Over the past few days many helpful people in our lives showed up to work hard, get dirty and in return, go home tired.  A BIG THANKS to my Dad for coming all the way up from Victoria for a few days, our Friend Foster from the Birds and the Beans farm down the road and to all of the machinery that kept us on our feet.  Who want to sit all day on a machine that works consistently anyways?  Bor-ring. Hopefully these helpful, happy people at least enjoyed a beer and felt some satisfaction in being a part of a huge job on our farm: packin' heat... into the cut grass, that will ferment, and then turn into delicious silage (feed) for the cows throughout the winter.  The cows will surely be appreciative and we most certainly are so grateful right now and forever for your help and encouragement in a brand new (to us) and humongous project.  I for one, am happy to have 'Skid Steer Extraordinaire' on my resume now.  Maybe an exaggeration of skill, but not of my new machinist ego.  I decided to document the whole thing in this photographic 'little toy' style since this type of adventure has been Etienne's dream since he was playing with little toy tractors twenty something years ago in his parents' garden. 

So we have purchased a mini flock of ducks for our own entertainment and to provide our household with eggs!  They are Khaki Campbell ducks who are known for high egg production and a lovely disposition.  They are a domesticated breed from England, by a Mrs. Adah Campbell who spoke of her ducks originally as "a few mongrel hens."  I found this great little piece (great for the pictures if nothing else) if you're into history and whatever.  Supposedly they lay an average of 320 eggs per year, whereas the average laying hen (in a free range situation without any artificial light to make them think it is day time) lays around 300!  Ducks!  Who would have thought?  Also, according to a recent NPR survey duck eggs come in a very close second to regular grocery story chicken eggs in a blind taste test when soft boiled.  (The most common reason sited for being second was that while the duck eggs were creamy and delicious and rich, they were unfamiliar... in my mind creamy, delicious and rich, trump unfamiliar any day...either way I guess we'll get used to it!)  The major bonus we see however is that ducks, once a little older and more independent eat WAY less store bought food than chickens, instead opting for grubs and grass!  Hurray for not buying lots of grain!  Below is a scale picture of one of our Khaki's on day 1 of her life... for now we'll call her Ginger.  Just pint sized.  Once a week we'll take another scale photo and if its dramatic we'll post for comparison.  This is also a minor plug for Tree Island Yogurt... delicious and just down the road from us.