Hobbies and Crafts

Changed the pic as the sun has been out all day.

Just came back from a tour of the loch, stopped at Loch Lomond Shores, a shopping complex right on the loch with all sorts of water sports going on and a Sealife Centre.

Lovely, didn't see much wildlife, some Buzzards a fox and a Hare.

M.

So pleased that the sun has shone on you today. Upside down world, it has been cloudy all day here. We went to an enormous flea fair, had fun looking round but all we bought were some bean plants, three petunias, a pork pie for OH and a pill box to go in the drawer for daughter's Christmas present bag. She collects them. Only a cheap one but quite pretty.

Maryanna ,it sounds like you are having a wonderful time.
I had a lovely few days with my daughter in Plymouth.The views from the chalet were just stunning.Especially the sunsets.
Back home now to find we seem to have been adopted by a handsome little Black and white cat.Have taken it to the vet today to see if it is chipped.But it isn't.it is a neutered male 3-4 years old and really healthy.So we will look after it until we find out where it comes from .Failing that it will be my new pet :-D :-D
Just got to keep it from jumping on the kitchen worktops!! :-S

Hi Jane, so pleased you enjoyed the break with your daughter. where was the chalet situated. did you get to visit relatives or friends there. The trouble with that is it seems to take all your time running around seeing people so I hope you were also able to get around to see places that you like. Did you go to Plymouth? Last time we went we hadn't been for a while and we saw a lot of changes. I can remember the first time I saw Plymouth, 1957, so still bomb damage, certainly changed since then. Although we were regular visitors until 1981 when OH's Dad died, not had a lot of reason to visit since. Although we have been back. I love the city. :-)

Have you still got the cat? Hope it isn't a bird chaser. :-) :-)

Just packing our bags ready to leave in the morning.

Spent today in Glasgow, an interesting city, we loved the Peoples Palace in the Winter Gardens, my idea of a proper conservatory !!! We also had a look round the Council building, absolutely amazing mosaic ceiling and huge wooden and marble pillars and statues, extremely grand and impressive.

It has been a day of contrast, either very warm or bucketing down, it is clearing at the moment and the peak opposite, that has been hidden most of the day is starting to appear again although at present it is wearing a scarf of cloud. Can't get over how light it still is at gone 10pm, it's going to seem so dark when we get home to the Deep South !!!

We saw some Roe deer earlier and there were some feral goats on the loch shore.
We also seem to have Swallows nesting in the eaves above us.

M.

.Glad that you enjoyed special time with your daughter Jane, nice to have you back.

This morning I was in the kitchen and hubby sat in the lounge. We heard a loud bang and both wondered what was the cause??? I went outside and sadly I spotted a dead sparrow laying on the drive underneath the kitchen window. It had obviously flown into our kitchen window, poor thing. I cringed when I saw this bird laying there!

Being the wuss that I am, and hubby not able to sort the poor thing, it was left to me to get rid of this little dead creature. As it was dustbin day I had thought that I could ask the man to pick up the dead bird and dispose if of it but they were very late today and I needed to get the courage to deal with this situation myself............. HELP!!!!!
I plucked up the courage and unlocked the garage and got the long garden shovel and garden brush......... with almost closed eyes...... I brushed the poor adult sparrow onto the long handled garden shovel and put the dead bird in the dustbin which was emptied by the Council workers within the hour. It is not something that I would chose to do but sometimes needs must!! I just hope and pray that no other poor birds will fly into our kitchen window and need me to remove their remains!!!
This is not something that I would choose to do, but I have no choice right now.

Sad we get that happening with pigeons, and collared doves........... sometimes they are just a bit stunned......

Sadly not the case here today Bob. Not a stunned sparrow, but very definitely a very dead bird poor thing.

I guess that pigeons and the like are slower moving(for their size) and can take some kind of avoiding action at the last moment............we often have "SNOW ANGELS " on our patio doors......but the smaller ones DO seem to come off worst...

was sort of listening to a radio program yesterday,

started off somewhere in Bedfordshire a group of "mature women" formed a birdwatching / outdoor group, and called themselves "The Old Birds"

Interesting what they got up to.........where they went.........what they saw/ heard......

Bob

I feel for you kandj. I am a wuss as well where birds are concerned. I once stood guard over an injured thrush for nearly two hours till OH arrived home because I couldn't handle it but I couldn't leave it to be mauled by cats.

I've never heard the expression Snow Angels before. Does it refer to the outline left when a bird flies into glass? It always amazes me how big the outline looks and how detailed the markings are.

We once came home to find two tiny, colourful dead birds under the window. I had to look in the bird book to find out what they were. They were firecrests. I wish I could have seen them alive.

I expect Maryanna will be on her way home now.Hope she has a safe journey.It sounds as though she has had a lovely holiday.

Oh dear Kandj.I hate it when the birds fly into the windows.I dread looking out to see what might be lying on the ground.They usually break their necks I think.But sometimes after just lying there they can recover and fly off.

I don't think I have seen Firecrests before Vera.Are they common birds?

Love Snow Angels.It describes the pattern left on the windows perfectly.Usually ours will be Woodpidgeon.

