Nell,Racism and Red Valerian

Poor Nell has been suffering the over romantic attentions (!!) of Walter and Harold over the last few weeks and now has a nasty sore on the back of her head (that is the area drakes "hold" their females when mating)as well as a clear infection in her left eye. So I caught her this morning and took her to the vets to get some treatment.
Now ducks are like hens for they remain still and calm if you hold them firmly, so I wrapped Nell up in a baby blue hand towel and sat her on my knee in the vet's waiting room. The waiting room filled up fairly quickly as only one vet was on duty, and by 10 am there was seven people in there with cat baskets on their knees, an elderly man with a collie and me with Nell sat stock still in her towel.
One woman opposite from me asked which vet was working and another women told her the "foreign" vet was holding clinic. Regular readers to this blog may remember that I have always been amused by the Polish vet tendency to yell when taking a history, so I was terribly shocked to hear a rather personal tirade of racist comments from the first women against this vet.
With eight perfect strangers listening, she admitted that she didn't like these "crappy foreign vets" who give poor care and couldn't be understood by anyone.Rather proudly she added that she would never see anyone but the lovely "English" senior partner . The waiting room was silent at this speech (but I did notice the second woman nodding) and I sat there speechless at this blatant nasty behaviour.
I couldn't quite believe that someone could be so open in their racist comments and had to say SOMETHING in view of the silence in the room .As coldly as I could I said loudly "The "foreign" vet is actually Polish and is a VERY competent professional She deals with all my animals and has done so wonderfully for two years".
Now the moral high ground I felt I had, was somewhat diluted by the fact I had a bald duck on my knee wrapped in a baby blue bath towel, but I hope this woman felt a tiny bit ashamed by her words. I guess that sort of creature does not take challenging too well( she just shrugged at my words), but at least the other people in the waiting room may have felt a bit embarrassed by their own silent complicity.
Anyhow Nell was treated by the senior "English" partner who had come back on duty (pity) and she had cream anointed on her head and some I M antibiotics.I have to bathe her head and eye daily with cold tea ( a first for me) which will be fun, and I put her back into her run with Maude after removing Walter and Harold.
The drakes literally went hysterical at being separated from the females and have constantly broken out of the hens enclosure to get back with their girls. After the fifth escape I left them all together again,I will wait and see if Nell's injuries improve.

Caught up with garden clearing this afternoon. The red valerian in the lane looks wonderfull, Thia weed covers all the walls in the village.