Hobbies and Crafts

It's been quite a day here with the Hot Cylinder coming out and the plumber discovering sodden flooring underneath.It was a right mess and he was surprised the tank hadn't actually dropped through the ceiling :-0 :-0 :-0.
So at the moment we have no hot water or heating.Hopefully by the end of tomorrow all will be fine :-D.A lick and a promise will have to do for now.
I haven't even been looking out for my birds today other than topping up the feeder.
It will be nice just to get back to normal again
:-D

Ooh could have been nasty Jane, at least it is not too cold. Hope it gets fixed ok tomorrow. :-)

Oh Jane it must be awful keep having all this unplanned upheaval, I hope this is the end of your plumbing problems.

I too haven't seen much bird activity today...I've been cleaning carpets :-|

Lesley x

Lesley ,I might call on you to clean mine .I reckon the bathroom carpet will be in a desperate need of a good clean after all this lot going on.The plumber and his mate are very good at trying to keep the carpets covered but they still get mucky :-S
I'm off to bed .Need to up and ready for 8.30 . :-S

Oh dear Jane, it sounds like your tank has been leaking for quite some time, so thank goodness it is being replaced. Why does one job always attract others? It's the same here!! I think you and your OH might just be on the plumbers Christmas card list lol.

It's a dry, bright day here in Yorkshire which is good to see. Shows the garden weeds up though...... always a job ready to keep me out of mischief.

A quiet start as yet in the garden for the ground feeding birds but the young blackbird and several starlings keep coming to the window feeder and eating the mealworm suet pellets and some sultanas I put in there, but all are ignoring the fat ball as yet.

What a nightmare you are having Jane. I hope everything gets finally sorted and dried and cleaned up very soon

Was sunny here first thing but then we had a couple of heavy showers again and now it is grey and windy. All I have seen this morning are the starlings and the pigeons who are being fed by the starlings. The starlings land on the seed feeder and swing it to and fro in the wind so a lot of seeds fall onto the ground below, where the pigeons are waiting to hoover them up.

Just looked out of the window and guess what - it's raining again. If the birds have got any sense they are huddled in shelter somewhere.

Raining here now although was nice earlier. I think it will dry up again soon. OH managed to give the lawn a top cut yesterday so the garden is looking tidier. Not seen any birds this morning but the seed has gone down.

A grey wagtail just flew into my window. It seems okay though. It's now bobbing about in the garden. They bob up & down as if they're on springs. :-)
A few months ago a sparrow flew into my window and knocked itself out. It recovered after a few minutes though

We ended up putting those window stickers on our conservatory windows to prevent that.

Well ,it is all done :-D.Chap just popping around sometime tomorrow just to recheck the shower.I have just washed some floors downstairs .They look much better now :-D
Tomorrow I will attack carpets and get rid of the dust everywhere.It seems to be in every room of the house :-S

Graham ,I often hear a thump on a window and dread looking out to see what poor bird it is.I find the smaller ,lighter birds fare better after crashing,and somehow the heavier ones more often come a cropper.I often see the dusty pattern of wings from a pidgeon.

The lady blackbird is busy feeding at the window now.It is amazing how fast she can get those pellets down !!!!

The sun is out now and it seems to be a nice evening after a miserable morning.

Glad they have got it done Jane. Hot water and radiators now then? :-)

Ann we are almost expiring with the heat now lol Jumpers stripped off and heating turned down.Our radiators have never been so hot.We lit the wood burner this morning as it was pretty chilly ,but i will just let it go out now as it is chucking out so much heat.I had to go and stand on the back door step just now !!!

With your house being so hot now Jane at least the carpets will dry quickly after you've cleaned them :-D

Ann I wish MOG would give our grass a trim, he says it is still to wet which it probably is in places but it isn't to wet all over

You certainly do have some fussy birds in Yorkshire, have you ever tried making your own fat balls kandj? I haven't.

Nothing much happening in our garden today :-(

Lesley x

I'm just about flaking out here lol.Just had a bath and then had to have a little down.
What with the very hot water and then the radiators blasting out heat !!!.I have now turned the heating RIGHT DOWN....We aren't used to this .Even my son just came down and said "Phew it ain't half hot Mum" :-D :-D.I think I'll have to have a moment on the back doorstep again .I mustn't complain though lol :-D
Not sure what the birds have been doing today ,but I can see the feeder isn't empty.

Oo-er something keeps setting our front security light off, I wonder what is on the prowl tonight:-S

Lesley x

A really Springlike morning here in Yorkshire. Snowdrops, crocus and a couple of February Gold daffs in bloom with others in bud, a lovely sight to see.

The young blackbird has been to the window feeder several times already this morning. He is perfect at landing on the gripper and seems to be used to the mealworm suet pellets (thank goodness).

Vera I agree the starlings need to be fed but I get cross seeing them so argumentative and greedy!

Lesley, you read my mind ha ha. I might try to make the birdcake but knowing my lot of birds they will probably ignore it! What was the prowler last night?

Jane it's good to know that all leaks are sorted and you have a warm house again.

Too wet to attempt to cut our grass Ann but there are lots of weeds in borders needing attention.

Graham, we also have the occasional bird who bangs into the window but thankfully nothing too alarming as they fly off again. Good job, because I couldn't pick them up....... cos I am a wuss!!

Just been out and topped up the seed feeder that is the staple diet of the collard doves. Also shooed a magpie out of the garden, beautiful majestic birds but I don't want to encourage them because they go after the eggs and fledglings. Just had a blackbird and Great tits in the garden so far today.

Lovely sunny morning, I have a load of washing hanging out so I hope it stays that way. Had a mad moment and washed off the outsides of two wheelie bins that had been spattered by birds. Then had an even madder moment and washed the window and door sills outside. It was in the shade and very cold. OH has gone to golf. My sore throat has turned into a cough which is annoying. I am hoping it doesn't hang around long as we go away next week.

Suddenly had a lot of activity around 2.15. Two Goldfinches, a green finch (might have been 2), great tit, blue tit, chaffinch and a flock of starlings plus one collard dove who looked bemused at so many birds on her/his feeders.

Ann I hope that cough won't be too troublesome.Some are devils for hang in on for weeks.Are you going somewhere nice?
The Red Kite is busy overhead looking for its supper.Once again today I haven't noticed too much on the bird front as I have been glued to my laptop doing a bit of research.I don't do much ,but once I get into it I can't stop and instead of just trying to trace one or two people I find myself having a look at everyone in the whole blooming tree.Then my mind gets all muddled up as so many have the same name :-S

It has been a lovely day with lots of sunshine.All my towels have dried on the line :-D
OH is trying to put shelving back in the airing cupboard .Not so easy to do as the new tank is a different shape to the old one and different size too.I can hear a lot of banging and bumping going on above my head.....I shall just stay well out of the way :-D

I can see the 2 Long Tailed Tits on the feeder now,but the camera is way out of reach :-S

And now the cough has developed into a stinking cold, first one for about 2 years, goodness knows where I caught it.
We are going to Spain we are staying in a flat owned by Uzzi in Spain and her OH. Not been to the area before so it will be a change from Tenerife which we know so well.