More Baby Ducklings and Blacksmithing

There is nothing as heartbreaking as seeing someone or something struggling and feeling powerless to help.   Seven of the baby ducklings hatched, but one wasn’t able to escape from its shell.  Sigi broke the outer layer open and assisted a little in the emergence of the final duckling.  After almost a whole day of pecking at its shell and attempting to meet the world, the duckling finally appeared.  Its left side didn’t work properly and it appeared to get disoriented quite easily, but nevertheless, it exceeded everyone’s expectations.  I didn’t want to write about her until after seeing her again this morning and making sure she was still alive, but as it turns out, she is quite a fighter and is even beginning to regain control of her left side.  We named her Hope, a tribute to her namesake.  I could watch her for hours.  The ducklings love to scamper around in their little box, and the funniest thing is how they like to walk through the water they drink out of.  Boundaries do not exist for them, and they are constantly crawling all over each other, despite their spacious accommodations.  Their tiny squeaking noises are reminders that they’re still alive and well, a true testament of hope for one of them.  I find being a part of the birth of animals such a great and special first experience.  Another big first for me was learning how to blacksmith.  Josh is an apprentice for Tom the blacksmith who has a forge attached to the house, and he helped me to make a leaf key ring.  Never before had I considered all that goes into the blacksmithing process, but it is much more difficult than I anticipated.  We started with a long stick of metal and set it in the fire so it would become malleable enough for us to bend the way we wanted.  We hammered the end into a point and then slowly flattened it out, taking it in and out of the fire several times.  My hammering technique was girly, to the say the least, but I was stronger than I realized and was able to accomplish more as my aim improved.  No one was hurt, and no one got burnt in the process, thank goodness, and the end result was an awesome leaf key ring that I am very proud of.  I really love how each member of the family has patiently taught me at least one of their talents.  Dominik taught me how to tie knots with rope.  Mara helped me sew my purse.  Josh helped me blacksmith.  Yvonne taught me how to bake, and Sigi taught me about beekeeping and woodworking.  After blacksmithing, we ate the peaches we canned in the morning with rice pudding for dinner, and Sigi and I had a philosophical discussion that I really enjoyed.  I told him about Eric’s brain tumor, which brought to the surface feelings I haven’t thought about in awhile.  It made me miss home.  Movie night with Rosa and Dominik helped alleviate the problem, and we stayed up until midnight watching Tristan and Isolde.  Every night I have the best intentions to go to bed earlier than I do, but it never happens; there are just too many exciting things happening around here.