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Saturday 4 February 2012

Ducks dancing on ice - and the LOTH gets all a-Twitter over Donny

It's January, it's cold, what did you expect in England at this time of year? A heatwave? I don't understand all this fuss the people make. I still LOVE going out on my walks (but to be honest I'm less keen on going out in the garden between times and I'm tending to cross my legs until I REALLY have to go).

But put my dog coat on, dress yourself up like an eskimo and I'll happily walk along the frozen canal towpaths with you for as long as you want.

Yesterday morning we were a bit worried about the ducks so the Lady Of The House raided the bread bin, put on goodness knows HOW many layers of clothes, and we set out to see what was happening out on the local canal.

I'd never seen it completely frozen before and we walked quite a long way before we found a little groups of ducks and moor hens who'd were hovering in a small patch of water under some trees near the canal bank.

The LOTH started tossing some crumbs to them and a couple of the bravest (probably most desperate) ducks came hopping out of the water and scuttling across the ice towards us. The LOTH tried to tell them to slow down a bit as she worrying about them hurting themselves as they slid around. But they seemed very keen to eat so we were glad we'd gone down.



The we heard a mighty honking and the LOTH and I looked up to see a pair of swans swooping gracefully through the air just above the frozen surface of the water. We held our breath as they lowered their legs to land and then crashed right through the ice sending large frozen chunks and slices hurtling through the air!! Yes, pictures would have been nice but we had our mouths open watching them in amazement so photography wasn't an option!


We thought they might boss the ducks and bully them out of the way, or march across the rest of the ice and mug us for our remaining crumbs, but they didn't. They sat very patiently in the little pool of water they had created (possibly slightly shocked by their dramatic landing) and let us throw some bread to them while the ducks carrying on skating for their breakfast.

On this picture below, we thought the swans were making quite a nice heart shape with their elegant necks. We love how a pair of swans stay together through thick and thin (including ice). A lesson to us all as Valentine's Day approaches.


Speaking of matters of the heart - there was a HUGE rumpus from the upstairs office last night while I was catching some zzz's downstairs in the living room. I thought the swans had flown in through a window, and the Boy Of The House ran up because he thought the LOTH was crying.

It turned out she was on Twitter and had seen Donny Osmond (the object of her affections since she was 10, apparently) tweeting about the Superbowl and how he was supporting the Giants because they had knocked his 49ers out, so the LOTH replied that she was a 49ers fan too, and DONNY REPLIED TO HER.

I write this in capital letters because apparently it is a big deal judging by the fuss that followed. The LOTH was taking screenshots and 'favouriting' the Tweet and generally behaving as if she'd won the lottery or something. She says I have to show you the evidence in case any of your mums and people are excited for her too.


So there you go. If you want a slice of the exciting life the LOTH leads, she says you are welcome to follow her @EllaJP

I think I need some more sensible pet friends, to get me away from this madness, so I'm taking part in the Saturday Pet Blog Hop hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.

If you'd like to join in and make new pet blogger friends, please follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste this week's new Linky code into the html editor of your own blog. The list will automatically update on everyone's blogs as new sites add themselves over this weekend and we can all hop from blog to blog and find out everybody's news.

Thanks again to our three hosts for putting on the hop!

If you follow a new blog after finding them in the blog hop - please let them know that you found them on the Saturday Pet Blog Hop.

30 comments:

Declan said...

How very exciting for the LOTH! Mum says that many years ago she was stopped by some young Mormon boys in the street and thought one of them looked a bit familiar. Turned out to be Donny Osmonds son. Hehe! Deccy x

WFT Nobby said...

Winnie that was very nice of you and LOTH to go and feed the poor wee frozen ducks.
I asked Gail about this Donny Osmond thing. She tells me she was more of a Slade fan, but can quite understand why LOTH was so excited to receive that tweet.
Humans, eh.
Toodle pip!
Bertie.

Elaine Pritchard said...

Declan: The LOTH is very impressed that your mum met an Osmond. When she was a teenager she dreamed about running into Donny if he ever came here on a Mormon mission. She's not sure that he ever did though.

Bertie: Thank you VERY much for mentioning that. The LOTH is now warbling something that seems to be called "C'mon Feel The Noise" - which sounds a bit of a stupid idea to me.

BTW, sorry that I seem to have accidentally added myself TWICE to this week's blog hop. I didn't mean to. Wish I could take one of them off, but I can't.

Finn said...

I like your pretty coat there, and it must have been fun slipping and sliding on the ice with those ducks!

tubby3pug said...

Those ducks must be chilly

Scooter said...

