6 little ducklings

There are still 6. The ducks as a whole seem much more contented not to have the baby bath in there. I do have to keep going out and refilling the water container.

My husband mowed one of the lawns today and so put some fresh grass clipping in. The ducks seemed grateful, rushed over and started to eat them. Ducks enjoy a bit of fresh grass.

We have also been putting in a bucket of compost which they are sifting through for bugs. My only fear with all the ducks penned in is that the garden will not have its usual going over. Ducks are very good at eating slugs and snails. As a general rule of thumb, they do leave the plants alone. Ocassionally though they have a go.

I planted out lettuce and hopefully the scarecrow will keep the maurading hen out of the vegtable patch. ne Marin seems to believe that we plant these things for her own person use. She is not fond of garlic oronions and leaves those alone, but loves green leaves.

My middle one is home from school. I had to go and pick her up. A cough and generally not feeling well. She is now stuck in bed, and despite her pleas, she is not getting up to watch television.

The revisions are happening. I feel more confident about them and keep asking myself -- how I can make things better. How can things be worse or harder to obtain? In other words, how can I increase the stakes in certain places where the stakes hve fallen a little. Once, I would have been tempted to say -- done, that's all but now I am taking my time and looking at the challenge of it. It is all about making the mss stronger. It is not a race. The suggestions have been wonderful so far. I do think it is getting stronger andI do like working on it. Does this mean that it is not ready? Probably. Some times I wonder if I have to be sick of something before it is ready to be sent out. Do I have to feel that I can do nothing more? That this story is totally finished?
In any case, the ruler trick -- to get me to focus on each line seems to help. I am catching a few missing words....Now if I can find the missing emotional tension in ch 10/11 I will be well on my way.