Sad Day at Notforgotten Farm ~

 I woke yesterday morning to find that my beloved, 14 year old, blind Indian Runner Duck, Henry
had been snatched from his coop by some woodland animal...

to say that I am upset is an understatement.
Peter & Hannah brought home two tiny little yellow fluffers one Mother's day long ago for me ~
little Henry & little Joonie

Henry & Joonie weren't even able to play in water yet, as their feathers hadn't developed their waterproof coating...everyday, my then 4 yr old Hannah would ask me
"can they swim today Mommy?"
finally the day came for them to swim and from that day forward,
Henry & Joonie were a delight to watch and love.

sadly, Joonie passed a couple of years ago, but Henry....my old boy Henry was so devoted to her
that he turned most of his affection towards me (and the feeling was mutual)
Slowly, Henry aged ~ as each year passed I could see that he would stumble, and his eyes were fogging over....he was going blind.

everyday i would hand feed him freshly dug worms to make sure his little belly stayed full ~
and he was so used to my voice and knew his name so well that when I called to him,
he always replied...
 

my sweet gentle Henry & dove friend this past summer...

 here is the hole in the chicken wire where he was taken from in the middle of the night....
no sign of him except for a few feathers...

I am heartbroken.

 I so wanted Henry to live out his life here with me, and i had prepared myself everyday
to perhaps find him to have passed on ~ but this ~ not finding him has torn out my heart...

everyone here seems a bit sad today....
there seems to be a bit of a somber feeling to the barnyard ~

poor Buddy,...

even the roosters were quiet this morning ~

unusually quiet morning

 and poor Lazy & Buddy ~ I think they tried to scare off whatever it was...
I believe it was a tag-team of Fox...
one fox entertains the dogs on one side of the property,
whilst another fox moves in for the kill ~
I've seen it happen one other time.
I don't blame them one bit for what's happened...they are Good Boys and take the best care of us here.

Lazy...watching the woods.

I even walked all over the property & through much of our woods yesterday,
looking for a sign of poor Henry ~ but found none.
so he is gone and hopefully with his Beloved Joonie again in a beautiful, big sparkling pond all to themselves....
We will miss him terribly ~

Thank you for loving me Henry, and for allowing me to love you.

even Toby is sad.

 

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori