Howard-Harold the Duck

Saturday morning I get up and pack my kids and my mother in the car to head to the Farmer's Market.
I expected to find some yummy homegrown organic greens, fruits, meats, eggs, and what-not's.

What I didn't expect to find was a Duck.

A real live duck. On the busy highway, against the curb.

My heart dropped as I sped past and saw him out of the corner of my eye. I immediately stopped and turned around and asked my mom if she saw that. Then she said yeah what was it and I said it looked like a duck. So, I popped a u-turn in the middle of the road and turn into the gas station and get out and run over to the highway. There he was. So sad. Bleeding, busted up, hunched over, and just there. I snatched him up instinctively and wrapped him up in my shirt, making sure to cover his eyes. He was so calm. Too calm.

I kept his eyes covered, so not to freak him out anymore than he already was, and started to Google vets near our location. We went to a couple of vets, just to be told that they could not handle "wildlife".

I called the GA Wildlife Rescue and nothing, I called 2 local rehabs, and nothing.

I sat in the parking lot of one of the vet's office and thought very hard over what to do.

I wasn't a vet. I only rescue animals and get them treatment. I didn't know how to care for a duck. Especially a duck that looked like he was attacked by a dog and had a broken beak. He needs his beak. How will he eat? How will he drink? Is his head supposed to be THAT crooked?

No. Clue.

So, I took him back over to the lake and placed him back into the water.
Nothing.

He didn't move, swim, budge, quack, nothing.

I saw the nearby geese and felt like they would have ganged up on him if he was just there in the open. So, I found a little cove with some brush and hid him there until he was no longer in shock and could swim out. And I left.

My heart was so heavy.

I went ahead to the Farmer's Market and picked up my groceries. At one point I sent the picture I had taken of the duck to my hubby.

Once he saw the picture, he called me and asked me why I had a duck and what happened.
I explained to him the story and he asked me where he was. I told him that I placed him back at the lake and not to worry, I wasn't bringing it home.
Then he said, what?! He is hurt. Go find him and bring him home.

I was shocked.

OK. Don't have to tell me twice!

I headed back to the lake and he floated, not swam, floated further down. I rolled up my pants and walked into the lake to retrieve that baby!

My hubby called and said he would meet me at the store to buy him a kiddie pool, and some food.

So off we went to the store. Once I arrived, I didn't want to leave him in the car. {I'm one of those, HEY! I will smash your windows in if I see an animal unattended in your car when it's hot outside, types of people}

And there was my amazing mothers day gift from my hubby. A woven bag that screamed "Duck Carrier" to me. He was still wrapped up and fit perfectly in the bag.
Off we went.

I had a little mini hand held fan over him so he didn't get too warm in there. But he was soaked from the lake and the water was surprisingly cold.

We grabbed him a pool, some seeds, some berries, worms, crickets, and headed home.

My husband got home before I did and had his pool already set up, filled with water, and the dogs put up.

We came in and I put him in the pool to cool down and drink some water. He was content. He started to swim around and duck his beak in to drink some water.

I cleaned his beak up and put some homemade salve on it.
I tried to feed him, but his beak was so messed up, he didn't feel like opening it. This is where the tough love came into play. I knew that if he didn't eat something, he would die. I gently rubbed the tip of his beak with my finger and he barely opened up. But enough to wear I could place my finger there to hold it ajar so that I could put some smushed berry in there. He loved it. I tried this a few more times throughout the night.

I took him out of the pool and let him forage in the grass and wooded area for awhile and then he curled up in some grass and fell asleep. This scene went on for a couple of days. He slowly got better and started to make noises, run from the dogs, flap his wings, hold himself up, and so many other things he wasn't doing when he arrived.
Him and my pup Frankie became buds.

Side thought: I swear I attract hurt animals. They FLOCK to me. Not that I mind. For example:

These baby birds kept following me. They would not go to their mum in the tree. But I loved it. They were so sweet and cuddly. Eventually, I was able to put them all in the tree and run off so they couldn't catch me. They were just learning how to fly and their nest was in the playground in our neighborhood and I just knew that they would be stepped on.

