Retire In Style Blog Too

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites.  Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come.  I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

Do you live alone? Are you afraid? Do noises make you jump? My little dog is a barker and noises make her jump. She barks at her reflection in the mirror, a shadow on the floor and the people walking on the sidewalk a block away. She is vigilant, careful, and noisy. Other than that she is perfect. At less than 5 lbs her personality is very big. If she is really onto something, she will come and find me to make sure that I know. Things like the yellow Preen container or anything that she has not seen before will send her into action.  A wagon full of flowers and Annie But things that go bump in the night? This is a whole new thing. I was going about my evening routine when she turned inside out and startled me. "Oh...Annie what are you doing? It is fine"...I sounded so sure and confident until I heard it too. I couldn't locate the sound. Was it on the roof scrape, scratch, drag, thump!!!  What in the world was going on? Where and what was that. Annie calmed down but my hea...