We have been concerned about our Lady Amherst female, Cornelia, as she has spent most of the last three weeks in her brood box. Today we found out why she was so diligent. This morning she was anxiously cooing at two tiny chicks trotting around in the pen. There may be more in the brood box, but I haven't looked yet. What puzzles me is how she got the little ones down from the box to the ground, a distance of about five feet.
I'm in San Francisco for the week and so far all I've seen is an evening view on the trip into the city from the airport. Today was spent in hotel meeting rooms and now I'm too exhausted to do more than look out on a wonderful view from the 33rd floor of this posh hotel. I can see the harbour, nicely wreathed in fog around the edges, and a bit of what might be the Golden Gate Bridge. As I was driven in last night, I thought about the last time I came here, about 27 years ago. Nothing is familiar now, but I remember coming by taxi from the airport to a hotel with my two boys, who had been angels on the plane. Noel was 7, Evan 3 1/2, and I was dismayed to find my feet swollen considerably during the flight, a situation probably aggravated by my pregnancy. The boys were sick that night, so we got little sleep, but we all recovered by the next day and had a trip to Sausalito before heading south to see other places. I wonder if either of them has any memory of that trip.
One of our first dates, way back when, was a canoe outing on the Credit River. Bob and I have been canoeing since, but not at all since we moved to our Owen Sound house. Until today. One of my urgent items to get done before I leave town next week was to reduce the number of cattails in the pond. We decided to try a different approach this year, because last year's squelching around in wellies and wetskins was really difficult. So Bob got the canoe down to the pond and piloted me here and there while I yanked cattails left and right. Very efficient, although the canoe had to be hosed down afterwards -- cattails come up pretty muddy. Now the lily pads and irises have room to spread out.
I'm speechless now because my speech is done. I presented my piece on dealing with office clutter this afternoon to a receptive and appreciative audience at the Editors' Association of Canada's national conference. I was glad to be presenting after other sessions, because they were informative and diverting enough to keep me from getting too nervous before my turn. Several people came to me afterward to ask questions or thank me, saying how they planned to go home and try out some of my ideas -- that's the best thanks I could have hoped for. I have lots more to say on the subject -- yeah, you can't shut me up now. It will become fodder for my new site (in development, but live in an alpha version). And now I've got to work on a better version of my speech.
Nature really has the last word when it comes to life and death around the pond. We noticed Mama Duck flying off suddenly last Sunday afternoon, then we saw there were no eggs left in the nest. No sign of struggle or evidence of what creature feasted on the eggs. In a way, I'm glad she didn't waste too long in such a hazardous spot. She can start again somewhere less open, I hope.
For those of you who are friends with Claire on Facebook, check out the spectacular pictures one of her friends just posted of her working with the birds at the Edinburgh Zoo.
Stop worrying, you bird people! Mama mallard made several more visits to add to her egg collection and, as of Thursday, she's been sitting on them full-time. Except when scared away by dogs a couple of times -- but we've confined the canines to viewing from a distance now. She tolerates us walking into the pond area; even Bob with the wheelbarrow doesn't upset her. According to wikipedia, it will be about a month before there are ducklings, if she and her eggs survive the rich tapestry of wildlife threats.
The garden is fully awake now, all budding and greening up, and we've had several visitors to the pond. The heron is so touchy I've only seen it in full flight from a distance, but a pair of mallards are much more tolerant (except when the dogs go to greet them). My greenhouse project came together, with Bob's help: we made a former pheasant pen into a harbour for tender plants, using only a large roll of plastic and a nifty stapling tool. We repurposed odd bits from the pens we demolished inside the shed to make adjustable vents. It's already a handy spot for several dozen cuttings from an old privet recently hacked down by one of Mum's neighbours, plus all the seedlings I started a few weeks ago in the house.
I've stolen several hours on sunny days this week to get out and dig in the dirt, but it was no sacrifice to spend a whole day at the second annual HICKTech, a great tech conference in Owen Sound. It was a great combination of good speakers, interesting subjects, and superb food. We're doing our best to support the sponsoring businesses, stocking up from Neustadt Brewery and the 100 Mile Market. Excellent craft beer and four-year-old cheddar -- doesn't get any better than that.
First speaker of the day (aside from our Mayor Lovell, who was cheerful and concise) was Heather Champ, community manager for Flickr. Excellent presentation on shepherding online communities, as Flickr has done for millions around the world. I think aspiring community builders in the audience might have wondered what it takes to be so successful -- topic for another day, I guess.
We're here at the Bayshore in Owen Sound for the day I have been waiting for -- premier tech conference, well conference of any kind in these parts, HICKTech. The speakers got piped in by Charles Meanwell. The coffee is wonderful!
