Hobbies and Crafts

Hello All

I opened the dining room curtains first thing this morning and saw white feathers on the back lawn.......??? On closer inspection (no bird around thank goodness) and the feathers were tiny very white and fluffy..... like from an angels wings, so where did they come from?? Still no sign of our regular Blackbird, no idea where he has gone?

Ann, has Luke since you saw him last? They seem to grow every week at that age.

Jane, poor little woodpigeon. I'm glad he wasn't found dead in our garden though.

Vera, I hope all is well with your Son in Law and he is improving each day now.

Thank you for your concern Kandj. Son in law appears to be fine.

We went for a walk along the river this afternoon as the sun had come out. Lots of ducks and swans, of course, but we also saw a cormorant flying quite low along the centre of the river and a bird of prey soaring and circling over a meadow on the opposite bank. We weren't close enough to identify it properly.

When we got back I saw something crawling up a window inside the conservatory which turned out to be a grasshopper. I managed to trap it in a glass and put it outside. Nice to see there is some life in the garden though I am concerned for our frog. We haven't seen him for a while. Perhaps he's found a better class of hotel elsewhere.

We haven't seen our frog lately either Vera, maybe they come out to play when nobody is watching.

We visited the Swannery at Abbotsbury while in dorset. The Cygnets are quite big now but all still mainly in their family groups. We saw, besides the swans, Coots, Geese, ducks, pheasant and Cormorants and one white small egret.

We saw Luke yesterday, we last saw him in May, I didn't think he was a lot taller but he was slimmer and stronger where he is walking and running all the time. Not sure what moves fastest, his legs or his tongue. Can't understand all he says but he jabbers away and I could catch qhite a few words. He is a real charmer and very good, very well behaved for a 2 year old. :-) :-)

I hope both of your Frogs are ok :-D
I have found several Green Grasshoppers in the house these past few weeks.How they get in I have no idea !!

No stopping Luke now then Ann LOL

Apparently our little frog is OK OH has seen it recently.

Yesterday andtoday we have had the Goldfinches back on the Niger seeds and we also had a chaffinch in the apple tree. Sadly the apples are falling off the tree rotten so the birds are welcome to them.

Glad your frog is OK Ann. Still haven't seen our main frog but yesterday OH saw a very small baby frog hopping about the garden.

As the birds seem to be using the "pond" (about the size of a large round washing up bowl) to bathe in, I dragged himself out today to buy a bird bath. Found one we liked at a reasonable price and while we were there bought a couple of small plants for the "pond" - a marsh marigold and a variegated dwarf sedge. I also paid £4 for a small shaped bit of rock so anything that gets in the "pond" has something craggy to help them climb out.

I've put "pond" in inverted commas because it seems a silly name for something so small but I don't know what else to call it.

Pond sounds perfect Vera :-D.I do hope your Frog turns up..That is good that OH has spotted yours Ann.
Our Goldfinch seemed to have vanished again.Sometimes I see a lot on our TV Aeriel for a week or so and then 'poof' that vanish .I have never had the Niger Seeds.But now the Killer Cat has moved in I am reluctant to entice any more birds just now.He had a Sparrow earlier today :-(...But I see little 'Hoppy one leg' is still safe :-D

There has been a Muntjac barking nearly all afternoon over the back somewhere.
I hear one at night sometimes but never in the day like this. It got all the neighbours dogs barking too !!!.

Off on hols today so will be back in a couple of weeks :-D..Lake Como here I come.

Have a good time Jane

Aaw missed you Jane. Hope you have a wonderful holiday. I am envious, would like to go there, never seem to have the spare weeks. :-D

Hello All

Very wet, grey and dark here and looks set for the rest of today On a positive note, it will do the gardens good but it seems to be keeping the birds away.... obviously hiding somewhere because none have been in the garden and none are flying around either.

Hope Jane and hubby are enjoying dryer weather in Italy.

Wasn't too wet, just drizzly until half an hour ago whenw e had an enormous cloud burst. For the first time in a year we actually had a slight leak in the conservarory. However there is a glimmer of sun right now. Strange weather. OH is counting himself lucky as the golf match he was to play in was cancelled when he got round there. He would have been caught in the cloudburst when right out in the middle of the course.

It's pretty gloomy and windy here in Somerset, we left dreadful weather in Cornwall.

The site was like being at home, without the builders, we had Gulls, Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons, all of whom had to crash land on top of the caravan and then stomp along the length of it either squawking or cawing or cooing. They all sounded like they weighed a ton, especially at six o'clock in the morning. There was also a little wren under the mobile next door this morning when I was washing up.

I haven't seen the Swifts since we got back home, they might have left, I suppose.

Have a fab holiday if you haven't gone already Jane.

M.

did you have bad weather all week Maryanna. such a shame as Cornwall is so lovely when the sun shines. Did you get to visit any gardens? We visited Abbotsbury again the week before last on one of the two nice days we had and went to the swannery on the other. I bet your garden has grown a bit while you were away. Ours was a bit of a jungle.

Another dark wet day here in Yorkshire and forecast to be the same rest of the week.
Only hoards of starling and wood pigeons around. Still no sign of our regular Mr Blackbird which is puzzling as he has been around for several years BUT I did spot a robin in the back garden yesterday...... aren't they quick? It caught my eye as I went to the dustbin and at first I froze thinking it was a mouse ..... pheww HUGE RELIEF to see a robin which made me smile on quite a miserable rainy day.

Maryanne, doesn't sound good to have so many birds stomping on caravan roof.

Ann, have you put the garden visit on your photo blog? You have a good camera eye, so thank you for sharing your interesting shots.... will we call you "Mrs (David) Bailey" in future?

Vera, are having plenty of rain to get all your lovely plants/trees established and is Humphrey still around for you?

dull and damp here, expecting friends for lunch (just a light buffet type).

Yes I took photos of the gardens Kandj, I'll put some on later. I don't think david Bailey has any worries about me! :-D

Rain, rain, wind, and more rain here today. It eventually stopped this evening and several blackbirds arrived to turn over the wet earth in search of worms and insects. It's good but I wish they could manage to keep the earth in the beds - they will throw it all over our newly laid paths which already look dirty.

There was a robin bobbing around as well.

OH saw another frog in the garden today but said it was too small to be Humphrey. I fear he may be the late Humphrey as we haven't seen him for a while. :-(

He may have found anothe pond Vera. Just imagine the blackbirds are digging the garden over for you :-)

Bright and sunny here in Yorkshire this morning and it was the same yesterday too.

Lots of hedge sparrows which is always nice to see and also a robin (same as Vera)
bob bob bobbing along...... a lovely sight to see and ofcourse the usual hoards of starlings which devour every scrap on the ground feeder and the window feeder too.

Still no sign of or regular Mr Blackbird, perhaps he has gone away with Humphrey?

I hope Jane and hubby are enjoying their Lake Como break.