- Apr 21, 2013
- 11
- 0
- 22
Hi - I am a new member from Boone, which is in Western NC, very close to the VA and TN borders. I think we are in zone 6, so we sometimes get down to -14 (that's the lowest I remember.)
About a year ago we moved a little further out of town and now live on just under 1 acre of south facing meadow with a little copse of trees.
I've wanted ducks, Indian Runners, for years and years; at least 15. But as my parents have gotten older I've felt a greater need to leave my home in the East whenever I can, and take my now 11 year old daughter to spend time with her aging Grandma and Grandpa in the Pacific Northwest. Any NW's probably know the area north of Seattle and Everett pretty well. That is where my family is from.
So now I garden less and less and produce less of my own food. Sad. I've joined here because I would love to figure out a way to have ducks and still spend three weeks at Christmas and two months in the summer with my mother, who is now the only surviving grandparent. But I know that probably won't be possible for some time.
I think that being a part of BackYard Chickens will probably be the only part of the fantasy that comes true for now. But we do have a wonderful French Brittany trained well to hunt birds, which, before you freak out, means that he points them. One of our best stories about him was from a couple years ago when he was out on Lopez Island with us and he found some nestlings who really shouldn't have been on the ground yet. He pointed them with great intensity until I called him off, saw what he was telling me about, and was able to create a bit of protection for them amongst the driftwood and sand they had fallen into. He then sat back with me at a distance and watched for the parents who returned and began to feed the babies.
He was a very satisfied pup after that. So I am pretty certain that if I were ever lucky enough to have my own ducks - and maybe chickens - that he would be well behaved. He's very smart! And he's handsome, which is why he is my avatar for now.
We also have a foster kitten we kept after providing a home for them and their momma to be restored to health. We thought we might lose two of the four kittens, but they all lived, and found great homes. I had sworn I would not have another cat, but just couldn't let Tumbi go. He is a terror still, even at nearly two years old.
We take both the cat and dog with us in the summer when we go west, while Chakotay the dog says at Christmas with his trainer, and Tumbi once again boards the flight to Seattle with us.
This is a wonderful community. I look forward to continuing to learn from you. If anyone has any brainstorms about how we might achieve both ducks added to the family and our time with Grandma, I'd love to hear it!
About a year ago we moved a little further out of town and now live on just under 1 acre of south facing meadow with a little copse of trees.
I've wanted ducks, Indian Runners, for years and years; at least 15. But as my parents have gotten older I've felt a greater need to leave my home in the East whenever I can, and take my now 11 year old daughter to spend time with her aging Grandma and Grandpa in the Pacific Northwest. Any NW's probably know the area north of Seattle and Everett pretty well. That is where my family is from.
So now I garden less and less and produce less of my own food. Sad. I've joined here because I would love to figure out a way to have ducks and still spend three weeks at Christmas and two months in the summer with my mother, who is now the only surviving grandparent. But I know that probably won't be possible for some time.
I think that being a part of BackYard Chickens will probably be the only part of the fantasy that comes true for now. But we do have a wonderful French Brittany trained well to hunt birds, which, before you freak out, means that he points them. One of our best stories about him was from a couple years ago when he was out on Lopez Island with us and he found some nestlings who really shouldn't have been on the ground yet. He pointed them with great intensity until I called him off, saw what he was telling me about, and was able to create a bit of protection for them amongst the driftwood and sand they had fallen into. He then sat back with me at a distance and watched for the parents who returned and began to feed the babies.
He was a very satisfied pup after that. So I am pretty certain that if I were ever lucky enough to have my own ducks - and maybe chickens - that he would be well behaved. He's very smart! And he's handsome, which is why he is my avatar for now.
We also have a foster kitten we kept after providing a home for them and their momma to be restored to health. We thought we might lose two of the four kittens, but they all lived, and found great homes. I had sworn I would not have another cat, but just couldn't let Tumbi go. He is a terror still, even at nearly two years old.
We take both the cat and dog with us in the summer when we go west, while Chakotay the dog says at Christmas with his trainer, and Tumbi once again boards the flight to Seattle with us.
This is a wonderful community. I look forward to continuing to learn from you. If anyone has any brainstorms about how we might achieve both ducks added to the family and our time with Grandma, I'd love to hear it!
You are doing the right thing tho for now, you can never get lost time with family back. 
