Hobbies and Crafts

Thanks Maryanna will remember that.

We are back from Yorkshire now and found the big home made fat cake I put out had been completely eaten, the shop bought fat balls have been well nibbled, the seed feeder was completely empty and so was the water tray, so I suppose we haven't had much rain here. I've filled everything up again just now.

What really pleased me was that the Niger seeds had definitely gone down quite a bit so I think the gold finches must still be around :-D :-D :-D

EDIT. I hope you have had a good journey today Ann and arrived safely at your destination

Arrived safely thanks and now feeding Cornish birds.

Sitting in bed this morning, drinking my tea, the Sparrow Hawk whooshed in and landed in The Thug's Blackthorne.

It seemed to be a bit of an error of judgement as the tree was completely empty of birds at the time.

They are all back in there now, happily cheeping and chirping away, I just hope he doesn't come back.

Having my eyes tested later, desperately need new glasses, might be able to see the birds better soon.

M.

Vera that is good now that all the food is going :-D.At last you have plenty of takers :-D :-D

Ann where are you in Cornwall? I might have asked already lol ,but can't remember :-S.You no doubt have said too and I have missed the post.

Maryanna,hopefully the Sparrowhawk realised he had a wasted landing and has moved on elsewhere :-D
Now I m not sure if I was I'm imaging it or not ,but just as it was dusk I saw a huge bird fly over our Summerhouse followed by a Squawking Crow.At first i thought it must have been a Red Kite .BUT now I am wondering if it might have been a Barn Owl (or some Owl) It had a huge wingspan and was flying quite low.Plus I have never seen a Red Kite at that time of day ,also so low.I am curious as about 10 minutes later I could hear what I thought was an owl a bit further away (couple of gardens away)So maybe it was :-D

Who knows what you might spot with new Specs :-D.. ;-)

Ooh Jane, I ordered my new specs today, I am now nearly £400 worse off.

That will teach me to be as blind as a bat !!!!

M.

You'll see the world in a whole new light with your new specs Maryanna.

It's been a good morning for birds. Apart from the ever present pigeons and starlings I've seen blackbird, sparrow, robin, blue tits, and dunnock. No sign of the goldfinches but I did a double take this morning because there was a chaffinch pecking around the grass. I know they are very common but this was the first one I have seen around here since we moved here 18 months ago. It's been a long wait but I think the birds are finding us at last.
:-D :-D :-D

Kandj, if you are looking in, you and your OH are in my thoughts.

Hello Vera and everyone...... I'm back from another long challenging time (it is still far from over) but things seem to have calmed down at least for now, thank goodness.
Very many thanks for all your kind words and support which is much appreciated.

It started very dry and bright this morning here in Yorkshire but now it is overcast and rainy. Not very good as it has wet the bedding and towels I had put out earlier

No great variety of birds here though. Just the usual blackbird, robin, sparrow, pigeons and of course the greedy flock of starlings that devour everything in sight!

Jane we are between Penzance and Camborne but nearer to Camborne at a place called Praze an Beeble

Lovely sunny day today and reasonably warm, been to Truro and spent a bit in M&S then to Trellissick gardens, right now in the bar and deafened by a screaming baby. :-( :-(

Lovely to see you posting again Kandj. Fingers crossed that things will go a bit more smoothly for you now.

Yorkshire is one of my favourite counties. We were there last week to look after grandchildren.

I think I am getting slow in my old age. We'd get them to school, do a bit of tidying up or a bit of washing etc, maybe do a bit of shopping, then there would just about be time for a shower before they were home again! So we didn't get out and about as much as we had hoped.

I'm not complaining really. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with the grandkids. :-D :-D :-D

Just sparrows on the feeders at the moment but they seem to be making short work of the seeds.

Never heard of that place Ann.I will look it up.Fingers crossed the weather stays nice for you.How long are you there for?

Vera I wish I had some Grandchildren..But I don't see anything happening on that front too soon.I keep reminding my Daughter she is 32 now and time is rolling on .But she is busy doing her PhD at Kings in London and hasn't found a new man since the big break up she had .My Son 29 still living here and a long distance Girlfriend.

So you will have clear vision again Maryanna :-D :-D..It does help LOL..Aren't new specs expensive !!!!

Great to see you back Kandj <3 I have had towels hanging on the line for 2 days now.
I'm sure they have been dry several times ...They are still out there :-S

Back Saturday Jane.

Still feeding the birds and the squirrel who we think tipped the feeder today as it was empty and the seeds all over the floor.

Smart new glasses Maryanne aren't they expensive?

The birds seemed to vanish during the eclipse. That was in spite of it being very overcast. It did get darker and colder though.


Yesterday we had a buzzard circling overhead. They are not that common here in mid Essex, though my daughter often sees them near Colchester.

It was the same here.But the minute the eclipse was over out they all came :-D :-D
It was like a big party on the lawn lol

Next doors chickens were in a right state, then a dog started barking and set all the others around the road off.

It was too dark and gloomy to see anything, it just got darker and gloomier for a while.

I am very excited, we saw a Red Kite yesterday, it is the first one we have seen so close to home although we had heard that they have been seen round here, it was just east of Basingstoke, we have only seen them around Oxford / Henley and Wales, when eldest son was at Aberystwyth, before.

Makes a change from the Buzzards that seem to circle over our heads for most of the day !!!!!

Hope you enjoyed your Cornish trip Ann, safe journey home.

Off to find some little organza bags to put party favours in, have got some heart shaped chocolates, party plans coming together well. There is just so much more "Stuff" about than when we got married, all we had then was some paper Heather and a few plastic horseshoes to put on top of the cake !!!!

M. :-)

Remind me again Maryanna when your party is.( I have forgotten :-S)
Paper Heather and plastic horse shoes sound a lot simpler LOL

It is very strange here with the Red Kites and Buzzards.We get the Kites and my friend who just lives down the lane across the road just get Buzzards.We are only a Quarter of a mile away from each other.

Not a nice day today .It is just all grey and windy.I hope you have a clear run home today Ann with no hold ups.

No hold ups got back about 1.30. Left at 9am but sropped at Cullompton services for 45 minutes and then at Gloucester services for their farm shop for about half an hour. It was sunny with some cloud all the way from Cornwall to here.

Maryanna we have seen Red Kites near Newbury.

I guess Newbury and Basingstoke aren't too far away from each other, are they Ann.
They do seem to be spreading more.

We have to go past Basingstoke to get from one place to the other so will keep our eyes peeled in future.

The combined Ruby and big birthday party are at the beginning of May Jane.

M. :-)

Exciting planning then Maryanna.

Birds visiting our small patio to feed during the week.
Blue tits, Great tits, coal tits, Nuthatch, robins, blackbirds, male and female, Jackdaw, Wood pigeon. Chaffinches, Pied Wagtail, Dunnocks, a pair of Mallard ducks, (And 2 squirrels).
A song thrush was out in front of the apartment turning over leaves for a long time and a family of rabbits were playing in front of the apartment too. All the birds and animals were very tame and the ducks put their beaks right against the window asking for feed.

Not a very clear sighting of the eclipse here in Yorkshire yesterday, but we did find it all fascinating watching this on TV.

Nothing at all unusual either in the garden or window feeder..... sounds like Ann had my share down in Cornwall. Good to know that you are back from your travels safely.