Hobbies and Crafts

Very blustery here this morning. Birds are loving the meal worms as well as the nuts and seed. No gardening today, although the roses will need pruning at some stage. At the moment they are still in bloom and looking a treat, so we're leaving them for a while.
Haven't even thought about Christmas yet! We don't reckon to until after Remembrance Sunday as for us it seems a bit disrespectful. But each to his own!

Stars might be difficult for Sandra to sew Gill, how about small hearts, or a heart shaped cushion for her room Is this going to be hand sewn? Does she have a chest of drawers? If so she could make a runner for it.

No I've not seen the little hedgehog again Vera, he was happily going all around my pots, hopefully eating all the slugs. I think he might of gone into next door, that property is empty at the moment and the grass hasn't been cut for a while so it might of found more slugs there. I didn't know hedgehog ate frogs though. We have a few in amongst our pots so I hope they are okay.
It looks like your ground feeder is being used if the food has gone, maybe it's a hedgehog, if it's not birds.

Yes, Ann I thought the hog might of gone next door to. Luckily it's not gone as cold as I thought it would so hopefully he'll be okay and manage to find something to eat.

I've been busy today wrapping up all my Christmas presents, so they're all done and ready to put away now. I have a few jobs that need doing so with me buying most of the presents I needed, I thought I'd wrap them up so I can get on with the jobs. Now I've finished insulating Sandra's bedroom I want to get on with doing the spare bedroom next, then I need to put the drawer fronts on the drawers in the kitchen. We've changed all the cupboard fronts and only have four drawer fronts to do then it's all finished. Then when I've finished the insulation I want to wallpaper in there and I've got to buy a new fridge and freezer so I can make a start on buying all the frozen food for Christmas, I can't believe it's less than 2 months away, where has this year gone? So quite a lot of things to keep me busy for a while yet.

I was given some material the other day which I've washed but the edges frayed so I want to use my pinking shears to trim around the edge then I can iron it ready to make something. I'm not sure what I'm going to make yet, so might take a look online for a few ideas. Sandra likes the material to so I might make something for her bedroom, maybe a cushion or two for her bed or some padded stars for her Christmas tree. The material has small red roses on a white background, it's Laura Ashley and very pretty. They were curtains so I had to unpick it all before I could wash it and I have some white material that was the lining, so the Christmas tree ornaments might be made out of the white material. I'll see what Sandra wants first.

We haven’t seen anything on the ground feeder yet but two thirds of the mealy worms I put out have gone. It could just be our normal flock of sparrows but I hope it has attracted some other small birds.

Have you seen your hedgehog again Gill? We saw one here some while ago. It was quite a big one and it set off our outside security lights, but we haven’t seen him since. Not sure if I am glad or sorry that he hasn’t been back. I would happily have let him eat all my slugs, but then he might have eaten my frogs as well :-)

It may not have stayed in your garden Gill so don’t worry about it.

Thanks Ann, I can't stop thinking about the poor little thing. I hope the weather doesn't stay cold for to long and he has a chance to fatten up a bit before he hibernates. Chances are if I put some food out for him the squirrel will eat it. Last year we had a rat running around, coming in from next door so I don't want to encourage it in our garden either, so I don't really know what to do for the best. Hopefully this cold snap will only last a few days and it'll warm up again so he'll have some time to eat more before the winter sets in.

It has been so warm Gill that I don’t think they have hibernated yet, they do need to be a good weight before they hibernate but I don’t know a lot about them

The birds maybe need some time to get used to the ground feeder Vera like you said. Now the weather is cooling down I'm sure it won't be long before they arrive for the food.

So the magpie is taking all the food and not letting the blackbirds have a look in Ann. I have the same problem with a squirrel. OH said he'll take Sandra and I out one day next week to see if we can find a squirrel proof feeder, although I doubt we'll find one as they are crafty things and will probably get to the food anyway.

It sounds like you are having the same problem Jane with the squirrel in your garden. They can be a nuisance sometimes can't they. I don't mind them but when they take everything and the poor birds don't get a look in, then that's not on, is it?

I noticed a hedgehog walking down our garden in daylight, does anyone know if that's right. He was such a little thing and didn't look like he would make it through the winter with being so thin. I always thought hedgehogs came out at night. I'm a bit worried about him now.

I haven't put the mealie worms out for a while as a crafty magpie was pinching them and we didn't see the blackbird. Might start putting them out again soon though. I actually put them out dry and the blackbird loved them.

Jane pleased that you liked the photos, it is always a lovely sight.

Not a sign of a bird going for the meal worms in the ground feeder. I soaked them for a while, then put them out. Since then they have been rained on several times so they have been well hydrated. The birds might need a couple of days to get used to the feeder again.

There were plenty of sparrows and pigeons earlier on and I did see a couple of blue tits having a go at the peanuts but there doesn’t seem to be the variety of birds here that I would have expected.

The other thing that surprises me is that I never see chaffinches around here. I wonder why :-S

Ann I have just seen your pics of Westonburt. They are stunning. What a sight it must have been.
Isn't Annx beaded star beautiful .

I hope the ground feeder is getting the birds now Vera. I still just have the one window feeder down on the Greenhouse. It is empty everytime I go down to fill it,and am sure it is the Squirrel :-S Yesterday morning we had a Green Woodpecker and a Jay .At first I thought we had a Grey looking Magpie !!! but then realised it was the Jay.We also had a Pheasant wandering around.

Pleased to see your OH found the ground feeder tray, hope it attracts some more birds Vera. I know what you mean about the food going quickly, the only problem we've got is it isn't the birds eating it, it's the squirrel. I was going to try and buy a squirrel proof feeder this week, but I caught a bug so it'll be next week now.

How well you know him Ann :-D

Good that he found it then Vera, if he is like my OH he will have already earmarked another use for it.

Lots of sparrows again but not much else, but the sparrows are eating me out of house and home. I fill the seed feeder and the feeder for fat balls and next time I look they are empty again.

OH found the feeding tray for the ground feeder so I have given it a good clean and will see if that attracts anything else.

Still thinking of Kandj <3

I saw the photos on your blog Ann, so pretty and such wonderful colours.

How lovely to see all those blackbirds Jane, I haven't seen as many in our garden this year, having said that one morning in the summer I was up before dawn and was having a cuppa outside as the sun was coming up and I counted 15 blackbirds on our lawn looking for the worms, it was amazing to see and quite funny as one of them was trying to push the others away each time he heard a worm. Shame you were a bit late to get a photo of the blackbirds having a bath it sounds like it was quite a to do with them all trying to get to the middle of the bird bath. :-)

Jane I put on the garden thread that we went to Westonburt today. Photos on the photo blog.

Ann I have never seen so many Blackbirds all together like that .As usual I was too late to get a pic :-S. There were a few squabbles going on as to who good get the best place :-D
The Magpies are getting to be a bit of a pain :-|
I know you aren't far from Westonburt Aboritum . Have you been lately ?. There was something on TV this morning and it looks so beautiful now with all the Autumn Colours.

Think you must have our blackbirds Jane

It will have been a very sad day again for Kandj and her family. She has been n my thoughts <3 <3

We had 4 Blackbirds all trying to have a bath this morning :-D. It was so funny watching them as they all wanted to be in the middle of the birdbath where the water was deeper.