A sea of brave and greedy ducks. |
Bread had to be guarded zealously against just this sort of thievery. |
The new ducks thought nothing of putting their bills right into
the bag of corn. |
Missy Miss and
her fuzzy ping pong balls. |
Ultimately, only three of Missy's young would survive to adulthood. |
Family portrait: Pretty Lady and kids. |
An incorrigable gang of ducks. |
Family portrait: Brown Duck and kids. |
The ducklings came in a festive variety of colors. |
The ducks gave me their trust - it was a treasured and priceless
gift. |
Pretty Lady and Peepers, an intrepid little Pekin with an
indomitable spirit. |
Zoe, the Barky Dog. |
Winkie, my pleasant handful. |
Muffin hot on the trail of an unsuspecting rodent. |
Buddy - a loner who prefers the solitary comfort of his favorite
spot in the linen cupboard. |
Spanky desperately wanted a family, and he got one.
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Junebug is a shamelessly greedy soul. |
Gracie with 4 legs.
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Gracie with 3 legs.
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Red's horse Obie.
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"Don't forget the horse!" |
The author and Obie. |
The author with Crazy, the lesson horse. |
The gang's all here: everyone survived the blizzard of '07. |
Find-the-cat: Buddy's hiding place when the pet-sitter came. |
The author in London, with Monty |
St. James Park, London: it's just no good without a few Pekins! |
One of the Queen's horses. We weren't formally introduced. |
If Spanky could attach himself to Muffin permanently, he would. |
This constitutes a close friendship for Buddy & Gracie. |
Junebug likes to help me with filing. |
Spanky helps with computer work. |
An unusual visitor to the chicken coop. |
McKinnon's Pond in winter. |
Kelly with "Fowl Weather" author Bob Tarte. |
They don't leave much room for me. |
Everyone gets into position for a photo shoot to promote
Bob Tarte's new book, "Fowl Weather".
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Bob and Kelly enjoy a quiet moment after the photo
shoot.
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Can you spot the duck nest in this picture?
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Or in this one?
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The Healing Barn's dearly-loved, and sorely-missed,
Newt the mule.
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The Healing Barn's current mascot, Sarah Belle, AKA "Donkey." |
Kelly, Belle, and Christy Cordell, who makes my pottery worth a whole lot more by painting beautiful designs on it. |
My new lesson horse, Rebel. |
Pretty Boy went to the vet with a wing problem. |
What the doctor thought was an abcess turned out to be cancer. |
To save his life, the doctor amputated half his wing. |
Pretty Boy has since been given a clean bill of health. |
It's my job to keep the population down by pulling domestic duck eggs from the nests.*
*Photo courtesy Lad Strayer. |
Pretty Lady managed to have ducklings in spite of me, but in the end, predators got them all. |
Freckle Duck had ducklings too, but predators got them as well. |
A typical summer feed. |
That tan blob on Pretty Boy's head is his torn eyelid. |
Dr. Susan stitched him up. |
And into my bathroom he went. |
Where's the water? |
Bath time! |
I'm smiling, he's growling! |
The duck buffet at Chez Meister |
After seven days, healed - and free! - at last. |
Nancy and Allen doing some work on the Healing Barn. |
Nancy gets old Molly ready for winter. |
The dung heap is the perfect vantage point for taking horse photos. |
The enigma that is the wild mustang, Baby. |
What starts out as a simple gathering... |
...soon turns into a maddening crowd! |
Dr. Chrys checks out a Pekin for cold weather problems. |
Turns out the old duck was fine. |
Gracie samples the duck pellets. |
Belle samples the halters. |
Horses sample the barn help. |
The ducks sample the corn. |
Spring '08
Dr. Chrys checks Pretty Boy's eye for lingering signs of infection |
Spring '08
"Are we home yet?!" |
Spring '08
Belle is into feng shui. |
Spring '08
Kelly with the always-charming Nicky Newman. |
Spring '08
Freckle Duck doesn't have the best camouflage. |
Spring '08
