Hobbies and Crafts

I've been really worried about the wild birds I've fed for many years. My feeders were filled daily with various seeds, mixed, niger, sunflower, and the usual fat balls etc.
Unfortunately I've been in hospital since just after Christmas, and the birds will not have been fed. Many of the birds were recognisable, the robin and collared doves were hand fed.
Hopefully they may have found elsewhere to feed, I hope so.
I can start feeding them regularly again when I eventually get home, and my garden will be full of birds again.
I have grieved about the birds.

Tec :-)

From a website on waste I go on.

Ideas for bird nesting material:
Pet bedding
If you’ve got pets such as guinea pigs or rabbits, don’t be too tidy when cleaning out their hutches as birds will use any bits of straw they find.
Pet fur
If you groom your cat or dog, clean out their brush or comb and stuff the fur into hedges for birds to gather.
Human hair
When you clean out your own hair brush, release the hair go outside for birds to collect (if your hair is very long, cut it into smaller pieces first).
Moss
If you’ve raked your garden to remove moss; leave a few bundles around as nesting gifts.
Natural yarn
If you’re a knitter or crocheter, oddments of natural wool will be a welcome addition to nests. Cut yarn into 4-8 inch pieces.
Dryer lint
Dryer lint will provide soft bedding for chicks as long as you use eco washing products (some conventional cleaning products may contain harsh ingredients).

Kandj,I have just mixed seed in with the suet pellets .I bet you anything all the pellets will go and all the seed will be left !!!
It is a lovely sunny morning and my windows are looking filthy :-S

They need time to accept something new Kandj.

Never thought of doing that Lesley...... having a bit of a brain-fog day. Blame me age!!

I have put a very generous slice of this bird cake into the window feeder this morning and a starling came and ignored it and rooted around for the suet berry pellets covering the bottom of the feeder and then flew off. I give up!!!

kandj that recipe does sound easy :-) to save more time and energy I wonder if you could chill the fat mix in say a muffin tin and then just place the cakes into a fat ball holder :-S

Funny you should say that Jane I normally buy 2/3 boxes of 50 wash soap powder when it's on half price offer ;-) but today I did a big stock up shop and although I still have over half a box powder left I bought another box just in case...and it wasn't on offer :-|

Lesley x

Lesley ,Make sure you have that washing machine ready lol.I bet there will be a lot of sand/grit in her backpack.I was finding it for months after James came back from Thailand !!.I'm sure she will be making the most of her last week there now!Party and letting hair down comes to mind :-)

Kandj ,I did find myself just beginning to nod during the film .Trouble is the seats at this new cinema are so comfortable with a little table thing between seats to rest your glass of wine :-D It's almost too relaxing lol
As for 12 Years a Slave.There is no chance of nodding off .A wonderful but very emotional film.
The birds should be queuing up for a feast by the sounds of it now :-D :-D.If they don't then there is something wrong with them !!!!!

Lesley, it's good to come home when the money runs out. I'm sure your daughter has had an amazing experience.

Jane, is the Invisible Woman the film about Charles Dickens mistress? I hope you didn't fall asleep in the cinema. That is my failing (one of several lol). I have requested 12 Days a Slave book to read because I know I would fall asleep in cinema.

I have just made up the bird seed cake. Sooooh easy and sooooh inexpensive.

I melted 125g lard in the microwave and added birdseed, dried oats, crushed peanuts, plain cooked rice and grated cheese. This is now in containers in the 'fridge. If the birds are happy to eat this (feast!), then I will use the other half of the lard and make up something similar to put into yoghurt pots.
My string is in the garage and it's cold and dark and raining hard so it will stay there for now. At my next attempt I plan to fill up yogurt pots and hang these in the tree at the bottom of our garden. Wish me luck, I will put the birdseed cake into the window feeder in the morning and will let you know what happens.

