Mabel in Jail??

There is something about a dog behind bars that tears at my heart. A friend once described my penchant for dogs as limited to "big, black & tan, and with a record." She's right on the mark...

But Mabel was not up to mischief there...not too much anyway. She was waiting for her eggs to arrive during a quick stop to our local IHOP while out running errands.

Header Facelift

I realized I threw up the new header with a rather strange post yesterday and thought I should instead give it a little more fan fare.

I've been longing for a header for quite a while and had a folder where I stashed some pics... and I used absolutely none of them! Instead, I was scrolling through my phone looking for a duck video when I found the last sunset pic I took at the creek before we moved on to other trails...ones without rangers. This shot is of a tree at the end of our levee and I will miss the amazing sunsets that we watched from that vista...so it's a bit melancholy for me:

As I kept scrolling through the phone, I found this pic of Mabel Lou and KNEW it had to be my new header. Seeing her smiling and alert is what makes creek hiking so joyful to me!

The picture just feels magical to me. It wasn't until I saw it up as part of the logo that I realized Bart is in the background too. How appropriate... even though he is not mine, he's our daily hiking buddy. Where we hike now...we see NO one! (The way I like it!) So I don't have to leave him home on "busy" nights.

That particular shot was also taken on the levee. Often, we would walk to where the water curves and I would lie down on the levee while the dogs took off on their own upstream for a bit.  Eventually, Mabel would return and she always parks on my left. Bart favors my right... they love to come drip on me after a swim! The photo was shot as I was lying there looking at the sunset. I managed to get one of Bart earlier, looking the opposite direction:

Very cute, but not magical. No, Bart is the court jester of our pack and the photo of his Alien Butt Face is far more appropriate for the header. And since it appears that Mallory is going to be a permanent fixture here, it only seemed right to include her too. I've grown to love that silly duck!

Add in my favorite photo of me with a missing lens to my glasses and there you have it... all of the family in a header. Hope you like it!

Not Warning Enough

Our hiking buddy, Chloe the Dobie's dad is a smoker. He got some European cigarettes and was amazed at the stern warnings that cover the majority of the packaging:

And my favorite (because I'm actually allergic to smoke):

I truly hate being around smoke... my eyes start to water and my throat is suddenly very sore after breathing in someone else's smoke. But I wonder if these are aggressive warnings are enough to make someone stop. I wish everyone could see someone like my sister ( a former 26 year smoker), struggling for every breath that goes into her body... but nicotine is a strong and powerful drug and I know the tobacco lobby in this country is also strong and powerful.  I wonder, are they investing in tobacco's future??? Are they looking for other better uses for the crap for when they've killed off everyone?

Sorry for the Debby Downer post today... I guess I'm in the angry stage of grief. Now, maybe you understand why it's easier to talk about ducks. Ducks make me happy and I need a whole lot of happy right now!

Talking with Mallards

Just in case you don't believe me when I say that I call my duck and she answers... I have video proof. Watching it again just now... I realized I missed a few of her quacks on the subtitles!



That duck is really something!

This Blog Is Going to the Birds!

I've heard the whispers... I know what you're all saying... yes, this blog has become a bird blog! But at least it's not DUCKS!

The bestie and I were returning from a produce run down the mountain when we spied a peahen strolling along the road. Suddenly, babies started popping out of the ivy! One, then two... then there were FIVE. We've never had more than three in our local flocks belonging to one mom.  We had three mothers who strutted around after six babies last year... but they were always together, leading me to believe that each hen had a couple of chicks. But seeing five with one mom was really something! And as luck would have it, I had stashed my camera at the bestie's house.

I took her home and dashed down the hill to find them. I saw this guy first:

He was being chased by an angry neighbor! I distracted the man by asking where the little family was and this guy took off!

Angry neighbor dude told me they had headed down the hill. I went a few houses and found the family in someone's yard. The people were all out looking at them:

These neighbors told me the family stops by every afternoon and she puts out water and bread. I told her a better choice would be tomatoes, grapes or berries. I've even hand fed our local peacocks! They are so sweet! I wouldn't recommend that as they are wild birds... but our flock is very tame!

The babies pecked about the yard

And mom took a break from the midday sun in the shade on the fence:

Coming soon: BIRD videos!

Mabel Love

My girl has been SUCH a good sport about me turning our yard into a duck haven and taking up this space to blog about ducks.

I love her so!

Lone Duck

Sometimes, it pays to separate yourself from the rest of the pack! ;-)

Where's Momma?

One afternoon, I found the duck babies sitting in the shade on the far end of the pool... no Momma Mallory in sight!

I had started moving their food farther and farther from the pool... both for exercise and for making it easier for the duck trapper to catch them when the time came. So Mallory had gone looking for food.

In short order, I heard her quacking and flying up the canal behind the house (great land mark for flying, eh?). The babies all starting running to the back of the deck to get closer to Mom. To their surprise, she made a sharp turn and came into the pool from the side and there was much excitement when they realized they were going the wrong way!

They quickly regrouped on the side of the cement pond and were soon in the water with Mom.

Topsy Turvy

 My world feels a little upside down at the moment! Hope yours is right side up!