Sexing

How's that for a blog title? Different anyway! What I have been pondering though is purely duck related. We have nine healthy ducklings who are growing quickly and I have been wondering how to tell the boys from the girls.

So I sent this family portrait to lovely Rosie in NSW,  and she quickly got back to me with her opinion.

"The 3 lovely fawns have no colour down the centre of each feather, and I've only ever seen these grow up to be drakes.The 2 little girls at the back have coloured 'hoods' and pale bodies, I would say they are cinnamon.others (with the exception of the one duckling in the foreground) look to be cinnamon drakes, there claret breasts are starting to colour up, and their hoods are darker, heading to dark beetle green.

The little one in the front.. hmmmm... not sure, I suspect may be a drake, but might turn out to be silver duck!!
Also I think you can start to see some size differences, the boys will be taller, bigger etc

  They look nearly old enough to quack peep test. At 8 weeks, almost (99%) of ducklings who cant quack, never will, and are drakes.  So pick them up and make them squawk and listen to the noise they make, strong deep 

quack is a duck, higher squeak is a drake :)" 

Thanks Rosie!! If you are right, and it sounds like you know your ducks, then we have 6 or 7 drakes!! Oh boy. What's with the boy/girl ratio around here? It's all girls inside and boys outside. Crazy.

Anyway, as I've been stalking ducks in the garden I've also been enjoying my new $15 gumboots that I picked up at Coles yesterday, aren't they ace? Some other Daylesfordians must have discovered them too as when I went back later in the day they were all gone!

I've really got to stop wearing my every day shoes outside, 

chook/duck poo on a girls shoe can really

ruin her day. Well maybe not ruin, but it's not very pleasant....

anyway, my new boots are so comfy I really have no excuse.

Can you handle some more earth shattering bird related news? Hope you're sitting down for this one....guess who's laying eggs? Little, smooth, adorable, clean eggs? Yep, that big old fluff ball, Mama Chook! She disappeared for a little while this morning and after searching high & low I found her in the old dog kennel, nestled up on a pair of sweet little eggs. Her chicks were a bit horrified, poor babies. Anyway, I've taken her eggs away so she doesn't go all broody. After all she isn't going steady with anyone so.... she would have been sitting there forever.

April is almost over folks, isn't that crazy? How fast is this year going? Too fast. Lots to enjoy along the way though, like this new painting that I bought yesterday. It's been sitting in our local petrol station (strange but true), along with a handful of others, and I've been eying it off for a few weeks. The colours are much brighter in real life, this photo doesn't do it justice.  Locals will recognise it as our own gorgeous Wombat Hill.

 There was a lot of excitement at our little school today as several Hawthorn footy players turned up to do a clinic with the kids. Wow! Rosie really went for it! It was a lot of fun and I was really impressed with the players, they were so good with the kids.  Shame they weren't Tigers but oh well...:)

So another week has flown by, have you had a good one? Tomorrow night we are off to Phillippa's for a Royal Wedding get together, yay! I need to come up with a English style dish to take along...cucumber sandwiches? Scones? Any suggestions? Hope you have a happy Friday lovely friends, see you soon xo

the holidays are over...

School holidays are coming to an end, finishing up with some glorious autumn weather,

sunny days and beautiful light. Today I started picking the apples, finally,

and Lucy helped to sweep up the piles of leaves that are falling quickly from our trees. Soon the branches will be bare and winter will be here.

It's been a busy few days, a happy few days. We had our garage sale which went really well, we got rid of lots of junk & some treasures too, met some new people, chatted to visitors to our town as well as neighbours & friends. It was a great day! 

Then yesterday our Charlotte came home. Finally! It's been two and a half months since she was last here. In that time we have all grown a bit older and the seasons have changed. Lots of changes but some things remain the same, 

 it always feels so right and good to be together! I have loved having the whole family here, I love to cook for them all, to make special food for Charlotte, to see them all interacting (sometimes this can be challenging!). 

As you know, I'm just crazy about my family.

We had an egg hunt and we met Char's friend Chris, who took some fantastic photo's of the gang,

including this beautiful shot of Rosie.

