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I can't remember either but if we did it would have come off the bill so we may not have noticed. It will come off the bill this time too.

Ann I dont recall my sister saying they had compensation back in 2007 .I must ring her and say about the £30 but I expect she is probably aware of that.

Well I did my shopping today and came home without the bird food :-S :-S. I must remember tomorrow . They have plenty for now to keep them going.

LG No not ordered the bird pack, forgot!!

Jane yes all water is back on they say. £30 compensation I believe for X number of hours. Didn't listen so don't know how many hours. I don't remember if we got any compensation in 2007 I don't think we did, maybe because it was not in force then.

My OH came in from filling the bird feeders to tell me 'that is the last of the general feed stuff' and couldn't understand why I was cross. Why didn'y he say a few days ago when we were in the garden centre and I asked him if we needed bird food???

We have a little Jenny Wren who seems to love our window box .I havent seen her though so much since we had all the snow.

Ann, my Sister said water came back on about 10pm last night but then went off again. Today it seems to be all back to normal :-D Part of the problem of finding the leak was because it was not just under the field but under a deep covering of snow too They had drones and helicopters trying to find it !!

Miserable day here today and not the normal number of birds on the window feeder. OH has just we need more bird food before Christmas !!! I bought plenty of cat food today but didnt think about the birds. Another job for tomorrow .

Have you all applied for your garden bird watch pack from RSPB yet. I applied yesterday ready for January. Greedy devils cleaned out the feeders so I had to do a bird food shop earlier :-D. Our little Jenny wren has returned I have not seen her for ages

I think water has just been supplied again in some areas Jane. Not sure where exactly the leak was/is but they said it was difficult because it is a large pipe in the middle of a field.

It will be a special Christmas Kandj with all the family together after such a very difficult and awful last month or so. <3

My sister who lives in Tewkesbury has had no water for the last couple of days . Relying on water stations and getting free bottled water from the supermarket. The leak from The HAM (Ann you might know) has been found (I think).She is hoping all will be restored sometime today.. This leak has affected a huge area.
The last time they were without water was back in 2007 when they had the big flood and they were without water then for 3 weeks. They came here (2 hours away) for a bath ,get the laundry washed and to fill their car with bottled water that I had bought from several supermarkets !

Our heating is back on after almost 9 days of waiting for a British Gas Engineer to call.So all nice and toastie once again :-D.. The Robins and the Blackbirds seem to be the greediest birds at the moment on the feeder. The Tits and Chaffinch just have to wait their turn patiently on the tree branches :-)

I am sure life is tiring for you both at the moment Kandj. Just a case of baby steps, lots of rest and nourishing meals. I know it is hard but you must rest too. We are all thinking of you and hoping that you and the family will have a comfortable and peaceful Christmas together. <3 <3

I haven't left the country or won the lottery and disappeared, but I am busier than ever caring for my lovely husband as he is so very weary after all that has been thrown at him this past month. Thank you all for your ongoing prayers and kind words. He has been home a week and it has seemed a very long week, but we are working hard together aiming to get him well enough to enjoy Christmas when our family are here.

Vera, maybe if the sparrows keep feeding other birds will join them.
We seem to have a lot around at the moment and this morning it was lovely to have a visit from a song thrush. We rarely see those and it didn't stay long but at least it visited.

Hoping Kandj and her OH are both OK and enjoying him being at home. Kandj don't forget to take care of you.

Jane, the worst for squabbling here are the starlings. they spend more time pushing each other off the fat balls than eating them.

Ann I had a laugh at your suggestion a couple of days ago that perhaps our birds wanted their food hung where the previous owners had fed them. You didn’t know the previous owners! Not only was this a bird free zone, it was also devoid of any plants - they didn’t believe in gardening. We inherited a scrubby bit of grass and an old shed. At our age we didn’t want to wait forever for things to grow so we put in some mature plants. We only have two trees (the garden is small) but the lowest branches of the canopy are between 6’ and 7’ from ground level.

At the moment we seem to be getting mostly sparrows but they are emptying the seed feeders as soon as I fill them. At this rate they are going to bankrupt me ;-)

I hope Kandj is enjoying having her hubby home but is managing to get some rest herself. With luck she is still mouse free.

Big greedy Blackbird here today on the window feeder and a Bully .Sounds like your one Ann. We had a few feeding frenzies with lots of squabbling . All just trying to get to the feeder first :-D. There is plenty of food for all they just need to take their turn :-D. They all seem to queue up on the tree branches . Just like us British.We are the best at queuing in the world :-D :-D

Normal birds today but eating a lot, as fast as I put mealy worms out they are gobbled up by three blackbirds. These are 3 males, one a lot larger than the other two and it is a real bully, he chases them away from the food. However they are very persistent and just creep round behind him. We have also had a male Black cap, quite a large bird with a lovely jet black head.