Anywho!

So, There he was, this beautiful mallard duck chilling in my backyard.
After a couple of days, I started to notice that he was getting harder to catch, made a lot more noise, and was opening his beak!
{YAY!}
So, yesterday, we took him to a lake up the street from us and let him go.

At first he wouldn't move. So, I touched his tail feathers and he flitted off. He swam and dove and drank til his little heart was content. I had never seen him dive, so I was thankful to see that. That to me was a good sign. By the way, the first picture of this scene was not of me throwing him. He saw the local geese and freaked out and I was trying to keep him from falling. Yes, I know he has wings. Motherly instinct, sorry.

Howard the duck, named by my hubby, knows as Harold to me, is living the life now.

I will be checking up on him though, making sure he stays out of trouble, and to check his beak.
This was only part of my eventful weekend.
How was yours?

Stubborn Frankie and his rescue story

I am bringing it down a notch today with something easy peasey (as my 8 year old says) with a silly 2 minute video of our rescue Frankie and I having a disagreement.

Frankie is our latest rescue baby whom we rescued from the vet. Here's the story.

One morning I was cruising through Facebook, when I saw a post from a friend of mine who worked at our family vet's office. It stated that they had all of these wonderful dogs in their company rescue that were not yet homed and would be able to go to a good home for free. All dogs were vetted, up to date on shots, treated for fleas and ticks, microchipped, and Heartworm Negative! What. A. Deal. Now to find "The One". I went through a couple of pages and I saw him. Sitting all sad in a corner, so dirty and hairy, you couldn't even see his face.

I HAD to see him.

I contacted my friend who gave me the contact at the Vet and snuck out of work to go meet him.

When I got to the vet's office, I let them know why i was there, and was told to please wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

An hour had gone by and my boss is beginning to wonder if I am coming back.
I speak up, again, and was told that the woman who handles the adoptions is not there.
Then she said, "Have you met him yet?"
"No!" I happily shouted, "Can I?"

She takes me back to this pen where it is so noisy and there he sits. All scruffy and sad. He was so ecstatic to be getting out of that cage for a change!
They put me into a room to bond with him and he didn't want anything to do with me!

Stubborn.

He will fit in nicely.

So, after calling, coaxing, bribing, and baby talk, I HAD to get back to work.
I asked them how could I go about taking him Home.

They simply said, just fill out some paperwork and take him home.
I immediately sent a picture to my husband who immediately replied back "He needs to be groomed!". {That's "Honey, he is so very cute and how very kind of you to bring home another dog for us to love!" in husband talk)

Well I get him home and settled in and have to run back to work.

When I get home after work, my family and I take him to the groomers!

Well.... We thought it was all loving, snuggling, and wet nose kisses from here on out. Boy were we wrong.

We get him home from the groomers and my husband looks at me and says, "I thought you said he was neutered?!"
I said, "he is."
"No he isn't"
"Well that is what the vet said"
"I am looking right at his man parts, and they are still intact!"

I called the vet's office and they cannot locate his file. They "know" he was fixed, vetted, microchipped, and heartworm negative. They just "knew" it.
Well guess what?! I need to see some paperwork and evidence that this is true!
My family and I are already attached to this sweetheart and I need to make sure it is ok for him to be around my other animals.

Then they called back. They cannot locate his file and I will need to bring him in to have him neutered and vetted.
We take him in and give them huge "what-for" for what has happened and they apologized and said that it would be no cost to us.
Ya think?!?!
To make matters worse, he was not micro-chipped, and he was COVERED in fleas, ticks, and sores.
And.... with a heavy heart, he was heart worm positive.
Positive.

My poor baby.


Poor franks gets home from being neutered and poked and prodded, and is so sleepy he goes right to bed.

