Apologies to my regular readers for a lack of posts! this is not due to nothing happening here - quite the contrary - but rather my having to impose some self-discipline in order to get my book research done for GPA.

But there have been many things to blog over the last week - a misty, drizzly day driving around on slightly failed missions, listening to Tom Waits while watching the landscape of the Black Warrior slide by; the Doonanny where much fun was had by all in the Woods of Wonder; the continuing growth and development of my animals, who also came to the Doonanny due to a lack of babysitters in Greensboro. Me and the chick and the duckling in the green jeep with bluegrass on the iPod, driving through a blissfully warm and sunny Alabama set the weekend off to a perfect start. Long-lost friends from England, playing the blues in the sunshine, folk art and cold beer...I almost forgave Butch for getting too sentimental to butcher his pigs Oxford and Dictionary which he had been raising for the occasion.

And today I let the duckling (who has graduated to living outdoors) out of his cage for the afternoon to enjoy the sun. I'm trying to introduce him to the rooster and get them to cohabitate happily, but so far have refrained from putting them in a pen together as the rooster has been tending to try to peck at Charlie and the poor duck runs around looking rather scared whenever Lucky crows or sticks out his neck. But tonight I came home shortly after dark to put the duck back in his cage, safe from possums, and he was curled up almost underneath the rooster who was standing protectively over him, with only the wire mesh of the pen separating them. Very sweet.