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"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

Well, that's a relief @Antje77. No surrogate mums and no waterfowl involved. That's a captivating photo of one of the offspring.

What's more, your 5 new ducklings have a duck mum. All's well that ends well.
 
LivingLightly said:
What's more, your 5 new ducklings have a duck mum. All's well that ends well.
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Turns out those are the ducklings that were hatched by the chicken, and now have been stolen by the duck with the nest that didn't work out!
There are 6 ducklings now, two were left at the nest, one was killed by the dog but we did save the other one.
The poor chicken is still following the ducklings around, and very worried about their swimming habits!
I think the ducklings are pretty safe otherwise, with both a chicken and a duck mum.
 
A doggy story from Alistair:
Archie, the young American bulldog x German shepherd, still has some puppy habits, but is aware when he does something wrong and so hides. A few days ago, he clearly thought he had done something (which Alistair hadn't identified) and had taken himself into hiding under a table. Alistair wanted him to come out but didn't want to scrabble under the table to haul him out. Knowing that Archie is still very curious about things, he decided to tempt him out with curiosity. Alistair laid down on the floor, face down and waited. It worked. Archie approached gradually. Next thing Alistair knew Archie was licking his ear but - what was this? his other ear was also being licked. Banksie had decided to join in, so Alistair had 2 large dogs clambering over him with wet tongues licking his ears! Took him a while to get them to desist and allow him up off the floor. They were obviously enjoying the game. He has decided that he really doesn't like slobbery ear kisses.
 
Hi all, I had a fairly good day in the garden, slowly getting there. The starlings were furious with me for being in my own garden while they are feeding their first fledgeling but they soon forgave me when I topped up the food and water.

Good day food wise too,

Fasted 16 hours,

2pm
Small bowl of beef mince with onion, cucumber and tomato garnish
Pork puffs with chicken liver pate (new favourite!)
Glass Kefir

Pork crackling snack

6pm
2 crispy skin chicken legs
2 squares montezuma with orange oil

Coffee with cream x3 (through the day, not all at once!)
Lots of sparkling mineral water - I don't drink except very rarely, so this is my treat

Hope everyone is doing well!
 
@jpscloud sounds like you have had a great day both in the garden and with your fasting and food choices well done. We've got some blackbirds nesting in our hedge and they get particularly annoyed when I walk around in evening listening to podcasts. I can almost hear them tuting at me being in their garden!
I've switched btw to a 48 hour kefir production now to try and slow it down. I'm putting it in fridge to start for first 24 hours and then allowing it ferment at room temperature for next 24 hours seemed to work well with this batch - I'm hoping that will continue to work on this cycle.
@Annb enjoyed your funny doggy story thank you.
Right off out to annoy our blackbirds in the garden - need some time walking off stress after a complex caring day. Nick our eldest needs 5 Diazepam to get him out to an appointment but although it makes him able to cope psychologically he's very floppy\ unsteady and he's quite a big chap.I
 
That's a great idea with the kefir, I've been discarding some and mixing with a little shop bought to calm it down - it's very fizzy! I think I will try fridge fermenting as well.

I love how our garden birds "own" our gardens! One of my favourite pastimes is watching the bird bath when I fill it up, they just can't get enough bathing in!

Your son is very lucky to have such wonderful parents, but I totally understand the stress - caring for mum 24/7 really took it out of me. I wouldn't have had it any other way but my goodness care is tough sometimes. Thank goodness for gardens!
 
So just as we thought a happy ending might just be possible, another complication arises @Antje77. I can't help but feel sorry for that chicken, who now believes the ducklings are her chicks. Her mothering instinct is unwavering, but a duck's drive to seek water is equally powerful.

Our garden backs onto a small park which has a lake. Most of its ducks build a nest on the island in the middle, but some seek a site nearby. Mallards are good at concealing their nests, so if a pair should select somebody's garden as a nesting site, they won't make a song and dance about it. It's not uncommon for the hen to go unnoticed altogether until her ducklings are mobile. Every two or three years or so, a neighbour alerts us to a mallard in their garden or in the road at the front of the house trying to find a route back to the lake that her ducklings can manage. Mum knows the general direction she needs to go, but of course the ducklings are too young to fly over walls and fences.

Usually, it's a question of opening gates and shepherding the mother duck through somebody's garden back into the park. Where mum goes, her offspring follow. The most I've had to do is lend a hand to the odd pint-sized duckling (usually the last one in the little convoy), who couldn't quite manage a step up. Young ducklings are vulnerable on land, but can swim and feed themselves, as soon as they reach water.
 
Hi All just caught up with the other thread but can’t believe how much I have missed in here. @Annb you seem to have really been n the wars with your tum. Antibiotics are not tum friendly. I have only ever been able to get to the third day before giving up due to sickness and painful diarrohea (sorry if tmi). Usually eating very little and sticking to a little toast and tea or water helps but it sounds like your symptoms are a lot more complex. I hope by now you have finished the antiBs and turned the corner, fingers xd. Like many of you I have spent most of the last week in the garden, the first real chance this year. I have planted lots of geraniums, Hidcote lavenders and osteoperimums and also bought two types of trailing tomatoes which are on my window sill to “come on” before planting out in baskets. I don’t remember ever being so late. I’ve also planted out Butterhead and Little Gem lettuces. Its only me who eats salad so its so helpful to cut what I need when I need it. I was a bit worried for the chicken mum who hatched the ducklings. Wouldn’t it be nice if both mums could share but nature has its own ideas. @shelley262 your cruise sounded perfect not least the food choices. I think I have fallen into the trap of eating too much quantity wise. When I got my cropped trousers out they were a bit tight! I think my next A1c won’t hold due to this. At least when the weather warms up I can eat less and lighter.
 
Morning all. I've been in the garden too and sorted out half of it. I have started to put my lights out as well and when the darkness falls, it's a mini Blackpool illuminations out there! I've put a path in so I can reach more of my washing line and have lights down each side.My son bought me 'flaming torches' for Mother's Day and my friend bought me 2 Turkish-like lights and I've hung them on the bird station with the seeds. I love it and I sat there the other night looking for the Aurora (but unfortunately didn't see them). I hope you all get as much joy from your gardens as I do.
 
PenguinMum said:
I was a bit worried for the chicken mum who hatched the ducklings. Wouldn’t it be nice if both mums could share but nature has its own ideas.
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They seem to be doing very well now (although one duckling has disappeared). The chicken keeps the duck and ducklings company as long as they're not in the water, and she isn't panicking anymore when the little ones go in, she must have gotten used to her childrens' baffling habits!
 
Had an easy but long day yesterday. An 03:30 taxi got us to airport for 06:30 flight to Sicily. Can't believe how busy the airport was !!!
Settling in nicely here, we're doing a tour so only at this first stop 2 nights and have already done several magnificent churches and have walked over 11,000 steps with more still to do.
First day was iffy with food/meal times but did better today by eating an enormous lc breakfast. Evening meals are late here, the restaurants don't even open until 7
 
Annb said:
At this time of year the ferries are usually managing the crossings, unless they break down, of course. Fingers crossed for your niece on Friday. What work is she doing on Uist?
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She is in a company that does all things to do with power. They did a lot of solar panels, but now they lots of things.
 
Hello all, mixed weather today but I had my HbA1c blood drawn first thing, then got some little jobs done with a lot of sitting around enjoying some flowering plants I bought for the polytunnel. The dianthus in particular fills the whole thing with scent!

I was annoyed that my blood sugar was high this morning, almost 10, even though nothing yesterday should have raised it. It could be a slight cold though, I had some sneezes yesterday that I put down to hay fever and also feel a bit lacking in energy. I know it's a 3 month average but still!

@maglil55 I was sorry to see that the SuperGran actor has passed away, what a legend she was.

@MrsA2 that sounds lovely, hope you have a fantastic time!

