The Squawk-off

We got home late from some after-work errands last night, pulling up to the house around 7:30 pm.  There were birds all around us: swallows and chickadees in the trees, birdhouses, and power lines near the house; ducks and other assorted birds in the neighbour's pond; and in the field at the end of the road, just past the barn, were two cranes and two Canadian geese.

The cranes were to the North, on a little rise in the field.  I believe their nest is on the next property, which is fairly heavily treed.  The geese were on the road allowance, and we could see them clearly as we stood on the road in front of the house.  And all four were hollering at the top of their lungs.  The cranes stood tall, calling out loudly, and didn't move an inch.  The geese had their necks outstretched and their heads low.  I used to have geese (long, long, ago, and I'll never have them again) and I recognize this as their "serious" stance - they are ready for a fight, likely defending territory they have decided they want.

We watched for a few moments, then carried on hauling in the groceries.  I didn't get a video, for a few reasons: my phone was already inside, and it wouldn't have gotten a good picture anyway; I can't immediately recall where the video camera is; and there was frozen food and other activities to attend to.  I'll keep an eye out for them over the next few days, and I'll dig out the video camera tonight so I'm prepared if they put on another show for us.

I would love to have young cranes and young geese around this summer, but I'm not sure if they will both use this disputed territory.  I'm confident the cranes will stay, as they've been here for at least the last two summers, and seem to have an established nest nearby; however, they just might chase off the geese.  That doesn't upset me at all - these disputes occur daily all over the world, and I'm confident they'll come to some conclusion.  I'm just amused, and heartened, that they've chosen the neighbour's fields for this display.

In other quick news:
The last few days have been warm and sunny, and most of our snow has melted (yay!) so Jordan has let the chickens out while he's been home.  They've LOVED it - this is their first true free-ranging.  Wednesday night, I got home just after Jordan let them out, and all six wandered around and pecked at the new growth for twenty minutes, then fluffed themselves up and sunbathed in a dry patch in front of the barn.  As we watched, they all started falling asleep - or at least, that's how it appeared to us, as they rocked onto their sides, stretched out their legs, and closed their eyes.  Jordan's kindness was rewarded with zero eggs yesterday - they must have been too busy exploring!

Zim's class starts up again on Monday, after a two week break.  Kim and I have taken Zim and Doodle to practice at the school, so they've still improved while on break.

Jordan took down the collapsed carport yesterday; we now have a very large tarp, some long nails, and some broken metal poles.  I'll find a use for everything, so Jordan saved all the pieces for me.  (I'm such a magpie - just ask Dad, who used to have to empty out my pockets before we could leave the local Pick Your Part, because I'd pick up coins, rocks, fuses, springs, light bulbs, washers, trinkets... pretty much anything interesting I could find on the ground or in the cars.  And I don't think I'll ever grow out of that, because it comes in really useful sometimes!)

I started tomato and cabbage seedlings on Tuesday.  For tomatoes: 45 black plum, 18 aztecas (they did okay last year), and 18 amish paste (which didn't come up last year at all, and we're using seeds from the same batch - if they aren't up a week or two after the other varieties, I'll plant something else in those seed pots).  I also started 27 golden acre cabbages, in hopes that the early starts will be strong enough to survive the caterpillars that attacked last year's golden acre (the one that came up...).  I'll seed the red acre cabbages directly, as they did AMAZING last year (the four that came up...).  And, of course, I'll be protecting the seeds better this year for everything we direct sow - the birds ate 870+ carrot seeds last year, and the majority of the cabbage and lettuce seeds too.  Jerks (though I understand why they did it - if someone opened a free buffet next door, I'd probably just eat there instead of bothering to organize my own meals too!).  So I'll use some row cover once the seeds are in, at least until they've got a few true leaves.

In the next few weeks, I'll start pickling cucumber seeds as well.  I might find some other things to start, but I really want to focus on peas, pickles and tomato sauce for us this year. I had a quick discussion with Kim's family about bartering cabbages, so I'll plant lots of those - if nothing else, it will keep our bare dirt in the garden to a minimum, which will discourage the weeds.  We really need to come up with a better garden plan this year...

We took a  huge load of junk to the dump last weekend, and as the snow reveals more items we were to overwhelmed and exhausted to deal with in the fall, we've picked them up and found them a proper home (in the shop, barn, or trash can, as appropriate).  I find spring to be such a hopeful, energetic season - I'm excited to get our place cleaned up, fixed up, organized, and ready for another summer.

Are you excited for summer?