seven ducks a-swimming

I know it's supposed to be seven swans, but bear with me.

The Lassie came over on Thursday. (In case anyone's new to the House of Stories, the Lassie came to stay with us when she was doing a placement in one of the local churches. Not only was she a joy to have around but she took Lovely Younger Son under her wing. There's a brave girl! BTW, some years earlier that placement was done by one Lady Sunshine, who is now Mrs Lovely Older Son.)

Anyway, according to the song, Thursday was the Fifth Day of Christmas, and my true love sent Five Gold Rings, but LYS told us it was Five Gold Ducks. He and the Lassie were looking at some Christmas street lights and the Lassie asked why, amongst the neon lit crackers and puddings, was there a Duck up a Tree? Apparently it was meant to be a Partridge in a Pear Tree, but the Lassie and LYS reckoned it was a duck.

When LYS gets an idea in his head, it stays there. We now have the Twelve Ducks of Christmas. A Duck in a Pear Tree, Two Turtle Ducks, Three French Ducks, all the way up to Twelve Ducks a-Piping, which is not a thing you see every day. So, to all of you little Ducks out there, remember, as you sing Auld Lang Syne and throw open the front door to let the New Year in, spare a thought for ducks guarding pear trees everywhere.

And please don't set off Chinese Lanterns. They look lovely in the sky (if they haven't set fire to a tree first) but in the end they're just bits of twisty metal that land in fields and streams and are dangerous to livestock. As we say in the UK, Lord-Love-a-Duck.