Hi Gwyn We seem to get more birds when the weather is bad. Especially when there is snow. Today we have had 6 gold finches all trying to feed at once on the Niger seeds, two male and one female blackbirds ground feeding on mealy worms and bread soaked in dripping fat plus sultanas, starlings also ground feeding and also eating the fat balls, blue tits eating the no mess seeds together with sparrows and great tits. a Magpie that sneaks in to get mealy worms and a few collard doves and wood pigeons. We also had a quick glimpse of a pied wagtail as it checked out the garden for food.

The sun is out here now so the snow should be melting but the outside temp is only 2 degrees so there is not much movement. Looks like it will be -7 degrees tonight :-( :-(

Very few birds around here lately apart from the scavenging gulls.

A lone crow has taken to sitting on the same part of a neighbour's fence and collared doves were scrambling through a nearby tree, while the female tried to retreat from the male's amorous advances.

Everything else must be sheltering from the awful weather.

We have got snow although it is veryw et now. We have had varying numbers of goldfinches on the niger seeds from one on its own to six. We have also had a Redwing sitting in the tree but not feeding, two or three blackbirds and a magpie ground feeding mealy worms, the usual wood pigeons and blue, great and coal tita, a robin and sparrows plus loads of starlings.

Good that Kandj's OH is tucked up warm at home.

Vera, what fussy birds. Wonder if that is where previous owners fed them?

Vera we are managing to keep warm (just). The Woodburner,and a couple of oil radiators are just about doing the trick. I keep putting the oven on and opening the door. British Gas better be here tomorrow !!! I just hope they can get the boiler going again. We have had about 5 inches of snow today, and surprisingly Thomas has been out having right silly capers.Something about snow gets some animals all silly LOL
He is back now covered in wet leaves :-S. Heaven knows where he has been.

Well you do have fussy birds dont you! :-D :-D. You wont be putting their food in the wrong places again LOL. It was a bit frantic on our window feeder earlier.Lots of birds all wanting to get on there ,so a few squabbles going on.I did see loads of Gulls flying over the house earlier.I always think it so weird to see them as we are as far away from the sea as is possible.
Must get another log on the fire now ,it is blooming chilly :-S

Pleased that Kandj’s OH is home again. I expect it will be hard work for her but hopefully she will be able to get some help. If you are looking in Kandj, we are thinking of you and sending ((((((hugs))))))

What an awful time to be without heating Jane. Have you turned into an icicle yet? I hope it gets sorted very soon.

As well as the general wild bird seed and fat balls, I’ve been regularly putting out some Niger seeds and peanuts. I only put out a few at a time because the birds don’t seem to bother with them and I keep throwing them away when they are past their best and putting out fresh. Yesterday I refilled all the feeders and, not thinking about what I was doing, I hung the Niger seeds where the peanuts usually go and vice versa. Couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked out a while later and there were 3 bluetits on the peanuts and 2 goldfinches on the Niger seeds. The fussy birds round here obviously didn’t like the way their food was presented so I shall have to remember that it’s Niger seeds on the crab apple tree and peanuts on the hawthorn. It’s worse than trying to feed a family of kids :-|

Oh thanks Jane, please to hear Kandj’s OH is home, great news.

But ooh nasty, not a good time to be without the boiler. Have you got any temporary heaters you can run for a while upstairs to warm the air. Hopefully the pipes will be ok. But that is a long time to be without heating. Good job you have the wood burner. Using the oven in the kitchen will throw out some heat as well. Try and stay warm yourselves, lots of layers and throws. We have been there. Boiler broke down a couple of January’s ago. <3

Update from Kandj :-D
Hubby is home and Kandj is a happy lady.He was exhausted and looking frail but a very happy man to be home again . The Physio has been today and is really pleased with his progress.The family are visiting for the weekend so it will be lovely for them to all be together again :-D

Blooming freezing here and we have a broken down boiler :-S :-S. It packed up on Wednesday and British Gas engineer wont be here until Monday !!!. What a time for it to break down. At least we have a Woodburner and an immersion heater for hot water.We were almost out of logs but thankfully we had a load delivered yesterday (phew!! ) Looks like we could be in for a fair bit of snow on Sunday. I am just keeping everything crossed we have no frozen pipes :-S.It is a big house and with no central heating it is a bit worrying.
The Robins have been very active today on the feeder and a bit aggressive with each other. We had a female Pheasant wandering around on the patio earlier but when she saw me at the window she took off.
Thomas has not been keen to go out today but I turfed him out just now .I doubt he will be gone too long.