Hobbies and Crafts

Happy anniversary Ann & T

A very wet day here again. OH did manage to get some lavender plants in before it rained on Sunday and the insects were quickly buzzing around them with a few butterflies, but only the cabbage whites. Where are all the others this year?

Kandj, you will have to put a notice up on your window feeder "No pigeons allowed" :-)

Thank you Vera and Kandj for your good wishes. Pigeons can be funny to watch and they can be annoying. I shoo them off our feeders sometimes, they are so clumsy.

Nice to have the lavender in Vera, It is actually sunny here at the moment.

We had a few sunny spells this afternoon but then down came the rain again. I hope it is dry for us on Saturday as we are hosting our annual family get-together. What with the garden being small and only being part finished, we have hired the hall just down the road but it would be good if we could be outside rather than in the hall - much nicer for the children in the family.

At the moment I don't know whether I am on my head or my heels. Because of a family wedding the following week and people being on holiday we will be a bit down on our usual numbers, but there will still be about 40 for whom I am sorting two meals, drinks, games, entertainment etc. Son, partner and three daughters, plus very large dog, are arriving tomorrow for a couple of nights so I have now got to go and make up beds for them.

On the bird front, last year a couple of collared doves built a nest on the arm of a TV aerial. It looked very precarious but one of the doves sat on it for a long time before abandoning it. The other day OH came in and said the nest had been repaired and a dove was sitting on it again. Today he came in and said there were broken eggshells on the path and the nest was again empty. It seemed very late to be nesting but the lady dove obviously did lay. I don't know what happened - perhaps the high winds tipped the nest a bit or perhaps a predator got at the eggs, but it does seem a shame. :-(

Have a great party Vera. I think pigeons breed all year round.

Hello All

Hope you both had a happy anniversary yesterday Ann.

Vera, the pigeons are ignoring my notice! Another wonky window feeder and a very fed up kandj. I have swept up the seed/pellets yet again, and sorted out the feeder
again..... see how long this stays fitted today!

I hope all goes well for your family get together tomorrow Vera...... have a good time.

Ann .i am sorry I missed your Anniversary.So belated wishes <3

Vera,it looks like you have one very busy weekend ahead :-) How lovely to have an annual get together.Is it you who organises it each year?I'm sure it will be a great success even if in the hall and not your garden.You might need a little holiday at the end of the weekend lol.Have a wonderful time <3

The cat has just eaten a bird :-( :-(..He walked in to give me a rub around the legs,when I noticed a feather stuck on his face.I then went out to the kitchen and found another feather :-S.Just around the corner in the utility bit there was the remains :-(
He had only an hour before had a pouch of cat food !!!!! so couldn't have been hungry.
Maybe it was 'afters' :-S

This morning there have been lots of Swallows (I think Swallows) on our aerial .
and I think I mentioned some while ago that we had a Sparrow with a very damaged looking leg.Well I guess it is the same bird ,but now it just has one leg !!!!! and seems to be hopping around fine :-D :-D

Swallows have a longer forked tail than Swifts. Jane. Birds are quite adaptable, he probably doesn't realise he should have two legs :-D

Oh poor bird...... best keep Thomas well away from this one Jane.

Ann I hope you and T are enjoying your anniversary break away.

Lots (and lots) of Starlings and little else here today. Will need to buy more bird food with the window feeders knocked about so much this week and hoards of Starlings all eating us out of house and home........ or should that be bungalow and home??

Hope all is going well at the family get together today Vera? A truly lovely idea and a way of getting the family to make an effort and all keep in touch this way. I hope you have had a few willing helpers so that you are not too worn out.

It's still hopping about :-D.It has been here for months now which is lovely.Thomas doesn't seem to bother with the birds around the feeder.If he catches any they seem to be from the lawn :-(

I hope the weather hasn't spoiled your Big get together this weekend Vera.I'm sure it hasn't and you have all had a fantastic time.

Where has Ann gone for her Anniversary? I might have missed a post saying.

Is your window feeder still hanging on Kandj?Those Wood Pigeons must weigh a fair bit.I am always surprised that ours stays put when the Squirrel visits it.But since the cat has been here I haven't seen much of it.In fact I haven't seen it about for many weeks now.
The adult Green Woodpecker was up on our Patio this morning before we were up and about.It was pecking around in the gaps of the paving stones.Sadly I haven't seenthe young one again :-(

Dorset Jane and a bit damp it is too.