Pretty Lady is hoping I don't see her. |
Spring '08
Forced off her nest, Lady tries to scare me away. |
Spring '08
The useless chicken eggs Lady guarded so courageously. |
Curious Donkey! |
Exercising an injured horse. |
Quit being so nosy, Nick! |
Me and my pal, Sedric. |
Dr. P diagnoses yet another eye infection. |
Pretty Boy checks out my yard during his stay. |
He seemed to enjoy getting hosed. |
Apparently, I've been
forgiven! |
With Keeper and Derringer. |
With my lesson horse, Rebel. |
George the rescue horse with Kaye. |
Winter comes to the Healing Barn. |
Dr. P checks Ducky for a leg injury. |
Ducky getting tub time. |
His nest in my bathroom. |
Ducky and I. |
Pat and Ducky discuss his new winter quarters. |
Ducky's new roommate, Chicken. |
Ducky enjoying his paddle pool. |
Ducky will rejoin the gang next spring. |
Pretty Boy passed away March 17, 2009. |
Our last picture together, February, 2009. |
The pond seems very empty without him. |
Rest in peace, my friend. |
Puddle Duck looks after Pretty Boy's girl now. |
Ducky will be living with the Mitchells permanently. |
Baby Fuzz starts the summer with three ducklings. |
Freckle Duck has a whopping 15 ducklings! |
Some goats I met on a recent road trip. |
Snacks are always an effective bribe! |
I met this llama on a road trip, too. |
Llama and I had an interesting visit. |
A rescued Paso Fino gets his hooves worked on at the Healing Barn. |
Me with another one of the rescued Pasos. |
Ethel always comes running to greet me! |
Of Freckle's original 15, only these two ducklings survived. |
The same Paso pictured above, after he recovered. |
Doing a promo for The Healing Barn. |
The usual crowd at winter feeds. |
Belle practices some feng shui with my down vest. |
Puddleduck & Ducky enjoy their new pond. |
These two were dumped at the city pond in spring 2010. |
Miss Muffin
rest in peace
1996-2010 |
Big Nick strikes a pose. |
Barn help with cat. |
My new best friend Ethel. |
Girlfriend Duck looks pretty even when she's bathing |
Gracie's all about comfort! |
The duckling's foot was swollen due to a fishing line injury. |
Because the injury caused nerve damage, he couldn't even walk. |
I made a splint and walked him on a leash every day. |
Little Nipper made a full recovery and went back to the pond. |
Handsome Duck suffered an injury to his leg. |
Dr. Susan found 2 fish hooks stuck in his leg. |
Handsome joined Ducky and Puddleduck at the Mitchell's. |
At my request, the city posted this new sign at the pond. |
Duck prints in the snow. |
Freckle, Girlfriend, and Old Fellow belly up to a bag of corn. |
The rest of the gang. |
The geese always crashed the party! |
Freckle Duck refused to lie down in the carrier!
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I told Dr. Susan that Freckle was a fiesty girl! |
They removed fishing line that was wound around Freckle's bill. |
In memory of Freckle's mate,
Old Fellow. |
A robin built her nest in the rafters above my porch. |
One egg hatched. |
Such tiny little things! |
Tiny birds, big mouths! |
This little one fell out of the nest. |
I put him back in the nest. |
A few days later, he was ready to leave. |
All three fledglings are gone now. |
Nature's Nursery
Due to an injury, this opossum will remain at the Nursery. |
Nature's Nursery
This kestral seemed to enjoy our company. |
Nature's Nursery
Mortimer the crow is the Nursery's mascot. |
Nature's Nursery
Two beautiful redtail hawks. |
I found this young mantis on my patio this spring. |
This mantis blends in with the shrub really well! |
This mantis is much easier to see. |
This mantis seems to be posing for the camera! |
Lesson horse Rebel died 10/2011. |
We had some great trail rides! |
And competed in a fun show. |
I'm really going to miss my buddy! |
Sarah Belle Donkey passed away recently. |
She was my pal for many years. |
The last picture taken of the two of us. |
That special donkey is sorely missed! |
Handsome Harry is the new resident donkey. |
Me visiting with Harry. |
Taking my new pal Bit for a walk. |
Bit and I trotting through the pasture. |
Boyfriend Duck developed a bad limp. |
We brought them home to live in our yard. |
We bought Penny to keep them company. |
Penny's the only one I can do this do! |
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