Rubba Dub Duck 'n' Pumpkin

It seemed a bit unfair to keep our duckling lodger in the bathroom all weekend, what with ducks being used to living in and around ponds and lakes and stuff, so yesterday, with the weather still glorious, we built a duck lido in the back garden. This was constructed from the cage that was the Pumphrey Wing a.k.a the Slocombe Psychiatric Ward a.k.a the Miggins Convalescence Unit a.k.a the Pandora Kitten Isolation Play Pen. (I am soooooooooo glad we're getting our money's worth out of this purchase!) AND an old cat litter tray lined with left over polythene from the polytunnel that I was planning to grow watercress in (and still might).

A brick was placed in one end of the litter tray as a faux river bank and Andy and I spent a very entertaining two hours sitting on the garden swing seat reading, having lunch and watching Rubba diving in and out the water, sunning herself on the brick, drying out, preening, falling in the water and getting wet again (ducklings, we have discovered, have dubious balance skills), and running around the grass peeping. She sat on my lap and had a snuggle and a swing and then she went back into her lido for another swim.

All the while the hens were watching her with beady eyes. They looked like they hadn't had duck a l'orange for a very long time.

When we were all 'cute ducklinged' out, we went indoors - Andy to do some computery stuff and me to make a marmalade cake. I thought, I can keep an eye on Rubba from the window.

Within two minutes, Rubba had escaped her lido and was running up and down the outside of Cluckinghen Palace sending the hens into a complete frenzy. Mrs Poo had a meat cleaver between her teeth and Mrs Slocombe was juggling oranges and shouting 'They'll never fit!'

We shot back into the garden, rounded Rubba up and took her back to solitary confinement i.e the bathroom.

So this morning, I said to Rubba, 'I am taking you for a supervised swim in your lido but you must behave yourself' and she said, 'Okay,' and then tried to escape immediately, so ended up having her morning dip and dabble in the bathroom sink instead.

I make no apologies for the cute duckling pictures. Rubba has been a highly entertaining addition to our weekend and I've tried to prevent her imprinting on me by wearing a bag on my head when handling her. She is going to her permanent home tomorrow and the lido will be redundant until the next stray creature comes along.

And what about this?? Our first ever pumpkin which we discovered at the allotment this morning. It's gonna be a WHOPPER!