Dogs, Ducks, and an Oil Slick
Silly me, thought I would get to work a little earlier this Sunday, uneventful few hours cleaning the pub, then home and google the benefits of fenugreek seeds for your health for another post for the website.
Sometimes I think my angels, God, the Universe or whoever it is has got a strange sense of humor or was it just a case of the best-laid plans of mice and men often goes awry.
Firstly, I am walking around the local dog walking field on my way to work, I see an elderly gentleman I know through walking our dogs walking along with only one of his dogs on a lead. He leaves the path without seeing me and walks towards his house. Then, very slowly, along comes Izzy, his other dog, running across the field. By this time, I had reached the bottom of the field and her owner was nowhere to be seen. I couldn't leave her on her own, so I spent a good ten minutes knocking on the door of the house where this dog lives, running around the back of the house and peering onto the field to see if maybe he had remembered her.The silly man then appeared on the path, I will never know where he came from, "Hello there Steph, are you alright?" "Oh Andrew," says I " I was getting worried about you, where did you go?" He then mumbled something about his other dog running off after a squirrel. Anyway, that was the first thing.
Then I get to work, I wanted to get there earlier, I was now twenty minutes later than usual. I am a lucky pub cleaner, the public house I work at is tied to a very posh hotel, that used to be the local Lords house back in the early 1900's. The pub is in the buildings that used to house the horses and dogs, which is why I vacuum the stables, the dog run, and the hay loft
Now, onto the ducks, I had seen the drake being very patient with his mate two weeks ago in front of the building that houses the hotel spa, he was waiting for her to follow him and she simply didn't want to. She obviously did because I saw him this morning very irritatedly quacking up at his mate and their babies while he was on the ground, walking back and forth in the courtyard with a tiny duckling following his every move, the nest was on the top of a drainpipe that ran down from one of the balustrades outside one of the very posh rooms.When I saw this I couldn't leave the poor drake and his one baby in distress, so I went off and grabbed hold of my boss, the housekeeper, to see if he could do anything, he knows how silly I am when it comes to animals, I think he may be as well. We realised while watching them this morning that what was causing the problem was the housekeepers' bike which was locked to the drainpipe. It was in the ducklings way as they threw themselves towards the ground. He moved his bike and I am sure that the ducks were then able to sort themselves out.
This all took time, so now I am even later getting things done in the pub, I had noticed that we had a slight trickle of what I thought was water, I noticed by nearly doing the splits while walking in front of a cupboard with the vacuum cleaner in hand, thank god I do yoga or I could've done myself a mischief. So, I mopped up what I thought was a little trickle of water, and went off to get on with my other jobs. I came back later to find that we now had a stream and thank goodness, the chef had arrived. He opened the cupboard, moved a few boxes and hey look, it's an oil slick, so that was another ten minutes of cleaning up that I don't usually do. Such fun.
Still, they pay me minimum wage to get this done, this morning I think they will find I took longer than my usual couple of hours. Hahaha:-)
Steph
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Steph, those ducks look suspiciously like our Pacific Black ducks. We get them on our dam. Every once in a while the dam freezes over. The we get our daily humour. There is nothing like a very surprised duck skating over ice and bouncing off the dam wall.
I am sorry about your day, but on the bright side, you took 2 beautiful pictures and you told us a story! Have a wonderful day !
It wasn't a terrible day Monica, yes, a little extra work maybe, but now and again I think it does us good to have life poke some fun at us. As in, "Ha, you wanted a quiet morning did you, well guess what honey." I think it does us a whole lot of good to learn to roll with it and enjoy what we can. I got to see a lovely dog, a lovely little family of ducks and I learnt that if you spill a load of oil in the kitchen, and you sprinkle salt on it, it will absorb it. Then when you wash the floor with a mop and some lemon floor cleaner you will be given a weird chemical reaction, white smears on the floor that magically disappear. I enjoyed the joke that life played on me, and I was hoping that you would too.:-)) However, I do thank you for the sympathy.:-))
Steph
I am happy that you see beauty and laughs even it slow down your day.. all for a higher reason you might not be aware ..
Love , live and learn!
I think you should have been rewarded for all you did..(Where is Green Peace?)lol...And just one quick question- what if you saw, let's say. a lost bull?Would you have rescued it as well?:)
No, I am not after any rewards, I just thought it was funny cause it was so different to how I planned my morning. That was why I posted it on here, to make people laugh.
If there had been a bull in the middle of the field, I would have very quietly gone through the woods to work and then phoned the RSPCA and the police. I am no bull whisperer.
Steph
Oh yeah...I was just kidding, Stef... Sometimes things go a little wild ...And what a nice picture of the duck family...I hope at least they thanked you....))
Hi Vera,
Animals can smell fear miles away.
When we are afraid our cortisol level increase. The changes in our hormones when we are afraid attract wild animals.
I met so many dangerous species in my adventurous hikes: rattle snakes, mountain lion, bulls, black bear, beautiful Wild Mustang horses.
I am still alive today and talking to you...No I am not brave ( ok, maybe a little crazy ), but I love animals, and I guess they don't see me as a threat or treat :)
I stay away from a mother bear and her cubs more dangerous then a Bull :)
Have a day living in harmony with yourself and Nature, laugh and love!
The " Bull" can smell fear! Remember that! :) if you want to tame a Bull, be strong , be yourself!
Thanks Tim, yes I was able to smile through it, only cause I know I won't be doing it for very much longer. I would much rather be writing posts than cleaning restaurants any day:-)
Steph
Thanks, Steph, you're a working colleague of mine, with a vision!
Have a great weekend.....☺❤❤❤
What a very eventful Sunday morning! And I am glad you shared it with us. I am also an animal lover and have ducks flying into our yard to have a little swim in the pool before they go off the lake nearby!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Regards, Lisa
Thanks for stopping by Lisa and commenting, it must be lovely for you having ducks flying into your yard, have you ever had any make a nest by your pool?
Steph
Oh, this was delightful to read. I love the English terms and found myself reading it in an English accent and my husband loved it. I'm an animal lover at heart, so I understand your concern over the ducks. On one of the streets by a local park they have a duck crossing sign so motorists will drive with caution.
Thank you, Liz for your kind comments, I am pleased to hear about the duck crossing, Do the drivers drive with caution? I hope so.:-)
Steph
Thanks Jude, yes it was, but because of all I have read from yourself and a few other people I was able to stay positive through it, yes, it was a longer morning than usual but I was able to come home with a wonderful song in my heart, mainly due to the ducks, I love ducks and ducklings:-)
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That is one wicked sense of humour that you have Helen, poor little ducks, and the picture came from google images, I don't take my camera to work with me, maybe I should.:-))Steph
Our puss Mot often chased things including wallabies. (No worry about damaging them as they could out do her any day.) One day there was one wallie on the dam wall so she started stalking it. Then raced up to it. The wallie took off and bowled over a duck standing nearby. Who then did a double somersault and landed with a splash in the dam! A real hee hee.
HAhahahahahahaha, poor duck but what a picture, your cat has probably got as wicked a sense of humour as you, so funny.:-))Steph
I should do a post - The cats and the wallabies, and possums, and rabbits, and magpies and butcher birds!
Yes Helen, please do, with pictures as well.I will probably laugh so much I will choke, but I am so looking forward to it, you have got to do it now. Please, please, please:-)) In anticipation, Steph