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Best wishes for finding a loving home for your birds. I've had to do that in the past and while it isn't easy to part with them, it helps to think about how much joy their new family will have. ❤️
 
It's been a long while since I posted. Every time I tried to write, the service would be so bad that I knew I would just lose everything anyway because the post wouldn't...post.

It's been raining for four days straight, I think. The birds are very unhappy because they have been inside all that time.

Last week my last batch of babies moved outside. I kind of felt sad because I know they're my last, at least for awhile.

Liberty finally grew out of his momma's boy stage and he has now joined one of the sub flocks.

I have started the process for enlisting in the Air Force, I don't know if I told y'all that. I also have applied to teach at two different schools.

Eva is doing well. She hasn't had any seizures but I think she is developing a fatty tumor.

I think Constance has arthritis. But she's doing well, for the most part. Every night, around eleven pm, she expects to be brushed thoroughly for ten minutes, then we play with the laser light for three minutes, and then I have to make sure her food dish is completely full. She absolutely will not eat out of a half-empty dish.

None of the pictures are any good, they just show the Muddy Run after four days of rain. Straw is very helpful in soaking up the mud. I am going to landscape when this is all over.

Sort of Silhouette of Miss Prude
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Constance sitting on my fabric - every time I start to sew, someone has to come and lay down on my work!
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Coming into the Muddy Run with the straw carpet
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Henry and the mess. The filthiness of it all, that I can't ever seem to get rid of, just makes me want to cry.
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Annabee
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Stan and his girls
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Miss Prude and her house - she now lives full time in the hospital but comes out to parade around on the rails. This too is a mess.
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Viv with Liberty behind her
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Dolores and Patience - I am so glad these two get along fairly well
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Claire, Phyllis, Margaret - after seeing maggots in my garbage can I cannot call her Maggie any more.
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The littlest ones are starting to feather in!
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Patience is so sweet, she's the only hen that doesn't mind being held
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Glad to hear from you!

Four days of rain makes it hard to keep things neat, once that clears off you'll get a handle on things again. :hugs

The Air Force, that sounds exciting! That's a big move for anyone, but the people I know that have been in the service got a lot out of it. Keep us posted on how that step goes.
 
Today was typical of a Sunday, except the bishop of a Cameroon diocese that is sort of sponsored by our church came to visit. It was nice to see him.

Thursday we unloaded most of my grandparents' things into the storage shed. In the division of property, we ended up with the furniture. We now have three dining room tables and two curio cabinets...and one dining room :rolleyes:.

Friday, I can't remember what we did. Town, maybe? Yes, and I interviewed for a first grade position. My teacher friend says it's a good place, but there are twenty-five kids...

Saturday, it stopped raining! I went to clean out the Muddy Run, but the sight of the momentous task before me fired me with indignation and I tore out the entire duck side. A good day's work! It is still really muddy in there but I am going to fix it, somehow.

I think I am going to build a raised platform/deck that can hold a pool or just their waterers. And then I'm thinking about laying a foot of sand down. But I don't know how easy that is to clean. The point is to avoid mud at all costs.

I had a fly epidemic in there before I cleaned but a fly trap removed them. I was surprised at how well it worked.

I also have to landscape the outside, which is also mud, with some grass at least. But we have down all these concrete paving stones which are extremely slippery because they are covered in slime. I need to get rid of them before someone slips and cracks their head.

Claire, Margaret, and Phyllis have integrated with the big ducks now. Henry doesn't pay them any attention, which is good 'cause they're not quite mature. They're all having a good time with the mud inside the Muddy Run.

The ducklings consider themselves part of the flock even though they have separate living quarters (in the coop, though). They peep loudly when the big ones are not around. Angelica and Moira are starting to quack, and they're also getting in their breast feathers. I'm worried that they are boys. The feathers are quite dark, chestnut colored.

That's all for now. See y'all Wednesday!

Dolores trying to get out without stepping in the water
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Empty duck area - the gate is useless but I can't get the screws out!
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The duck yard has become a junk yard.
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Another view
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Tilly
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Patience was kind enough to pose with her muddy feet
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The stinkers - you can see the chestnut feathering on Angelica and Moira.
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My sister's turtle tank...
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With the turtle. I do not know what that white stuff is on the side.
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The rain has finally stopped, I think! It only sprinkled a bit in the afternoon.

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment. I had to get numbed three times. I am now cringing at the very thought of a needle. My tooth/gum still hurts too. At least I've been busy so I can distract myself. Last night I had to stay up watching old sitcoms until I finally fell asleep.

Today I bought supplies for the Muddy Run while my sister was in class. I spent nearly three hours just standing in the gardening section at Lowe's and thinking. I'll show y'all the material and (hopefully finished) duck pen on Sunday.

I haven't been out in the coop except to feed and water everyone, so there's no news to report.

There goes my grandma's clock again. As long as that thing chimes I will never not feel like I'm in their house, with grandpa snoring in the old red rocking chair and grandma tidying up in the kitchen. My grandfather has been dead nearly nine or ten years, and my grandmother died last summer. I never met my other grandparents.

I am thinking about going for the Air National Guard instead of the Air Force. And then substitute teaching in addition to my organ job. I like the idea of working several part-time jobs to make up one full-time job. I have so many interests I kind of hate to waste my life on just one or two.

