh1PBLgbQtBwc3i5CkzklH2_huIiWtZ3ORMKhnMtf9loTQkiARdz9DUhVKrrIplK16e1s_jphTVKA_ftQJ024tbFLCM75vOvHeQxr5Md5lSZvq8/s320/DSCN6508.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497471736466493202" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3A9F2l-KxxO5OzdT-gztGo22N0dV6ApS-QSGJpdBCiGp9Pm9pcY9LyINW002BIceD7-kEHi9YBSOtqFrBDWiUNDNidajduWofm3n8hkbVC0ni1g946ZItcb_qTTLVFtMJtiLffl7HYhE/s1600/DSCN6503.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3A9F2l-KxxO5OzdT-gztGo22N0dV6ApS-QSGJpdBCiGp9Pm9pcY9LyINW002BIceD7-kEHi9YBSOtqFrBDWiUNDNidajduWofm3n8hkbVC0ni1g946ZItcb_qTTLVFtMJtiLffl7HYhE/s320/DSCN6503.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497471727477837778" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-47024048364523366432010-07-24T08:31:00.002-05:002010-07-24T16:10:04.812-05:00The Saturday Blog Hop<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=36376" type="text/javascript" ></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-927531860703531952010-07-22T08:38:00.004-05:002010-07-22T09:15:17.261-05:00A Litte Help from my Friends.So over the past few days (when time has permitted) I have been scrounging my picture files. Mostly in order to may things easier to fin so blogging won't be a nine hour event. I ran across some images of various friends of Freya's, and one video, but for some reason it won't open as a file, so either a patch, or a punch will occur at some point. But until then I'd like to introduce you to some of Freya's pals. <br /><br />Ok, so Freya wants to narrate the montage. In fact she wanted to do an 80's music montage, but I told her that garbage wasn't happening, so here she is to talk. <br /><br />Hey guys! Oh man oh man, what have we got here! <br /><br />Ok, this is my dad's twin and his new girl Lucy, which makes me her...cousin, dad says I'm her cousin. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8zs46pJK-pZqpjVlVYVjK6wxDT5pt2ACHCbCyzyc48pFtkWP8iGBIo1xuIeSBvlhEQZT8bx5fdA4ikGZcrLvMj7uyHnwVAjrH7FS4lbWkTuw8CgjZczuKsooHJYQMtlnWwy9Wmf1T6s/s1600/527.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8zs46pJK-pZqpjVlVYVjK6wxDT5pt2ACHCbCyzyc48pFtkWP8iGBIo1xuIeSBvlhEQZT8bx5fdA4ikGZcrLvMj7uyHnwVAjrH7FS4lbWkTuw8CgjZczuKsooHJYQMtlnWwy9Wmf1T6s/s320/527.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496727587172723010" /></a><br /><br />And this guy is Jake! Man he doesn't care for me for some reason. And he has the biggest feet I have ever seen! They look like those tennis racket things Eskimos wear! (Ugh, dad says they are snow shoes, and saying only Eskimos wear them is racially stereotyping, whatever that means.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4XO0_L3WAHOmpremeD71ohuC-dtqvKUzcHA8zjaow83kxBJjswiDUlGMrzWr05gp3KU5AqO9U8UYBNbr2uuNrqM36ryImGAInJrbv3iTd3Y56SQ2aCRIoKHMMHvy8QBptL9nXWur2mZY/s1600/483.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4XO0_L3WAHOmpremeD71ohuC-dtqvKUzcHA8zjaow83kxBJjswiDUlGMrzWr05gp3KU5AqO9U8UYBNbr2uuNrqM36ryImGAInJrbv3iTd3Y56SQ2aCRIoKHMMHvy8QBptL9nXWur2mZY/s320/483.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496726589063653410" /></a><br /><br />This is Jake and Lucy asleep. They look like those doll things, dad says Russian Dolls. (I think dad might be a know-it-all)Look at those feet! Good grief! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWlYVTqCqZczzMHxBaTtScyecYLmmBq3sW85EoqtjKiQW2aLtXUKTFDAKjTLbVmo-XPsBjxZ0YCtrCUiZhp1teJCae_JwZNwbWipd6iU57UXAsCPQ3bhqUQ5Xxg8CJAKamNFeWjCw3VU/s1600/561.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWlYVTqCqZczzMHxBaTtScyecYLmmBq3sW85EoqtjKiQW2aLtXUKTFDAKjTLbVmo-XPsBjxZ0YCtrCUiZhp1teJCae_JwZNwbWipd6iU57UXAsCPQ3bhqUQ5Xxg8CJAKamNFeWjCw3VU/s320/561.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496727593481538978" /></a><br /><br />This one is of uncle Josh and Brigette, before she died. I never knew her, but look at her face, doesn't she look like fun. Oh, and uncle Josh has since seen a groomer (dad is chiming in again saying people don't go to groomers) and he now looks like a short-haired version of himself. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkwyaGNSvtPtB3mUJzFSvo1yMRl-3eMyMdzxLTDG4jFFTbVq3kCi1RqnFFLu9DEPYoES0Fl4diP39hnA0jxldHJV2pnZJJJ-ddX2kCNGKPr4Ag-ND3SLwAw2sQZT_xUXY2_fscii1ZPo/s1600/085.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkwyaGNSvtPtB3mUJzFSvo1yMRl-3eMyMdzxLTDG4jFFTbVq3kCi1RqnFFLu9DEPYoES0Fl4diP39hnA0jxldHJV2pnZJJJ-ddX2kCNGKPr4Ag-ND3SLwAw2sQZT_xUXY2_fscii1ZPo/s320/085.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496726583728364066" /></a><br /><br />And this guy, sitting on my bed, is Steve. He also died; he was old. I never knew him, but dad said he was awesome, and loved playing, and really he kind of ruled the house with a furry fist. I say kudos to him! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmSgz8qjiH42zwDXVc4EJWaZ7smRs-9xf0Po9lYB8GV_5x5Vc5jNO449FWLig57068VabjrWstDcdFWtRWSMKnwKEDRx5eg0jN6fmHFXQhAlIZK2k3S0HRozqHTcWpEs5K8xk5aGHfL3I/s1600/103.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmSgz8qjiH42zwDXVc4EJWaZ7smRs-9xf0Po9lYB8GV_5x5Vc5jNO449FWLig57068VabjrWstDcdFWtRWSMKnwKEDRx5eg0jN6fmHFXQhAlIZK2k3S0HRozqHTcWpEs5K8xk5aGHfL3I/s320/103.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496726598261979970" /></a><br /><br />Ok, these two are of a friend named Rascal, she has a brother named Rufus, he is a Sharpee (Sorry, dad says it is Shar-Pei, apparently a Sharpee is a thing you write with. I'm asking dad to leave, he is really making this difficult.) and she is a Yellow version of me! She didn't used to like me, but now we played some and she tolerates me. Rufus wants to play and has these big puffy cheeks that I like to nibble. He hates that. He is sitting on the couch in the shadows. He looks like a creepy lurker. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNTcuXDEGezfrBAER91aLvbopvYHYmYczQnpUM1zSmclaqyfbU7hO-zc-az1lPBLzFugC7bdxWRgzymK4aYcSztJaMh6T6DQ-KIWho4u-ZhvOMIpNs0_GV6aicAXK7LJ4Mz-ImNUxIn8/s1600/397.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNTcuXDEGezfrBAER91aLvbopvYHYmYczQnpUM1zSmclaqyfbU7hO-zc-az1lPBLzFugC7bdxWRgzymK4aYcSztJaMh6T6DQ-KIWho4u-ZhvOMIpNs0_GV6aicAXK7LJ4Mz-ImNUxIn8/s320/397.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496727595819088162" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnsc7CDBr3vnpMMMnQYIlL5IzVp985Q9dSXcet-NzpsabOcqVhCedw3_WSvsJNZg50nRsTdaD2m5Dtnlzou5fXTTqDglHUsG4Y_oSTQ4M3he6jO6a5eKWfEse2kP0Te1F4FJYTqPo4vs/s1600/377.