Dyfed ducks

So many eggs

 It was lovely to spend the first sit back from hot and dry Australia, in the lush green hills of Wales.  The Spring lambs were bouncing about and the Daffodils and forsythia added a splash of yellow to complement the green.

This was a new sit for us, and we soon made friends with the ponies, cats, and dog, as well as a family of ducks.

Ladies having lunch

Reginald, a true gentleman

The ducks were very interesting to watch, we love ducks for their 'chatty' ways, how they mutter away to each other, keeping in close contact.

Reginald had his ladies well looked after.  He was a true gentleman, letting them eat first and only approaching the trough when they had all finished.

One day a couple of wild mallards flew onto their pond, which sent Reggie into a spin, making sure his ladies were safe.

We helped him by clapping our hands and shooing the two imposters away.

The ducks produced 3 to 4 eggs a day.  They had a duck house to sleep in at night, so the eggs were easy to find.  One night they stayed out on the pond, and the next day, although we searched hard, we didn't find any eggs, although the magpies did.

We washed and dated the eggs with a pencil and then set about thinking up recipes to use the eggs. 

We were quite surprised at the reaction we got from friends and family when we told them that we were eating duck eggs.  We had comments from disgust at eating them, to unaware that they could be eaten.  They are just like big chicken eggs.  I would say they are creamier than chicken eggs and definitely more filling. 

They were lovely in baking, I made some welsh cakes and a sponge, as well as omelet and a frittata.  With any recipe I substituted one duck egg for 2 chicken eggs.

They all had their own characters, and we were sure they spent all day thinking of ways to test us.

Thank you Reggie and girls for your lovely eggs and the pleasure of watching your little family waddle about  your daily routine.

Perth Australia

We have found ourselves in Perth Western Australia, pet sitting for a lady who was off to Brisbane for a week.  We looked after a Japanese Spitz called Zena.

  We also looked after two cats, Matilda and Sassy.  Perth was experiencing a heat wave whilst we were there.  Luckily the house had air con.  We were near a bus station and were able to take a short walk to catch a bus to town or to Fremantle on the coast.

Perth is a very small city, the capital of Western Australia,  with a very picturesque skyline set against the Swan River.

The coastal town of Fremantle has lots of history, being a former whaling town.  There is a great indoor market and a ferry to Rottnest Island which was a great day out.  We met a quokka which looks like a giant rat, hence the name Rottnest  Island.  The coves and bays on this island are beautiful, we cycled around half of the island but had to cut our trip short as we had to catch the ferry home.

On this visit we caught up with friends in Perth and took a trip to the Margaret River wine region, which had stunning beaches as well as the vineyards with lots of wine tasting opportunities.

We then flew to Melbourne and picked up a campervan to travel the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide.

This was an amazing trip, we thoroughly enjoyed the freedom the van gave us.  We were able to stop where we wanted and have a brew looking out over the most beautiful countryside, or beach or wetlands.

We saw wild koalas in the trees and Emus walking along the side of the road.  There were kookaburras in the trees laughing at our attempts to dry our laundry in ever more inventive ways.  We saw some amazing flora and fauna en route and were sad to have to leave at the end of our stay.

Australia grows on us more each time we visit, we are sure we still have plenty more to experience there.

Jackson Sadly Missed

Sadly, we have had to say goodbye to Jackson a very sweet natured Greyhound that we have looked after in France.

He was a very gentle old boy with the softest ears and the kindest eyes. He used to make us laugh so much as he would suddenly start bounding at full speed around the garden, for a few minutes and then go back to what he was doing just as quickly.

He was very easy to look after and loved to lie on his back with his legs in the air.

We will miss you Jackson.

Carcassonne Chins

Back to Carcassonne for a new client. We were looking after three little characters who have all been rescued and each had a sorry story to tell.

Luckily for them, they have been rescued and now live in a lovely home together.

A new breed for us to look after is the Japanese Chin. Click here for Breed description .

They are sweet little dogs with great personalities, a bit shy with new people at first but, given their space soon your best friend.

Snow showers in Normandy

We managed to arrive in Normandy for our second visit, just before a cold snap descended upon Europe. The temperature dropped to below -11 degrees C. in Northern France. The pretty village of Vieux Port was made even more pretty under a foot of snow.

Enzo, the white Alsatian, absolutely loves the snow, enjoying rolling and digging. He was a bit scared to go out in it at first, but soon got the hang of it.

The snow was very powdery and made it very difficult to make snowmen, but we did persevere and managed to get a few decent specimens. The snow lasted for two weeks, we had to unfreeze our water pipes on a few occasions and dig out the car.

The countryside looked amazing with the sun out on sparkling white fields, and ice lacing the leaves on the trees.

We were able to go on some amazing walks being the first to put our footprints into the pristine snow.

Tibur 2001 - 2012

Just before we were due to sit for a family in Normandy we had the sad news that one of our charges had died.

Tibur had been suffering from fits which gradually got worse and it was the kindest decision to have him put to sleep.

He had had a good walk, his breakfast and was having a snooze in his favorite place in front of the fire just before he departed from us.

He enjoyed his walks taking his time to investigate everything in his path, like a true hound. He was very shy with new people to start with, but after a little while he became your best friend and followed you everywhere.

He will be sadly missed.

Dogs in the Dordogne

Bordeaux

For the second half of January we re-visited another existing client, this time in the Pretty
Dordogne region of France.

We had a brief visit to Bordeaux en-route to see a potential client. Although we have been flying into the Bordeaux area for many years, this was the first visit to the city itself. We were pleasantly surprised at the lovely buildings there. It was bitterly cold, but we had a good look around for a morning before we set out to travel south to Le Bugue.

Spot the Cat.

Here we look after 6 lovely dogs, a Black lab and her pups and a golden cocker spaniel and her two pups. They are all girls and a real delight to look after, although you have to be pretty nifty to get a place on the sofa of an evening! There are three cats and a horse to complete the family. The girls have plenty of land to run in, so we had plenty of exercise on a daily basis.

Tracy and Zola

The weather was cold but dry most days.

We spotted deer frequently, trying hard to avoid us. Le Bugue is a small town very picturesque on the side of the Vezere river which snakes its way past picture postcard villages and gorges.


There are plenty of Neolithic remains in this area, caves with paintings and archaeological sites. This was Della's second visit here so it was great to be able to introduce Tracy to the family.