We begin the treatment for heart worms.
We decided to go the "slow-kill" route for the sake of his body.
I gotta say, For a stray with heart worms, he is amazing.
House trained, super snuggly, great protector, great with our kids and other animals, friendly, a smidge bossy, loving, a tad selfish with toys, and likes to run (as in, out the door every time it opens).

But we love him so very much and I believe he loves us too!!!

I hope you enjoy this cute little video! Please share it with your friends, you never know who may need a smile!

Bad Wife award

So last night I received the "Bad Wife" award.
I still feel REALLY REALLY AWFUL about what I did, and I apologized a lot too.
In my defense, I did just get my monthly friend, and I was sooo irritable.

BUT NO EXCUSE.

So last night, Easter Sunday of all days, we were at my in-laws for an egg hunt and for dinner. My wonderful husband was picking on his sister, like always (does this ever stop?), and I joined in on the Great Baked Bean Debate. We were going over how we buy baked beans in a can and then we "spruce" them up to our liking. Well I asked my hubby: "When was the last time you had beans straight out of the can?"
And he replied, "Last weekend at the cookout, and yesterday at the cookout".
I looked at him and said, "NO you did not! I fixed those beans up and so did Robyn." (my awesome friend/neighbor)
Well he was pushing my buttons and being such a smart bum that I was getting upset. My face turned red and I could feel the heat coming from my glowing cheeks. I felt like I was having a hot flash!
And then it came out.... Like a tornado that couldn't be stopped.

I looked at my hubbs, in front of his family {Lord help me}, and it just slipped out....
"You're being kind of a douche bag!"
DOUCHE BAG! <---- huh?! Really?! OF ALL WORDS!

OH. MY. GOOD. HEAVENS. ABOVE.

WHAT. DID. I. JUST. SAY.?

I couldn't believe it myself. The whole room turned quiet and then his mom said, "Well technically he is right, but we all knew what you meant".
I wanted to hide under a rock.
Why?
How?
Really?
That is my husband! And that is his family! And on the day that our Lord and Savior had risen!
Well he definitely rose for that occasion, just to throw my bum straight in Hell!

I am still mortified by my horrible outburst. And to make matters worse, I am still a little peeved that he continued to push my buttons and provoke me, knowing that HE KNEW dern good in well what I was referring to, he just wanted to be "funny". Well who's laughing now!
NOBODY.

Yes he "TECHNICALLY" has had beans out of the can.
You kind of have to take them out to eat them.
But he also knew that I meant, plain not jazzed up from the can.
And yet... He pushed and I spewed.

Ahh, marriage.

You win some, you lose some. And son, I lost my whole lot last night!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's errr ummm.... Look away!

Here in the good ol' South, Pollen is killing us!

One day it is gorgeous and wonderful. The next- covered in a blanket of yellow dust.
Yesterday it rained so much, and we had some local flooding, and I thought to myself:
"Self, this here rain will wash all of that yellow allergy murderer away"

Then I wake up this morning and the sun is shining and it is a little chilly, but bright and wonderful!

Well I have sneezed 4 times since typing this blog post.
I happen to look out front of the office and then I see it.

A HUGE cloud of yellow, just blowing around and literally so thick, it looks like it is out walking a dog down the sidewalk. Craziness.

What. Happened. To. The. Big. Cleansing. Rain.

Here are some helpful tips to defeat the yellow cloud.

1) Stay inside.
2) Seal your doors and windows.
3) Purchase a face mask.
4) For real though, please see #5-#8 for the real tips.
5) Eat a spoonful of local honey to help with allergies. Must be local. {Bees eat local pollen then make honey which is customized to the things around you daily; which is why local & organic is key}
6) Eat wasabi covered peas. This really keeps your nasal passages open.
7) Cook with turmeric. {Or take a supplement- I do this and my kids do too}
8) Wash your pets.


Here are a couple of links with tips:





How's the weather where you are?

Tornado!

