Hobbies and Crafts

We just had the tiniest goldfinch on the niger feeder saucer. adult flew in with it and left it feeding. I reckon she/he said ok this is where you feed in future. then the adult flew off and left it!

Yet another garden centre visit today, well two actually so more money spent. A rose for a very large pot that was standing empty, some lime Nicotiana, yet another Nemesia (do love them and there are so many different colours now and a small sage for a pot as mine died over winter.
Oh and a reduced white orchid and a reduced red Dahlia. (and lunch!).

Vera, you are going to be kept busy making sure that your OH enjoys his very special 80th birthday with family and friends this coming weekend. It is good to hear of such happy events when there is so much heartache in the world right now. Enjoy Menorca and the Russian holiday too, it sounds amazing and something you will both be looking forward to later on in August.

Welcome back Jane. Glad you both enjoyed your time in Lyon. Back to reality now!

Jem, I hope your variety of birds are still keeping you entertained. I had to read about the mouse and got the goosebumps..... silly me. As a youngster I had tame white mice with my brothers and wasn't frightened at all back then. As I have got older the field mice freak me out and I need Jane's Thomas to keep them away.

Ann, the robin in our garden is also very tame and follows me around which is good.

I'm off now to clean out the two bird baths. Don't think they will stay clean for long.

Vera, many congratulations to your husband on his eightieth birthday I hope you both have a great weekend. Don't you go overdoing things though or you won't have the endrgy to enjoy the events.

Jane glad you enjoyed your holiday sounds as if you had a lovely time.

Congratulations to your hubby on his 80th birthday, Vera. You sound as though you have a very enjoyable weekend ahead of you :-)
I hope you enjoy Menorca. Russia sounds amazing too!

Welcome Home Jane. Glad you had a great time :-)

Thankfully we are getting the holiday Jane. We are going to Menorca with a group of friends in about ten days time. Then OH's big celebration is at the end of August when we are going to Russia. It's costing an arm and a leg as we are being fairly independent and not doing a group tour or anything, but he's only 80 once and who knows how long our health is going to be good, so we've raided the savings.

I have just heard from our eldest granddaughter. I knew she had to work Friday but she says she can get here mid-evening and will go to work from here early Saturday. OH is going to be so thrilled and surprised to see them all.

I am glad you enjoyed your break in Lyon Jane.

I am sitting in the conservatory and have been watching a starling feeding two youngsters. They've flown off now - must be bedtime.

Evening Everyone
What a terribly sad day .So many young lives taken ,others with life changing injuries and still desperate parents trying to find the whereabouts of their children. :-( :-( It is all just so so sad.

Well ,we had a smashing week in Lyon .It is a lovely city and lovely people.
Now back to real life again. Just not having to think about what to cook for dinner each day was wonderful .Wish I was still there.

Yesterday within just a few minutes I had the Jay and then the Spotted Woodpecker on the window feeder
:-D.

Golly Vera you do have a hectic time at the moment trying to organise secret celebtarations for your OH's Birthday ,and enjoying other friends special birthdays too.
You will be exhausted after everything and need a holiday :-D

Hallo all
A glorious day here though at the moment I seem to be too busy to really enjoy the weather.

I echo what you have all said about the Manchester tragedy - it's beyond words.

It's funny that you say you saw your first chaffinch Jem. I haven't seen one since we moved here nearly four years ago, yet when we lived in a village only 6 miles away our garden was always full of them.

Just the usual sparrows, blackbirds, pigeons and starlings here, though we did watch a sparrow pecking bits from a suet ball and feeding them to baby bird on the fence.

I haven't posted much recently because life has been a touch hectic. Last Wednesday we had a 70th birthday 'do' which involved 20 of us driving to a marina for a celebration lunch. Then after driving back the men departed and a dozen or so ladies gathered in one house for lots of chat, laughter and more food, to which we all made a contribution. This went on till late evening. Tomorrow we are repeating the process at a different venue for another friend who will also be 70.

In addition OH will be 80 on Friday so I have been organising a little surprise for him. Son and dil, whose birthday is also Friday, are driving all the way down from Yorkshire, daughter and grandson are coming, as are my brother and a friend. I am trying to sort a nice dinner for 8 without him noticing that I am buying rather a lot of food and doing a lot of cooking. He threw me a bit when he said "As we're not doing anything on my birthday I thought we might invite a few friends to share a restaurant meal with us". I had to think on my feet there so I said "We have a lot of friends round here and can't just pick a couple of them, so why don't we invite them all to come round on Saturday morning for coffee and cake". So as well as Friday night dinner I now have 16 people expecting coffee and cakes on Saturday morning. He's worth it even if there are times I could cheerfully throttle him :-D

PS Don't want to give you the shivers Kandj but I quite like mice :-)

Good Afternoon Everyone :-)

A rainy day, here in South West Wales.

Yes, what a heartbreaking tragedy. My heart goes out to the families of those who have lost their lives and to the injured <3
It makes me count my blessings. About two years ago Granddaughters 1&2 were dropped by their Mum at a similar venue for a One Direction concert treat for their birthdays.


Well, yet more action!
Today we have had the Starling, Blackbird and Sparrow babies, all being fed openly by their Mums and Dads. The robin, the usual jackdaws and the three Collared doves- the smallest of which keeps getting sent away by the other two. I'm wondering if it could be their last year's young one? I don't know a huge amount about birds, so I am just guessing!