Crikey Jude 9 days is an awful long time to have a sickness bug, I hope you are well and truly over it now...no rushing here there and everywhere...doctors orders :-D

I don't think flooding normally effects moles...although it can flush them out of their tunnels so they are vulnerable to their predators.

kandj some days I think I spend to much time cuddling M...still it's only the housework that I'm neglecting and that will be there tomorrow :-D good luck with the birdcakes.

Jane If your not use to seeing the result of rats that have been poisoned don't be surprised if you see dopey rats in your garden, when they are like this I use to be able to put them out of their misery, but not anymore, now I call MOG or if our eldest daughter is visiting she will do it.

I hope you have a fabulous holiday Ann :-)

Our middle daughter should be home from Thailand on Sunday as originally planned...I think shes spent out:-D she is now on island off the mainland Ko Pha Ngan, I think this is a backpackers paradise ;-) :-0

Lesley x

Jude I hope you continue to improve now.What a long time you have been suffering with this nasty old bug.
Ann,I was thinking you were going tomorrow so hopefully an extra day will see the last of that cold off.

Kandj,I won't send you a pic of Mr Rat :-D.But it is still busy .OH has put poison under the summerhouse now so hopefully it will eat it and then expire quickly.It was on the branch just now and even with me banging on the window it just stayed there :-S

I have had lots of Long Tailed Tits today.At one time there were 3 on the window feeder with 2 more trying to get on.They are so sweet they have to be one of my favourite visitors at the moment .Their little heads are so tiny and with no necks lol

Have been to the cinema this afternoon to see The Invisible Woman..It was quite good but a bit on the slow side for me.

Not had the heavy frost today so have had the usual starling, pigeons, doves, blackbirds and ofcourse many starlings on the ground feeder today.

The young blackbird has come a calling several times and I have filled the window feeder with suet mealworm pellets and sultanas and added a bit of grated cheese for variety and this is accepted by the young blackbird and the greedy starling who come.

I have googled seed birdcake and bought the lard, and several other ingredients but I haven't made this up as yet. If Jude has had contact from Shaun of the Welsh thread I will wait and see if he offers any tips before I attempt to make the home made fat ball seed cake. Jude, I hope your nasty bug improves and you will feel stronger soon.

Lesley I hope you have gained a little bit of energy too and will feel stronger after attending your cousin Colin's funeral service. Keep cuddling baby M, she is sure to help your to feel better.

I hope that Vera is enjoying special time with her family and granddaughters just now.

Jane, I cringe when I read your sitings of the rat so near to your window, I hope that he disappears somewhere else soon very fast!!

Ann, I hope that your cough is on the mend. It goes without saying that I won't be looking at the mouse on your photoblog, thank you very much.

OK, we go away Tuesday.Jude. that was a a horrible bug. did you check with the doctor? Unusual for sickness to go on for so long, I wonder you were not dehydrated and hospitalised when it went on that long. Did Vic catch it?

If you want to send me the photo of the mouse or whatever I can put it on my photoblog for you if you like.

Morning:)

l think the fat ball thingie came from Shaun from the Welsh thread, he can do anything......l will ask him to copy & paste his info onto here>:)


Yeh long time no see alot of you.
Thanks for the welcome home:)

This is the first 24hrs of not being sick for 9 days...horrendous bug, not had onelike this before....but yeh surely l have turned the corner now. l have to eat when l'm hungry or it starts again:(....during the night its been marmite on toast:)

Lesley....hope you are better now??

Talking of moles....when our garden was flooded the other day we could almost see a mole digging near the surface, the earth was moving, bless him, but the water eventually covered the lawn:(( hope he survived.
The mice had to climb the bushes and feed off the feeders, but could'nt reach the nuts so we moved it closer for him....lovely photo's of him, but can't get onto the blogs:((...
A pair of mallards have been up on the grass (not our lawn) everyday since the flood and now come upto our path right under vics feet whilst he feeds them and the birds....now we have 2 prs of mallards.