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnsc7CDBr3vnpMMMnQYIlL5IzVp985Q9dSXcet-NzpsabOcqVhCedw3_WSvsJNZg50nRsTdaD2m5Dtnlzou5fXTTqDglHUsG4Y_oSTQ4M3he6jO6a5eKWfEse2kP0Te1F4FJYTqPo4vs/s320/377.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496727584622519058" /></a><br /><br />This is our pet skunk;-) No, its actually my human cousin Olivia (That's Josh's bipedal kid.)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHORgWVSNARp7dNuZE3lqro-_Xb-TOu46Jxub2t5dL-WJ65ST73lKzRs62A3QVsk4t29IWUyFrYAXGcgaKZoDyf6AyGlJZ3T3ayQLEn18eEBtDuCxCjM1n2ARX6uMUqBgrYbVdW2fnUys/s1600/163.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHORgWVSNARp7dNuZE3lqro-_Xb-TOu46Jxub2t5dL-WJ65ST73lKzRs62A3QVsk4t29IWUyFrYAXGcgaKZoDyf6AyGlJZ3T3ayQLEn18eEBtDuCxCjM1n2ARX6uMUqBgrYbVdW2fnUys/s320/163.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496726607134997682" /></a><br /><br />This is supposed to be a cabbage, but I think it is the monster from that Rick Moranis movie the Little Shop of Horrors. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgHs9Y2fR-MUYfY9Rg03xMeCBxG9ORRwxcverDOxh130rY_y-pFkpaGig30-nYcUCP4FV_BqIeTtB5cZvDmZ5ZfPCLkWKf-SKMr6Bg_ivM0de5rBcD2KKXgZXjNSey2-STKug502OBuE/s1600/360.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgHs9Y2fR-MUYfY9Rg03xMeCBxG9ORRwxcverDOxh130rY_y-pFkpaGig30-nYcUCP4FV_BqIeTtB5cZvDmZ5ZfPCLkWKf-SKMr6Bg_ivM0de5rBcD2KKXgZXjNSey2-STKug502OBuE/s320/360.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496726612225530018" /></a><br /><br /><br />Hehehe, I sneaked this is while dad wasn't looking. Doesn't he look like the biggest dork! He said this was his "hobo beard" it was fashionable on railway cars, and it carried belongings, so it served a purpose too. I just think he looks ridiculous. Man is he going to get a kick out of that! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOven3XLTBUB17dbzOnkS6ifluJsBrswrEBGszYmkCX-dwKMjxdbubnzhbTFfCIHxKRmw4BRikLNK8fnIIttKFyLdFLMw4WjyA6fdSq5Ndut5zaMYJ-1hlM1BNyMrp42TdnQd-EWNL-gM/s1600/054.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOven3XLTBUB17dbzOnkS6ifluJsBrswrEBGszYmkCX-dwKMjxdbubnzhbTFfCIHxKRmw4BRikLNK8fnIIttKFyLdFLMw4WjyA6fdSq5Ndut5zaMYJ-1hlM1BNyMrp42TdnQd-EWNL-gM/s320/054.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496727607309810562" /></a><br /><br />Aw man, you know who I don't have pictures of! My besties Chloe and Darla! Holy cow Darla is a Yellow like Rascal up there, and Chloe is a flat-haired black lab, man she is so fun! All we do is chase each other in circles until Darla says we have to quit, but really we just let her leave then do it some more. Hehehehe, ok, I'm going to have dad get pictures of them! They are great! We go swimming together at this big water thing. <br /><br />Ooop, dad is coming, I better scoot, I want this image up before he sees it and takes it off, aufedersein!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-87299659863493527892010-07-21T08:51:00.006-05:002010-07-21T09:11:59.705-05:00Wordless Wednesday: Where Ponds, Ducks, and Dogs Occur.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgUcZaztvXchDi1LSG2tqb2DWFzE3EjS70kr67JPBNP6_TmzkADX1VhXITcKJhb97suocQOekxDqxvS2JJFAsdVAqhbf_mn-JDgKLFZT_wMOVAKulB15A9KdlysQ48Lj1dSIBQb71e78/s1600/DSCN6531.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgUcZaztvXchDi1LSG2tqb2DWFzE3EjS70kr67JPBNP6_TmzkADX1VhXITcKJhb97suocQOekxDqxvS2JJFAsdVAqhbf_mn-JDgKLFZT_wMOVAKulB15A9KdlysQ48Lj1dSIBQb71e78/s320/DSCN6531.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496359233718294530" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_B8JepHa80qoGdmn8VBe__rjH8pAhZykv_49H2REUgiaxkIYTeiYG2HPEdbljsI3ufTHkbKeXt-9kH7imVr1tiXe4MnAyNm48O6Wewip0dSmajwr1KC1xsJEooTNUeNvytP8_6oyhaYM/s1600/DSCN6527.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_B8JepHa80qoGdmn8VBe__rjH8pAhZykv_49H2REUgiaxkIYTeiYG2HPEdbljsI3ufTHkbKeXt-9kH7imVr1tiXe4MnAyNm48O6Wewip0dSmajwr1KC1xsJEooTNUeNvytP8_6oyhaYM/s320/DSCN6527.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496361959747693618" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXwzsKHpOMeBvVWsXj4FHJ9SclNiXcQHnqOONuC5PA6dYcfwSwRfjJ_BVcV1gEbSQl5ajL7I0KaMcPBEZu5sWnrfg_6iA5wxEJDPn2bsiK2tfLBr-0Ltq3h6LB-DiHtvq_bnSglpAne4/s1600/DSCN6522.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXwzsKHpOMeBvVWsXj4FHJ9SclNiXcQHnqOONuC5PA6dYcfwSwRfjJ_BVcV1gEbSQl5ajL7I0KaMcPBEZu5sWnrfg_6iA5wxEJDPn2bsiK2tfLBr-0Ltq3h6LB-DiHtvq_bnSglpAne4/s320/DSCN6522.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496359994430895986" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdlhU02PfuWwt-V3mFbClwPULV_htibHRaKqb3BBerdfQeCIUEp6SzRy6u8qFG0GZvTU8E8znWkON7I_8xZ4qJzUjdq-KmDb-8xlWaWllF-PJsuEmPnBon7Ru8smMYnrycxsIslE-cwg/s1600/DSCN6526.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdlhU02PfuWwt-V3mFbClwPULV_htibHRaKqb3BBerdfQeCIUEp6SzRy6u8qFG0GZvTU8E8znWkON7I_8xZ4qJzUjdq-KmDb-8xlWaWllF-PJsuEmPnBon7Ru8smMYnrycxsIslE-cwg/s320/DSCN6526.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496359982197477570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg547xojF-7sprdoJMw9HIwi6CorfzI1EZYZK1F1SiGPsuLfwPKS5xbOkVZsFJ-iPvP2xE6yBWIVbXqtzS-PLHoYr7eNuofYE9As9fnrgZzd-oEKJIBa9PPv2p7GeLqmb1TEsP_kPpPIa8/s1600/DSCN6519.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg547xojF-7sprdoJMw9HIwi6CorfzI1EZYZK1F1SiGPsuLfwPKS5xbOkVZsFJ-iPvP2xE6yBWIVbXqtzS-PLHoYr7eNuofYE9As9fnrgZzd-oEKJIBa9PPv2p7GeLqmb1TEsP_kPpPIa8/s320/DSCN6519.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496359979775140322" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAQ6RcV-IxaoG7wpOb63v6yQ9cqs_A6GsUKKckLsG_THYgSZfZNujYpF16JgP2Zn6-8DnSg-XFKoEShxQa2cXmrw9sY5HT0c-ZoO2-lT2sUcdZ1vlVjNlH_j75_48T8ed0TtnB6u4O58/s1600/DSCN6507.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAQ6RcV-IxaoG7wpOb63v6yQ9cqs_A6GsUKKckLsG_THYgSZfZNujYpF16JgP2Zn6-8DnSg-XFKoEShxQa2cXmrw9sY5HT0c-ZoO2-lT2sUcdZ1vlVjNlH_j75_48T8ed0TtnB6u4O58/s320/DSCN6507.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496359250523855250" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-61997995132889186862010-07-20T08:07:00.005-05:002010-07-20T20:00:46.400-05:00Spotty Speckled Rock Disease: AKA: Tadpoliosis.I went back out yesterday as the clouds and rain left and went crazy with the camera. I took pictures of everything blog related, sixteen pictures of Conner which will be posted in the next couple of days, nine of Freya, also to be posted, and then nine of these little darlings friends we have found. More during the gallery:<br /><br /><br /><br />As you can see here with our first image the sun was playing shadowy tricks off the reflection of the water. Darn you beautiful sun and all your shiny happiness. What I will draw attention to is the black liner and the spots. These spots are some of our little swimmers. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55TbKJje7wZiCnm5AoOWyvYS5vezxBXtIjkS7gFu1xqTPmxi2bKJ3kE1cuQ080HMYcMPBhg_NnKXtXrf7fbcsu5nvMdKQQHoSDTeBqP7Ac86ueMRxChRP5heVaiJCLkTXOHyXdr61L0g/s1600/DSCN6502.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55TbKJje7wZiCnm5AoOWyvYS5vezxBXtIjkS7gFu1xqTPmxi2bKJ3kE1cuQ080HMYcMPBhg_NnKXtXrf7fbcsu5nvMdKQQHoSDTeBqP7Ac86ueMRxChRP5heVaiJCLkTXOHyXdr61L0g/s320/DSCN6502.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495976168486845970" /></a><br /><br />Again the sun and its capturing of the terrible shadowy figure playing paparazzi to these tadpole film stars. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vJeYOW30FaMJ3pchZ-suWMU7rXSeCra7jTQT_4mbJTVavVfgnxdTrRoi1SXBFNUv70e9MLgMqIOPZ3CHu8aQUO-sxX35mHGo9QVetszLutlulkLl3N7-g4QnxoLceEIPJhiyI4zHTJ4/s1600/DSCN6498.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vJeYOW30FaMJ3pchZ-suWMU7rXSeCra7jTQT_4mbJTVavVfgnxdTrRoi1SXBFNUv70e9MLgMqIOPZ3CHu8aQUO-sxX35mHGo9QVetszLutlulkLl3N7-g4QnxoLceEIPJhiyI4zHTJ4/s320/DSCN6498.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495975799718730578" /></a><br /><br />These next images are from when I decided to move with some sort of success and snapped several really close, mostly zoomed in, some dangerously reckless leaning over centimeters from the water tactics, and other methods a complete rookie like myself would use to get a shot in. In honesty they came out like I wanted, and they show a lot of the swimming little city I was hoping to get. Its like watching a live action version of the Snorks. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMlY6l8eTPUcSfAjwgvQ3De61nBTgOdn0h9MocMTf8DFiNAqi4_FZ5gsnltKfWXff2O0jPGXuh2pBPqvOEq7asgjUx5YmkG9vIZOQQ0zm0nyh2Svm9S81b_eD7FXOOMbFFJf5KHAA_sA/s1600/DSCN6497.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMlY6l8eTPUcSfAjwgvQ3De61nBTgOdn0h9MocMTf8DFiNAqi4_FZ5gsnltKfWXff2O0jPGXuh2pBPqvOEq7asgjUx5YmkG9vIZOQQ0zm0nyh2Svm9S81b_eD7FXOOMbFFJf5KHAA_sA/s320/DSCN6497.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495975790398925122" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RcaStDkzIPmyhc5CPe1c1sMRYiT_cGo1lLCFxLOErR6KGLc9KB0sSt1uJUXe9PYz2O2CdMvUxm81qqCP6w3CPQBws5HStfI3cpNJyAhMe90VZJmc02EVtprnNI34AbjdPOxglYUGiM8/s1600/DSCN6496.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RcaStDkzIPmyhc5CPe1c1sMRYiT_cGo1lLCFxLOErR6KGLc9KB0sSt1uJUXe9PYz2O2CdMvUxm81qqCP6w3CPQBws5HStfI3cpNJyAhMe90VZJmc02EVtprnNI34AbjdPOxglYUGiM8/s320/DSCN6496.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495975785130851634" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrDLeNLFl89CMGaYXy9Xsd1V-DzyMAhHzeVRlAsqNsiY8tWGtVsTYdxOIsTU6nQ67ZPZtEzFzjkJL-gl0pepJt_jhyphenhyphenZbDEZZf4TZHlKLCB7SNWfDjxRBxYEhaf7FcToWq5auQz4JWQtI/s1600/DSCN6495.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrDLeNLFl89CMGaYXy9Xsd1V-DzyMAhHzeVRlAsqNsiY8tWGtVsTYdxOIsTU6nQ67ZPZtEzFzjkJL-gl0pepJt_jhyphenhyphenZbDEZZf4TZHlKLCB7SNWfDjxRBxYEhaf7FcToWq5auQz4JWQtI/s320/DSCN6495.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495975780075262418" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qAHtjjh7FctVN3aT767oiuPPbJ9LtGB1oOlA_rZFMctn4sgTNph0efDuwcQT8XOJVa5RQxcFGjbBqxGqTAwPCjcUtJzJ3uOZ1AcKfmutaHflTXx7DVTK9H4LR1HCEOJ1xU37pa1SK3U/s1600/DSCN6494.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qAHtjjh7FctVN3aT767oiuPPbJ9LtGB1oOlA_rZFMctn4sgTNph0efDuwcQT8XOJVa5RQxcFGjbBqxGqTAwPCjcUtJzJ3uOZ1AcKfmutaHflTXx7DVTK9H4LR1HCEOJ1xU37pa1SK3U/s320/DSCN6494.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495975776962146578" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-13122969840485637912010-07-19T10:49:00.003-05:002010-07-19T10:53:56.201-05:00Wooo, guess what we have!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRCNQatMShyphenhyphenh_3vbcN232FNcu-PQ-WE6drjlATj7_K1YLBFCf6BKtTqZVvykFnADTZp7MGY_W1Cn61NMZ2JyUQqKHfBzuVtXWYDjb8MFK-EQlHZnMv5lGxFNkn80mS8Vzah1RXXvnmws/s1600/Tadpoles.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRCNQatMShyphenhyphenh_3vbcN232FNcu-PQ-WE6drjlATj7_K1YLBFCf6BKtTqZVvykFnADTZp7MGY_W1Cn61NMZ2JyUQqKHfBzuVtXWYDjb8MFK-EQlHZnMv5lGxFNkn80mS8Vzah1RXXvnmws/s320/Tadpoles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495645179285537250" /></a><br /><br />I snapped this in the late evening last night, just a quick ninja photo job. I will take more as weather permits. <br /><br />As you can see though, the rock in the center is covered with these alien looking black dots. These black dots were to me, like so many of you, instantly recognizable as the smallest form of the tadpole. I haven't counted them as such an attempt would prove useless, but from just estimation there are at least several hundred. Not just on the rock, but floating, swimming, hanging out on the similarly colored liner. They are everywhere. I have no doubts these are the children from the eggs I reported on a few days ago. <br /><br />And we were going to toss in some fish...I think that decision may be stalled, at least for now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-71055305360592598412010-07-17T13:48:00.000-05:002010-07-17T13:49:12.568-05:00Saturday Blog Hop<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=35504" type="text/javascript" ></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-67274156631174606342010-07-17T09:30:00.004-05:002010-07-17T09:44:47.691-05:00Red Light, Green Light, Go!So I took Freya out last night....first let me include this preamble. I am heretofore adding news and notes about the pond here because it is a pond, and there will be times Conner is in it. It only makes sense to put pond news on a Duck blog, right? Right. <br /><br />Now, where was I, oh yes, taking Freya out. Here I am with Freya off doing her Freya thing while I walk around with this nifty little head lamp on my head. I use it to startle unsuspecting critters into frozen statues because I like to see what nocturnal beasts roam my backyard. It really is fun so stop judging me. <br /><br />So I went to the pond and conducted a little experiment. I set the lamp to the Red light setting, because it is much dimmer and the range of focus is much smaller. Easier for perusing a natural habitat in the most covert of ways without actually using night vision. With lamp set to red I creep barefoot -- for stealth -- over to the pond to see if I could catch any frog activities. Lo and behold the Red light worked! Experiment was a success! The frogs barely noticed I was there. I say barely because some brown 7 month old four-legged beast was making an awful lot of racket. Still, here is some of what I saw. <br /><br />Now, before you all jump to conclusions and say, Jeremy, that light is hardly red. I want to say, I know. What I did was set my camera up to shoot, then quickly hit them with a douse of petrifying light. Then I went back to covert ops mode. <br /><br />This is one of my new friends in the pond. I think he totals number 11 frog now. <br /><br />I admit, the images are on the darker side, but what do you expect, it was 10:00 at night and I was ninja shooting photos here.