Duck & Tooth Fairy MIA

We have a duck MIA – presumed dead.  I heard a terrific squawking one afternoon from the region of the awning but just thought one of the chooks was laying an egg with much ado.  The next day I found a python snoozing in my feed shed and presumed he was the culprit (even though he didn’t have the distended belly you would expect if he was mid-duck digestion) so Ged grabbed him and put him in a sack (after peeling him off his wrist coil by ever tightening coil) and I drove him over to Angle Creek where I let him go, on the way to my daily constitutional.

It was either him or the Goanna . . . but then there were two . . .
Benjamin’s getting pretty good at his routine now and it’s only really the teething days which throw us for a loop.  He has been drooling for ages and gnawing on his fingers, our fingers, Giraffey and anything else he can find, but then some days he is obviously in pain and I am on my knees by the end of the day begging the tooth fairy to get a bloody wriggle on!
My theory is that she can’t find us and Santa (who knows our address) is on holiday during the whole of January and February (resting after his round the world marathon) so we will have to wait until March when she can get in touch with him again and get the map co-ordinates!  That’s what I tell Benjamin anyway . . . .
There are a few things that always make him smile – blowing raspberries on his belly, singing to him (anything – he’s not fussy!) but ‘Benjamin Love has a Farm Ee I ee I o’ is a favourite, Daddy tickling him in the bath, bathtime, Mama’s boobies (he’s such a BOY!), The Gruffalo (thank you Sally, what a BRILLIANT book) and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (inspired by Shirley’s foray into FAO Schwarz for him) and the Boy in the Mirror who he loves . . .

New chooks and a python

Despite all our running around at the weekend, and George’s near naked efforts in the steamy days we have been sweltering through, the chook run wasn’t ready by the time the girls came on Monday.  We had to convert one of the old tin toilet blocks into the temporary hen house and although it isn’t the salubrious 5 star accommodation I had planned for them, they seemed more nervous and unsettled than any hens I had ever had before.  They hid in the scrub on the first day while George and I stretched the wire around and then as the rain fell consistently all week, they seemed to feel safest in their budget backpacker accommodation.  They seemed reluctant to explore or wander which I found very strange.  On Sunday we worked out why!  Ged tracked me down inside having a brief respite from the heat ‘do  you want to see a python?’, so we grabbed the camera and he led the way into the chicken run where Fred was fully extended (1.5 metres) and on track for feathered friend for tea.  Ged trapped him by the head so he could pick him up (CRIKEY!!) and we agreed to put him in the big shed to eat all the ratties and mice.
As soon as we moved the snake, the chooks relaxed.  he had obviously been up in a tree watching their every move and that’s why they were so nervous and shy.  They love to go under the house and so we hear them clucking under there during the day.
We had a busy weekend – Ged replaced the Flying Fox platform with left over tallowood so it feels rock solid and looks lovely and I was weeding, planting and digging again.  I’ve also scrubbed down the outside boards of three sides of the house ready for painting.  The weather has been either blazing sun or steamy, sultry and jungly and the rain is never far away.  The river is up and down like a yo yo so we are still flying across most of the time and even I can pull myself all the way across both ways now.
Fred obviously didn’t like living  in the garage.  When we got up on Monday morning his tail was poking out of one of the powerpoint holes in the kitchen.  His head soon followed.  Ged tried to force him out by dragging but I screamed at him to stop because he was damaging the fragile scales on Fred’s back.  So we left him to fend for himself, took Phee flying over the river with us and up to the office.  When we got home I was gingerly opening doors and cupboards, on the lookout for Fred . . . when Ged came in from locking up the chooks I indicated a strange looking stain  on the floor and he investigated . . . and found Fred snoozing happily in his sock basket!  A bit too close to my bed for comfort so Ged grabbed him again and Fred wrapped his whole length around his wrist and hand and we raced to the car and then I floored it down to Angle Creek while Ged had his circulation crushed.  Ged peeled him off and released him in the grass, but Fred had obviously taken a fancy to us and headed straight back to us so we leapt in the car before he slithered into its workings and came home again!  What would I have done without Ged???  Ugh . . . it doesn’t bear thinking about . . . Fred in my bed with me and Phee . . . !!

Ged and Fred

saga pin up boy!