The ugly duckling

The ugly duckling, 

Treasured by a little boy.

Internet

A car pulled up. Not so unusual. We have people coming down our lane all  the time. They usually ask silly questions.

A little boy was sitting in the back seat. Tears streaming down his small face. He was clutching a tiny yellow duckling to his chest.

You see, we have a very large pond behind our house.

The little duckling followed me everywhere. I named him "Ittybitty".

After spending a few days and nights in a warm box in our kitchen we decided that it was time to introduce him to the pond. We made a small enclosure of wire fencing, under a tree and partly in the pond. He knew immediately that this was the place where he should have been all along.

A long way away, clear across the pond, Tilly, our resident goose, was watching our every move. Tilly is bossy. She likes to pick up ducks and toss them away from the feeding trough. She bosses wild geese. She chases dogs and cats.

She was churning the water to get to the tiny creature. I picked up a stick, just in case. Tilly swam to the wire fence, lifted it and claimed Ittybitty. From then on, the two were inseparable.

A few weeks later, the little boy came by to see his friend. He called and called for it. That was the last time the small boy came to see his duckling. It didn't know him anymore.

Ittybitty turned out to be a big and fat Peking Duck. She abandoned Tilly and took up with three beautiful Greenheads (Mallard Ducks). The Greenhead boys, always two on her left and one on her right, accompany Ittybitty to wherever he wants to go.

Have a great weekend, 

Gina 

It's a small world afteral

 

And full of Surprises

This is Mathilde (Tilly for short) our resident Goose

This is Mathilde's look.  Always on the alert.   

 Mathilde has ruled our pond for more than sixteen years

You might recall the story I told you when Tilly lost her friend Leopold.  She would not eat or drink for days, standing by the greenhouse and hoping that her own reflection in the glass was Leopold and that sooner or later he would come out.

Mathilde could not be consoled, which is strange because when Leopold was still alive Mathilde took every opportunity flirting with every goose that showed up on our pond.  Wild geese, who visited, where told where they could swim and where they could rest under the big elm tree.

source: Snow College

Not long ago I was teaching a "Historic Tiles Painting Workshop" in a remote Forest Service Camp.  The camp had been purchased by our local College and all forest cabins had been beautifully restored.  Among my group of students was a grandmother (not just any grandmother, but the Professor of Music, graduate of the Julliard School of Music, New York),  her two grown daughters and an eleven year old, charming little girl, her granddaughter. 

Because Tilly was grieving so for her Leopold we decided to find her a few pals.  She loved them all but decided that one beautiful, all white little goose, was her favorite and soon they became an item.  This little goose is very special.  Whenever we sat outside she would join us, turning her head this way and that, listening to our conversation.

What makes this little goose so special is that she was hand raised by an eleven year old girl. 

Yes, the same charming and talented little  girl who took my painting workshop.  She had named her little goose Violet. 

When we looked for Tillie's companions we found them at a distant farm.  At the time we only met one family member.   The little girl was too sad to come out of the house because she had hand raised Violet from the day she hatched out of her egg... 

"because she was sickly". 

What a small world after all!  

Violet has found a good home and a good partner.  They have raised many a group of sweet goslings.  

It is Mathilde who is the Father of our little goslings.  

He is the most considerate mate and the most loving caretaker you will ever meet.

TILLY IS A BOY GOOSE 

This we didn't know for almost sixteen years. 

Gina 

partial repost

It's a Small World After All

And full of Surprises

This is Mathilde (Tilly for short) our resident Goose

This is Mathilde's look.  Always on the alert.   

 Mathilde has ruled our pond for more than sixteen years

You might recall the story I told you when Tilly lost her friend Leopold.  She would not eat or drink for days, standing by the greenhouse and hoping that her own reflection in the glass was Leopold and that sooner or later he would come out.

Mathilde could not be consoled, which is strange because when Leopold was still alive Mathilde took every opportunity flirting with every goose that showed up on our pond.  Wild geese, who visited, where told where they could swim and where they could rest under the big elm tree.

source: Snow College

Not long ago I was teaching a "Historic Tiles Painting Workshop" in a remote Forest Service Camp.  The camp had been purchased by our local College and all forest cabins had been beautifully restored.  Among my group of students was a grandmother (not just any grandmother, but the Professor of Music, graduate of the Julliard School of Music, New York),  her two grown daughters and an eleven year old, charming little girl, her granddaughter. 

Because Tilly was grieving so for her Leopold we decided to find her a few pals.  She loved them all but decided that one beautiful, all white little goose, was her favorite and soon they became an item.  This little goose is very special.  Whenever we sat outside she would join us, turning her head this way and that, listening to our conversation.

What makes this little goose so special is that she was hand raised by an eleven year old girl. 

Yes, the same charming and talented little  girl who took my painting workshop.  She had named her little goose Violet. 