Imagine, if you will, a closet packed with pillows, blankets, and laundry baskets filled with "important" things.

This is my house during bad weather.

Why?

I believe I was UBER traumatized by a storm that came through around 1986 or so in little ol' Stockbridge Ga one night. My mum was preparing a bath for my twin sister and I {yes I have a twin- no we are not just alike- yes we have weird twin feelings- no she is younger :) }

Anywho.

We were getting ready to bathe and we heard this loud noise and I remember my mum grabbing us and sitting in the hall with us under her arms and then it happened! BAM! The biggest tree that I had ever seen, I was 2, came crashing down about a foot from where we were straight through my sister's bedroom. Complete. Shock. And it came on so sudden, that we were just caught off guard.

I remember sitting in the hall and listening to this amazing noise and then it just went quiet. We got up from where we were and looked around and we had a couple if trees in our home and across our driveway and parts of our roof were gone. My mom, sister, and I walked outside to see neighbors everywhere and ambulances and fire trucks and I remember my uncle literally running to our home (our backyard connected to his street) and it was madness.

To this day, I get a little anxious with the weather. Except now I am a tad fascinated by it. I want to stand outside and watch it coming in and feel the wind, however, if I feel that feeling in my tummy, you can guarantee that when you turn around I am already hiding back in the closet! HA.

My hubby doesn't quite understand it. He thinks I am silly and I remind him, "It may be silly to you, but at least you will have clothing for a week when everyone else's are strewn through trees buddy!"

I have gotten a little better with it, now I learn to not freak until the moment I need to. I still feel it in my tummy, but other than that I enjoy the heavy storms. Just as long as they stay away from tornadoes.

Anyone else act like this?

I know my twin does. She even called me last night, she lives in Dallas, TX, and told me she was out with friends and left abruptly because the weather alert had gone from orange to red and into a Tornado Watch. At least I have her. HAHAHA.

Science Gone Wrong- and the plot to thicken our hips!

Why on earth would someone create something so awful?!
This product can cause diabetes, weight gain, nevermind it is practically poisoning your body, and causes cancer in rats and other horrible things.
What is this awful product? ASPARTAME!

Here is a quick little science know-how on how this "harmless" product is made.

Quick Science Lesson for Diet soda drinkers, and aspartame users....
E-coli (that nasty, nasty, bacteria that can kill you) is fed Genetically Modified/Engineered Soil (Fake Soil ridden with Round-Up).
Once the cute little squishy E-coli bacteria processes this soil and poops it out, Aspartame is created! Yay! Sweet poop for you!
Sorry to be gross, but the truth is ugly.

Happy National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!

It is National PB -N- J Day!

This is a recipe post that is clean and organic, as well as GF. I have been diagnosed as being 'Gluten Intolerant'. Yay....

But please please give this recipe a shot. It is still AMAZING and delicious and you can feel just a little bit better about eating 12 one or two. ;)

Peanut Butter Cookies w/ Grape Jelly Glaze
{These are amazing whether they are organic or not; but Organic is best}

Ingredients:

1 cup of organic peanut butter

1 cup of coconut sugar + 1 tablespoon of molasses {1 cup of brown sugar will work also}

1 organic egg

1 tsp. gf baking soda

1 tsp. organic vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

Mix peanut butter with sugar and molasses until smooth. Add in the egg and beat until fluffy.
Mix in the vanilla and the baking soda.

Scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE.

While the cookies are baking, lets get that frosting ready.

1 cup of powdered coconut sugar {or regular powdered sugar}

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup of organic grape jelly

Bring grape jelly to a simmer on the stove top, gradually stir in vanilla and powdered sugar.
Once well incorporated, let sit for 5 minutes to let it cool off and firm up.
Then drizzle over Peanut Butter cookies.

Once your beauties are ready.... don't share them!
Hide them as quick as you can!


OK, Fine. You can share. But I HIGHLY advise that you maybe kind of sort of hide a batch for yourself. Just sayin'.