I had a lovely nap in the early heat of yesterday afternoon. It was so delicious I decided to enjoy a second one. Pure decadence.
I was rousted from sleep by the not so subtle sounds of Maggie, my pet duck. As the windows were open, my sleepy brain didn’t take it in. Until I heard the pitter patter of webbed feet on the floor by me.
Sitting up I found Maggie in my bedroom, wandering around happy as you please. And talking (rather loudly) to herself. A curious soul she wandered off, to waddle up and down the length of our shotgun style home. I like to think she was checking out what was new. But more likely she was on the search for cat crunchies. She is addicted to cat crunchies.
What makes this interesting (to me) and funny is that the part of our restoration home we live in is on the second floor (first floor in America). Up an Escher style curving staircase. I could hear George, Maggie’s mate, quietly quacking down below. He likes to let Maggie know he’s there in moral support. And would she please come down.
After a while George gave up waiting and came up to join her. I could never get tired of watching these two climb the stairs. It is a smile in the making.
Maggie learned to climb stairs when we lived in our previous cottage. These stairs were also wonky and curving. Our Queen duck became a master of getting up them. She would take a deep breath and hop to the next step. So I would hear “hup, thud, tap tap (her feet), hup, thud, tap, tap”. Honest, she really does make a sound like ‘hup’ when she hops.
What she is not so good at is getting back down.
And if like us you are mad about ducks (and other animals) you’ll find duck and other animal inspired gifts in our shop.
PS. I read somewhere long ago that if you nap you should set a (gentle) alarm for 20 minutes or 90 minutes and you awake refreshed and not groggy. There’s science behind this (which someone else can give you), and it really does work, whether you sleep, doze, or just loose yourself in your thoughts.