I spent a few days this summer building this great looking fence around my most beautiful tree in the backyard to keep the ducks from eating all my flowers.

I thought it was pretty ingenious and I made sure to put a stick wherever I thought they could squeeze through.  And besides being functional, I was looking for something that would blend with my yard and look good at the same time.  Most of the summer I had a big old piece of chicken wire wrapped around the perimeter of the tree and it looked a little trashy. 

The ducks….

had been laying most of their eggs either out in the middle of the yard or in various nests around the house.  Easy enough to locate.  A few weeks ago, I went out in the morning on my usual egg hunt and found NO eggs.  Thinking they were having a late start to their morning, I gave them till lunch to pop those puppies out.  Still, no eggs.  After work, no eggs!  And then I see one toddle out of the forbidden zone!

Lesson learned.  There is NO forbidden zone!

Yes, I’m a bit behind in my posting, due to a fabulous vacation to the northwest corner of the world (at least my world). We went to visit older daughter, Kendall, and her fiance Evan, in the country north of Bellingham, WA. She did a great vacation post at www.lonelilly.com . 

And so there are three ducks in the backyard now.  As sad as I was to see my others go, I have to admit that the peace and quiet that we experience now is pretty awesome.  I call them the Hoover Girls……

They came by that group name because that is their purpose in life, to hoover over the yard, usually in team form, and eat bugs.  I may have to name them now that I know them better.  Sometimes I actually go out in the yard and holler, HOOVERS!  Once again, I hope my neighbors aren’t watching.

I am fascinated by how much these girls preen.  They love the pool and then spend hours just fixing feathers.  Reminds me of teenage girls in the bathroom! 

You get the idea!!