Duckicide

I dreamed last night that I boiled the ducks. For some reason I had put them in a pot with water without realizing that this would kill them. I walked back into the kitchen and they were making pathetic little chirping noises and I grabbed the tongs and tried to get them out, but as they seemed mostly lethargic and dying I didn't know what to do- so of course I did nothing and let my ducks boil to death. Then I walked into my bedroom and asked myself how I was going to get their fur off of them to eat them. What a dream. Important to note: the ducks were very small and still fuzzy and there were three of them and not two.

Twins

The photo doesn't show how they're breathing in unison.

Bones

Sometimes in the evening I give the dogs bones so that they calm down so that I can watch TV peacefully; or in tonight's case cry for two hours watching Grey's Anatomy. Sometimes it's not so peaceful because Earl likes to try to "collect" all of the bones, via intimidation tactics and so I spend a lot of time monitoring Earl's behavior to make sure he is not bullying everyone else into giving him their bones. He doesn't even chew on the bones. Below is the video of Earl "chewing" on a bone. I don't mind this so much because it makes the bones last longer. They're expensive.

Today we also cleaned out all of the dresser drawers, the closet in anticipation of a possible wardrobe purchase and made a purse. Earl's my go to guy for cleaning and finding stuff. Mostly because he always follows me from room to room so I figure he has to know where I've left stuff. He's not so good at sewing purses. Mostly because he just gets thread all over him.

Randi actually chews on a bone:

Earl shows off his prize of a bone:

Randi and Clark forget that there is no getting it on in my bed unless I'm involved. (Not with them obviously, that's gross.):

The Still as Yet Unnamed Get a Wing Clip

Big day at the Saratoga Animal Shelter. The Still as Yet Unnamed got their wings clipped. Peggy and Evan came over and helped me. First we had free Chipotle dinner. Then we cornered the ducks and we clipped their wings. They are remarkably beautiful and soft. An now they won't be able to fly away. Even better.

Ma famille à moi

No, Earl is not recovering from his latest smokeout; he's just thirsty. At first I felt like I should not allow Earl to drink from the toilet, but I've changed my attitude about it. Nobody ever uses this bathroom and it's a clean source of water that fills itself back up which means less work for me. I need to figure out how to get one outside.

The Entire Pack
aka the family portrait

A study in tails:

The Still as Yet Unnamed

I took a lot of photos of the ducks today because since they aren't yet talking, Stephen says that he can maybe see by looking at them what they are. I keep asking, but they aren't giving me any cues. They are spending a lot of time outside of their pen though. And maybe one day we'll be friends. We might be getting close to names.

Mystère

The swamp cooler has stopped working. I can think of only two logical reason for this:
1. Randi
2. Earl
The only question is what kind of wrestling match landed them on the roof.

Reactions

I put the new quilt on the bed today. These were the reactions:

The ducks don't care and continue to swim.

Randi takes a moment to sleep on Sarah's bed.

Clark loves the new quilt. He struck up his rico suave pose for this picture.

Encore a Slumber Party

The only time Emmah Snickerdoodle is relaxed during her time at the Saratoga Animal Shelter is when I'm sewing. It's probably the only activity she knows. Last night she tried to get on the bed via the side where Sarah sleeps on the floor. Sarah snapped at her. Then Emmah came around to the other side and tried to jump up. This caused the bed to shake and affected Randi's precarious perch, making her fall off the bed on top of Sarah. No wonder Sarah's always bitchy.

The Still as Yet Unnamed are let out of the pen

Today I re-hotwired the fence (and shocked myself pretty good when I touched the wire thinking I had already unplugged it.) So now the ducks can wander out of their pen. They were pretty cautious and have not explored the yard very much. In fact, they spent a large amount of time just trying to get back in the pen. (I didn't take it completely down because I thought that they might like the security of the chicken wire.)

Cautious first steps.

Earl-doing more yoga or just being stoned. You never really know.

This week at the Saratoga Animal Shelter

• My sister suggests DNA testing to find out what Randi and Earl are.
• Randi and Earl eat the Parmesan cheese can. The can. Apparently they wanted Italian spiced dog food.
• A coyote comes down the access road. Also, I think there might have been a road runner in the back yard.
  
• Randi falls off the bed in the middle of the night on top of Sarah. Sarah, understandably, was not happy.
• Randi takes to drinking out of the toilet.
• I close the toilet lid.
• Randi and Earl learn how to lift the toilet lid up, take a drink and put it back down.
  
• At least they put it back down.