Hobbies and Crafts

Great pictures as always Ann. I love the colours in the Arboretum.

OH and I were having a cuppa in the conservatory when I saw a movement in the tree outside. It turned out to be a young goldfinch on the niger seeds that were hanging on a branch. At least I think it was a young goldfinch. It looked very similar to an adult but hadn't yet developed the red on its head. Loads and loads of sparrows who seem to really like the brand of seeds I am now buying, though himself had a bit of a moan at all the wheat he had to pull up from where the sparrows had dropped or thrown out some of the seeds. I told him it was worth it just to see a bit of bird life in the garden :-D

I am sorry that your OH is not much better Kandj. I hope that time will bring an improvement. Sending a gentle cyber hug to you and keeping you in my thoughts <3

Just put a load of photos on the blog, Tenerife, Lake District and Westonbirt Arboretum.

Good to see you Kandj. But so sorry there is no great improvement. I don't know the actual problem so can only say, look after you as well as your OH and maybe with time??? <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I will continue to hold you both in my thoughts. xx

Still no great improvement here and so I'm just popping in to say THANK YOU
for all your kind thoughts and supportive words....... greatly appreciated right now.

I had to laugh too Vera when I saw the Heron on the top of that tree.When it flew off it looked HUGE !!.
Thomas is due his Flea treatment in the next few days so hopefully he will be clear of any unwanted visitors from the Hedgehog who we have called Mr Squits or Mr Squitty because of the mess he leaves :-S :-S

Vera, yes taken last week when we and daughter had her for the day, she is a smiler, and a sweetie.

Jane check Thomas for crawlies, hedge hogs have lots of fleas. I have pmd Maryanna but not heard anything back, I gave her my email

I have been laughing to myself at the thought of a heron at the top of a fir tree :-D

The sparrows have again emptied the seed feeder. I remembered I bought it at Tesco in a 3 kg bag so I will buy a couple of bags on Monday. We have seen a couple of blue tits today which makes a change from sparrows.

Ann, is that a new picture of Inara? She looks a real sweetie

I imagine that Maryanna has not renewed her membership.That is a shame if that is the case as I enjoyed her posts.

Just seen a Heron perched on the top of a big Fir Tree at the bottom of the garden :-)
How it balanced up there I have no idea LOL.Must have very strong legs and feet :-)

I found my cat last night nose to nose with the Hedgehog under the patio table !! Thomas was literally sniffing the Hedgehogs nose. :-D

No, not heard anything of Maryanna.

Has anyone heard anything of Maryanna? I am assuming that she didn't renew her membership. I hope that's the reason she isn't posting now.

Vera it sounds like it might be a bit of Keyhole surgery for your OH on his knee.My son has had 2 lots of Keyhole Surgery on one of his knees.The first one when he was about 16. The second one he had removed about 80% of the cartilage and touch wood he hasn't had any more trouble.

Maybe your Fox is just passing through your garden on the way to somewhere else.Fox's calling cards are not pleasant.My last dog used to love rolling in it :-S :-S

It was lovely watching the 2 Green Woodpeckers on the lawn the other morning.it isn't often we see two together like that.I would rather them than the pesky Squirrel digging holes in the lawn everyday to find it's hidden goodies.
The Hedgehog is still making a mess all over the patio every night :-|..I am so glad we have the hose pipe handy to wash it all away .

I hope your OH's shoulder is showing some improvement Ann, and that the injection helps your hip Jane. My OH has a knee problem that he assumed was arthritis but I wasn't convinced so persuaded him to see our GP who ordered an X-Ray. Had that the next day and got the results the day after - it's a cartilage problem, so he has an appointment with the consultant in about three weeks and we will see what he has to say.

I envy you your green woodpeckers Jane. I think they are the birds I miss most from our old house. They used to come quite close to the house while they were pecking at the lawn and they are such pretty birds.Shame their squawk isn't as pretty!

At some point most nights the security light on the side of our garage, which shines right into our bedroom, comes on and we haven't been able to work out what causes it. We've assumed it must be a cat but by the time I have got out of bed and got to the window to look it has gone. Recently OH happened to be standing by the window when the light came on so looked out immediately and the culprit was a fox. All it seems to do is come in, wander around for a minute or two and then go out again. Thankfully it hasn't rootled through the bins or left its calling card yet.

Still keeping Kandj and her OH in my thoughts. I do hope they are starting to see some improvement.

