Nowadays, almost every town has a local farmer’s market. If you haven’t visited yours, you must put it at the top of your “things to do” list. I hardly ever miss a Saturday morning market in Lawrence, Kansas. We left for TEXAS yesterday to help our baby move to grad school, but first we had to make her last run through the market. And for some reason it isn’t complete unless you take your dog….

And everybody else takes their dog….

And all the dogs meet each other…..

And the smart dogs take their owners…..

Directly to the booth that sells the homemade dog treats, in many tantalizing flavors, of course!

My good friend, Friday, happens to date farmer, Avery.  No matter, I would still think his greens are the best and purdiest at the market.

Then there are the beautiful flowers, everywhere!  Peonies are in season now and I think may be my fav!

There are always musicians about, usually playing some good bluegrass.

OMG, who can resist the homegrown tomatoes that can only be found this early in the season at the market!

Friends Joe and Jenny make fabulous Green Tea and Chai cakes and the best Granola bars you will ever taste.  All vegan, wheat and gluten free. 

Lately, I have heard their bars nicknamed “JenJoeLa”.  They are GGOOOOODDDD!!  Joe is also taking good care of the ducks while we are away, thanks Joe and Jenny!

Finally, if you think you’ve seen all there is to see, try going the next week because you never know who might appear with something that you need SO badly…….like WORM CASTING TEA.  I’ll leave you with that!

This is my sweet little girl, not so little I guess because she just graduated from college!  But hey, they’re always babies in a mama’s eyes, right all you moms out there!???

So every day, OK every hour since I found my FIRST egg, I check the yard for another stray lay.  I guess Kelsey thinks I’m pretty funny because I get so excited about the whole event. 

Just a reminder, this is how many ducks are in the backyard now.  The hen odds are kinda low, only 4 for sure.  Knowing that I have 3 laying hens I might expect I would have AT LEAST another egg today, wouldn’t you think so too?

Watering the garden tonight I almost stepped on an EGG!  OMGosh, I called Kelsey, who was in the house and  I screamed,  ”Come out here fast and bring my camera, I got another egg!!”

So she came out, taking lots of pics, and laughing the whole time she was snapping them.  Of course I said, “What’s so funny?”

I picked up the egg and it was as cold as the moment it came from the frig.  The little stinker baited me!

Until today I was completely upset about having so many drakes, then I had the great luck to find a duck hobbiest in a nearby town by the name of Raymond.   We drove about 30 min. last night to trade him for the current ugly ducks I have in the backyard…..

I have no worries because I know they will turn into beautiful ducks after spending a few days being pampered in MY backyard.

Raymond, the duck man, assured me that his hens were a year old and laying an egg a day.  I got up early this morning just to run out and check the pen for eggs, no eggs!  I kinda decided that the trauma of the drive and meeting new ducks last night might have taken a tole on the old girls.  So when I came home for lunch today, the first thing I did was go out for my very own Easter egg hunt.  I was just looking for anything white in the yard…..

LO and BEHOLD……

MY FIRST EGG!  How egg-citing is THAT!!??  I am no longer upset

And a poor lonely drake goes to the country :-(   It all had to start with catching George….

And so my sweet husband, the “duck whisperer”, set out on a mission.

Seems they know he’s duck hunting.

First they have to be gathered……

And then he’s got to sweet talk them into the corner…..

SUCCESS!

It’s time for George to get a new yard.

Everyone says their goodbyes…..

How ’bout a road trip!?

PRESTO, CHANGO!

            I traded my drake and got 3 laying hens.  They look pretty ugly tonight, but give them my fancy wading pool and I think they will be beautiful in a few days!

They have to go through MEET and GREET……

And hopefully by tomorrow morning they will all be friends, live happily ever after, and give me EGGS!

Every day I am fascinated by how much the ducks are talking, maybe I should say quacking. But really, it seems like they talk to me, if only I could understand! I get the feeling they are yelling something like “Feed us goodies!” or “WE WANT WORMS!”

This is RINGO.  She has turned into a hen at 3 months.  I can tell because her head hasn’t turned green and she is the smallest of the bunch.  Ringo also has a really definite QUACK, which makes it obvious she is female.

This one could be a female, but I highly doubt it.  In the sunlight I am starting to see feathers that glow green.  That is for sure a drake.

This is Sonny, he’s a HUGE Rouen, maybe 5 lbs. right now.  He came with Cher, but I’m starting to think Cher might be a drake too!  Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  Too damn many drakes in this bunch??!!

Now THIS is what it looks like when you are so sad because what you thought was a hen has turned into a drake, OVERNIGHT!!  Those feathers change so darn fast.  Can you see the hints of green??  Darn it!!!

And finally, this is my FOR SURE drake, GEORGE.  He has already had his head turn green and his body turn beige.  He also sounds kinda like a bullfrog, not a quack like RINGO.  His bill is also green with a black bead at the tip, for sure male!!  SOOOOOO, this is what’s gonna happen tomorrow…………..

My adorable, what I thought were mostly hens, turned drakes, will be TRADED!  Thank goodness for www.craigslist.com  because without that my one poor hen, RINGO, would not be a happy duck :-0 

I found a farmer with Khaki Campbell hens!!  HOORAY!  So, I am trading George, the ultimate drake, for 3 hens AND, they are a year old and already LAYING, OMG!!! 

Say GOODBYE GEORGE, as tomorrow will arrive new hens.  Sad to see him go, but I just can’t wait for tomorrow.  I hope I can sleep tonight!

“Pool envy” was all I could think about when I saw the ducks looking in the neighbors yard today at their BIGGER pool.

Now they just sit and look at the pool, sometimes for a few hours……crazy ducks!

Ducks are NOT in the garden now. They look through the fence, drooling, just wishing they could get to the lettuce, swiss chard and especially the celery. I look at them and say, “Na..na..na..na..na..naahhhh!!! Sadly, I really do!!

So I guess I’ll just say darn it!  I have been hoping through this whole adventure for 7 hens.  I know, I know, how can I get 7 hens from a random batch of ducks??  The thing about duck gender is you really can’t tell until they are fully feathered OR you get eggs.  Unless you want to vent sex them, that’s a whole nuther experience, which I decided not to traumatize them with in this delicate stage of life.

That DARN dark head appeared overnight.  Really, they all looked identical until yesterday!  Dark head, light body, that’ a drake alright.  All I can hope for now is at least a couple of hens.  WE WANT EGGS!!!

Dempsey’s Irish Pub, your one stop bar and burger joint in Lawrence, Kansas!  Great gourmet burgers on the regular menu, but the daily special burgers are fantastic.  My numero uno has to be the kobe burger, no wait…maybe it’s the black and blue burger, or……..maybe the ……DUCK burger (don’t tell you know who!!).

Well who cares, they are all great!  Then there are the fantastic fries…..regular, truffle oil fries (my fav!!), DUCK oil fries and sweet potato fries. 

My big girl, Kendall, shows off her kobe burger with truffle oil fries, yuuummmyyy!!

Check it out if you ever find yourself driving that lovely stretch of I-70 through Kansas, or maybe visiting the Universtiy of Kansas.  It’s just downtown, not too far off the highway on the south end of Vermont Street.  Well worth the stop!

We had a big weekend at our house. Our baby graduated from college, WOO HOO!! The ducks had to take a backseat to all of the weekend activities. Congratulations to daughter, Kelsey, and her fiance, AJ!! Happy trails ahead…..