We have a new animal on our farm. The sea monkeys have finally made their appearance albeit a couple of weeks later than we had anticipated. Forgive the picture. It was the best I could do since we were unwilling to buy the harmless food for them that colors them red (guess we aren't serious about sea monkeys yet, as the ad claims the food is "only for serious sea monkey lovers") The sea monkeys were discovered by accident. I was quietly waiting for the right moment to encourage Half-pint to dump the water. Mary and Half-pint have been sleeping in this past week instead of getting up promptly for school (one morning by as much as an hour). They are assigned extra chores if they aren't ready on time, and this past weekend they also had extra lessons and schoolwork (one downside, for them, to have their mom as their teacher...hehe). One good thing came of their chores, besides a cleaner house. Mary was removing the dust bunnies upstairs when she noticed a sea monkey swimming in the water. So far there are just two, but I have to admit they are much cuter than I thought. They have tiny feathery legs that undulate slowly while they dive from the surface to the floor of their tank. They seem to be getting along well, which brings me to the next tidbit of news.
We attempted to introduce one of the week old ducklings to one of the newest hatchlings within a few hours of hatching. It promptly bit the newest ducklings tail feathers (which is just what the mommy did). Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Later in the week, we decided to try again. We needed to vacate the smaller pen for the last duckling due this week. This time the older ducklings and the newest ones got along like old buddies, grooming and snuggling each other. It's so cute to watch them sleep together. The four babies like to cluster around one older duckling named Rusty (Half-pint named the duck Rusty "because it's the cutest"?) Rusty seems the most tollerant of their preening and space intrusion.
Well, our farm population is growing, and there are now pine chips everywhere despite daily vacuuming. It's totally worth it though to see the girls (and baby boy) watch and learn about the ducklings. It is funny how a little thing like animals can bring unity to siblings. They can all sit and watch the animals together in perfect harmony, until somebody "steals" someone else's spot to view the animals. It is a great opportunity to share and learn to take turns.
This holiday season, I'm grateful for the peace and harmony in our home and the life we share together. What are you grateful for?
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