Duck Season

My ducks are back! Even though my little backyard pond is more like a group of puddles this year, the duck couple was happily floating and digging this morning like it's their private resort get-away. I'm totally in love. I bought them cracked corn and hopefully the plethora of food will make up for the paltry pond.

Come Back Ducks

That white stuff is going. The sledding hill is still a sledding hill, but the edges are getting pretty soft. The grass in my back yard is almost back. The curb in my front yard is back. The unfinished landscaping of my side yard is back. And the spring pond behind my house is back. Now I just want the ducks to come back.

Being a Nut Beats Going Nuts

I'm having a love affair with pine nuts. It all began when I got an impossibly big bag of the little suckers from Costco. I started with the expected: fresh pesto. I love that stuff. Then I moved on to adding them to stir fry, which was also unexpectedly delicious. These jewels are tender and a little sweet and crisp. Perfect for stir fry. I'm not going to Google this idea and just pretend that I made it up. I sprinkled them on oatmeal...yummy. I poured them in a smoothie...nice and nutty. And I baked them into brownies...not bad.

I even fed some to the cute duck couple who have taken up residence in my back yard. I'm not sure they were as thrilled with the pine nuts as I am. I think they were under the distinct impression I was throwing the tiny nuts AT them instead of TO them. They scurried out of their private pond and started hiking up the snow bank. So I quit raining down pine nuts and backed up quietly.

Which brings me to another subject that's unrelated, but on my mind. What do I feed wild ducks? I've heard you shouldn't feed them bread. I've read something about cracked corn, but I don't know where to get that and I don't know where Jimmy lives. (Okay, bad joke, but bonus points if you get it.)

Maybe tomorrow I'll hit the feed store. And Costco for more pine nuts.