I rummaged around in my computer bag and pulled out my iPad mini and my iPod, setting them both on the center console next to me. K looks right at me and says, I’m really aiming for the iPad. Then she tells us “The music sometimes carries me away.” Too cute. I am daily confronted by this child’s propensity for deep thoughts, her beautiful mind makes my heart smile. And so now she is happily distracted by technology and I can blog. Perfect. Now I can write. With a head as full as mine has been lately, I find I need to write often. I have at least 5 blog posts that I have already started and some even finished that I have not been able to post due to our current, nomadic situation.
I know everybody has been anxiously waiting to hear what has transpired between AZ, WV, and MI. So here it is. WV is dead to us, and while we may visit it someday in the future, we will not be living there. We will be running into the sheltering arms of family in MI.
So we are moving!!!! Again. You may have seen several posts to that affect recently on our Facebook threads. But between holiday get togethers and being sick, also again, I haven’t had a chance to write. I’m sorry to keep you hanging! We are driving back to WV now and I hope to post this when I get home. (I didn’t as our internet was down when we got here. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? And then I sprained my ankle, and the Uhaul had to be picked up from a location 45 min away in the snow. And so on. More on that tomorrow maybe?)
As we drive, all sorts of things run across my mind; how much I wish I had my sketch pad because I feel inspired by the beautiful farmhouses and barns we have been driving past for the last three weeks; how much I love my daughter and want to have more children like her, and sooner rather than later; how blessed we are and how easily this all could have gone a different way and we could be moving to somewhere terrible instead of moving home. I think about what it will be like to be a full time mother, teacher, and duck wrangler. This line of thought leads me to the upcoming spring and makes me contemplate just what I envision for my newest animal escapade: The Duck.
So far I have narrowed down my breed choice to two breeds: Ancona ducks and Khaki Campbells. These are two very distinctly different breeds of duck that I will likely raise at the same time, though I will focus on breeding the Anconas and maybe crossing them with the Khakis. So let me give you some background on both to give you an idea of what they are like. The Ancona is a critically endangered duck that I chose off of a list of endangered animals because they match all of my criteria for what I want in a duck. Excellent egg layers, having between 210-280 eggs a year, big enough for meat at 6-6.5 lbs each, and beautiful with their white coats splashed with black spots. They appeal to me on all levels really; they are shaped like a duck, but pretty like a pinto pony. They are very adaptable and hardy animals, which is needed in MI, especially in the winter. Their meat is tasty and lean so when the occasion arises, as it will, we will enjoy eating them as well. Don’t be sad, we will be furthering the breed and keeping most of them alive! Not to mention the fact that these ducks are capable of eating large bugs, like banana slugs(I just threw up a little in my mouth, ugh) that might try to eat my vegetable garden! Their crowning attribute is their calm temperament. I want my ducks to enjoy my company and follow me around and these surely will if raised right.
The second breed I want to raise is the Khaki Campbell duck. This is a significantly smaller duck, and at 4-4.5 lbs, not much good for eating. Their egg laying ability, however, is second to none with 250-350 eggs per year!!! On the high end, that’s the kind of egg production you would get from a chicken! These guys are still pretty enough to satisfy me aesthetically as well with their pretty brown feathers and the green heads the males wear. They are quite skittish and flighty(lol) ducks though, so I will have to make sure Rooster doesn’t get any ideas. He will be trained with them from the minute they are babies, so hopefully that will help them to not fear the dogs. They will start their lives in our home until old enough to go outside, so Roo and Peter will have plenty of time to see them, smell them, and be told “no” whenever they get that “I think I’d like to eat that” gleam in their eyes. I was really hoping Roo might end up being more of an outdoor livestock guardian, but I’m not sure his breeding will allow it, as he would likely spend all day herding the animals from one side of the yard to the other without rest. Which would mean eventually getting a strictly outside guard dog like a Maremma Sheepdog. But for now, I have what I have and I shall be glad for it.
I know you probably want pictures of the new place, but we didn’t take any! We will be there soon though and I will take some as we move in. And I’ll tell you all about how we found it and the amazing elderly couple we are renting it from. After this, I’m not moving for a few years at least! Happy New Year friends!!!
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