This is...

...my favourite pet!

As a kid growing up on a standard city house block, dad always said "NO DOGS! You're not getting a dog as a pet!" So I made up for it in other ways. Our house soon became a menagerie of creatures great and small.

We had fish, birds, rabbit, mice, a cat, and eventually came a dog. But my favourite was 'Puddles', my duck.

Photo credit: Liz Walker 1975

On a weekend trip to Melbourne, our family decided to pop into the Vic Market. After separating from mum and dad, I found the animal section, and promptly decided I wanted a duck. So I paid the man my pocket money and rescued the poor thing from its tiny horrible cage. It sat on my lap in the car the whole way home- a 2 1/2hour drive.
Puddles was my best friend . She slept in a box next to my bed with a hot water bottle, and would only sleep if my hand dangled in the box.
I would take her for walks around the block. She'd follow me everywhere. She also used to help dad change the oil in the car. While dad was lying underneath the engine, Puddles would sit up under dads armpits and watch what he was doing. I'm sure dad wasn't too impressed about it. I think she thought she was a dog. Which is why in the end we had to take her to a local farm to learn how to become a duck again.
It makes me giggle thinking back on those days.

Thanks to Two Peas in a Pod for this weeks 'this is' theme.