For the love of a Duck

Ducks are the dearest of creatures and one of my favorite animals here in 

Hopalong Hollow.

Who can resist those smiling bills?

  We have 20 ducks here in the Hollow, and they have split into 5 separate families. 

 Ducks do that.
We have the Osterhout family, Fionna's family, the Swedish pond duck family, A lovely couple named Mia and Jangles (who only have eyes for each other) and last but not least, the Tiny Tinks,(2 little orphaned ducklings)

 Duck families are very particular about NOT allowing OTHER ducks to enter their "space". Nor do they leave their family for more than a short time.

The exception to this rule is during mating season, when all the males go around like marauding Vikings chasing WHICHEVER female they wish to mate.

 Naturally, this produces many little offspring, 

this year we had 11 babies.

The Little Osterhout ducklings, from last Autumn, grew into big white Pekins and produced 5 wee babes.

Females can be distinguished from males by their quack, ( which is quite loud and boisterous) and the lack of a curl in their tail. Females are also very deferential to the males, it is observed by a cute little bobbing up and down motion of the head at a sideways turn.  They begin this behavior at a very young age and it is often my first clue as to the sex of a duckling.  Often, female Pekins have a more pale, yellowish bill than the males.
 

 Males have a little curl in their tail called a Drake feather. Their quack is more of a raspy, muffled "Queek" and they are a bit larger than the ladies. Drakes are very protective of their hens, will sit near them as they lay eggs or nest, and will fight any outsider attempting to defrock them.

You can imagine the countless "duck fights" we have during the Mating season.

 Duck fights are not very serious, as they really have no weapons other than the rounded bill, which does no damage at all. It is more of a tussle than a fight, sometime involving 4 ducks at once! It can be very humorous to watch.
 

Other than the occasional spats, ducks are happy, busy, sociable, charming, silly, cute and faithful mates

I think that  Hopalong Hollow ducks would be perfect for the book cover of the garden book.

Quack!

Here is Trudy's new family of five.

 P.S.  finished the "Seed Collectors"

baby watch, paper gardens

Like our British cousins, I too, have been on a baby watch. My little duchess  is feathery grey with white accents and a quack, quack,quack.

This is Gwenda, Gwennie for short.

  Gwennie built her nest of pine needle mulch up against the house and behind the cucumber trellis. It is safe and shady.

She has been patiently sitting on her eggs for approximately 3 weeks now. 28 days is the incubation period for a duck egg and 28 days for a peacock egg. That is good, because I tucked one lone peacock egg in with her clutch of 6 duck eggs, to see if it will hatch . We've had only ONE batch of ducklings hatch here in the Hollow. That is because, normally, our little "broody hen" would have been snatched in the dead of night by a wicked predator before her ducklings ever had a chance to hatch.  But Gwennie has been protected. 

By, guess who?

Liam and Keats sleep just feet away from Gwenda's nest. It will really be marvelous if these duckies are born, and even more spectacular if the peacock egg hatches too!

   These boys are only 5 months old now and have proved themselves to be wonderful guardians. I've not lost a single bird since the boys began to romp the grounds and walk the perimeter. I HIGHLY recommend Pyrenees if you have a pest problem. These dogs are loving and yet have the independence required of the livestock guardian.

 On a more romantic note, The peafolk have been courting, The peabody boys have molted all of this years tail feathers,which they dropped all over the Hollow.

 That tail must be quite a heavy load to carry around all day long, and losing it has caused the Peabody boys to CALM DOWN, considerably. The peagirls appreciate their new-found good manners and have taken  a bit more kindly to the males advances.

Love is in the air....

  Isn't it romantic?

The baby chicklets have grown into adolescence, and I am pleased to say, that in the good looks department, they take after their papa, a gorgeous Buff Orpington.

Instead of their mother, Plain Jane Black.

I was just a jot and tittle away from finishing my book when I had to stop in midstream, and prepare for 2 art events. I haven't had a spare minute to visit blogs, tend my garden ( which has gone to rack and ruin) or clean the barn! We did have a lovely showing in Berea Kentucky and sold many books and some original paper gardens. Therefore, I spent the next week making MORE paper gardens to take to ANOTHER showing in Lebanon Ohio.

 These really are a lot of work. Firstly, I use a #11 xacto knife to  cut out (freehand) all the strips of grass, stems and leaves. Next, I cut and assemble every tiny bloom until I have a nice collection of flowers, from Hollyhocks, roses, foxgloves, daisys, coneflowers and what nots.

 I also make paper bee skeps, cottages, birdhouses, teeny honeybees and picket fences. Next, I cut silhouettes of trees, animals: rabbits, birds, cows, sheep,deer, bear, cats and horses. When all these bits and pieces are finished, I arrive at the FUN step of assemblage.

 

.

This little cottage has a thatched roof and a teeny window box filled with flowers.

 The large dovecote has a scalloped roof entwined by climbing roses and  half a dozen birds surrounding;

as well as a bee skep, hollyhocks, delphiniums, leaping buns and buzzing bees.