<br /><br /><br />Here is a distance shot, getting my feel for the land. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_62cR5vQe2RRKinTfOIhEydrqLxX9DDO0g7DqR_FjXmMhTwPghKYKEwmM11TxjVMfjb1TZHIUvo9TTn6KuxXiSQ-pf45QhabVbT_o5XYB4zythYprqHKy8-MWFjaTydFmA0J447dhgk/s1600/IMAG0113.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_62cR5vQe2RRKinTfOIhEydrqLxX9DDO0g7DqR_FjXmMhTwPghKYKEwmM11TxjVMfjb1TZHIUvo9TTn6KuxXiSQ-pf45QhabVbT_o5XYB4zythYprqHKy8-MWFjaTydFmA0J447dhgk/s320/IMAG0113.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494884847692611970" /></a><br /><br />Here is one on zoom to be safe. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DxKBMbFAVJpjq60P1hVZVw2k3eHIkgyKcnatYjfSl0OLMpT_kQuske_5rvnwhnxiHiX1uYgkmafO2NwG6dNjOiDpcR2dlfXhBrwNamu9HSGroMubwko7OdFWDz2kLviGvrv0V82t45A/s1600/IMAG0114.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DxKBMbFAVJpjq60P1hVZVw2k3eHIkgyKcnatYjfSl0OLMpT_kQuske_5rvnwhnxiHiX1uYgkmafO2NwG6dNjOiDpcR2dlfXhBrwNamu9HSGroMubwko7OdFWDz2kLviGvrv0V82t45A/s320/IMAG0114.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494884850714185506" /></a> <br /><br />This photo was not on zoom, I was actually this close. And for all you out there wondering, yes I did pet the frog, and no I don't have a wart. And for those weirdos of you wondering if it is a prince, or princess. I don't know, I didn't kiss it, I'm not some kind of creeper. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzZ44eIbzfXAhpwwE8xPqP1ihj_udJOVgajOEF34Cx9A-vjXpZLSrfBfYHnrxK_pJJLHv2VfownNzZcJKoFF2t2Ju7mIyFhRqonQo41sPIOqx1KIpoGq6UCPR8X6JE-l3n20Rgmz5ZW4/s1600/IMAG0115.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzZ44eIbzfXAhpwwE8xPqP1ihj_udJOVgajOEF34Cx9A-vjXpZLSrfBfYHnrxK_pJJLHv2VfownNzZcJKoFF2t2Ju7mIyFhRqonQo41sPIOqx1KIpoGq6UCPR8X6JE-l3n20Rgmz5ZW4/s320/IMAG0115.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494884852894687586" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-22266908093125019762010-07-16T08:06:00.004-05:002010-07-17T09:48:31.433-05:00Duck Spans.Ok, after being given a bit of info, and deciding it was time to research this myself, I went on the prowl, lurking in the darkest corners of Duck information. Stumbling from the stacks I found out, from various sources, ducks live to be 10-15 years old. Not duck years, cat year, or the ever so popular dog years. They are human years, and that is a long time. <br /><br />It send my mind wandering, and rather quickly as my mind so often does, it came up with a lame joke about being long in the tooth, which obviously is just duck candor amongst friends. I say this because duck teeth aren't really teeth are they? They are more like tiny little scrubber pads, much like a fish. The are primarily used to grasp and hold things that are wriggly and moist, such as a worm. <br /><br />But, all jokes and lessons aside...this duck of mine, Conner, is going to be living with, and as long as, Freya, most likely, since both are roughly the same age. Freya is slightly younger, almost a year, but that means Conner will be the senior adviser on staff when they run for neighborhood office. <br /><br />It also means something else. A point a friend showed me, I don't have an angry old cuss. I have a mouthy...billy (since ducks have bills, come on people, I shouldn't have to explain all the jokes) teenager on my hands, full of pomp and pride, big quacks and short fuses. Oh he is going to be a joy for a while still. I wouldn't be surprised to see a major loss of feathers simply because he can't stop running his Bill at everything that walks in his general direction. Dogs, kids, some humans, squirrels, rabbits, birds, man my duck is a bully. Thank goodness Freya is here to keep him in check. His Green Lantern to Green Arrow, his Eric to Hyde, his Desi To Lucy, his...you guys get the point. <br /><br />So world, here is to 10-15 long happy years.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-26667323278360226212010-07-15T14:49:00.002-05:002010-07-15T15:00:16.745-05:00Angry old cuss.I'm not sure the life cycle of a duck, I mean living from start to finish. I certainly know about the life cycle when a stupid dog gets a hold of one. Jerk. But the full span, still not sure. <br /><br />What does it matter, you ask? Well it matters in the sense that I think Conner is starting to reach old codger status. He hates when Freya gets near his water, his tree, and most of all his person...er...duck. <br /><br />You see, a few months back I reported that Conner was tempered. Well that temperament is like hatred now, I think. Rarely goes a visit where he isn't instigating something. His favorite thing to do? Wait for Freya to turn her back, chase a stick, or just out right pee, then he will sneak up and nip her feet, pinch her ears, or grab onto that droopy bit of skin dogs have on their necks. Then the raucous begins. Feathers scattering, wings flapping, paws pounding, and two very set upon animals chasing. <br /><br />Of course his feathers are in a constant state of ruffle, and his beak is showing ugly signs of wear and scratching, but he never stops, and Freya never gives and inch. To watch the two you'd think they hated each other, but from what I have seen there is no ill-will, or malevolence. Just constant picking. <br /><br />It makes me wonder what Conner is playing at, because he likes to go on the back porch and chase the cat as well, who is so old and indifferent to him he just climbs higher than Conner can get. Cats and their aloof attitudes. God love 'em. Still he loves eating the cat food, and refuses worms as a dietary supplement. He will let you pet him, but only if cornered, and if you hold him long enough he will stop the crazed flapping and give you audience. <br /><br />In fact writing all this now I don't think he is old...I think he might be a head strong twenty something looking for trouble...maybe one week here in the next year or so he will learn some stoicism and just stop being and aggressor. <br /><br />Maybe. <br /><br />Then again I could be out of my mind. <br /><br />Oh, last I mentioned the eggs. They failed terribly in the hatchery. In fact Ms. Aslinger went and bought some feeling so guilty over a matter she could neither control or help. Still, Shannon took the ducks home with her, and I have still heard no reports good or bad, so maybe that is a good sign, maybe not. Who knows.