Standing in the kitchen Kate lent against the island unit watching Grace and Nicole as they were supposedly doing their school work as it was quiet, she hoped that was true. Chris was sat in his playpen playing with his toys, well the boxes they were stored in. He had lots of educational toys yet he was more than happy to sit in the box singing random songs about sailing or something he had made up. She smiled watching as her daughters seemed to be getting on with Nicole helping her sister with the maths worksheet that had been provided.

Jumping down from the table Grace walked over to the kitchen. "mummy can I have something to eat" she asked.

"you have only just swallowed your breakfast Grace" Kate said flicking the switch on the kettle. This had become a daily battle each of the children constantly on the scrounge for snacks and something to eat.

"but I am hungry" Grace wailed.

Looking at her watch it was only 09:15. "and if you were in school would you be having your snack now?" she asked.

"no" Grace grumbled "but I am really, really, really hungry" she wailed

"well you are going to have to wait. I am afraid you can have something later" Kate sighed. She had no idea where she put it all, as her grandmother would have said 'have you got hollow legs?'

Turning as the kettle came off the boil, Kate poured the boiling water in to the coffee pot allowing it to brew before filling 2 mugs with the steaming liquid. Leaving hers on the side she carried the other one in to the little office Mike had set up as he was doing most of his work from home. Placing it on the side she wrapped her arms around his shoulders leaning in running her hands down his chest.

"How's it going" she asked kissing his neck.

Turning In his chair he pulled her on to his lap. "fine" he sighed "just trying to sort out these patrol schedules as some of Kingston's crew are reporting symptoms so they are all having to self-isolate. It could mean Hammersley is out earlier than expected we only have one crew on standby

"seriously" Kate sighed knowing this could mess with their rest-days but also that Mike couldn't do anything just because she was CO of Hammersley and his wife and she wouldn't want him to. "anyway, I thought we could all go for a bike ride this afternoon, maybe feed the ducks in the park" she smilde

"i don't know, I am pretty swamped here" he said

"please have a break and refresh your head. Besides I need you to come, Chris's seat doesn't fit on my bike" she grinned.

"fine" he sighed "give me a couple of hours to sort some things out" he said as she slid from his lap.

"okay then I'll just go sort the bikes out then" she smiled as she walked out.

Walking back In to the kitchen she could see the cupboards were wide open, and Grace had a packet of Shapes on the table in front of her.

"Grace!" Kate walked over to the table and picked up the empty packet. "i thought I told you that you couldn't have a snack" Kate called crossly

"but I was hungry" Grace wailed

"told you not to do it" Nicole said smugly from the other side of the table.

"not helping Nicole" Kate warned

"well I did tell her" Nicole called walking towards the stairs trying to get the last word in.

Turning back to Grace "you know you don't just help yourself" she said. "no more snacks today" she said firmly.

"Mummy" Grace wailed trying to squeeze out a few tears. when it wasn't working and didn't wash with Kate she ran off upstairs.

It was 3 hours before Mike walked in to the kitchen in his 'Sunday/home clothes' which consisted of a pair of jeans and a AC/DC t-shirt.

"ready then" he called

"where in god's name did you get that" Kate grinned

"i have had this for ages it's a classic" he protested.

"you have a really crap taste in music" she laughed "and yeah I am almost ready just need to sort the stuff out for the ducks" she smiled opening the fridge

"cool" Mike called opening the bread bin and pulling out the loaf that was in there.

"what are you doing?" she asked placing 2 bags on the counter

"bread for the ducks." he said holding the loaf up.

"yeah... You can't feed ducks bread." she said

"why the hell no, I used to do it as a kid" he said

"well its bad for them always had been" she said

"bad how" he folded his arms.

"well it's not very nutritious for them and can cause deformities in the wings, it can cause diseases and over population which again can cause diseases. It can stop them migrating in winter and it goes manky at the bottom of the pond and causes a over growth of algae" Kate counted the things off on her fingers

"so, if we can't feed them bread. What can we feed them?" he asked

"sweetcorn, greens like lettuce and kale, oats, defrosted frozen peas, and bird seeds" she smiled smugly "and you can get special duck food off the internet"

"well you learn something new every day." he smiled back at her as she began sheading the lettuce that had been in the fridge but had started to turn brown. "where are the girls?" he asked

"upstairs. Grace isn't happy because I caught her steeling snacks and Nicole is in one of her teenage moods I think" Kate said as she bagged everything up.

"I'll go chance them down then" Mike smiled

"fab and I will get this one sorted" Kate smiled lifting Chris out of the playpen. "shall we go feed the quack-quacks" she smiled kissing his chubby cheek.

"quack-quacks" Chris smiled reaching for his comfort duck he had had since he was a baby.

"Let's leave ducky here. We are going on the bikes. You like sitting on daddy's bike don't you" she smiled.

"Quack- Quack" Chris smiled again.

Smiling she gabbed Chris's coat from the side. The temperature over the last few days had dropped and reports were saying they were in for a massive cold snap. One of the coldest on record so she wanted to make sure he as warm and didn't get ill.

The park was reasonably quiet so they had the ducks mostly to themselves. Secretly that was what Kate had hoped as she loved feeding the ducks ever since she was a kid, at one point she had been like the pied piper with a long line of ducks following her for a tasty morsel of bread (before she learnt how bad it was for them in later life).

The ducks seemed to enjoy the feast that they had brought wolfing it down as if they had never been fed. Not long after they arrived another family arrived over the other side of the pond which caused a few ducks to swim over. They seemed more interested in the bread this family were chucking in.

"thought you said bread was bad for them?" Mike whispered as they watched the children.

"it is. But take you given a nice salad or a Maccas what do you prefer"

"Maccas of course" Mike grinned

"exactly. So, the bread is the ducks' version of a Maccas" she smiled. Taking a handful of the seed and chucking it in to the water.

It was a lovely afternoon even if it was a little cold. They managed to get home before the promised rain began to fall and they all got soaked. The girls both just dropped their helmets on the floor and ran off. Sighing Kate picked them up putting them safely on each of their bikes before walking in to the house herself.

Once again, she found both girls rummaging through the cupboards for something to eat. Sighing as they both ran off leaving the doors open. Picking up a note pad off the side she began writing down all the snacks they had in the cupboard. There was going to be a huge shake up with this and the kids were not going to be happy.

so more lockdown drama :D hope you are all coping well. anyway all the info about bread and ducks is true and everything I mentioned as a alternative is what the canal and river trust (a charity that looks after our rivers and canals in the uk) say is the best thing to feed them. I use the duck food we get from a local garden centre. anyway I hope you like and let me know what you think xx