Ok time for toast...marmalade this time:)

Take care

jude
AnnG...will get back to you.....xxxx

Ooeer Ann I just googled the pink pigeon :-0 :-) :-0

To me Jane the grey squirrel is nothing more than a tree rat :-| and the Americans are welcome to take them back ;-)

Funnily it's today that I feel exhausted apart from going for the walk I haven't really done anything, I don't mind the Humanist funeral service but I do miss not singing the hymns.

Lesley x

OMG I just thought the Squirrel was looking at me through the window from a branch on the tree that I hang the Coconut on............It was the RAT :-S :-S..Their faces are so similar.Now the birds are looking all confused as I have removed the Coconut and put it on a tree right at the bottom of the garden.They keep landing on the branch where it should be and looking a bit bewildered lol

That was quite a trip for you yesterday Lesley.I bet you were exhausted by the time you got home ,not just the journey but also the emotional side of things.I have been to a couple of Humanist Funerals,and think I would like one myself when the time comes.(although I won't be buried).

HI Jude :-D.I haven't seen you around on the boards for ages.Good to see you again.Sorry you have been laid up with this nasty bug.Some of these thing totally knocks the stuffing out of you.Hopefully you are on the mend now.My Daughter had the Norovirus (?sp).D&V .It knocked for 6 and it took a good couple of weeks for her to get back to normal .
There is a Chaffinch on the window feeder and it seems to be hissing at any other bird trying to land on it.In fact it is trying to attack anything that gets close :-S

Wasn't a pink one there was there Lesley? I didn't read the article yesterday but there was a photo of a pink pigeon.

Thank you everyone for your kindness, although it was very sad to say goodbye to my cousin the Humanist service and burial were very tranquil, I had to drive a 3 hour round trip in pouring rain, but not one drop fell from the sky while I was on the outskirts of Norwich.

Hello Jude long time no speak, I too am sorry to hear you are unwell and I too hope you have seen a doctor:-| When I get my act together I will be knocking on your door asking for advice/help with my first ever attempt at mosaic.

kandj Jude is the lady that maybe able to help with fat balls/cake recipes.

Ann I'm glad you are feeling much better today, I that your cough doesn't linger.

I hope you don't have to stop feeding the birds because of ratty Jane.

MOG and I have just got back from taking M for a walk, I took my camera just in case...but all we saw was pigeons feeding on the oil seed rape...not worth taking a picture of that :-(

Lesley x

Hi Kandj, hard frost here too this morning but the sun is now shining so it is warmimg up a bit and I am about to put washing out on the line. Still coughing unfortunately although it may well be a bit better today, will tell you later. Only had 3 bad coughing fits in the night so thatw as an improvement. still sleeping sitting up though.

Lesley, hope all went well. :-)

Hello Jude, nice to have you here. Hope you will have a much better day today.
I haven't read about the starlings and thought that we had them all visiting us
x2 daily in Yorkshire.

Is your cough getting better Ann? Hope it settles itself down before you go away.

Jane I am still shuddering with the thought of the rat (and vole) so near to your home!
Do you have to inform the Council and get them to get rid of the rat?

I think Vera might be having a good time with her family, the grandchildren will keep her busy no doubt.

Lesley, I hope all went as well as it could be for your cousin Colin's funeral yesterday.

It is a really hard white frost here this morning, all covering the lawns and roof tops.
I have put fresh water in the bird baths and put food on the ground feeders, already the pigeons and starlings are having breakfast!
Window feeder filled but no sign of young blackbird as yet.
here were loads of gulls yesterday so it must be cold on the East coast. We generally have 4-5 but there were more like 20+. Like the Hitchcock film The Birds, alright to view from indoors but I wouldn't have liked to be out amongst them........ wuss that I am ha ha.

I think it is somewhere in Gloucester Jude. Sorry you are poorly, goodness that is over. Week.have you seen a doctor? I hope that you will feel better soon.