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-37800783297323188602010-05-02T11:27:00.005-05:002010-05-02T11:44:15.533-05:00The kids are alright.As you know Conner has been forced to be by himself, which no one ever wishes for, honestly. But, and this is a big fat Sir Mix-a-lot type but, I think the loneliness has helped him. It has calmed him. Tempered him. He is still feisty, you can't remove that from him, but he has become less of the sentry and more of the duck. <br /><br />He no longer lurks about looking for a predator to banish, now he just attempts to play with what he sees. Birds usually die, and yes, he kills birds. Chipmunks run, and squirrels are now very weary of my backyard. His new friend, Freya, my lab, has become a nice little way to expend some of his energy, as seen below. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdb06uZofvNDtypgnuW7gc_W6R5kSkwPkybaEkE1yctH7gW_IDiismxzVst6W_giUm9eKwMrV3qNnPjHW9LjEmoyhy9gBTMZanVQHQpPQTG95scUbhw_SJxzHsxW_8J63B4mEqPzsPT4/s1600/5-2-2010+014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdb06uZofvNDtypgnuW7gc_W6R5kSkwPkybaEkE1yctH7gW_IDiismxzVst6W_giUm9eKwMrV3qNnPjHW9LjEmoyhy9gBTMZanVQHQpPQTG95scUbhw_SJxzHsxW_8J63B4mEqPzsPT4/s320/5-2-2010+014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466712568900264002" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccqPhcm0CeRn5p4yNYqFAtyMa5XMXS1EmLLFJpVRgBVsIa84Zkb3gcoSZmD8nN0fIIWR_20Qmj-fCSXttd6lf1dfqmeuIHdtHfYWa9WwunpFCafYzbS5YxFgUJ3AjE9iMNZCKEnZsWZs/s1600/5-2-2010+009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccqPhcm0CeRn5p4yNYqFAtyMa5XMXS1EmLLFJpVRgBVsIa84Zkb3gcoSZmD8nN0fIIWR_20Qmj-fCSXttd6lf1dfqmeuIHdtHfYWa9WwunpFCafYzbS5YxFgUJ3AjE9iMNZCKEnZsWZs/s320/5-2-2010+009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466712560704135570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeDMUqJqdlM3BV3K-wWU9rlZDZKU8B-Qb0u63vReH-R8CVO5DWNfGyBvRp_NuBMLekBiJEl4g42XWfK39icj2pcxb_YDjJJXrNpYF7jo6B66WtaBevkZ0lv9-wS9DHBsbzh2EG9ycWjs/s1600/5-2-2010+004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeDMUqJqdlM3BV3K-wWU9rlZDZKU8B-Qb0u63vReH-R8CVO5DWNfGyBvRp_NuBMLekBiJEl4g42XWfK39icj2pcxb_YDjJJXrNpYF7jo6B66WtaBevkZ0lv9-wS9DHBsbzh2EG9ycWjs/s320/5-2-2010+004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466712558663306242" /></a><br /><br /><br />In other news we are at that time of the school year where we are hatching ducks again, as I previously spoke of, and here is an image of the eggs, eighteen of them, in their incubator.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6AxG_62MWI961kOyW_s6QGd2c69vxPJwf4Vi8aU6nLBErPNrzvA4sMIZ8n339LZ99g6f3Xxz2Nn1m5glEQdp0TPl-DNmmm3eOFGaJFYuvhWmg0QXNjYV4ZplyzxrEQxloqiEF-vIo4E/s1600/0416001135a.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6AxG_62MWI961kOyW_s6QGd2c69vxPJwf4Vi8aU6nLBErPNrzvA4sMIZ8n339LZ99g6f3Xxz2Nn1m5glEQdp0TPl-DNmmm3eOFGaJFYuvhWmg0QXNjYV4ZplyzxrEQxloqiEF-vIo4E/s320/0416001135a.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466714219115276770" /></a><br /><br />I will keep you all up to date as this story develops...in about ten days.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-82400461326334105212010-04-09T12:52:00.002-05:002010-04-09T13:12:48.020-05:00A week later...almost.Today is Friday the 9th of April, and it has been very near a week since Sally's death. The first day was hard on Conner and I, but being a human I was able to move forward rather quickly. After all, life is life and death is its finality, right? Conner, however, has not had this luxury. He lost his life long companion, and since the life of a duck is significantly shorter than a human, I can only assume his loss was akin to that of losing a 10 or 15 year partner. Knowing this I paid a much greater amount of time with him. Well, Freya and I, did. (For those who aren't in the know, Freya is my 3 month old Chocolate Lab. [ Yes, yes, a lab, I know, hunting dogs and all that jazz, but I assure you things are kosher on her end]). <br /><br />During this week, this mourning period Conner walked aimlessly around in search of his passed partner. He quacked quietly and infrequently. He spent a greater amount of his time at her grave. The mind and actions of animals fascinates me. This week I have seen a duck exhibit sorrow, and I have seen a dog, who is like a giant pesky little sister to Conner act cautiously, and sympathetically. She never once attempted to start their daily game of chase. She never sniffed him out and bothered him. She took a discrete, and respectful leave of her senses and gave Conner the proper mourning period. <br /><br />It wasn't until two days ago that Conner started exhibiting familiar actions; pursuing a noisy latch on the back door, quacking and then coming to anyone exiting the door, chasing, and bothering Freya as she sniffed for a place to use the bathroom. These events have given me hope that Conner isn't just going to sit idly by and waste away in grief. No, rather, my boy, is going to do his best to pull through. <br /><br />I say all this and I add a new section. Tomorrow I am going to a local flea market to see if I can find a Rouen female for Conner to "shack up" with. Whether or not this will be a good idea is yet to be seen, but I can't just leave him alone for the rest of his feathered days, that's for sure. <br /><br />Onto other news, Ms. Aslinger has contacted a fine farm about getting the new batch of eggs this year. I am excited because we will be hatching more ducks, and our new coworker, and godsend, Ms. Shannon will be taking this years batch home with her, save one.