Last week, we brought home a new duck from the Rescue League. She is another Muscovy duck, and of course was purchased as a friend for Disston, who was alone in his "Muscovyness" and who could perhaps use some company other than goats. She has a problem leg, and doesn't walk very steadily, but otherwise, she is just lovely. Here she is with Disston, who took to her right away of course, because she has such iridescent greenish-black feathers and such a lovely head, that he was overcome with ducky love. Her name is Daisy.
This afternoon I went to
Prairieland Herbs in Woodward, Iowa, which is a lovely shop owned by my spinning friend Maggie (
see her blog here). She has a fabulous selection of natural products like massage oils and bath salts as well as cosmetic products and candles and wonderful essential oils. She also has a lovely selection of handspun wool, some interesting fiber (like the alpaca that I bought) and some hand knit and hand woven items too. What a treat! But truthfully, I didn't go there to shop (although I did shop). I went because Maggie offered to help me learn to knit. She had another friend over for the same reason, and we had a grand old time chatting and clicking our needles and learning the basics. What a great afternoon! Thank you Maggie!!
Having read some of the posts in response
to my
udder other postings, I thought it might help those without farm initiation to see a non-pregnant goat udder. This might help you to see why I was so excited about the appearance of Stuffin's udder, and thought that she must be on the verge of kidding... So without further ado, here is her sister, Puffin's udder. Very non pregnant. Flat. Nothin' to it! Although you can see her secondary teats, which is sort of odd. I hope you can all see that there is a pretty big difference between Puffin's udder when you compare it to the pictures of Stuffin's udder. But no, we still don't have any births on the farm.
Diane - glad your Mom taught you how to spell teats. If you come visit, I'll teach you how to milk them. Then you'll be fully farm initiated.
4 comments:
Oh your little duck family is just beautiful! And it is so great that you are learning how to knit. I just started knitting and love it! Today i helped my daughter in her shop and joined the knitting circle we have every Saturday. That is so nice to sit and knit with others who love it too. So relaxing! Now that i can compare the two udders, i see what you are excited about! Can't wait for the baby!!!
Awwww, partner for Disston!! Daisy is darling! Do you think they may mate and have some ducklings in the Spring?
Puffin's teats are very odd. I've never seen them so close together like that. I wonder how they come out when she bags up. It must be a challenge to milk a goat with teats like that.
But yes, I can see why you've been excited about Stuffin's udder because it is very different than Puffin's. Maybe she has a false pregnancy?
Or maybe she does have a while still to go because of a later breeding. What a mystery!
By the way, stop by my blog, as I've got a goodie for you :)
~Lisa
It was so fun to have you over today! Thank you for dealing with the retail chaos t hat was happening. I should have known - the second you count on a quiet afternoon in the store, it never hapens. I hope to see knitting progress pics on the blog!!!
Don't worry about the extra teats on Puffin. In Shetland sheep, there is a rumor that extra teats have been associated with finer fiber. At any rate, the number of teats per mammal is not as standardized as many believe; there is the usual number per species, but lots of individual variation.
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