Hey Winnie!
Wow, feeding those birdies must have been a lot of fun! I bet you got a good chuckle at all the sliding around. The swans' heart is beautiful. My Mom's says she understands all the squeeeee about that Osmond fellow.
Grr and Woof,
Sarge, COP

rottrover said...

The ducks and the swans are so beautiful. You were nice to feed them and also not to laugh when the swans crashed through the ice - they always look so perfect like they NEVER make mistakes... But Donny Osmond? We're with you, Winnie...

-Bart and Ruby

Tucker The Crestie said...

Wow, what an exciting couple of days you've had! Stay warm, Winnie, and great job taking care of the local waterfowl! They sure appreciate that bread, I bet!

Frankie Furter and Ernie said...

the FUR REAL in the FURS Donny Osmond tawked to your LOTH??? WOW!!!

I love the Swan Heart pic.

It is good that they Broke the Ice fur the ducks.

Hiking Hounds said...

Wow, you had an exciting day! Seeing the swans crash landing and a Tweet from Donny. That is really cool!

Sue said...

Winnie, Bet the ducks and swans were glad of the bread.

So your mum is in love with Donny:) I wonder if Ben Afflick or Brad Pitt are on Twitter.....

Dexter Dog said...

Hi Winnie, we thought your picture of the swans was lovely. We are following you now so we can keep up with your adventures.

Dexter

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

We probably would have tried to chase those ducks if SHE took them food. Our ducks don't have to put up with ice here.

those landing swans must have been dramatic.

We're glad your mum was so excited to hear from one of her heroes.

XXXoOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

houndstooth said...

Those swans are so pretty! It looks like it was a good thing you got the LOTH to go for a walk with you at that time.

Mom says that she wasn't old enough to know that Donny was a heartthrob, but she does know who he is. Congrats to your mom on getting a tweet from him! Do you have your own Twitter handle, too? I'm @BunnyHound if you join up!

Bunny

Angels Amber and Max DaWeenie and Mom said...

Donny Osmond...Wow...That's a blast from the past!

We thought the same thing about the swans forming a heart. :o)

Have a nice weekend!

Bongo said...

How much fun watching the ducks skate across the ice. I probably would have crashed in after them and made a bigger splash than the swans did. My person says she thinks it's pretty cool that your person heard from Donny Osmond. -Bongo

What Remains Now said...

The pictures of the ducks and swans are very neat. I love the heart! Also, very cool...the whole Donny Osmond tweet thing. I'm happy for the LOTH...that's exciting.

jet said...

That was very nice of you to go and feed the poor cold duckies. They are very pretty swans too. The swans we have here are black! Burned swans :)) I do love them even though they are mean sometimes. Barbie's long neck often makes me think of swans.

Bobby said...

Hi Winnie.
Poor ducks its a good job you went along the canal. I bet the swans got a shock landing on the ice.
Brenda buys bread to go and feed ducks and swans they love the crusty bread.
Licks Bobby

Rumpydog said...

Jen had it bad for Donny when she was a kid too. I bet it IS way cool to have someone famous listen to you! woo woo woo!

Prudence said...

Pawsome pictures of the ducks and swans! BTW, mom knows exactly how LOTH felt when DONNY responded to her tweet! She'd be very excited to if one of her "heart throbs" responded to her tweet too!

Bassetmomma said...

I was a huge Donny Osmond fan when I was growing up too! I actually got a letter signed by all the Osmonds when I was in grade five!

Bigdogzola said...

Ducks on ice...hmmmm..sounds like something to look forward to..heehee! We are due to come to England next week so it looks like I better bring my thermals since us Ridgebacks don't have much fur! Thank you for your comment on my unfortunate Mango Minster entry..I am very embarrassed about the event and I really am a good girl. Sometimes I underestimated my own puppy ridgeback powers and put them to bad use just on that occasion though..Humpf! Catch ya later Winnie xx

Kristin G. said...

That's pretty exciting for your Mom, Winnie!
I hope your feathered friends stay warm. I'm glad you're looking out for them.

Peggy Frezon said...

I love feeding ducks, and wow you got swans too! What fun! That is exciting to get a tweet back from your idol Donny! I can imagine how much fun that was!

When I Grow Up I Want to be a Vet said...

I love the swan heart picture - so pretty! Tell your Mom congratulations on tweeting with Donny Osmond - that is a pretty big deal in people circles!

Stewey said...

How exciting for the LOTH!!!!!
Stewey

Pup Fan said...

Gotta love a celeb tweet shout-out! :)

Lauren @ Life With Desmond said...

aww, the duckies! i'd be worried about them, too. thank goodness for kind souls like you!

congrats on the twitter reply--that would excite me, too!

Karen and Pearl said...

Tag, you're it! I just tagged you- check my blog for questions. If you've already been tagged just post a link to your previous post.