<br /><br />Save one you ask? I will be taking one with me. I can't help it, I must bring one of these new ducks home. They are called Cayuga ducks and their color is absolutely gorgeous. They have the magnificent coloring of a mallard head all over their body! It is an oily emerald color shimmering and bluish green. It would be the perfect addition to Conner. Hopefully. <br /><br />This also marks the time of the year where we being the incubation period and since the blog i established pre-hatching I will be chronicling all events from the time we receive the eggs until they hatch, and are in the caring hands of Shannon. <br /><br />For now I must postulate and get my lazy bones back to work! (Just kidding the kids are napping.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-6417143290397229552010-04-04T21:16:00.002-05:002010-04-04T21:24:46.895-05:00R.I.PSo I haven't posted in a really long time, and I had a fair amount of pictures I may get on here and post soon. Until then I have bad news. <br /><br />Saturday one of my dogs go a hold of Sally and pulled her through an opening she found in a fence. She was trying to drink his water, he was acting on K-9 instinct. Sadly I found her a short while later dead in his dog house, neck rung. I assume the events happened how I said because there was a fair amount of feathers by this whole, and his water bucket was there. Either way, we have lost Sally, who has recently been laying with regularity and Conner was fertilizing. <br /><br />Conner has not taken it well and I am very worried about him. I can't find a straight answer on the definite mating habits of male Rouen ducks. This concerns me greatly because he seems to be grieving himself to death. I am in search of answers and another female Rouen for him, but am afraid I won't find the answer soon enough. <br /><br />If anyone knows of info, or has experience in this matter, please help, for Conner. <br /><br />Until I find an answer let's have a moment of silence for our friend. <br /><br />Also, parents reading this, if you still are, do not tell your kids unless it is a lesson about death and grieving, because I don't want them to know. <br /><br />For now I must care for my boy,<br />JeremyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-61995785997854082922009-09-30T15:50:00.001-05:002009-09-30T15:59:44.591-05:00The Big DayI know it's wordless Wednesday, but I have not been able to follow that edict...almost ever. <br /><br />So here is what happens. <br /><br />I took the precious ducks to the school last week, and I will admit to my epic failure in getting pictures. I assumed this task would be easily handled. I was wrong. I failed to take into account that I, as the duck owner, would be the ring leader of this circus. It was my main duty to hold while 80+ kids took turns alternating between complete fear of Conner nipping them, or petting his head. <br /><br />The great thing about this all was the excitement they all had with the ducks. Many of the kindergartners this year were from my class last year and they loved it! A great many others enjoyed meeting Conner and Sally for the first time. The teachers there marveled in the sheer size of the ducks compared to the tiny little balls of fluff they were when they last visited those many months ago.<br /><br />I am currently trying to get pictures of the ducks on their first day in the public eye, and I will get them, Ms. Aslinger took several, Josh took a few from my camera, and Ms. Shannon took some as well, all I need to do is compile them. <br /><br />Now, a note on behavior. Ever since I took Conner and Sally to school I have noticed some things. <br /><br />- Sally is more irritated by my presence than ever. She simply can't stand my picking Conner up, or trying to pick her up. <br /><br />- Conner has grown more accustomed to my holding and petting him, and runs away far less than before. <br /><br />- Conner bites a lot more now, maybe in play, maybe in aggression, of yet I am unsure. <br /><br />- Conner loves to chase more now as well. <br /><br />To this end I must bid you all farewell, I have games every night and must ready myself for such events. <br /><br />Until we meet again, consider this pictureless Wednesday.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-28133581121792435582009-09-21T21:16:00.005-05:002009-09-21T21:35:33.863-05:00T-minus two days until the surprise.Ok, so in two days, give or take (Wednesday) I am going to do something special with the ducks. This is secret, tip top-utmost-only a few people know-I shall say no more-secret.<br /><br />Until this momentous event I will supply the world with the latest round of pictures. I do hope you enjoy.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAPPYQYGomBLFl33FRAAaIRaF8DlLTmW87CmQoZ7QF-rBU15FP8jMzByEjLb31YRrqquRQh8fwief765nBMhK3OIF-36UaOcD9frE6dbF9hmxyc6o2g_szPhLbqSYBLtUjekHNuN2ljI/s1600-h/100_1556.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAPPYQYGomBLFl33FRAAaIRaF8DlLTmW87CmQoZ7QF-rBU15FP8jMzByEjLb31YRrqquRQh8fwief765nBMhK3OIF-36UaOcD9frE6dbF9hmxyc6o2g_szPhLbqSYBLtUjekHNuN2ljI/s320/100_1556.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384111933134486242" /></a><br /><br />I love this picture. They are deceptively similar in size. However this is an illusion, Conner is actually 64 feet tall.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytKgyhhuUV8h3s_iEY77xo5ihXDBuncOp4T_9GQbmwBmsI3clCj6aSnP99nrxH0OsKffcBHKzZ_9Z-XA30s6s6SeINK1aU1SvldIGixCfDWRmAcpF2UIx2hW36bkuFPc3WBHBa2zbg7o/s1600-h/100_1554.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytKgyhhuUV8h3s_iEY77xo5ihXDBuncOp4T_9GQbmwBmsI3clCj6aSnP99nrxH0OsKffcBHKzZ_9Z-XA30s6s6SeINK1aU1SvldIGixCfDWRmAcpF2UIx2hW36bkuFPc3WBHBa2zbg7o/s320/100_1554.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384111925479537010" /></a><br /><br />This one is a bit blurry, and I am not sure why. I blame the ducks and the fact that they are as fast as lightning...<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxS-xTzMeNoJDN28bA22QAOv7SrOXD80LkrRYeNFVHZX3GYM-ov432a111fGEAQ2W2kSpozHZw42Gkk8dC8x9tOSzjeB_jRelfBrXP9A5SgSIBtAT0O_qNZRpEhpeWqPganraxq3WEOY/s1600-h/100_1551.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxS-xTzMeNoJDN28bA22QAOv7SrOXD80LkrRYeNFVHZX3GYM-ov432a111fGEAQ2W2kSpozHZw42Gkk8dC8x9tOSzjeB_jRelfBrXP9A5SgSIBtAT0O_qNZRpEhpeWqPganraxq3WEOY/s320/100_1551.