Monday, October 13, 2008

Harvest Moon

The sunset this evening was just beautiful. Look at those colors! I can't even do them justice with my camera. Sunsets like these remind me of the opening scene in "Gone With The Wind" when the camera pulls back and you can see Scarlet and Mr. O'Hara silhouetted against the setting sun. "Ah, but you're just a child. It will come to you in time, this love of the land."
























The moon is huge tonight and since there is no breeze its reflection in the pond is undisturbed. The ducks are using it for a night light and are refusing to go to bed. I can hear them outside the window whispering secrets to each other. Part of their evening routine includes waddling from their daytime area to the yard next to the house. As they do, they walk along the beach in a Pass and Review formation. We try to get out there in time to watch the parade, but usually we aren't fast enough. No matter, they make several passes before deciding it really is time to settle in for the night. They nibble the grass as they go and chase after any bugs they stir up. Occasionally one will salute with a long wing flap.

They have done such a good job of cleaning up the coon tail in the pond we can now see the gravel in the bottom of the shallow end where before we could only see green goop and coon tail! Amazing! They work like little underwater vacuum cleaners, sucking up all the bottom material and filtering it through their specialized bills. Have you ever seen the inside edge of a duck's bill? It is very similar to whale baleen. All the mud and silt slips through the tiny ridges while the crustaceans and pond weeds remain trapped inside. What a brilliant design! I've done an unofficial head count and it looks like I have 3 hens and 5 drakes.
























The chickens are laying 8-11 eggs each day now. Only one pullet isn't laying...Ollie. I was at the store today before I picked Derek up from football practice and noticed that they had overripe bananas on sale. I got six for 48 cents! I used them to make two loaves of banana bread which I will share with my mom and in-laws. Having all these eggs on hand has made it easy for me to do a lot of baking lately. Yesterday I made a carrot cake. I've also discovered that all the male-types in the house love egg salad sandwiches. The first time I made it last week I used 8 eggs and it was gone that night! I'll have to use a dozen this week! It's such a great feeling to be able to gather these wonderful eggs each day and use them to feed my family. The icing on the cake is that the chickens aren't eating much feed right now, so the eggs are essentially free! And those organic, free-range eggs are wonderful.

A friend at work gave me three pheasants from a batch of his birds that he butchered last week. I will roast them this week and give him an evaluation this weekend. He's so proud of his birds. I love my birds too and it's nice to have other "bird people" at work to swap stories with. I never realized how much I would enjoy having the chickens and ducks on the property.

13 comments:

  1. Your ducks sound like a nice additionto your life on the 12 acres. I like the idea of them whispering secrets. Your pond is happy that you have them. Are there fish in our pond that also eat that green goo?

    We're getting about the same number of eggs per day. Thanks for the idea of keeping track of them. I don't think I would have thought of it.

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  2. Don, occasionally they tell each other a good joke, in which case you hear them laughing out loud, "Waaaack! Waaaack! Waaaack!" There are two species of fish in the pond that feed on the aquatic weeds, but not at the shallow level that the ducks do. So it seems I've lucked out and found the proper balance between fish and ducks. Together they will keep the pond cleaner and healthier.

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  3. Your so lucky to be able to watch the leaves change colors...we had so much drought here that they are all dying and falling off basically. There wont be the pretty Ky fall colors much this year...bummer

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  4. I want your pond! Just beautiful.

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  5. We had an equally beautiful sunset last evening, too! I was getting the grandkids ready for bed and didn't have time to take a picture. I probably missed my chance as it's supposed to rain tonight. I'm going to take a few more of the backyard though. Our trees are the most beautiful they've ever been despite the drought. The rain will bring down most of the leaves.

    Wish I had a pond for ducks and fish......sigh.

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  6. What a photo of the pond and the moon! Well they're all beautiful. Cute that it was a nightlight for your critters. All that baking sounds so yummy, and yeah I know what you mean about having eggs on hand. We love egg salad too. Have you tried adding curry to it?

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  7. Beautiful photos! I love my ducks, I could sit and watch them for hours! Though now I'm a little concerned....every time my ducks see me this one hen does the Waaaack! Waaack! Waaack! at the top of her lungs....I used to think it was because she was happy to see me....now I realize she's been laughing at me!! Now I'm going to be really going to have a complex!:)

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  8. kyfarmlife, we had drought here too and I lost a few trees that I planted in April. I think it's part of living where we do though.

    angie, thank you! We love the pond.

    Susan, send some of that rain this way! We still have cracks in the yard the size of the Grand Canyon!

    Ruth, no I haven't tried curry in egg salad. I will have to give it a try, thanks for that suggestion (and your compliments)!

    wrensong, ducks have no shame about laughing at others. Aren't they entertaining? I don't think it's possible for ducks to be anything but funny. They're hilarious when they get really animated taking their evening baths. Water flies everywhere!

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  9. Hey, Amy, question here! Why aren't I a "follower" of your blog? I follow you everywhere! LOL

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  10. Wow, talk about a photographer's dream come true: such perfect lighting in those photos. They turned out so beautifully!

    We've been dining on a lot of egg salad lately, too. It's funny, I hear from so many people "I haven't had that since I was a child"...can egg salad really be reminiscent? :-) (But it's true, until my girls started laying in July, I hadn't had egg salad since, well, since I was a child! :-)

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  11. Susan, I'm not sure! I follow you everywhere too! LOL

    Danni, thank you for your compliments. Ya know, I'm not real fond of egg salad myself, but I'll make it for those who do. Something about the smell turns me off. With all these eggs I've gotta make SOMETHING right???

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  12. Amy, I feel like I could jump into that photo of the moon reflected in the pond and get lost. I envy you your chickens and eggs. Raising your own food is such a satisfying feeling!

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  13. Kathie, thank you! It is indeed satisfying. FINALLY we are becoming more independent.

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