Chomp

Swan
Originally uploaded by hellomizk

Today I went for a little walk to get some fresh air and practice taking pictures some more. I wandered down to the river and took a variety of crunchy old breads that we forgot to eat with me. The bread here is tasty but we've noticed that if you buy a loaf, you pretty much better plan on finishing it in 24 hours tops - or plan to share it with birds, because it takes a beak to crunch the crusts the next day.

When I got to the river, a bunch of mallard-y looking ducks were hanging around. I laid an IKEA bag on the ground so I would have something to sit on, since it's been drizzly all day. As soon as I was comfortably settled and had the camera ready, I started feeding the ducks. I had two rolls and a bun and I now realize I should have brought way more bread because tons and tons of ducks showed up. Several of the ducks would stand right next to me, not more than six inches away, and take the bread right from my hand. Neat! Things got exciting when the swans showed up. Two big swans.

How big were the swans? Well, I was sitting on the ground and the swan who walked up to me and stood on my boots looked down at me when he stretched out his neck. Them's good eatin', I bet. Anyway, this swan stood right next to my feet and swung his long neck until his face was about a foot from mine - and growled at me. Growled. And then hissed. I couldn't stand up because of the way I was sitting and the fact the swan was standing between my feet, so I put the toe of my boot on his chest and gently pushed him back. He didn't like that. He stretched his neck out and hissed again. In a last desperate measure, I threw a roll at his head and shut my eyes. When I didn't get attacked, I opened one eye to see the swan blissfully attempting to swallow the entire roll without doing whatever it is swans do in lieu of chewing. Once he finished his roll, he seemed satisfied and walked away, allowing me to continue feeding the duckies and, soon, the pigeons. The rain picked up and I decided to head back home.

On a totally unrelated note, I present to you:
Sauce for ham - a variation

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup cane sugar
1 tbsp molasseses
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup apricot jelly
1/4 tsp prepared horseradish

Melt butter and stir in flour. Add remaining ingredients except horseradish and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in horseradish to taste. Serve with ham! (Tasty on ham sandwiches the next day, too)

Still need a goofy name for my sauce. "ApriHorse"? "RadiCot"? "HorsieCot"? "Spicy Horsey Fruity Goo?"