When we looked for Tillie's companions we found them at a distant farm.  At the time we only met one family member.   The little girl was too sad to come out of the house because she had hand raised Violet from the day she hatched out of her egg... 

"because she was sickly". 

What a small world after all!  

Violet has found a good home and a good partner.  They have raised many a group of sweet goslings.  

It is Mathilde who is the Father of our little goslings.  

He is the most considerate mate and the most loving Caretaker you will ever meet.

TILLY IS A BOY GOOSE 

This we didn't know for almost sixteen years. 

Gina 

Tilly, the ongoing saga

First, there were six, and then two, and then three, and then six again

Do you remember my story (Jan. 13, 2010) when Tilly, our resident goose, lost Leopold and we found five little goslings for Tilly to ease the pain of losing her friend?


Several months later Tilly chose one goose out of the five to be her special friend. Because these five goslings had been landlubbers, they made the rounds through my flower and vegetable gardens several times a day. Even the terra cotta flower pots were given a haircut every morning.


So, with a heavy heart we gave all but Violet (Tillie's new friend) to a neighbor who lives several miles from our house. I called the next morning to see how they liked their new home.




What? Only one goose is left? We raced over and rescued the terrified little goose. Tilly had been moping around and was now happy to see at least one of her little friends back.


But what had happened to the other three geese? We looked everywhere.


Two months later, our neighboring farmer wanted to know if our geese could fly? No, they are domestic geese, They are too heavy. He let us know that three geese were living amongst his sheep. They had been there for a week.


Yes, there were two white geese and one grey goose living amongst the sheep. Then we hurriedly drove home and yes, we had two white geese and one grey goose happily swimming on our pond. (Have you lost count yet?)


For two months, the three "lost" geese had walked across many fields, through fences, across a major highway, walked the gauntlet past many raccoons, bears, bobcats, foxes, mountain lions, coyotes and mean barnyard dogs.


No doubt they were on their way to meet up with their long lost friends and a pond they had become accustomed to and familiar with.


We gathered them up and drove them the rest of the way home.


Gina

The Reflection

Do you see the Reflection in the windows?

Tilly and her charges

Did you know that geese live to be over 40 years old? Mathilde, Tilly for short, was given to us 14 years ago. She was not welcome in her old neighborhood. Her constant calling disturbed the neighbors.

With us, Tilly had lots of company, many resident ducks and wild geese. Now and then she would raise a few orphans, all ducks. At night she would sound the alarm when raccoons came looking for an easy meal.

When the food trough was empty Tilly would knock on our kitchen door. And then she started knocking on the door whenever she was lonely.

She had been trying, without success, to steal a husband from one of the wild geese flocks. We found Leopold, a fine and handsome goose. They lived happily together for many years. And then one morning, Leopold didn't wake up. He had been slowing down. Maybe he was older than we thought. Even though Tilly had ignored Leopold at times, she was now inconsolable.

Tilly left the pond. For three days she stood in front of the greenhouse staring at her reflection in the glass panes. She thought it was Leopold hiding in the greenhouse, and she wanted him to come out.

How long was she going to stand there, without water, without food? We had to do something. A neighboring farm had 5 young geese for sale. We brought them home in a box and placed it near the greenhouse. When Tilly heard the little sounds she half ran, half flew to the box, turned it over and gathered all five goslings and off to the pond they hurried.

Oh, what happiness!

To be continued . . . .

Gina

Peking Duck for Christmas ?

A European Holiday tradition - Duck a l'Orange

IttyBitty and Tilly

A car pulled up. Not so unusual. We have people coming down our lane all of the time. They usually ask silly questions.

A little boy was sitting in the back seat. Tears streaming down his small face. He was clutching a tiny yellow duckling to his chest.

You see, we have a very large pond behind our house.

The little duckling followed me everywhere. I named him "Ittybitty".

After spending a few days and nights in a warm box in our kitchen we decided that it was time to introduce him to the pond. We made a small enclosure of wire fencing, under a tree and partly in the pond. He knew immediately that this was the place where he should have been all along.

A long way away, clear across the pond, Tilly, our resident goose, was watching our every move. Tilly can be quite bossy. She likes to pick up ducks and toss them away from the feeding trough. She bosses the wild geese. She chases the dogs and cat.

She was churning the water to get to the tiny creature. I picked up a stick, just in case. Tilly swam to the wire fence, lifted it and claimed Ittybitty. From then on, the two were inseparable.

A few weeks later, the little boy came by to see his friend. He called and called for it. That was the last time the small boy came to see his duckling. It didn't know him anymore.

Ittybitty turned out to be a big and fat Peking Duck. She abandoned Tilly and took up with three beautiful Greenheads (Mallard Ducks). The Greenhead boys, always two on her left and one on her right, accompany Ittybitty to wherever she wants to go.

Ittybitty will not be Duck a l'Orange for Christmas or even the New Years Eve Dinner.

Gina