What Was That Word Again?

"There's a little word I'm gonna teach you", my neighbor said. "It begins with the letter 'N', and ends with an 'O'." But-but-but.... it was an abandoned pet goose! With a duck buddy!! How could I say 'no'? I imagine my neighbor would snicker, then patiently attempt to show me how to shape my mouth to make those sounds. 

With that said, let me introduce two new additions to the Big Softie Ranch: Gertie the Pilgrim Goose, and Moe (short for "mohawk") the (as best I can guess) Crested Khaki Campbell Duck. We've had them for about a week now. Gertie is slowly winning over the crabby geese already on the property, starting with Billy-Bob the gander (of course). Moe is getting to know the chickens a bit better, and is no longer stuck like glue to Gertie's side. Lest Moe have problems with species-identification issues, we've ordered ten more Khaki Campbell ducklings to keep her/him company. You know, because it's not right to have one of any particular animal on the farm. Yeah... (ahem). Besides, getting the new batch of ducklings will get Spouse and I off our backsides to finish up the Gooselandia pond. What was going to be an in-ground stock tank has now morphed into a small, slope-sided pond with fish-safe pond liner. We'll throw in some minnows and goldfish to keep the mosquitoes and algae down to a minimum, and... what?

Speaking of "no" and lack thereof, Emma the adopted dog is now definitely "one of us". She proved it by refusing to budge from her napping space, forcing me to work around her as I finished installing lattice on the side porch for the evergreen wisteria. Just like Maggie and Bandit, she figured I'd work around her. Yep, one of us!