I guess that's all for now.

My makeshift ironing board and the 40's eight-gore skirt I made
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This is after I sprayed down the wooden platform...
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Liberty
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The stinkers
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A filthy Claire and also, the smallest dish will serve as a bathtub!
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Margaret posed for me. How nice of her (she's really skittish)!
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I managed to snap a photo of Phyllis seconds before she moved.
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The finished skirt. Material is linen. It took about an hour to cut out and 1.5 hours to sew. I didn't do a vintage hem on this because I needed to get it done, I still have a shirt and a slip to make.
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That's a pretty skirt, I like the cut and color of it!

Liberty, Phyllis, Margaret...everyone is looking good. Are you still trying to re-home everyone?
 
Warning: Post is picture heavy :)!

Thursday I took my father to the airport and then came home and immediately started work on the Muddy Run. I dug out the hallway two inches and laid down rubber paving stones. I can now walk through there without hitting my head or having to duck the whole way.
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Then I tried to dig out the duck area but gave it up. The clay was too sticky and hard, and I wasn't going to destroy my knee. So I laid down weed barrier to cover the mud and built a frame using the boards that had once formed the floor.
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I went to Lowes and bought five 70lb bags of construction sand. People thought I was nuts, hefting those bags into the cart and me being a skinny girl and all. That wasn't enough so...
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Friday, I went back to town and bought seven more bags of sand. The employees were shocked. I filled the frame with sand and built a platform to keep the water on. It can hold a pool if needed. I can take that part out with ease if I find it doesn't work for me.
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After two days (I know that's not long, but considering the mess that the duck pen generally devolves to within a couple hours...) there is NO MUD! No flies! No slippery poop! I am happy! :ya
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Saturday I landscaped the duck yard. I threw out all the junk laying around and picked up the random paving stones scattered around. I laid down these paving stones to make a path and then strategically placed the remaining boards to make three bridges across the low-lying muddy areas. So I can now walk to the Muddy Run without slipping or getting my shoes muddy! :wee
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The ducks appear to be happy with their pen. The ducklings run with the big ducks during the day but they're separated at night.
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I bought a 50+ gallon pool for them as well. Some day, when (if!) I get more money, I hope to install a waterfall and a little creek.

Liberty tried to mate his mom, but she wasn't having it. He needs to learn manners. He is definitely not a mama's boy anymore. It was so cute while it lasted...
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Poor Minna got stuck in fly tape today. I yelled for my mom to bring avocado oil and we got it off her, minus some feathers. I hate fly tape. You would think people would boycott the stuff, seeing how easily one's own hair can get caught in it, but no...
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I think there was something else I wanted to say, but since I can't think of it, good night (good morning) and see y'all Wednesday!
That's a pretty skirt, I like the cut and color of it!
Thank you!
Liberty, Phyllis, Margaret...everyone is looking good. Are you still trying to re-home everyone?
Yes and no. We constantly change our plans (this is the most frustrating thing about my family). If someone takes them, fine, but I'm not in a major hurry to get rid of them :).

Dolores trying to perch on a half inch of plywood :rolleyes:
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Dolores again
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Stanislaw
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Annabee loves taunting Tillie - I wish I could post a video of them!
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Looking down over the valley
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Jenny
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Left to Right...Angelica, Doris, Greg, Moira
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I wasn't able to write Sunday because I had to play for Mass and then travel back to DC. We have been here since Friday. I don't really have any pictures of the birds. We haven't done anything interesting, either...

There was, at least before I left, a stray cat that showed up under the shed turned chicken coop. We've been feeding it and I hope to catch it, because I don't want more cats in the neighborhood. The neighbor down the road has got at least twenty cats roaming their yard and those cats just had a new batch of kittens. I ought to call animal control.

I'll write more Wednesday, as I should be back home by then. The insurance has finally approved for reconstruction to begin on the basement, so hopefully that will start soon. Also someone has to come out and fix the pipe that was improperly installed in the kitchen. Anyway, I'll see y'all Wednesday!

Eva
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Constance in her carrier - I don't know if she ever traveled before, but she did very well. It was nice to know that even though she was scared, she still considers me her safe spot!
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Brianna
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I was sleeping, and woke up to see this...
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Constance
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Brianna
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Constance again
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The Groveton Cemetery at Bull Run Battlefield - one of the few Confederate cemeteries in the area. There are about 500 soldiers buried here, but their graves have long since been forgotten and lost. There's only one or two still in existence.
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The monument up close.
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Hurray! I'm getting notifications on your thread again!

Constance certainly is expressive, isn't she? And, Eva just has the sweetest face :)

Good luck catching the stray. I was down to two old cats when someone dropped off three strays, one quite pregnant, here in March. The kittens all got rehomed, but the three adults are now living in my basement with my 16-year-old, Ziva.

She is not thrilled but is adjusting. I had them all fixed and vaccinated, and I couldn't turn them outside to be terrorized and/or killed by coyotes and traffic.

The fifth cat, McGoo, was born in my back yard 15 years ago and was born without eyes. He is not good with other cats but is happy upstairs with the two dogs.

Good luck with basement reconstruction and the kitchen pipe!
 

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