A sea of brave and greedy ducks.

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.

Junebug is a shamelessly greedy soul.

"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.

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.

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!

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!