Also today we had a "proper" pigeon. Unringed. Now I'm getting a bit worried in case the neighbours start to complain! :-D


~~~~~~~ to Kandj:-) ..... skip over the next paragraph;-)

Mousy has been out again. What amazes me is that they all feed alongside each other!


We also have foxes in our street that use our garden as a short cut!
The girl living across the road took over the house from an elderly relative who had cats. She feeds them outside and at least one of the foxes joins them! :-D
One fox was making a huge racket from under one of my flowering bushes recently.


We are getting more action in our house on an estate than the country park of late!
Yesterday we went there, and I saw a chaffinches for the first time! Never seen one before. :-D

Busy garden Jem and lots for you to watch. We have fewer birds at the moment although the goldfinches are still feeding with us. Sunday evening when we were sitting on the lower patio with a drink about 6pm our visiting robin was right near us rooting around in the plants and on the ground, he was not bothered by us chatting at all. He also follows OH round the garden when he is out there. :-)


Kandj, so awful the Manchester attack, sadly inevitable in our world today but how sick to target young teenagers and their parents. So sad for the families.

Plenty of activity in your garden then Jem. All really interesting too, except for the
little mouse.. .. I DON'T do mice, thank you very much. They give me the creeps!

Ann what a shame the Debenham's dress was wasted on Inara. They cost a lot now.

Only the usual sparrow, blackbird, thrush, pigeon, dove and lots of starlings.
Just one robin bob bob bobbin along and still only one magpie around here too.

Such heartbreaking news of the terrorist attack in Manchester. What is our world
coming to and when will it all end???

Well, the action has been non-stop today!

OH called me to come quickly. In and out from the hedge, and feeding merrily from the birds leftovers, was a field mouse :-D

At the same time, 2 young sparrows were chasing their father along the garden while he fed them.

Then came Woody Woodpigeon :-D
I like to think it's the same one that comes every year for the elderflower berries, but probably not. It was feeding alongside the 2 collared doves, and twice their size.

Also a little robin, and the blackbird.

And I have managed to video them all feeding at the same time .... even the mouse :-D :-D :-D

According to my bird book Stock Doves never ever have any white on them at all Jem. :-)

Thanks Ann :-)
I think you are spot on.

I had googled, and the nearest I found that looked like it, were called Rock Doves and sometimes Stock Doves. As you say, they are very like the feral pigeons, but this one had less coloured patternation and was slighter in shape.

Hi Jem, busy garden then. 'baby'starlings are funny aren't they, so big and sooo greedy and clamorous.

I think the dark dove is a Rock Dove closely related to feral pigeons.

Hi Everyone :-)

Well, I just have to tell you all ....

I have had AMAZING action in my garden today!
I have had a family of fledgling starlings, up to 5 at a time sitting on the branch of tree that I used to make my makeshift feeding station with, all being fed by their parent.

The parent was taking mouthfuls of fat ball, and feeding it to it's hungry babies :-)

I managed to take some pictures through the closed window, from a distance, but didn't manage to get them all at the same time.
I filmed them too, first on my phone. I got them all feeding on that, but from a distance. I then ran to get my camera, which I zoomed, but by then I only managed to get a couple at a time!

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/keepsafe/asset/details/51217692

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/keepsafe/asset/details/51217860


I also had a bird I've never seen before. It is obviously from the dove / pigeon family. It is like the collared doves in shape and size, and makes the same whirring sound when it flies. But it was a darkish grey with a lighter bit near the tail between it's wings. It also had quite a bulbous bit above the beak and very white.

I also managed to get that one on the phone which I have managed to edit a bit to see it closer. I'm hoping one of you could identify it for me. The picture is not a great colour match though.

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/keepsafe/asset/details/51218139

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/keepsafe/asset/details/51218207


We are still having the collared doves, usually 2 now, but a third comes quite often too. I think the pair are nesting in the elderflower tree at the bottom of my garden.
Mr and Mrs Blackbird are in the hedge, as are the many sparrows.

Also a mob of jackdaws :-D and a magpie came to feed.

So, a very busy and noisy back garden :-D :-D :-D :-D

Kandje yes that last year has certainly flown. Compared to Adam she is very big for her age and even some 12-18 month clothes are too small for her. She even has a lightweight jacket with a hood that fits her except for the sleeves which have to be rolled back..... it is a 3-4 year old!! Sizes are weird these days. We took up a dress for her from Debenhams, it is 18 months to 2 years and is much too small. Annoying as not cheap and bought ages back so no receipt and label with price removed.

Glad you liked the photos, the wild garlic was really strong and the bluebells everywhere were beautiful. :-) :-)

Wonderful photographs as always Ann. Thank you for sharing your week in the
Lakes this way. I love the bluebells and the walk by wild garlic. It does smell strong doesn't it? Good to see that your daughter is enjoying her life after her heartache.
Little Inara, looks a real cutie Ann. It's hard to think that she will soon be a year old!

Just one solitary Magpie has shown up again. We only ever see just one here.

Hope Jane and OH are enjoying France. Can't remember when Jane is back home.

I'm off to have a look at your photo blog now Ann.

I hope that Vera and Jem and others who pop in are well today.

Just put my Lake District photos on my photo blog if anyone is interested.