Ann,Motorways are a nightmare sometimes these days for driving on.I used to quite enjoy motorway driving but no longer.Especially when it is the four lanes.I find the biggest problem are the huge Lorries and Jugganaughts .They seem to pull out of a lane with no warning sometimes and there are so many .
I hope your OH gets some relief soon for his shoulder. I am booked in for an Ultrasound Injection in my hip on the 27th.Years ago I had a shoulder injection and it worked really well.

We had 2 Green Woodpeckers on the lawn this morning pecking away and a Squirrel running around digging up conkers or whatever had been buried.Not so many small birds though on the window feeder.There do seem to be a lot of Magpies about(on the roads)picking at road kill.

Kandj is in my thoughts all the time. <3

I don't know if hedgehogs eat the pellets Jane.

Just a few of the usual birds here, but all the food was gone when we got back from our wek away. While in the Lake District we saw a curlew and an Oyster catcher. Got a good photo of the latter.

travelled back from the Lake district yesterday. I do so hate the M6, so many idiot drivers, held up for ages in 50mph roadworks because of an accident involving three cars. If they would just stay in their lanes it wouldn't happen. And, who are the people who do 60/70 in the 50 mph? Do they get away with it I wonder. Warmer here today than it was last week in the L District, but we have had sun and showers. still trying to catch up with all the things needing doing after a week away.

OH was at the doctors this morning after suffering from a painful shoulder for 7/8 weeks. It seems it is either a frozen shoulder or arthritis, if it is the former he will get an injection in it. So tomorrow he has an Xray booked and, the Dr picked up that he hasn't had a blood test for two years so he has one tomorrow morning as well. Also his BP was up but I suspect that was worry over his shoulder. Really can't complain, he phoned this morning, got an appointment with his own doctor this afternoon, got an appointment for blood test tomorrow and an appointment (when he phoned the hospital) for an Xray tomorrow afternoon :-) :-) :-)

Love to Kandj, hope there is improvement for her OH. <3

Some messy bird has turfed out loads of suet pellets from the window feeder :-S. I think it is the big Male Blackbird.I had to sweep it all up as it was all over the place and I don't want unwanted vermin. There was a dead Rat on the patio the other morning. I think Thomas must have caught and killed it.
Does anyone know if Hedgehogs eat those Suet Pellets?

Thanks Jane, yes, we hope things will improve for them soo and she can join us again. Thinking of them both <3 <3

Kandj will still be away for a while as her time is taken up caring for OH .I am sure all our thoughts are with her and can't wait to see her back again soon <3 <3

Vera we just put the hosepipe on the strongest blast of water to clean our Birdbath.It works a treat .I wish we could train the birds not to use it as a toilet though.
We are having a right mess every morning still on the patio with Hedgehog poop.We hose it all off but it stains too just like the Sloe berry poop.It is the Woodpigeons I think who are the worst culprits.All the hedgehog stains will have to be power washed.But at the moment I think we will just wait until they have hibernated .It is a daily chore at the moment.
:-S
There was a dead Blue Tit on the patio this morning ....I have a feeling Thomas was the culprit :-S..He eats mice he catches ,but doesn't eat birds. Thankfully birds are just a one off .
We seem to have had a fair number of Red Kites around recently.I saw 2 today having a bit of a fisty cuffs which is unusual .

The sparrows are going to bankrupt me. As soon as I fill a feeder with seed, it is emptied again. They certainly like the brand of seeds I bought. Unfortunately I emptied them into a large plastic bucket with a lid and threw away the bag so I can't remember the brand.

Only seeing sparrows and a few collared doves at the moment.

Yesterday I decided I would have to clean the bird bath. What a horrible job :-(. Why are birds so mucky? And some had clearly been eating some purple or black berries as there were blue splodges everywhere. I scrubbed and scrubbed and they are a bit faded but still very visible. I don't want to use any cleaning materials that might harm the birds so has anyone got any suggestions how I can get the birdbath clean?

If you are looking in Kandj I hope things are improving for your OH <3

:-D The other thing my Sister said was that the Dunnock has a slightly smaller head as well as a thinner more pointy beak. I can now tell the difference :-D
We have trouble with a Hedgehog making such a mess on the patio :-S. ( won't go into the nitty gritty details) but it looks like 'the trots'. We have had to hose down again and yet the paving slabs are stained with what was deposited.It will need a power wash :-S
We even found some on the front drive .I just hope that no-one is putting Milk out for Hedgehogs as I know that causes the runs.

The little birds are definitley slowing down with feeding on the Window feeder at the moment.I am still getting the Blue/Gt Tits and all the Finches and Robins but not in such numbers. I do have a very sad looking Male Blackbird with a bald head :-(