muzzles, hats, strawberries, ducklings

I was wearing a white organdy dress with orange polka dots. Jeanette was wearing a mauve organdy dress with blue polka dots. Linette was wearing a red organdy dress with white polka dots. Mirabella was in a dark corner, wearing a muzzle. Her party culottes were duct-taped to her knees. The nuns had tied little bows on the muzzle to make it more festive.

--Karen Russell, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

I've been reading a book of short stories, and I love this quote, especially out of context.

It is a sunny Saturday morning, and Heinz, G, X, and I are harvesting spinach and baby lettuce. Three happy, naked little girls ride their bikes down from the house. "Girls!" G exclaims, in all seriousness, "why aren't you wearing your hats?"

This morning I went treasure-hunting:



I only found two or three really perfect, ripe, sweet ones, but there are many in the works.



On Thursday, 6 of the duck eggs hatched into adorable, fuzzy, "squishy" (according to X) ducklings. It's amazingly fun to watch the little family. Seriously all I knew about ducks up to this point, I learned from the book "Make Way for Ducklings," and it turns out that ducks are very attentive, protective parents, and the dad is definitely involved in raising the kids (although Mack's ability to help out is limited by the fact that the nest is up on a shelf in the chicken coop, and Mack can't fly, so he has to wait for someone to lift him up). Yes, the ducks have been renamed again to Mack and Black. The ducklings don't have names yet.



and a little video: