Billy

Alice

Moon

Coffee Ducks

Carmella, Hazel & Bean

Don't strain yourself there, Rilo!

Phreda

In other news...

I have been gathering feathers from the grounds since June. I've collected the prettiest, least damaged ones as the geese and the drakes molted (duck hens won't until September). We have three people who have asked us for humanely collected feathers, so I've been spending about a half hour a day for months collecting these little treasures. Then came the task of sorting them into bags based on size, color and type. Today I finally shipped them out. They paid for the shipping and are going to thank us by making a donation for the ducks and geese (who have worked very hard growing new feathers!)

And here's something inspiring...

Isabel told me today that she had a dream about Benny this morning. She said she saw Benny in heaven and he was talking to her. When I asked what heaven looked like she said, "Everything was all white and then there was a tiny little black dot that kept getting bigger until it got closer to me and then I realized it was Benny coming towards me."

She said, "His leg was all better and he started talking instead of quacking and he said, 'My legs are fine now. Tell your Mommy not to worry and that I'm okay.'"

And then Isabel grumbled at me and said, "He was trying to tell me something when you came in and woke me up this morning. He wasn't finished yet and you woke me up! Now I don't know the rest of the message!" --And she was VERY upset with me.

I replied, "I think that is the full message. His legs are healed and he's happy now." And then I thanked her for passing his message along.

Boy... Benny is sure expending a lot of effort getting messages to all of us. First with Mary and then Isabel. That's my boy--always has to get in the final word... especially, it seems, if it's one of reassurance...