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384111919436035730" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvIDCrnv7xcuMor1GIK_nEooSvcKSEc-vzJhbfPeJlyYpk3xh-qoO5LFM5Ds-EEV__v7f6Ut6oMiSf0AvdbBH-NcTbYzs6vYXTDchRLq6Nl0QI3-LfWQlNRXn2AbIdvH7rCcZaPXN6ZZc/s1600-h/100_1550.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvIDCrnv7xcuMor1GIK_nEooSvcKSEc-vzJhbfPeJlyYpk3xh-qoO5LFM5Ds-EEV__v7f6Ut6oMiSf0AvdbBH-NcTbYzs6vYXTDchRLq6Nl0QI3-LfWQlNRXn2AbIdvH7rCcZaPXN6ZZc/s320/100_1550.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384111914650059570" /></a><br /><br />These two are of Conner and me. I am petting him, and trying to get a pine needle out of his bill. If you take note Sally is in the background giving a less than pleasing eye. It turns out little miss prissy does not, and I repeat DOES NOT like being held. In fact she sent me a legal document saying as much. <br /><br />Also, one other note, if you will notice, attached to my face. Those are chops, glorious, beautiful chops. Gentleman, do not be jealous. They are just chops. You too can have them. <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IziHpY0WOld7Cm9eiqBvpaGME-VAe1LZ_2dcFYLKltCWbXvLWF7FPtzhVqfvzVkRFkKdVJqk-K3tmKv-dObG-9hpeFKPmn36hp7a8lXNIiCudbaTTqWW1vSdrciEbfiTj4jHyHyrjvQ/s1600-h/100_1549.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IziHpY0WOld7Cm9eiqBvpaGME-VAe1LZ_2dcFYLKltCWbXvLWF7FPtzhVqfvzVkRFkKdVJqk-K3tmKv-dObG-9hpeFKPmn36hp7a8lXNIiCudbaTTqWW1vSdrciEbfiTj4jHyHyrjvQ/s320/100_1549.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384111906971608786" /></a><br /><br />Right, so this one...well, you be the judge. (I am aware that I will[inserting corny joke beware...] that I will be the butt of many jokes after this.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-19528850648573115332009-09-10T12:52:00.002-05:002009-09-10T13:10:22.394-05:00Conner the Defiant, Conner the arrogant.Just as the title says, though defiance isn't exactly the word to describe him. It isn't like I expect lots from them, other than simply to live as ducks do, with quacking, feathers, and worms. So to call him defiant might be a bit far fetched on my part. Still, he does defy. To explain I must backtrack and recap. <br /><br />For some weeks I have been trying to get Conner, and to a lesser extent Sally, to let me hold them without flailing, and pecking. I say Sally to a lesser extent because she is completely oblivious to my attempts and her aloof behavior makes this even more evident. Conner however is a bundle of character and down feathers. He loves to play, and her loves to pretend he is the ruler of some imagined kingdom. When you approach him he just stays out of hands reach, and when you retreat he pursues. It is quite humorous. However recently the humor has become lesser with his new tactic of biting, which I will allow none of. The last straw was when he decided I was the one who needed to be bit. So I scolded him the way any good human father with duck children would: I gave him a gentle tap on the bill. <br /><br />He was livid, refusing to speak to me for the remainder of the day. <br /><br />All the while Sally strutted and kept to herself. <br /><br />The next day Conner let me pet him, but only momentarily. Over the ensuing days Conner allowed more and more contact, which, by last night, all added up to me holding him gently under my arm for about 15 minutes. This is the most he has been held since he was first born. Of course now he is about 15 times the size he was then. <br /><br />I was pleased. <br /><br />I've also been debating something, but will need clearance I am sure, and I expect it as well, otherwise I would be worried about the system we are running around her. What am I talking about? I am thinking about bringing Conner and Sally to school. See, in Pre-K we do a letter a week, and we are currently on week B, so in two weeks we will be on week D, discussing, like you can imagine, all things that begin with the letter D. Good idea, right? I thought so too. <br /><br />Still, I will need to ask the rules on this from our principal. I think she will say yes, as I don't plan on having them here all day, and I won't be bringing them in the building. <br /><br />My one concern is this, Kindergartners. Aka the Pre-K students from last year who helped hatch our ever loving ducks. I don't want to cause some sort of disturbance, but I would love for them to be able to see how much they have grown, they are, after all, their ducks too, I suppose. <br /><br />I will talk to the appropriate personnel, and let you know what happens. <br /><br />Until then, know this Conner has the exact same personality of his father, and Sally, she has someone else's personality. Whose I do not know.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-71818359208115618642009-08-13T20:09:00.002-05:002009-08-13T20:19:37.161-05:00Etc.I was recalling the weeks I have had the ducks, and I can't remember the exact number, but it is in the lowest double digits you can count. Maybe 12, but like I said, I can't remember. <br /><br />Like I said, I have been recalling. The ducks are big, so big in fact. If you look back at the first of the pictures I posted you can see the big stuffed platypus we had for them. Yes? Ok, good. Conner and Sally make that thing look little. <br /><br />When I say we have full grown ducks I mean it. Fun stuff is though, what they do as these full grown balls of feather. You know how in Batman the Joker is the Clown Prince of Crime? Well Conner is the Clown Prince of Fouls. Everything, and I mean everything is an outlet for him to ham it up. He will waddle out of the bushes and come up to you and then waddle off. If you walk away he will follow you like he is playing a game of shadow. When you stop so does he. When you move he moves. If you turn and look at him he will turn and look like he is Leslie Neilsen in Naked Gun, and is pursuing someone in the most comedic way he can. <br /><br />This is unending. Conner is a clown. <br /><br />Sally...she is not. She acts as if the world is hers and that all others should be thankful we are allowed to share her air. She will step up high, flap those wings, and pretend we owe it to her to watch in awe. <br /><br />Of course neither pays the other's antics any mind, but neither will move more than 10 feet from the other. They are very close companions, and as when they were ducklings, Conner protects her, and Sally follows cautiously. <br /><br />I think the magic of evolution is how animated they have become. The world is their stage, and these two are certainly co-staring as Elizabeth Taylor(young and pretty not old and crazy) and Jerry Lewis.