After watching us for, oh a year perhaps, from various vantage points the other side of the valley, they appeared one morning sleeping, one leg up - head tucked under, by the front door. They responded to my welcome and waddled into the garden for 'fowl' breakfast. The others didn't turn a feather so now they are an accepted sub group of the colony that is trashing my garden.
They're Muscovy ducks and are called Gibby and Sunny; we don't often name our creatures, especially if they are, one way or another, 'passing through', but these girls are so entertaining and responsive their name just popped into my head. It wasn't until the other morning, after a gale-full night, when it seemed that G&S had flown away that I realised how disappointed I felt and how fond I'd grown of them, which made me think about possessiveness and other stuff common to human nature. But they can fly like blazes and, like all blessings, free to come and go as they please, I hope they chose to stay awhile.
