fly away little birdies

A week or two ago the little boys pointed out a bird's nest on our farm. A barn swallow mama took advantage of the fact that one of the very last things to finish on our house is the porch ceiling and flew under the eaves to raise her young in our garage. 

We have been watching the baby's growth via binoculars, which is interesting, but Tim was grossed out by the sheer volume of bird poop 5 birds make on our garage floor. He scrubbed it out with the hose, but after only 24 hours the floor was a mess again. 

The only solutions were to take down the nest, killing the babies, or just wait it out until they learn to fly and leave the nest. Since he is such a softy the birds stayed and will likely be gone before the ceiling is installed in about 2 weeks, blocking their egress. 

The other critter problem didn't end well. When I went over to the garage apartment last week to take some boxes upstairs I found water dripping from the second floor. Turns out after 2 trips from the plumber and 1 from the builder than we had mice living between the floors during the winter and they had eaten a hole in the hot water line. The pipes and the drywall will be replaced soon, but something permanent will have to be done about invading critters. It is almost humorous to be discussing how best to discourage/kill the mice in our buildings at the same time we tempt Butter and Cream, Mary's pet mice, with special treats for their enjoyment. 

Looking at aerial photos from the early 1900's and today it is worth noting that 100 years ago 85% of our area was cleared for farms and today only 15% is still open space.  Between our little animal control issues and trying to keep the edges of the fields free of tree seedlings, I understand the old farmers who say that living in the country is a battle to keep what we have created from turning back to its natural state.