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-63128967059971034272009-08-05T11:58:00.004-05:002009-08-05T12:07:37.803-05:00My little boy is growing up.Well, last we spoke of sexes I doubted myself and said I didn't know what Conner was. It turns out my streak of being correct is still intact. I shouldn't have second guessed myself.<br /><br />Conner is now into adolescence, and he is beautiful in the most awkward, and ugly way. I hope these pictures do him justice.<br /><br />And for comparisons, both together. Aren't they so cute! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1U8uBsExOGswhPyXexW-FNtgurjIeWat2G3Om2WpQ7xXsIRHR-KjJk9c3mhH26k9SVQylUvTDAACdLjBxB5LvmourWHYfHb5JM8adavzb1Y4wD6e647BUxcanVrc1iUVjtB2BCCAXV0/s1600-h/both+comparison.htm"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1U8uBsExOGswhPyXexW-FNtgurjIeWat2G3Om2WpQ7xXsIRHR-KjJk9c3mhH26k9SVQylUvTDAACdLjBxB5LvmourWHYfHb5JM8adavzb1Y4wD6e647BUxcanVrc1iUVjtB2BCCAXV0/s320/both+comparison.htm" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366526560500822514" /></a><br /><br />This one shows more color, and the collar forming at the base of his neck.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaoiRChmQ-Lu4ugENA7HvSnZwBAYaOvC23yMzwlmiVrsHOIBvaZ2fpSL9bVGdM5co5CorlFzWEnTJF0Cdga5X9cqExavXCyM6L_R0dI_7UDZ2tzEYyVJUgWHNjETSSe2z3TLNAumSq34/s1600-h/sally+not+greening.htm"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaoiRChmQ-Lu4ugENA7HvSnZwBAYaOvC23yMzwlmiVrsHOIBvaZ2fpSL9bVGdM5co5CorlFzWEnTJF0Cdga5X9cqExavXCyM6L_R0dI_7UDZ2tzEYyVJUgWHNjETSSe2z3TLNAumSq34/s320/sally+not+greening.htm" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366526563262164018" /></a><br /><br />So she doesn't feel left out, here is Sally, greening none. <br /><br />And now for the close ups of the star of the show! <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazWnKQ_Me89SW2HtN1FstdNJ5owo949a1oMm5S-IN89o5iUqmTgrfc8cUEvUmA9FPE7XZG_34w3zmJm9nDyqA9LPUovehrq_hTnXAf3WKij11xWlH2NRKZWijxLUtfIHrcDtIlwIWOBs/s1600-h/greening2.htm"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazWnKQ_Me89SW2HtN1FstdNJ5owo949a1oMm5S-IN89o5iUqmTgrfc8cUEvUmA9FPE7XZG_34w3zmJm9nDyqA9LPUovehrq_hTnXAf3WKij11xWlH2NRKZWijxLUtfIHrcDtIlwIWOBs/s320/greening2.htm" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366526557309805970" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKiarfhKiGx3_5155aJgfljSp8ZCTUJyT9SxFJfUZ0sJEnvlItVg7kY3LMRT3Ax2iYWyQkJuq2clp6jI7BH7xVgrUj653teA7qZAd9q9geUagsrAFsE-GTcCCVr1bP7viFKtZGTNWDFY/s1600-h/greening.htm"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKiarfhKiGx3_5155aJgfljSp8ZCTUJyT9SxFJfUZ0sJEnvlItVg7kY3LMRT3Ax2iYWyQkJuq2clp6jI7BH7xVgrUj653teA7qZAd9q9geUagsrAFsE-GTcCCVr1bP7viFKtZGTNWDFY/s320/greening.htm" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366526551980611746" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-83332663674479229552009-07-17T13:57:00.004-05:002009-08-13T15:55:27.026-05:00A poem and a duck...and a guy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNkt2n2sj4DMZ5Mtb8xlhxFxlDL8TMWMqJkQ0uDM4kKDoL1fF3tVt0X64s8E5gLkv3y2qGEG678OBCwqUzbur7lWeV0TIndylVK1xO74GK9NkFmopiy4eb_lSP_ji06jU7vM27NMwv1I/s1600-h/Closeup.htm"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNkt2n2sj4DMZ5Mtb8xlhxFxlDL8TMWMqJkQ0uDM4kKDoL1fF3tVt0X64s8E5gLkv3y2qGEG678OBCwqUzbur7lWeV0TIndylVK1xO74GK9NkFmopiy4eb_lSP_ji06jU7vM27NMwv1I/s320/Closeup.htm" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359505306658592466" /></a><br /><br />I once met a duck<br />he had no arms or hands, of all the dumb luck<br />but that never got him down<br />take a look, not an inch of frown.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-49580771877393256262009-07-10T09:38:00.004-05:002009-07-10T09:48:07.092-05:00Thoughts on Ducks.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8D1trfXImCvTx49pwPsnRCPplq2TwmGKxM_dSpiH4UoymlOPG6xOJ3BB79wlQVRnv77EdfU6GPGvVAKWlgGjd6gWWTeysDigRRri46XrCVgq_XTlzv_GLf60b_YR2J-XD5YOyiCTJ4so/s1600-h/0710090917.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8D1trfXImCvTx49pwPsnRCPplq2TwmGKxM_dSpiH4UoymlOPG6xOJ3BB79wlQVRnv77EdfU6GPGvVAKWlgGjd6gWWTeysDigRRri46XrCVgq_XTlzv_GLf60b_YR2J-XD5YOyiCTJ4so/s320/0710090917.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356841471639249490" /></a><br />Ducks plotting a feathered regime. <br /><br />It has, not recently mind you, occurred to me that ducks are very smart creatures. I just recently spent 5 days away from home, dog sitting for some close, and wonderful friends of mine. I worried daily about my feathered companions; were they getting enough food, were they lonely, had one of the dogs gotten out of his pen and eaten them, were they plotting world domination and not letting me in on the plot? You know the normal stuff. <br /><br />Then I came home, and went out to see them. With great pride I watched them waddle up to me -at a safe duck distance of five feet- and quack their precious (and peculiar) adolescent quacks. I was overjoyed! <br /><br />I have tried to spend as much time with them as possible since, because let's face it, with ducks who plot to overthrow the world, you want to be in their best graces.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8314166335145041732.post-9821297055924475012009-06-26T12:42:00.002-05:002009-06-26T12:49:03.312-05:00Food sources.Ok, so the whole egg thing, a complete failure, but worry not my friends, there turns out to be another food they just adore. Dog food. That's right folks, the ducks like dog food. The dry stuff of course. <br /><br />When eating dog food it is the only time I have seen them remotely aggressive to each other. So I don't give it regularly for a few reasons; 1. Dog food is for dogs, not ducks, and as such the protein levels may be different. Too different. 2. They don't need a food source that causes aggression toward one another on a regular basis. That would be bad parenting on my part. 3. They need to be bribed somehow! <br /><br />On a completely unrelated note, in the pictures I have posted you can notice a small badge like coloring on the wings. This badge, it changes color when you move around! It looks blue, green and purple, it's great! It is like they have their own mood ring...no wait...mood wings! Hahaha, many was that corny!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0