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There are five photographs on the Photo page starting from…

There are five photographs on the Photo page starting from number six, sent in by Lynne that accompanies the photographs on the Photo page. There were a few more photographs sent in. I have chosen five that I hope tells the story.

Something really amazing happened in Downtown Spokane this week and I had to share the story with you.
Some of you may know that my brother, Joel, is a loan officer at Sterling Bank. He works downtown in a second story office building, overlooking busy Riverside Avenue.
Several weeks ago he watched a mother duck choose the cement awning outside his window as the uncanny place to build a nest above the sidewalk.
The mallard laid ten eggs in a nest in the corner of the planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks and Monday afternoon all of her ducklings hatched.
Joel worried all night how the mama duck was going to get those babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban environment to take to water, which typically happens in the first 48 hours of a duck hatching. Tuesday morning, Joel came to work and watched the mother duck encourage her babies to the edge of the perch with the intent to show them how to jump off!

The mother flew down below and started quacking to her babies above. In his disbelief Joel watched as the first fuzzy newborn toddled to the edge and astonishingly leapt into thin air, crashing onto the cement be low. My brother couldn’t watch how this might play out. He dashed out of his office and ran down the stairs the sidewalk where the first obedient duckling was stuporing near its mother from the near fatal fall. Joel looked up. The second duckling was getting ready to jump! He quickly dodged under the awning while then mother duck quacked at him and the babies above. As the second one took the plunge, Joel jumped forward and caught it with his bare hands before it hit the cement. Safe and sound, he set it by the mama and the other stunned sibling, still recovering from its painful leap. One by one the babies continued to jump to join their anxious family below. Each time Joel hid under the awning just to reach out in the nick of time as the duckling made its free fall. The downtown sidewalk came to a standstill. Time after time, Joel was able to catch the remaining 7 and set them by their approving mother.

At this point Joel realized the duck family had only made part of its dangerous journey. They had 2 full blocks to walk across traffic, crosswalks, curbs, and pedestrians to get to the closest open water, the Spokane River. The onlooking office secretaries then joined in, and hurriedly brought an empty copy paper box to collect the babies. They carefully corralled them, with the mother’s approval, and loaded them up into the white cardboard container. Joel held the box low enough for the mom to see her brood. He then slowly navigated through the downtown streets toward the Spokane River, as the mother waddled behind and kept her babies in sight. As they reached the river, the mother took over and passed him, jumping into the river and quacking loudly. At the water’s edge, the Sterling Bank office staff then tipped the box and helped shepherd the babies toward the water and to their mother after their adventurous ride.

All nine darling ducklings safely made it into the water and paddled up snugly to mama duck. Joel said the mom swam in circles, looking back toward the beaming bank workers, and proudly quacking as if to say……”See, we did it! Thanks for all the help!

Thankfully, one of the secretaries had a digital camera and was able to capture most of it(except the actual mid-air catching) in a series of attached photographs. Please join me in celebrating my brother– The Downtown Duck Hero!

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There are four new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are four new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one. We have very few photographs left.

Smuggler the Horse that we brought down from the paddock when Sonny went last week. Photograph taken by Vicky who with her Mum Dad and Boyfriend are on holiday at Denbury this week.

Ewy by the Horse field gate. Again taken by Vicky.

Cygnet from Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset. Lisa, Eastleigh, Hants.

Butterfly. Anjela Connecticut

Chapel built into the rock in Sedona Arizona. Anjela Connecticut.

We have started to break Smuggler so that he can be a riding Horse. He is being kept in Arnie and Breezes stable block. We are giving him a lot a attention, one thing that he hasn’t had for a few years, when he was in the paddock with Sonny. For all the lack of attention that he has missed he is a very kind Horse.

Smuggler was born at Denbury a little over four years ago. When he was born he belonged to some one else who was a Tenant on the Farm. When the Tenant move out he sent Smuggler to another Horse livery yard. As he didn’t pay for the livery, Smuggler was left out in the Winter without being rugged or given any feed other than Hay. He was only about nine months old, being a thoroughbred he did need a lot more care than he was given. The following Spring I purchased Smuggler and he came back to Denbury.

I delivered Smuggler when he was born. Smuggler was his Mother first Foal and initially she was not very interested in him. I had to milk the Colostrum off of his Mother and bottle feed Smuggler. After a few days of persevering with holding Smuggler on to his Mother udder, she eventually accepted him. So Smuggler is a little special to us.

With Smugglers breeding he should make a very good jumping Horse. After breaking him to the saddle we will start to get him to jump on a lunge line in the sand school. Once jumping we will then make a decision on his future. If he is good at jumping he will be wasted at Denbury and we will have to decide if to sell him or find a rider who would want to compete with him in either eventing or show jumping. We will have to wait and see, but we will show him working from time to time when he is being broken.