Wednesday 21 October 2015

DUCKIES


Over the years, many ducks and other birds have flown into  the Duck Inn. Rubber Duckies from all over the world have come with guests. Here is a charming Swiss one who arrived in a box covered in International Stamps.




See how quickly he made friends with some 
of the others who call the soaker tub home.


Allen loves to carve and several of his winged creations 
have made their way to the cottages.
These live on top of the kitchen cupboards in 
Willow Cottage, making them great dust catchers and 
causing Cora some frustration!
This Heron sits by the fire, keeping an eye on things.
Some of our oldest ducks are these plaques on the Willow Cottage living room wall. Many years ago, long before this Duck Inn, Allen and I were part of a Consignment Store on Powell Street also called The Duck Inn. 
The partners brought in their treasures to sell in the store, and took turns working in it. 
Many delightful things were bought and sold
….a lot to other partners!
No one got rich, but a good time was had by all. Eventually the store closed and we all brought our unsold treasures home. When we opened the Duck Inn in 1996, many of the old Duck Inn partners came to the Inn Warming
….bearing gifts like these.
Neil Erickson, one of our favourite artists, 
created several water colours for the Duck Inn.
Mr and Mrs Mallard is an original that he painted for the "Opening Ceremonies". 
The same ivy plant growing among the old duck plaques loves to encircle this painting
The Great Blue Heron is one of Neil’s best known works. 
This is a print taken from the original, which we feel privileged to own! It hangs in our dining room.
 Many Duck Inn guests have purchased copies of this print from Neil.

Neil and his family now live in Vernon, where he continues to paint. He's on Facebook if you're interesting in seeing some of his other works.
Neil Erickson - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neil-Erickson/183986651649024

Several rather worn Mallards hold the large bath towels in the bathrooms....we can't bear to part with them!
And these geese love to have guests apply their makeup in front of them.

These old Blue Mountain Pottery Ducks make a charming grouping on this old silver duck tray.

In La Paz, we have a friend who creates original bird houses. This Duck Inn one hasn’t attracted  any nesters yet,
 but it’s happy in its spot above the canoes.

 When you Check In to the Duck Inn, 
you’ll find more ducks in our house! 
Here’s our Registration Book with a
 Duckie Welcome Vase behind it.
I think it's safe to say that there are Ducks everywhere here. Will we ever have too many?? Don't think so! 
The ducks in this post are just a small sample of our collection.....I may have to add a few more later!