Parkie the Cowboy

As I mentioned last week, now that Parker is wearing his cowboy hat, the next order of business is to get him to wear his cowboy boots. It seems he is amenable to almost anything if it means he gets to go outside and do the chores (feed the animals and rake the gravel). As you can see, JoAnn's plan is working. The next step is to get his portrait taken in his cowboy gear.

Parkie the Worker

Ever since Parker could walk, he has been fascinated by anything with a long handle; brooms, shovels, rakes, etc. Last summer, he used to pick up a shovel or hoe and work with me in the garden. I'm looking forward to more help this year. And its not like he just pulls the tool around, he really works it, getting his entire body behind it. These photos were taken one night last week after he had helped me feed the animals and there was still a little light left in the day. By the way, JoAnn got him the cowboy hat for christmas and he didn't like to wear it much. However, when we go outside, I just say "where's your hat" and he runs over and gets it. We're going to try and do the same with his cowboy boots.

Dirty Face

A couple of years ago, we bought a bunch of ducklings. Due to various causes, we ended up with three full-grown ducks, two males and one female. What this meant was that one of the drakes ended up on the outside while the other male and the female became a couple. This also meant that the lonely drake was always trying to cut into the action and the two drakes were always fighting. In order to stop the fights, we decided to give the outside drake away and posted a notice for a free duck over at IFA. When the new owner came to take possession of his duck, it was hunkered down in a previously flooded (meaning muddy) section of the coop. When I tried to capture him, he understandably quacked and flapped and tried to escape. As he flapped (and flapped and flapped) he splashed mud all over me. I immediately went in the house and took this picture of myself for posterity (click on the photo to get the full effect).