10.30am
3 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, mushrooms
Glass kefir

Green tea
Coffee with cream
Sparkling water

Pork puffs

6pm
Another glass of kefir
Beef mince with bacon fat from breakfast, cauliflower florets
Green yogurt with cream
 
Hope you really enjoy your hols your tour sounds brilliant
 
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Good luck hope your Hba1c results are what you are hoping for. Id have been annoyed too by my morning figures going up on the day - but they often do - I'm sure it's the stress well it is for me! Hopefully you'll hear quite quickly.
 
It's been HOT for the past 3 days in the north of the Netherlands. Weatherforecast said 25 to 27 °C, the pole alternatively showing time, date and temperature in the next village said 30 °C at around 2 PM today.
On a hot steel ship in the sun it's hotter, as in it burns your feet and legs if you walk/sit on it.

On monday I worked for 3 hours, giving up shortly after noon.
Yesterday I had my weekly aqua jogging thing late morning, so I called my boss at around noon to ask if it was even worth coming over. Nope.
Today I was smart and decided on an alternative work schedule, so I had my alarm set for something very much in the middle of the night for me, and started painting at 6:30 AM, which allowed me to keep going until 1 PM.
Tomorrow will most likely be a shorter day unless the weather changes, today was painting on the semi shaded starboard side, tomorrow will be portside in the full sun, no way I'll keep that up until 1 AM. I will see if I can wake up to a 'middle of the night' alarm again though to make the best of it.

The boss doesn't care when I work: as a rule of thumb I work around 4 hours a day, which can be 3 or 7, or the occasional none, and I simply tell him how much he owes me at the end of the week, all fine. Although I received a very surprised text message when he saw my post on Facebook with a picture of his ship showing I was starting work at 6:30.

Aqua jogging was fun yesterday!
A good lesson allowing me to have something of a real workout (not a given, as most of the small group are at least 20 years my senior). We're allowed to hang out in the warm bubbly bath thing for 10-15 minutes after the lesson, and this time our instructor waited until everyone but my friend and I had left to approach us.
We started to apologise and tell her "yes, yes, we're leaving", but it turned out she wanted to ask me if I'd be willing to join her for a swim in the outdoor pool!
No swimming solo without supervision in any of the pools even for employees, and because the pool is closed after our lesson, she wasn't allowed to go for a cooling swim after her hot work. So she figured that in swimming together, she'd technically be the pool guard because I were swimming, and we spent a nice additional 15 minutes in the cool outside pool.

At 47, getting a special treatment from the teacher still does its thing to make you feel special, which is completely ridiculous but lovely at the same time!
Let's hope we'll make a habit of it. the cool outdoor pool water feels lovely after working out in the stuffy atmosphere of the indoor pool.
 
Hope it cools down for you it's tough working in full sun. Great idea to head out before sun gets going also means you finish work earlier. When I did paid work I always liked to start as early as possible it also meant missing rush hour traffic. Didn't like the alarm though!
 
Enjoyed your doggy story @Annb. Some welcome light relief from the gloomy news dominating the headlines day after day.
 
Hi all,

The surgery phoned with my HbA1c results, down to 52 from 66. Very happy about that! Cholesterol is "slightly elevated" but Dr left message that he understood I didn't want statins and to just ask if I want to start taking them again. No face to face this time, so they didn't get to be impressed with my weight loss! I suppose the reduction in HbA1c shows I'm doing better.

I've had a day of staring at the rain from my polytunnel, watching you tube videos and slightly overdoing it on the carbs but not too bad. I intend to get around to some more extended fasting again soon.

12pm
3 chicken legs
Glass of kefir

Sparkling water
Coffee with cream x 2

4pm
5 ryvita with butter and chicken liver pate

Tea will be a small amount of beef mince with cauliflower.
 
Congratulations @jpscloud so pleased for you that your hba1c is heading in right direction well done you definitely a cause for celebration.
Think your slight overdo of the carbs isn't bad if it's the Ryvita - you are doing so well give yourself a big hug from me I am really proud of your achievements.
 
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