13thJan12

Friday the thirteenth  -  no, I'm not superstitious.  The forecast frost outside doesn't look too bad while it's still dark [nearly half past seven] and later this morning we're off to collect some more fish from a friend's overcrowded pond, so it shouldn't be too bad a day!

I think I mentioned that the new girls finally produced a couple of eggs, on the last two days of the old year, yippeeh!  On third January we got another, and one more on the 6th, both along the wall of the shed.  So I put the nest box in there for a bit of privacy for the egg-layer ............... no more eggs, BUT, Wednesday and yesterday there was one IN THE BOX, hurrah, much cleaner that way.  Here's a picture of all 6 "learner" eggs nestled in our fridge:

Two more delightful things I meant to show you,  since Christmas actually, are two of daughter Annie's presents to me:

A little mat with words that are so true, and these mugs with pictures of Annie's wonderful duck paintings:

I know every duck and drake on those pictures and the occasion when and where the original photo was taken.  I guard those mugs jealously, and when I drink out of them it not only warms my stomach but my heart as well.

On Wednesday John and I were at our first Luncheon Club of the year and I found enough flowers for the tables and helpers,

... and in the afternoon I managed to take a couple of duck pictures:

I love this ducky parade of our 10 young ones.

Just a couple more things I wanted to show you - I "de-christmassed" the two arrangements I had from Gerd and Maria and from Uschi and put in some flowers from the garden.  It prolongued their lives and I think think they look lovely again:

 

And this is a photo of me[checking on the overhead light] in my garish new pullover knitted out of bits of left-over yarns, frighteningly bright, isn'nt it  -  I gues I just had withdrawal symptoms after all that knitting before Christmas and I had already knitted John red gloves to match his Christmas scarf ..................