My friends, Shannon and Tim went to England. Shannon and I both have an interest in Archeology. On her trip she stopped at an active dig in Hexham, UK. It was Vindolanda, which was a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. Shannon bought me a duck pin, since I raise ducks for eggs.

Ilean came on May 1st as a 2 month old Pekin duck. With her was Bertha, who became Bert when it was obvious he was a male. They were a comical pair. Ilean was loud. I was told that’s not a duck, that’s a goose because her quack was more like a honk.

We had to bury Ilean today. She was killed by a predator last night. It was sad. Bert is lonely.

I got Pepper in May of 2019 from the 4 H. My friend’s son had found a newly hatched chick in the trash. Since I had a flock we adopted it and named it Kathy, because she was chatty. Chatty Kathy was a doll from my youth. She needed chicks her age so I picked up Bob and Pepper from the 4 H.

Bob was white speckled and as an adult hatched our rooster, Chicklet. Kathy was rust colored and Pepper was black. They formed a sub flock and hung together. After Kathy (killed by a bobcat) and Bob (died in her sleep) died, the flock turned on Pepper and attacked her. I separated her and found her new friends – Adeline and Bobette, who were bantam ( small breed ) chickens. I built them their own hoop coop.

Adeline was much older than I thought and had a happy retirement with space to roam. Bobette was a good companion for Pepper who was half blind from a previous flock attack. They had many years together. When Pepper died I got Red as a companion chicken. They had their own space and lived in the coop I built for Pepper.

Pepper passed today. She was lethargic at breakfast and passed after lunch. We buried her along the tree line on the East of the property.

On October 13, 2022 I got six mixed bag ducklings. We named them with southern names in honor of our friend Sarah. She was one of 9 kids with seven girls. The twins were Melva Gay and Velda Fay. We named the ducks Melva Gay, Velda Fay, Thelma, Wynell, Lanell, and Janell.

Thelma was a Rouen duck. She was friendly and ate peas from your hand.

Thelma was slow to go to bed last night. She was walking ok, but did not rush to get treats. I found her dead this morning. It is really sad to lose her. I made her a nose gay and we buried her here along the tree line.

I sent my granddaughter a sewing kit for here birthday. It was in a pretty sewing box with lots of tools for sewing. I liked the multicolored thread box.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We went out kayaking with our friends. It was wonderful.

On the weekend or 2/15-2/16/25 i was able to attend a teachers workshop sponsored by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station held at the KSC Visitor’s Center. It was a great hands on training to teach the nature of electromagnetic waves to kids of all ages.

The teachers were very informative. We were shown techniques for demonstrating the nature of waves. It was exciting to use an antenna to track the ISS and download an image transmitted from it. The picture had a lot of noise, but it showed how to record data and then decode it.

I am really fortunate that the school I teach at gave me this opportunity. I can’t wait to show the students what I learned.

I had a wonderful time this weekend going to the Gardenfest. I went with plant loving friends. I brought my little red wagon so I could pick up plants. I was looking for a hibiscus and some milkweed.

There were so many beautiful plants. There were orchids that smelled like chocolate and pitcher plants. I did buy a pitcher plant but no orchids. I have plenty of orchids. I got a Gerber daisy too. We went out to lunch after the show. It was wonderful.

I went to a UF Extension class on making jam and jelly. We made apple jelly and strawberry jam. It was nice to learn how it is done. At the end of class I was able to take home the strawberry tops for the chickens and ducks. They liked them, especially Daphne the Pekin duck. I liked the aprons they had at class that said “I eat local because I can.”

I don’t really do birding. I have a bird friendly yard and we get lots of feathered visitors. I enjoyed the festival. The Florida Wildlife Hospital had an ambassador owl, who could not be released due to a blind eye.

It was great to drive to the Raddison in Cocoa Beach. I had worked for the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot that was just down the road a little. I enjoyed seeing how things changed since 2006 when I worked there. At the festival I purchased a new bird house. I’ve been seeing a lot of wrens and thought a nesting house for them might be nice. I put it outside my kitchen window.