Ann we stayed in the chalet over looking Bovisand,just around the headland from my home village of Wembury.
One of the reasons for going was to have a clean and tidy of my my parents grave .I haven't been down there for about 7 years as it is so far and I have no family left in Plymouth now.But I did go and see an old family friend who had been my `Primary school teacher.She is now aged 96 and is housebound.Her sight is almost gone now and she is quite frail (has cares 3 times a day).But my goodness her memory is amazing.It was a lovely visit ,but rather sad leaving as I doubt very much I will get to see her again.I always visited a good old friend who used to be the Cook (at the big house) when I was a Childrens Nanny back in the 70's.She is 78 now and as lively as a kitten lol.She is a scream .I always say she is a female equivalent of Paul O'Grady :-D.
He has his liverpool accent likes a swear word or two loves his animals and says just what he thinks.My friend Margaret has her Cornish accent ,swears,loves her dog etc etc :-D.We keep in touch regularly on the phone.
I didn't go into Plymouth City Centre (the shops) but we did go down to the Barbican for a potter about and some lovely Fish and Chips.My Daughter (32) wanted to go back the The Shell Shop where she loved to go when she was little .But shock ,horror it has now shut and is going to be a restaurant.The Barbican has changed a fair bit over the last few years with lots more eateries and little shops.I think now Plymouth has a University ,this has made a huge difference.
It was just so nice to be by the sea .I miss it so much .I live about as far away as you can be now from the coast :-S

Ann I stopped off at that new Services on the M5(Gloucester )..What an amazing place !!!.I spent a fair bit on the Butchers Dept,some nice bread,and some fancy drizzle oils :-D.

Jane I envy you your trip, love the Barbican, we were last there about three years ago and saw a change in it then, a bit more touristy but very attractive and seemed to be thriving.

The Motorway services are great for the butchers, lovely sausages if you don't mind paying a bit more and traceable meat sources. Haven't been to the Southbound one yet as it has only just opened, want to call in there though as they have a fishmonger. We pass them when we go to one of the garden centres which is off junction 12 just after the services heading south. We join the M5 at J 11a

Maryanna, hope you had a good journey, we can tell you enjoyed your break, soon goes doesn't it?

Kandj Aaw poor little bird. I usually put on gardening gloves and then have no trouble picking them up, but a shovel, if you don't like it, is fine as is the dustbin which is where I would deposit any bodies.

Vera I have never seen a firecrest either, must look them up.

Glad you had a good time Jane and I hope Maryanna has a safe journey back.

I have only seen firecrests on that one occasion and OH and I spent a long time with the books deciding whether they were firecrests or goldcrests. I remember being surprised at how tiny they were.

If you are interested there is quite a good little video of both birds on

www.bto.org/about birds/bird-id

EDIT. Mistyped web address. Now corrected

Ann the South Bound Gloucester Services are much nicer than Northbound.MUCH BIGGER Butchers dept..Huge in fact :-D.My Sister who is in Tewkesbury has been there a few times.I wish I was heading south again as I would certainly be stopping off there again :-D.Love the design of the place too.No KFC,Burge* Kin*s,or tat.Up market services :-D :-DI wish more were like that..Plus the loos were fantastic.There was even a shower !!.All clean as a whistle.
Yes I love the Barbican too.I spent many an evening down there back in my nursing days.My friend's parents had a very modern flat in Sutton Harbour there so I would stay there and we would often roll in in the early hours :-D..Happy Days :-D ;-)

Oh even more keen to visit now Jane. Hopefully won't be too long before we get there.

Ann I could have spent a fortune there lol

Well our little new puss who appeared on Tuesday is still with us :-D..Just having his tea now lol.He is a really very handsome cat and so affectionate.I have done all I can to find out if he is missing from this area and can do no more.So unless I see a 'missing' poster for him then I hope we will be able to keep him.
He has has a couple of runs at the Wood Pidgeon and sometimes has a beady eye on the birds visiting the feeder.But touch wood so far no murders,and no more little presents of dead Shrews.

Thankfully no more birds banging into our kitchen window. I must be getting brave in my old age ha ha. It is surprising what we can cope with when we have little choice!!

Not a lot of visitors here today. Next door has a new bird feeding station now, so perhaps there is more variety over the garden wall....... fussy birds in Yorkshire!

Your new addition has certainly made himself comfortable Jane, I do hope that he won't misbehave and fetch more "presents" for you???

Back home now, our daughter and the little one picked us up from the drop off point in the next town and brought us home.

We spent last night in a hotel near Leeds, had a nice meal and a last drink or two in the bar with the friends we had made.

The garden seems to have doubled in height due to the fact it has been sunshine and showers, lucky we didn't need to put the soaker hose on, but some of the plants under the fence have obviously got very warm and it doesn't get a lot of rain so I have just been round with a watering can.

I have a beautiful Peace rose out, it is also covered with buds. My Mum bought it when we first moved in and had the garden done, it was supposed to be a bush but it soon started to spread and get taller and taller. It didn't really flower, maybe one or two flowers a year for about twenty five years but the last five years it has produced more and more blooms, I can see six flowers and more than twenty buds just from where I am sitting. They are huge too.

At present I am being tweeted at by some very noisy Sparrows who seem to want their tea.

We are going to get a Chinese take away tonight, back to cooking tomorrow, once we have done a bit of shopping to keep us going.

Then it will be diets for us both, no more cooked breakfasts or three course dinners as well as morning coffees and afternoon teas, which seem to include cakes or buns. May has been a month of food and eating far too much. Nothing to celebrate now until July when it is Himself's' birthday.

Glad you had a good time in Devon with your daughter Jane. Your new little Puss sounds very sweet, I hope you can keep him, shame he is homeless though.

I hate to hear that window thud.....

M.

Hello Maryanna, glad to have you back safe and sound. It seems like you have had a lovely time in Scotland........ too good a time, if you now need to count the calories lol.

Very blustery here this morning, but hopefully this will keep the rain away today.

Not much interest here still. The birds are obviously enjoying a much better selection in our neighbours garden. No more dead birds though (HUGE relief!!).