I now have an understanding of what the hungry young ones sound like when feeding, when the parents are warning them to not move and when they are going about their normal "chatter".
As we are still in spring, there is still a daily layer of new pollen to cover anything that decides to go outside. So the family congestion is quite consistent at the moment. Regardless I have spent a few hours moving rock and dirt and generally getting into messes and planting things in the ground. While, at times Stone is enjoying school or at other times while he follows and assists.
As for critters, most have been in the bug variety directly around the house. I have seen at least five species of spiders in the house thus far. All small to medium sized leaping type predators. Thus, little web to "clean up". The only one I have removed thus far was in the tub are where the boy bathes - and I am not quite sure he is ready to have them with him during bubble time yet.
As for the plantings, so far so good. Everything has seemingly taken root and I have not had any rabbits or deer assault any of my selections. Thus far the only "pest" was a nice plump green caterpillar who was tearing into one of the leafy full sun plants. I noticed it a few days ago and thought I would see how much damage it would do. Inspecting the plant today, I found it could do quite a bit in a few days time. It also feeds a family of four quite nicely.
