Ack ducklings!

Yesterday, Tess & Hardy were playing in the dene, running about and discovering the stream.. Tess bounded. A duck squawked and then I heard it -- the unmistakable peeping of ducklings.

A flash of yellow followed by brown. Quickly followed by a very bemused puppy.

Tess & Hardy were called back to play on the back lawn and I discovered that Tess was not carrying a new plaything. My husband went to find the ducklings in the undergrowth. This took sometime.

Once discovered, the mother duck and her ducklings had to be separated from the duck flock which they had joined (ducklings were trampled under webbed foot) and herded into the duck pen. (We did miss Joss here as he knew what to do -- the puppies stayed bemused on the back lawn.)

We have 3 ducklings -- one yellow and two brown. They are with their mother in the apex duck house. 3 other ducks wanted to join them last night, so they had to be let in. This morning, it was fun and games trying to get the big ducks out and keeping the ducklings in the pen...

Ducklings are cute and I will try to get photos. They are also dumb. The mother duck is Imelda who has previous convictions for losing ducklings.
I do not want to think about the combo of ducklings and puppies. It happened so I will deal with it.
I was, however, good and resisted the rescue kittens that were at the vets this morning. Gorgeous, but not with my deadline. My question as to why the RSPCA rescue kittens etc are expensive was answered -- each one is vaccinated and microchipped. Older cats/dogs are neutered. My vet does the RSPCA work in the area. And the kittens were awfully cute...SIGH.

Exploding lightbulbs and other mishaps

Yesterday, my life was being its generally chaotic self. The children are all involved in the local high school's play --Return to the Forbidden Planet and had all gone down for the performance. My dh was busy dying from a cold and I was attempting to clean the kitchen, when the lights went out and there was a loud bang.
The street lamp was on, so it was us. I figured my dh must have switched something on that was not earth properly. I began to isolate things on the circuit board as he swore he had not done anything. I go to switch on the hall lights circuit and there is another bang. My dh who is trying to get the head torches swears there was green flash from one of the hall lights.
Right I figure -- time to blame the light bulbs as one of the hall lights went this morning. It must be the other one as lights with dead light bulbs do not work. The first light is very hot and I use rubber gloves. The second light ( the one that went out in the morning), I change and then go to put the glass light shade back on. The new light bulb explodes in my face, literally jumping out of the socket. Luckily all the shards go into the glass light shade. I swear at the terribleness of light bulbs, go and get a new packet and change the bulb, making sure it is firmly in place.
Then I turn on the hall lights. Another explosion and a green flash of light.
We go to plan B.
I keep the hall lights off and go to the play -- planning on calling the electrician in the morning.
My dh stays home, nurses his cold and makes supper. I arrive back to the news that the refrigerator is off. Was the motor blown by the fun and games earlier? Were we faced with eating a ton of smoked salmon? This is easily solved when I check the circuit board and see I hadn't switched on some sockets. This is after I change the fuse, read the manual and swore...
A hurried phone call to the electricians this morning. They come out and discover that somehow the wiring has worn away and the earthing wire is now touching the live wire. For some reason it burnt through. It has now been rewired and I am thankful that we did not have a fire!
Moral: if a light bulb explodes, or you get a green flash and the mains is tripped, it is probably serious and best left to the experts.

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I had a lovely review from Chrissy at Romance Junkies for Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife. Among other things she said: 4.5 ribbons Ms. Styles’ storyline depicts much of the lifestyle present during this particular time period including some folklore and Viking laws. Incidentally, the laws regarding children brought tears to my eyes – but I’m sure you’ll understand why when you read this book. VIKING WARRIOR, UNWILLING WIFE is a book I’d highly recommend for fans of historical tales – especially if you enjoy reading about Vikings.
You can read the rest of the review here.

I am blogging today at Totebags about cyber holiday traditions. Basically I blame the exploding lightbulbs if it doesn't make sense. There is a contest with it though.