Purple Duck

I had a lovely friend in my backyard. She was annoying, she was funny. She has a real personality. She could tell me what she wanted though she couldn't talk in my language.

She was curious, always looking in the glass door or window of any room I was in. She never really got a name though she was well loved. She was usually just called Duckie.

My Friend, Duckie

Duckie had a good life. She had the company of a few bantam hens.

When we arrived at our present house eighteen years ago, the land had been farmland just two years earlier. The ground was covered in snails at night. Anything we planted in our bare backyard would be eaten by snails. Once Duckie came to live with us she got started on the garden with me. Together we rid the backyard of snails.

Actually all the snail hunting in the back yard was done by Duckie. I tried to clear the front yard. Each night I would go out with a lidded bucket or empty ice cream tub. I collected snails and transported them to the spare block across the way. Dear one used to say that he saw them slippery sliding back across the road each morning. Sometimes I deposited them down at the beach among the grass. I am not into killing them.

Well Duckie did a better job than I did. I kept track of the number of snails I assigned to transportation - 2000 all up - until I stopped counting. I gave up but Duckie was still at it. She kept working every day until those dratted snails just took off when they saw her coming.

Isn't she cute?