Genre: Opinion/Argumentation

And On That Farm He Had A Duck Yesterday I ventured into deepest darkest Wales in order to collect the ducks that John (of Going Gently fame) has donated to my miniature smallholding. Here they are huddled together in hysterical panic in the corner of the converted wendyhouse which is their new home. Apparently this state of hysteria is not unusual in runner ducks. In fact it may well be their default setting. It's a pretty big contrast to my placid fat hens, a couple of which are so languid that they let the kids stroke them rather than bother to get out of the way. The ducks are currently undergoing a period of confinement in order to get them used to their sleeping quarters, so haven't been let loose on the garden as yet. Evan did take an exploratory foray into their hut this afternoon to see if he could make friends with any of them. However the calcophany of panicked quacking he provoked soon saw him shoot for the exit. "Why are they quacking so loud dad?!" he asked. "Because, as John warned me when I asked for them, they are mad as a box of frogs". It was really great meeting John. He was a virgin to the blogger-meet-up experience, and so I feel honored to pop his cherry. Judging by his blog entry I think the whole thing freaked him out a little bit. Meeting people you've followed online is a funny old thing. We all use the internet to project an airbrushed image of ourselves, and so meeting a blogger in person feels a bit like meeting their slightly less charismatic twin sibling. A bit like in Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Xander's twin brother popped up on occasion -- yeah, he looks sort of the same, but he had a funny shaped head. Not that I felt that way with John I hasten to add. His head was perfectly normal shaped. But I'm sure he must have felt it with me (the current wild state of my beard alone is enough to send people running for the woods). But it wasn't just John I met. John's tales of his various pets and livestock play such a big part in what makes his blog a fantastic read. So meeting Constance the bulldog, Boris the turkey, and Jesus the cockerel felt like meeting minor celebrities. I got the same little thrill from the encounter as I would attending a dinner party with the Chuckle Brothers and Michael Fish. Exciting stuff. 1. The ducks look very nice but I'm sure they would appreciate a little more effort on your behalf to decorate their new home. Maybe some colour similar to their natural habitat on the shed wall would calm them down a little. 2. I thought you were a lot shorter than you actually are when I met you. I never expected a 'Hagrid'. ;-)