Being home over the holidays has been excellent, I've really loved it. A couple of short trips to the city provided a bit of variety but really autumn is the best time to be in Daylesford. The weather has been gorgeous and we've had a lot of fun & happy times. Hanging out & relaxing, playing guitar,

and eating way too much chocolate. Reading, de cluttering, being silly, seeing friends & family, watching the ducklings grow,

 birthdays, dinners out, time with Mum/Nan, dressing up, soft autumn light, 

watching the last episode of The Wire, cake & pudding, celebrating a Tiger win, blogging, playing Words with Friends, laying a wreath for school at the Anzac parade/ceremony today, cups of tea in bed, sleeping in...just some of the things I've enjoyed over the holidays. The best thing of course has been being together.

So as these holidays come to an end I'm already thinking about the next ones! It will be good to see our school friends again though, and a bit of routine and space for me will be nice too. Have you been on holidays? Did you enjoy them? I'm finding as the kids get older it's so much easier, I will miss them & Mark when they go back. Take care lovely friends, see you soon xo

Bits & bobs

Look at us, we're growing up!!  The ducklings are four and a half weeks old now, soon it will be time to find homes for them.

Because they are getting too big for their former home, the little red cubby house, they are now living with the chooks. Well one chook and two roosters. Not many eggs happening around here at the moment!

As for the silkies who live in the front yard, they are growing up too. Mama chook is still very loving and attentive and lets her babies snuggle up underneath her mountain of feathers at night. Lollypop has become part of the family and they are all so lovely to watch as we go in and out our front door.

Chook, chook!

Today I have been busy with a million little things. Framing up some photo's to give as presents, making cards from photo's too.

The girls have had friends over so there has been lots of girly things happening, 

Nail polish is definitely an our door activity! Actually they played a game where you have to spin the bottle and paint one nail the colour that the bottle points too. They all ended up with multi coloured nails, cool!

I'm still in decluttering mode so I've been getting things ready for a garage sale on Saturday. Will it or won't it rain? I can't decide whether to hold it indoors or out. I bet if I set up outside it will rain and if I do it inside it will be sunny! Fingers crossed for sunshine. It will be a busy weekend here in Daylesford so I hope we get lots of visitors. What are you up to for Easter? Hope it's a happy one, 

see you soon lovely friends xo

beach

Today was our last day, a bright blue day.

The girls don't get to the beach very often, there was a lot of excitement when they saw the sea as we headed down Kerford Road! 

Rosie has been a bit unwell over the last few days  but she has hung in there and managed to have a lot of fun anyway.

So, yes, there were beach wheels,

& sand angels,

and toes in the sand time,

shell collecting,

& some wonky camera angles. I couldn't really see what the hell I was doing, it was so bright! Hence the random shots. I also have a touch of what Rosie has had so I'm a bit peaky tonight. We are back home, which is lovely, and I'm already in bed & looking forward to an early night. I might just have to watch the final part of Paper Giants on ABC, did you watch it last night. LOVED all the 70's action, and how good is the actor playing Kerry Packer?!

  Gee it was fun to be away, we sure packed a lot in! So far I have LOVED these holidays, so lovely after a busy, busy first term.Are you on holidays? Have you been away? Wherever you are, hope it's been a happy Monday,

see you soon xo

ps: have you heard about Vic's Cushion Swap? It sounds like a lot of fun, pop over here for details x

city

I'm in Melbourne for a few days with my two youngest girls,

staying at my mum's house in Fitzroy. It's been a nice break,

and good to have a change of scene.

The kids have been enjoying themselves too.

For Rosie it's been big. She hasn't been to Melbourne much, she's a real country girl. She has been amazed at the graffiti, the trams, the many different people....lots to take in.

Things I've been loving...cool shops,

 variety, colour, bright lights, being anonymous,

a last visit to our family home, sold on Saturday.

Seeing our beautiful friends, spending every day kind of time with them,

visiting Charlotte,
who we love & miss.

Dusky city streets, big moon,  the weather,

and playgrounds! They are everywhere, and so they should be!

Tonight before dinner we walked around the corner to the little park and

had a quick play, just like that! Fun :)

 Things I haven't enjoyed so much...cars, cars, cars, the smell from cars, traffic,

and noise! It's loud here, neighbours, helicopters, sirens,

and it's dirty. Yep, cities sure are dirty. But I knew that didn't I? Growing up in the inner city

I knew all these things, I lived them every day.

Anyway, it's been fun to visit, and I can see how quickly I could get used to living a different kind of life. It's funny to walk out of your comfort zone & see things from another perspective.

I'm looking forward to going home though,

back to Mark and the other kids, the ducks (growing every day), dogs, chooks,

I'm looking forward to going back home. 

What have you been up to lately?

Hope all is well in your world,

nighty night xo

night wheels!