There was a tragedy last night.  One of the ducklings managed to get out (through the crack under the door, I can only surmise) and was found dead.  My heart broke. We were all doing so well on this duckling front.  Mother-Ducky was beside herself and blamed me totally.  She was right and I instantly blocked the door hoping it never happens again. It was such a small gap in the door too.  Why? How?

And then this morning, I found Penthesilea’s nest had been raided – minus three eggs.  Possibly hedgehogs, I wonder.  I found the shells almost intact nearby but the contents had been eaten out.  Penthesilea was in a state too and furious so I tipped her nestbox over making it harder to get into, added the last of the our duck eggs (no one is laying now), and made some steps for her to get in and out.

I left Penthesilea looking suspiciously at the new set-up and found her a few hours later happily settled again.  Fingers crossed for Penty.

And then this afternoon I was in my shed making my Sheeple (the adult brown one on the end today to go with the lamb), while someone else was busy arriving.

Black-Ducky finally had her duckling.

And she was very protective and attacked my phone, giving me a hard whack with her beak.

So OH and moved them into a small pen, which was instantly too small (dammit), so we quickly made the ponies’ shed into a duck-house for them and moved them there.  Here’s hoping they are ok.  My life is very fraught at the moment.

As I mentioned before, Iacs (aka Bibble) is not well.

He has penile papilloma (which is not actually cancer, but can turn into it) and he also presented with a huge and getting larger lump under his neck – where it meets the jaw – which had us all terrified that it was metastatic.

Over the past few weeks, various biopsies and bloods have been taken and sent south for analysis and Bibble has been perfect through every ordeal.

Today the vet came (for the fourth time in as many weeks) to try a new combination of intravenous sedation drugs to get Bibble to “let down”, ie drop his sheath.

I swear Bibble read the drugsheet because every time we wanted to get a good look, he did everything in his power not to let us see, let alone anything else.  The vet described him as a medical anomaly.

The vet also came armed with some results and the neck lump is a haematoma and not related in any way to the other end, which was a huge sigh of relief.

The penile papilloma are spreading (there are more than one) which may or may not respond to drug therapy (our 1st route to take – we are waiting on more lab results) rather than the more drastic decision of amputation (last resort).  He would have to go south for surgery.

Our vets are in consultation with vets south and an expert in the field too for a course of treatment for Bibble.

To say Daisy and I are worried, doesn’t even touch these past few weeks.

Anywho, Bibble came out of his sedation and I left him for a while to sleep it off.  Now he’s back out with his friends.

On a good note, though, Bibble is totally asymptomatic, which is immensely cheering.  We can’t cure this but we can try and keep everything comfortable.

Some photos from this morning:-

The old folk eating their breakfast.  Iacs has drugs in his bucket so I have to keep a good eye on him to prevent thievery.  They are all looking well.  Iacs and his bottom are still under veterinary investigation, though. We are not out of the woods yet by any means.

And this is what happens when you like drugs, food and it was all a bit sloshy.

The very definition of derp, I think

Monster was close by supervising proceedings.  He is never far away unless he is asleep.

Meanwhile, Mummy-Duck still hates me.  Black Ducky (BD) left her nest for breakfast and I managed to sneak a look in her absence.  There is only one egg and it’s cheeping and knocking…… (I am trying very hard not to get too excited or hopeful as BD has bad form on the duckling front but it was a first for me to hear an egg making noises of life).

I call this photo “When Mother Brushes My Hair”.

Poor Tiddles. I don’t think he was very impressed.

He always sports a bit of a froo-froo after I’ve had a good brush.  I brushed everyone in the field but no one was quite as bouffant as Tiddles.

Today is Pepper’s 2nd birthday, so happy birthday, little Pepper-pot.  You’ve changed our lives for the better and we’ve made new friends, mostly from having her brought home by complete strangers!

And here are a few photos from today’s dogwalk with Ted, whose doing great as well.  He does not get brought home by strangers because he is a good dog and doesn’t stray (famous last words).

A keen hunter.

And this was from when Daisy and I went south to meet Pepper and her sister, Lexi, to bring them home to Shetland in the autumn.  She was such a sweet sossage then.  Full of mischief.  You can see it already.

Lexi – 2 years old today too, obviously. Happy birthday, too. xx. She’s a darling and much loved by her owner.

Photo ©Ryan Griffiths 2023

And possibly my most favourite photo ever! ❤️ 🐕 🐑

Things, as in plants, have rather taken off now we’ve had a bit of rain.

Outside it’s madness and my Belfast sinks are gorgeous.  I am really pleased with myself.  I even weed!

This year I am growing potatoes – well, they are growing themselves as they planted themselves leftover from last year and I added a few uneaten sprouted ones too.

My usual Jerusalem artichokes (which were pathetic last year) and some radishes are making an effort.

And the fields are full of high grass. The dogs have to jump on their walks. Pepper looks like a meerkat as she bounds through trying to see what’s going on around her.  It is very funny as she is incredibly nosey.

The smell in the evening is amazing. The clover is out and intoxicating.

These forget-me-nots are by the backdoor. I have asked OH not to strim them until they’ve finished.  He is a keen strimmer and there can be casualties.

Indoors, I am growing tomatoes in the kitchen. They were given to me by Transition Turrifield (my Thursday afternoon job).

I am excited at this. I water, feed and tap them diligently as per instructions.

In my shed, I have aubergine plants given again by Turriefield.  I have absolutely no idea what I am doing but advice is proferred when asked.  Tap, water and feed.

Exciting times – flowers on both plants.

Aubergines, along with artichokes, are possibly my favourite veg.

So I am hopefuly we won’t starve this winter.  Not convinced though.