A couple of months ago, we noticed a duck in our back garden. It was quite large, and we identified it as a Muscovy. It had previously been hanging out with the mallards (and the red eared slider turtle, also wild) on Bronwyn's parents' dam. Obviously it decided that our dam was much better, being considerably less crowded and ten times larger.

We worked out that it had flown in from a property about 1km away, where they assumed it had been nesting in the bush somewhere. The name's Mavis. Mavis has been around daily. I'm not sure if she's been home much! I believe they still have the emu that appeared in our paddock last year. And another emu, so I hear.

Last week, we spotted a couple of white ducks. They must have walked over, because they couldn't fly. After a quick post on Facebook, we identified the owner as next door to Mavis, and they had only just arrived there. Pekin ducks, apparently. Both female. That must have been a 1km waddle. With some help from the owner, we cornered them, but one escaped. So now we're down to one white duck, who I've been trying to feed inside a circle of netting, but so far she's too wary and runs out if I get close.

Bronwyn did a sermon for Advent on the topic of Shepherds. She brought along a shepherd's crook to demonstrate. A real one from Farmlands, not the quaint wooden antiques. She showed how she used it as a walking stick, and to hold out when rounding up the sheep, and how to catch a lamb with it. At this point, she lunged forcefully at one of the plastic chairs, hooked it with terrifying accuracy and sent the chair skidding across the floor. Nobody fell asleep during that sermon!

Three carol sessions last weekend. I've already lost track of the Jingle Bell count. But this should be our busiest weekend, so it's just one session a week from now.

We've been playing "I'll be home for Christmas". Our soloist is from Arizona. He's been here all year. He originally came on holiday, but couldn't get home again. He's managed to get a flight in March, but he certainly won't be back by Christmas!

It's been a bit chaotic this week. Sarah bumped her head again, so she got taken to hospital as a precaution. But it was so busy that she hadn't been seen by 11:30pm, so she came back home again. She hasn't been too bad as a result, so hopefully it won't be as severe as she's had previously. Meanwhile, Rachael went into the kitchen and found a pool of water. Simultaneously, she heard the dishwater switching off and on.

Turned out that the mouse that visited in about September had nibbled through the cold water pipe, and it had started leaking. The reason for the dishwasher cutting out was because the mains cable had also been eaten, and was sitting in the water...

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