Read More from Calle J. Brookes

Why is it whenever I make plans, something totally crazy derails them?

I was intending to write a post today about the newest release (June 21st!), Not Kissing Nick, but I just don’t have the energy to organize my thoughts right now!

The last few days have been hectic and a little bit traumatic.

Two weeks ago, I was almost certain we were going to lose Libby within a few days. She had stopped eating and was lethargic and listless. All she wanted to do was sleep. I was sure… So we did what we had to do to prep the kiddo for the “inevitable”.

Come to find out, Libby didn’t want her homemade dog food and her barkthritis was flaring up. She ate just fine when I gave her a bite of toast with strawberry jam. And when she nabbed a hamburger off kiddo’s plate. And leftover beef stew. And the other dogs’ weight management dry dog food… She was just not wanting the food we were giving her, so she decided not to eat it.

We fixed that issue with jarred baby food and dry dog food mixed together. She likes stuff with a stronger smell, apparently.

She’s back to her old Diva self and is doing just fine. We upped her pain meds for a few days and that was all it took.

She hit 16 and a 1/2 on June 15th and celebrated by getting into the trash can and the dishwasher in the same day.

So everything stressful eased off a bit, right?

Wrong.

Some murderous, sociopathic fanged and clawed beast got into our duck coop and killed one of our Quackies early yesterday morning. It was especially traumatic for our kiddo after the last week or so of worrying about Libby and just not a good day for any of us all around. (I didn’t realize just how attached to the ducks I actually am, either.)

We realized last night when we put the other three ducks in a now better secured coop (I put paving bricks on the lid this time!) that Li’l S**t, our most daring/adventurous duck–previously named Buffy the Vampire Slayer Orpington–had also been grabbed around the head and was injured.

She has lost her eye on one side, and her beak is all claw-marked up. And there are scratches on the other side of her little duck face.

So this morning, after dropping kiddo off at her Saturday tae Kwan do class, I high-tailed it to our vet three blocks away with photos of the damage. Then after TKD I had to drive the 30 minutes home and weigh the duck before heading back to the vet to get a shot of antibiotics and a bottle of oral antibiotics. Then we had to go an additional 40 minutes to the nearest Walmart to get the other supplies we needed. (Joys of living in the middle of the forest–you have to drive everywhere! O.o)

So I spent all afternoon when I got home cleaning a little duck’s head with Dawn and warm water, flushing it with saline, covering it with bactricin, and then my husband and I gave a duck a shot of antibiotics.

I have a duck hanging out in a tote in my spare bathroom… She’ll be there for about a week. She’s a bit angry about things (I don’t blame her) and actually hissed and pecked at Libby when Lib wanted to check her out.

She needs oral antibiotics 2x a day for three days and 1x a day for three days after that. Plus the bactricin on the eye itself and we’ll need to flush it a few more times, as well.

And…did I mention I am going out of town with kiddo Tuesday–for 2.5 days? My husband is on duck duty. He’s…not exactly thrilled at the assignment.

I spent most of the drive today trying to explain to an eleven-year-old why some things just sort of happen and how to deal with them without panicking. How to pivot, how to make plans, and that when you take on the responsibilities of a pet–no matter what kind of animal–you have a responsibility for the bad times, too.

Life is always a lesson, right? Life is definitely an adventure. (Heaven help me, it’s about to get more adventurous. Kiddo asked to make dinner. All by herself. I’m not allowed in the kitchen at all. This can go either way!)

Now…I need to google how to give a duck oral antibiotics. The vet said to pry her beak open and shoot it in. I somehow suspect it’s not going to be that simple.

I swear this is going to end up in a book some day. (Dusty’s, maybe? I mean…the woman is a vet tech, after all! And they do have a flock of ducks at the Talley Inn…)

Anyway… I should say something about the books, right? That’s what people come here for, lol.

Not Kissing Nick releases on Tuesday, June 21st. It’s up for preorder everywhere but Google Play. I’m working on getting it on GP tonight. I forgot to post an excerpt from Nick before. I’m linking to it here!

The next book, Never Chasing Charlie is with the editor now. Because of scheduling, I won’t be getting Charlie back in time to put it on preorder, so it’ll just be a regular release! I’ll post when it goes live.

I’ve posted an extended excerpt of Never Chasing Charlie here.

I think it was my most enjoyable of the Seasons book to write. It takes place in both Masterson and Finley Creek. I got to blend in characters from both series’. Charlie releases on July 21st!

(This is my little baby quackie. She’s a 3.75 pound Buff Orpington. They are extremely sweet ducks, but wow! does this one have spirit and attitude. But she likes it when I hold her!)