Vacation Observations

We have hit the road for a little trip down near the Mexico border to visit Grandma and the beach.  

It's windy. Very much so.

There are butcher shops in the gas stations.

My kids don't bicker very much any more.  Until we spend long periods of time in the car together.
 

Youngest sister being "cool." Older sister saying, "THIS is what I have to endure for 9 hours."  Actually it is more than 9 hours but we won't point that out now will we?

Everything is made better with an Icee, Slurpee or when in a pinch, a Slush Monkey. Finding Coke flavor is not easy.

Sharing one bathroom with 5 people is interesting.

The flowers, trees and birds are different in these parts.

I miss my ducks. 

And I have another duck story. We took Bubbles and Squeak to the pond the day before we left. They were a little bewildered as they are creatures of some rather severe habit, but they reveled in all the water and spend the whole day and into the night noodling around in the mud.  

Next morning, the day we were trying to leave early, I woke up to hear Squeak making a ton of honking noise.  She is loud anyways, but something was very wrong.  I looked out the window and I could see Bubbles pacing around and all the "wild" ducks standing around in a circle looking dismayed toward where all the loud quacking was coming from.  

At my insistent urging my husband, in pajamas, ran outside to see what was wrong. Sure enough, that duck somehow managed to get a fishing hook through her foot and was tethered with some fishing line to a drain right outside our backyard. The exact details of this are vague to me because I refused to look.

Merciful Maude.  I can't take it.  And once again I let my family know that I am sooooo done with ducks. Or I will be.  Very soon. They just smile at me.

Those two silly ducks are now ensconced in our backyard once again, floating in Rubbermaids, eating hen scratch, and slurping up mud and leaving big holes everywhere in Mike's grass with our oldest son keeping watch over them. 

Tea Cup Duck

My daughter and I were driving from her TKD workout to the stables cutting through on a street in our neighborhood we don't go down very often when we spotted 6 little ducklings on the street corner headed for the sewer drain. 

Just that morning we had let Penelope go for the 2nd time.  You see, the day I let Penelope go the 1st time it was not long before a turtle tried to eat her.  His tactic was to pull her under the water by her leg but our feisty girl was able to escape his evil intentions. However, in his attack he slashed the tendon where her leg and foot meet, broke a couple of toes, and gave her a pretty bad gash above her leg right under her wing. I saw duck muscle which is something I had never wanted to see. 

We only know this happened because the 3rd time I went to check on her that day I could not find her.  While I was out looking for her around the pond and creek I ran into a family who said they were there looking at the alligator in the pond and asked if I had seen it.  I said, "ALLIGATOR?  Yikes.  No, I have not heard about an alligator, but right now I am really worried about a duckling I can't find." And she said, "I know where she is," because I guess if you are watching alligators you notice other animals, too.  

(I will tell you the alligator story some other time beause really, ducklings are far more interesting, right?) 

So poor Penelops was huddled under the wooden bridge, bleeding and hurt.  Whaaaaa.  So we catch her again, clean her up, super glued her shut (my not-so-squeamish husband did this part right after he slayed the alligator), and doctored her for another week and a half with Neosporin all the while she grew even bigger and healed up. And we turned her loose just that morning of spotting all those ducklings headed for the sewer.  I think I even said something to my family like, "I am so done rescuing ducklings.  My heart can't take it and I feel soooooo responsible."  

And then we spot 6 ducklings headed for certain danger if not death the very afternoon after we let Penelope go.   

Ooops.......now there are 5 little ducklings.  One had just plummeted down the sewer.  We must act fast!  So we pull over, look around for mama who is nowhere to be found, she was probably off enjoying a swim somewhere leaving these guys alone at a dangerous intersection because duck mamas are not very smart.  Since two more were headed for the sewer opening we acted swiftly, scooping them up and putting them in a fabric grocery bag.  Anna dropped to her tummy and tried to go far enough into the drain to reach the one that had fallen but she was too big to fit.  

It just happened that Mike was working from home that day so we called him and said, "Can you bring the butterfly net to the corner of Such and Such Lane?" He said something like, "I thought you were done with this duck stuff," to which I made no reply and he came quickly because he is sweet like that.

Long story short, because more was needed than a butterfly net there were several more trips made to acquire the right stuff including a certain teenage boy who can run around underground catching a duck, which he did.

The sad news is that the ducky who fell died that night of what must have been a head injury.  It was a long way to fall for such a little creature and I am so glad we were able to keep the others from following after him.  The other 5 ducks are doing great.  And, as you can see, they are even happy to pose for me in a tea cup!  

Everywhere Flowers

I glanced at the kitchen table where I had tossed a few recent purchases and realized that flowers have been an unintentional theme for me lately.

On Friday I bought a new-to-me book for summer reading with lilacs on the front. (Anyone read this book?)

On Saturday I planted lantana in flower pots by my front door in the hopes that they will be able to survive the unrelenting afternoon sun that shines on my front porch full blast. 


There were pretty red roses on Sunday morning from my husband for Mother's Day.

Sunday evening and Monday morning the scent of funeral flowers hung heavy in the air.
 
Wildflowers were picked on Monday for our dining table by my Flower Fairy from the pasture where she works.

Tuesday was a needlework of flowers from the thrift store and pens at the dentist office with huge pink fake flowers tapped to them. I didn't bring the pen home, which I think was the point.

I wonder what flowers today holds?

All Natural Beauty Product

This is my latest beauty product purchase.  It turns out coconut oil makes a great moisturizer for dry skin, make up remover especially taking off mascara, and pre-conditioner for my hair and it is supposed to be better than products with lots of weird chemicals.

I'm serious!

Somewhere I read that it was recommended to put coconut oil on hair before washing as a pre-conditioner especially for people with curly hair.  It helps reduce frizzies and makes for nice, smooth feeling hair.  My hair is not curly as much as it is super wavy, kinda like a spiral perm, and it doesn't tend to be very oily so this extra oil is not a problem. 

Speaking of different, I have not used a towel to dry my hair in about 4 months.  The idea is that the little nubbies on the towel make for more frizz, so instead I started using one of my husband's t-shirts.  I could tell a difference in my curly waves, they are more defined and cohesive, if that makes sense.  Once I decided I would keep on with the cotton drying method I decided to buy a cotton baby blanket to dedicate to drying my hair so my husband wouldn't have to wonder what happened to his t-shirts.

So look! A post not mentioning ducks.  Maybe the use of oil is me trying to behave like one, though?  Ha!  

Do you have a beauty product, unusual or normal, that you are loving? I'd love to hear about it!

Musings from The Duck House

It has been two weeks since our homeschool co-op let out for the year which makes it feel like summer even though we still have some homeschooling we need to finish up.  The 90 degree temps outside help with that feeling.

These Banana Bites seemed like a yummy way to celebrate the beginning of our break. Just slice some bananas into thick chunks, melted some good dark chocolate and natural peanut butter, dip the bananas in the chocolate mixture, set on wax paper and sprinkle the tops with coconut.  Freeze these for an hour or so and you have a delicious little snack. 

A couple of weeks I tackled my first painting job here at the new house.  I decided to paint the half bath a pale blue.  I am really pleased with how it turned out.

We also have been to the opera and to the art museum over the past few weeks.  We saw The Magic Flute which is a bizarre story with great costumes.  The Age of Impressionism exhibit we saw at the Kimbell was more to my taste.

This is Penelope Peep-squeak.  We have seen her double in size in the two weeks we have cared for her.  We turned her loose today.  A couple of hours later I took a little stroll to see if I could spot her.  Indeed, I did.  She was napping under the trees along the creek with three other ducks. 

Funny thing: She looked so big in my kitchen, but looks so tiny out in the "wild."

And my little update wouldn't be complete without a little glimpse of Bubbles and Squeak.  They do not seem to care that there is a wonderful duck world on the other side of our fence. They show no interest in leaving my yard. 

They spend an unreasonable amount of time grooming themselves only to go sleep in their poop. I guess some hobby to pass the time is helpful.

Someone asked how I tell them apart.  Bubbles has a pinkish colored beak, while Squeak has a more orange beak. Can you see it in the picture?

My goal to completely fill one blank journal full of writing is going slowly but I press on. These are the last two things I wrote in my journal ....

"Prayer is a way of walking in love." ~Frances Chan


"I want to make God famous in the midst of pain and heartache." ~ Joni Erickson-Tada

Peeping Duck

Ever get that feeling that you are being watched?

Ducky Distractions

This little ducky is our latest rescue. We haven't agreed upon a name yet because in our hearts we were not sure he (or she) would live, but things have taken a turn for the better and he is eating and peeping like a good, healthy, happy little ducky ought to.

It is a sad story, but this was his family before everyone was lost, even his mama.  I posted a picture of their nest in my last post.  Being a duck may look easy, but survival is not in their favor.

And just because I am sure you are wondering about Bubbles and Squeak.....


You were, weren't you?  Of course you were!

They are growing, eating, sleeping and enjoying the good life of swimming around in a Rubbermaid container.