Week of Duck & Dog Photos - November 23rd to 29th

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family and we hope you had a wonderful Holiday with your family and friends as well.  

DIY Laundry Detergent

I haven't bought laundry detergent in years!  Making it yourself is quick and easy.

Ingredients

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Washing Soda

4-4.5oz Bar Soap

(I use handmade soap that I make myself but you can use the soap of your choice)

A Week of Duck & Dog Photos - November 16th to 22nd

I thought this was going to be a nice relaxing week, no such luck.  I took a week of vacation at work, but we ended up having a rental house open up, so no week of vacation.   I had to spend a few days cleaning and painting, which isn't bad but not the vacation I was hoping for.  I was still able to find some time to hang out with the ducks and dogs and take lots of pictures. 

Homemade Lotion Bars

I love these lotion bars, they are great for your skin and also make great gifts.

Ingredients:

Oil of your choice (I usually use sweet almond oil or avocado oil)

Beeswax

Shea Butter

Essential oil or Fragrance oil

You will also need:

A scale

Something that is microwave safe to melt the ingredients 

Containers of your choice, I like to put the lotion in little metal tins

A soap or lotion mold, I have one that has a bee on it but you could also use a regular muffin tin

They Grow Up So Fast

I remember when I ordered the ducklings, I was so excited,  I was like a kid waiting for Christmas.   I would check the calendar every day.  When I finally got the call that they were at the post office (this was after I had already called the post office twice by 9am), I jumped in my car and raced down to pick them up.  The first couple days I would have to stop myself from  sitting all day and watching them and holding them.  Luckily I took some ducky "maternity" leave from work (I'm very lucky to have an animal lover for a boss), so I had some extra time to spend with the babies.  

The first few weeks we kept them in a wading pool filled with straw in the front room.  When I would sit down next to their pool they would get excited and jump out of the pool to come snuggle on my lap.  I was in Heaven!

Poppy, Rosemary, Clover and Daphne snuggling on my lap

Finding the Right Exercise Program

This is not a post about a miracle, one size fits all exercise program.  It is also not a post about a great exercise that will make your stomach flat in a day or make you lose 10lbs in a day.  This is instead a post about realizing that there are many different forms of exercise and different exercises work for different people.  Similar to the fact that not one way of eating is right for everyone.  As a dietitian a major pet peeve of mine is the one-size fits all diets, people are different and different ways of eating and even different foods work better for different people.  It seems like every week there is another book written stating that everyone needs to eat this or that to be healthy, or that this food is bad and this food is the best.  It drives me nuts.  But anyone, that's a whole other topic and I could go on and on about that.

There are lots of people that LOVE going to the gym, they may enjoy being around healthy, like minded people, or they may like the social atmosphere, or they may have even found an amazing instructor that really gets them motivated and excited to exercise.  Unfortunately, when I have joined gyms in the past, none of these worked for me. When I joined gyms in the past, I always seemed to have to force myself to go and I would find once I was there I loathed every minute of my time there. 

Since we have moved to the country I have finally found an exercise program that works for me, that I am able to follow and most days really enjoy!  Gardening, farm chores, tending to animals, exploring our property, are all things that I really LOVE doing.  To be honest, I have NEVER worked so hard as I have since we moved here.

Doing Great with 3 Legs!

Rocco, our doberman mix, was recently diagnosed with bone cancer.   A little over a month ago he had to have one of his front legs amputated and now he receives chemo infusions each month (his sister, Hannah was diagnosed with cancer last year and also receives chemo).  

Attack Duck!

Tobey, our little blind cocker spaniel, becomes obsessed with things that are new to him.  When we first adopted him he was really obsessed with the cat and was constantly following her around and trying to sniff her.  He became obsessed when we got a new bed and would circle around the bed, bark and try to jump up on the bed (at the this time the bed was way to high for him to jump on).  

His latest obsession...The Ducks.  

Why I chose to raise ducks

I love this article by Lisa Steele...

http://www.hgtvgardens.com/ducks-and-geese/raising-ducks-or-chickens

This article was a major influence in my decision to raise ducks instead of chickens.
Here are her 10 reasons that ducks are better (see the article for the full description for each reason listed).

1. Ducks are generally healthier
2. Ducks are more cold-hardy
3. Ducks are more heat-tolerant
4. Ducks are quieter
5. Duck eggs are superior to chicken eggs
6. Ducks lay more regularly
7. Ducks adhere to a far less aggressive pecking order 
8. Ducks are easier on your lawn
9. Ducks are wonderful for pest control.
10. Ducklings are adorable!

These are my girls when they were babies.

Yes, absolutely adorable!

Primrose Loves Attention

Little Prim Loves attention and Loves to show off for everyone.  She is the smallest but the most adventurous and almost always the leader of the duck pack.

Introducing the Ducks

Daisy - Pekin