I must be really bored, two posts on the same night!!! I just found this picture on my camera. A few weeks ago a mother duck wandered into our yard with her five little ducklings. Emily was the first to spot them and she was so excited...actually I was too, such a novelty. They must have come from a duck pond which is four or five streets away from us. Before we knew it they had set up home in our pool area and spent happy times swimmig around in the pool...I warned everyone not to feed them and figured when it got dark, Mrs quack would take her brood back to their real home.
Woke up the next morning to find the ducks were still there...there was poo everywhere and Jodies cat was stalking them. We locked up the cat but news spreads fast and before too long every other cat in the neighbourhood was hanging out at our joint in the hopes of some finger lickin food. At one stage the mother duck ventured under the back fence taking the off spring with her. Jodie was frantic as the back neighbours have dogs. When the mother returned minus the ducklings I jokingly said to Jodie we need to say quack quack quack so all the five little ducks would come back (you all have kids, you know that little song). Jodie took me literally and stood at the back fence quacking which I thought was funny until the ducklings started appearing under the fence...Unfortunately Jodies worst fears were realised and only four of the ducklings made it back. We went to bed hoping the ducks would all be gone in the morning.WRONG!!! Still there the next day and by this time the pool looked like duck poo soup and the paths and paving areas were a mine field of hard green lumps of poo...I had no idea they could poo that much. By this time I felt we had to go into to damage control as I couldnt spend the rest of my days warding off cats and dogs. I rang the vet who told me to ring the wildlife sanctuary. They told me if we left them they would leave on their own accord and was warned not to touch the ducklings or the mother would disown them...so we left them....and they were still there the next day with double the amount of poo.I rang some more animal welfare places and got no where...even after I told them about one already being killed they just said that was nature....by this stage I wasnt really that worried about the ducks I was more concerned about the amount of faeces that was building up around the entire perimetre of the house...and that mother was mighty feisty, I couldnt even go to my own letter box without her giving me a good run for my money...a plan was devised...jodie would bring home a big box and we would catch the ducks and return them to the pond. I just wish I had some visual images of this attempt so you could get a better idea of the lunacy of this plan. We were after the mother first and then figured the little guys would be easy....five of us on the edge of the pool with pool scoops, boxes brooms and anything else that looked useful...Duane ended up in the drink and hopped out quick smart dry reaching because he has never been immersed in duck shit before.....jodie got chased by the mother and got cornered on the deck and had to be rescued by me...it was hopeless....so after much deliberation it was decided we would have to escort them back to the duck pond. Jodie and Ebony took a broom each and shooed the mother down the driveway...it worked and the ducklings followed in hot pursuit... I went only as far as the bottom of the street because I figured there was no point in all three of us looking silly, but Jodie and Eb went all the way to the duck pond. At one stage Jodie had to go into the middle of the busy road to stop traffic while the ducks crossed....It took them a couple of hours but they succeeded and they never came back (the ducks that is)
The moral of this story is ducks are only cute on the first day...after that they are lean mean pooing machines!
(Oh and in case you are wondering the broom method doesnt work on humans, I tried it on my lot and they keep coming back!)

Hi all, it's been a long time between posts! I had intended to let my BLOG die a natural death...but then I got bored.
The baby of the family turned 14 on Wednesday. Eb didn't want a fancy party this year choosing instead to have some kids over for a swim during the day and a family tea at night....her choice? KFC, too easy. I must say I wasn't impressed with her choice of cake. We always get them from the cheescake shop and I usually select something with lots of cream, but Eb chose for herself this time and it was a plain old mud cake...tasted pretty good though! Skater boy came for tea as her special guest...he bought her a teddy holding a heart which says " I love you'...hope he remembers that next time she gives him a chinese burn lol.
Next week it's Jodies birthday and she will be turning 24...holy crap that time went fast. She and Duane leave for their working holiday to Canada at the end of October so she is rushing around doing all the last minute stuff. They will be working at a ski resort and only found out last week which jobs they have been allocated. Duane will be a house person in charge of salting the footpaths, porter and room service. Jodie will be working on the information desk and switch board. Both will be paid the princely sum of $8.00 an hour which is waaaaaaaayyyyy less than what they earn now....they are already trying to make friends with kitchen staff for left over food lol..After six months I bet they will be both glad to come home to warm weather and home made meatloaf!!! I will do my best to send care packages so they don't starve!
I have been out of action for over a week because of my menieres disease...for those of you who don't know what it is, it's nothing that serious but a royal pain in the neck. I get severe bouts of vertigo accompanied by vomiting from the continuous head spins along with ringing in my ears ranging from a soft swooshing noise to a big kick arse train coming...The worst part is trying to sleep because the dizziness is worse if I try to lie down and I havent mastered sleeping in an upright position. I feel like a caged animal as I havent driven the car for over a week...I am sick of tv, I can only scrap for a few minutes at a time and the house is empty during the day because everyone else around here has a life...sigh woe is me!! I am sure it will go over the next few days and I can have my life back till next time.
My Mother in law has just gone back to Victoria after a one month visit to Queensland...she usually stays with us but this time she stayed at my sister in laws as we decided amongst ourselves that witnessing one of Ebonys "outbursts" might be a bit scary for an octagenarian.....in her day that sort of thing would have been sorted out with a whip but its not the done thing in this day and age.....I thought Ebony might actually hold herself back when Nanna came to visit but she still managed to have several tantys in her company. Oh the joys...she rang me while she was out shopping today
"Mum can I get hot pink streaks in my hair"
'NO'
"Aw why, Angela is allowed to"
"bully for Angela"
"huh?"
"you cant have hot pink streaks"
"you're so gay!"
"thanks for calling Ebony, make sure you are on the 3.30 bus"
"can't I catch the 5 o'clock bus?
"no"
"aw why Angela is allowed to"
"see you at 4"
.......thinking i have already hung up
"mum sucks, she is so over protective"
which makes me wonder ....is Angela really allowed to have hot pink streaks and catch the 5 o 'clock bus or is Angela on the phone to her mother having the same conversation? They think we are stupid!
Dealing with teenage girls is almost like a form of Chinese Torture. You live in fear of their moods, their fashion sense and their demands.
Speaking of fashion sense, flouro is back....yikes! Ebony bought a tshirt the other day emblazoned with flouro pink orange and green....hide before leg warmers resurface!
News in Brief.
1. Ella can say Mum Dad and Uh oh and can stand unassisted for a few minutes...I predict she will be walking around the time of her first birthday in a few weeks
2.Emily doesn't like Taneisha at Kindy because she said she wont be her friend anymore (more serious than it sounds, Haley has had to deal with the tears all week lol)
3.Joe has been told it will be at least another two months before he can start work because of complications with his broken foot....I will discretely invite them to tea several times a week so I know they are eating properly
4. We are having our water tank installed on Wednesday...they came and prepared the cracker dust base last week...Jodies cat thinks its a huge kitty litter tray and takes a dump in there several times a day (a job for Duane)
5. There is a 'Little People Big World' marathon on the Health Channel next week. I hope to catch up on all th eepisodes I missed.
Thats all for now , talk to you all again soon.