I ended up making 6 paper gardens and about a dozen paper garden pendants.

However, although the second arts show was in a marvelous Historic Museum, set in a beautiful old towne with 25 hand picked artisans and craftsmen who are "top of the line" talent, the attendance was utterly DISMAL. I came home with all my gardens, to pack up and sell another day.
 
 This is the life of a freelance artist, you just never know what sort of inventory to bring to a show and it's a gamble every time you leave town. After over 25 years of shows, I still haven't figured it out.
That's okay, I have many more events this  year, and now I have plenty of STUFF,and won't need to take any more time away from book publication This is how we must look at things in the traveling artist world.

 Soon, I will be FREEEEEE!!! That is until work begins on storybook # 4 in the Hopalong Hollow Series.
 But I don't even want to think about THAT right now. I'd rather go and read YOUR blogs.

I will just enjoy the little paper gardens sitting on the table and breathe a sigh of relief.

AHHHHHHHHH!

HOPALONG HOLLOW NEWS FLASH!!
One duckling hatches on the 25th, looks just like mommy in miniature! (Swedish Blue ) 2  more babies are poking holes in their shells... expect more baby new tomorrow. It's t0m0rr0w..5 babies in all! 3 m0re eggs t0 g0.

Inspiration, Ideas, Creativity

       As an artist for most of my life, I've never been at a loss for ideas. They flood my mind and enter my dreams. I have notebooks full of scribbles and sketches and designs for everything from garden structures, storybook characters, rock walls, new studio rooms and book illustrations.

 My life could never be long enough to fulfill all these dreams, all these aspirations. Most creative souls are just like me. Creative people have a knack for turning lemons to lemonade, mud to sculpture and trash to treasure. And they simply MUST do it!

.

If you follow this blog, I have a feeling you  are an artist , a writer, a needleworker, a gardener, a creator. What inspires you?? If you are like me, you appreciate and observe all the little details around us, the minutia. An idea can be sparked by the slightest of things, like a melody hummed or a fragrance in the breeze, the texture of paper or cloth, or the feel of moss beneath your feet. Suddenly, you are inspired.

Please come into my studio and my garden and see what inspires me. Perhaps they are the same things that feed your imagination and encourage you to create beauty all around you.

Viewed best on YOU Tube, turn on your volume, the music is lovely!
Please feel free to share with other creative souls, just like you. 

six little duckies

 Six little duckies 

 arrived one day.... 
 

 They came from a dirt patch 
10 miles away.

 Lookin' for some water,
 Lookin' for a home,

 away from the desert,
 and longin' for some loam.

 I put them on a patch of green where creeping jenny grows.

 with a basin  of cool water

 to wet their little toes

 "Jolly Good!" and "OOH La la!"

 Those little quackers  quack,

 they reveled  in the water as it 
rolled off of their back,

THEY

  gobbled

 oodles and oodles 

 of corn bits and noodles,

neath the gaze of a gander..

 for never
 in those duckies lives

 had a table been laid
  grander!

.

 And with a hearty

 "HOWDY- do... won't you kindly follow?"

All the "finely- feathered wing-ed folk",
 honked,

,

 "Welcome to the Hollow!"

.

Hopalong Hollow

 Population 2390  2396.....give or take a bee or two.

Cheers!!!

Duckie Lunch, fresh from my garden!!!

When it rains in Hopalong HOLLOW....

IT RAINS IN HOPALONG HOLLOW!

 And little wet donkeys seek shelter in the barn,

.

 Blaming a bad hair day on the weather, and asking the sheep to pass the lipstick, Ursula declares,

"Rain is for the Birds!!"

 "Not THIS bird!" Protests Moses.

 Wild water spits and churns, gushing down the hill...

 and Croaky toad creek turns into a raging river,

.

 Little wet hens try to hide from the raindrops and perch high in the cedar trees.  (This is not a smart ,water-proof solution.)

  Only one sensible rooster, who claims he is "feelin

poorly",  takes to his cozy straw bed, in the safety of the barn. 

The muddy pond becomes a spacious lake!

And suddenly, in a chorus of little quackity voices, we hear...

 "Singin in the rain,

" I'm singin in the rain!

"What a Glorious Feelin,

"I'm Happy again!

"I'm laughing at clouds.

 "So dark up above.

The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love!

"Let the stormy clouds chase.

Everyone from the place,

  ,"Come on with the rain, I've a smile on my face!

 "I'll walk down the lane, with a

happy refrain, 

,

 I'm just singin.,

 "And dancin.....

In the RAIN!!!!!!!"

(This post was brought to you courtesy of : Fiona, Ivan, Attila, Hamish, Minerva, Trudy, Pittypat, Feather Duster,Winston, Mia, Jeremiah Fisher, Jangles, Pickles and Escargot. All of whom are still, "Singin in the Rain")

(My first feeble attempt at movie making, but it sure was fun!)