Busy Spring and a Children picture book release – Mr. Quacker The Odd Duck

 

 

 

The year is still young, and I feel like there is more I should have accomplished by now. Have you ever felt that way? We live on an acreage with plenty of room for flowers and a large garden. Trouble is grass had taken over my flower beds. My plan was to dig up the perennials and replant them. Good idea except they were already peeking through the ground when most of April was rainy. The few days at the end of the month that I could work and the first week in May had me putting in long hours pushing a spade under grass root infested flower blubs. I took a break only long enough at lunch time to cook a meal. Might not have done that but my husband thinks he has to eat three times a day. By evening, I relaxed in my recliner, thinking I’d rest and watch television. Right! I made it through the first of each show and missed the ending. No need to ask my husband how the story ended. I’ve tried that, and he said he didn’t know exactly. Which translate to he was asleep in his recliner, too.

We did manage to get our large garden planted in two days. I started several varieties of peppers and tomatoes in February so I had great looking plants to set out. For protection from the wind, my husband cut the bottom out of plastic coffee cans to set over plants. With warm, sunny days comes a 25 mile wind that never seems to stop. Gusts blew over the wheel barrel and spilled the weeds and grass I threw in it. However, my biggest garden threat turned out not to be the wind, but the chickens. The hens have eaten 8 of my tomato plants. I’ve reset some of the onion sets two or three times. I hate to falsely accuse the hens of all the destructive mischief. Could have been the robins that keep an eye on the strawberry patch which is blooming.

It does feel so good to know the snows might be over. We still might see a frost or freeze, but if we don’t we should have a great fruit crop again this year. The apricot bloomed first, and now the plums, pear, cherry and apple trees are blooming. In the flower beds are tulips, hyacinths, and wild lavender geraniums. Plus, we have cut three two gallon buckets of asparagus so far.

What have I been working on since publishing the last book, Christmas with Hover Hill? In past years, I’ve written many short stories for contests. Quite a few of them I placed with. I went through the stories and found one that would make a children picture book. It didn’t take me long to assemble farm pictures and revamp the short story to come up with Mr. Quacker The Odd Duck. I always go back to what my writing instructor told me. Write what you know about.

This short story was based on a true story. At one time, I had a large flock of white Muscovy ducks. They didn’t quack or fly. One fall day, a young mallard flew into the middle of the flock and lit. He wanted to eat corn with them. He quack loudly which scared my ducks. They weren’t sure they liked him. I discovered the mallard had spent the night in a large brush pile in the pasture with a flock on their way south. In the night, we had a dusting of snow so I could easily see the tracks. The flock flew off early that morning, leaving behind this young mallard. He must have overslept. He didn’t know where the flock went so he decided it was smarter to spend the winter with my ducks. When I realized Mr. Quacker didn’t intend to leave the next spring, I brought some Rouen hen ducks which look like a mallard, only larger and domestic. Mr. Quacker fell in love with the two hens and stayed around for three years. One day in the fourth spring, he was gone. I guess he became tired of being domestic and flew off with a mallard flock headed north. Oddly enough, I found the barnyard much too quiet after he left. I missed his incessant quacking.

 

This is the synopsis on the back of the book.

Mr. Quacker has a real problem. He joins the mallard flock for his first migration flight south for the winter. One cold evening, the flock roosts among large hay bales for shelter. The next morning, Mr. Quacker finds himself alone. He over slept, and the other ducks left without him.

When he finds a flock of white ducks on the farm, Mr. Quacker asks to join them. The ducks aren’t sure they like him. They point out Mr. Quacker is brown, and they are white. He quacks loudly, and they hiss. Winter is coming. The white ducks aren’t sure they want this stranger taking up space in their crowded barn and gobbling their food.

The white ducks are just as much strangers to Mr. Quacker as he is to them. Will Mr. Quacker be able to convince the white ducks to let him stay?

The book is on Amazon and the ebook is in kindle.

For all mothers out there have a Happy Mother’s Day. I’ll be spending that day with my 93 year old Mother-in-law and the Risner family.