Hello All

A dry day here, cool but quite pleasant and no rain, but it is forecast for next two days which isn't good for the bank holidays. Lots of events planned locally too.

Ann, perhaps it will clear up tor you, hope it won't spoil your break away though.

Vera, I hope that your family get together has been a happy occasion for you all.

Jane, the window feeder is clean and filled up again but we have to shoo the pigeons off when they come near it. No idea why they have suddenly started to land on it, but we hope they will stop very soon and stick to the ground feeder.

Hello All

1st September....... a pinch and a punch and all that for the first of the month.
Does anyone else remember saying that at school or White Rabbits too?
Am I the only one who thinks that this year is going far too quickly?

There is a real Autumnal feel and a nip in the air today. It has been mainly dry though with just one heavy shower and a real improvement on the wet and miserable Bank Holiday Monday here yesterday.

Not had anything different in our garden or on the window bird feeder today. I think all the interesting and pretty birds must be getting better food elsewhere!

I am just catching up on all the posts after not being on here for a few days.

Those who feel able take turns at organising our annual family "do". I had it a few times at our old house but this year's party will probably be my last time at running it. My daughter is doing next year's.

It went very well - lots of good food and drink and good company. My son-in-law was bringing speakers, a karoake (spelling?) machine, keyboards and various other musical paraphernalia. He had been off colour for a couple of days and, in the morning, on the way to us he developed chest pains so my daughter drove him straight to the hospital. Needless to say we were all very concerned for him and there were lots of texts going back and forth. However, it meant we had no music but there seemed to be plenty of chat and laughter going on so we managed OK without. Thankfully, after lots of tests, sil was discharged early evening and felt well enough to join us for an hour or two.

There were 21 of us back at the house after we left the hall and 11 for lunch the next day. Son, his partner and his 3 daughters stayed with us for a couple of nights which was lovely as I hadn't seen the girls since March.

As far as wildlife is concerned, I've mostly only seen blackbirds in the garden. They have taken to bathing in the little round pond we put in for the frog and they are very funny to watch. Also today I saw a squirrel run along the back fence, the first one I have seen locally since moving here. Hopefully as the garden develops we will get more wildlife in.

Hello All

Just the same birds as usual here. We still keep shooing the fat pigeons who land on the window feeder and wonder why they are doing it and not using the ground feeder as before?? Silly birds!!

Vera, that must have been a very anxious time for your family with son-in-laws chest pains. A huge relief I'm sure and he will have got a good welcome at the family "do".
It all seems to have gone very well but you will no doubt be a little weary.Well Done!

Ann, are you still away? I hope that the weather has not been too bad for you both.

Jane, is Thomas put off at all by the ongoing wet weather and staying inside more?

Vera .I am so glad you all had a wonderful time .But what a scary time it must have been with the worry about your SIL..Thank goodness he is ok ,and hopefully will remain so.

Kandj ,Thomas does not like the wet :-D.He must know when it is raining as he shows no interest in going out.I do put the litter tray down but it is very rare that he uses it.I always remember other cats I have had having very strong bladders lol and they hung on for hours and hours.

A nice sight just now.Two young Green Woodpeckers on the lawn being silly billys :-D.
Hopefully one of them was the one that Thomas was trying to chase the other week.

We are still away, although i. hampshire now. Going across to Portsmouth tomorrow on the ferry then to see zluke on Sunday, then back home. Just been for sn evening meal in a pub attached to our Premier Inn. Do people really still do Karaoke? Gosh it was loud..

Vera so pleased the news re your son in law was not as bad as you thought and that he was able to join in the fun.

Hello All

Dry/bright here this morning, washing on the line and blowing nicely too.

Ann, I'm sure Luke will amuse you both when you visit him. Any bubbles this time?

Plenty of starlings, a few pigeons and hedge sparrows, but our blackbird is missing???

I hope everyone is well and will enjoy the same dry day that is forecast for us today.

Ooh Kandj I hope the Blackbird is somewhere and is ok.

Ann .I have never ever done Karaoke and never want to lol.I remember when we were in Tokyo there were so many Karaoke clubs .Our friends tried to persuade us to have a go,but there was no way :-D

OH has found a poor little baby WoodPigeon dead this morning.He said it was too small to fly so might have fallen from a nest.Something had been at it too :-(

After some lovely sunshine here this morning it is now looking a bit dark and some ominous clouds lurking :-S ..Washing has gone in the tumble drier :-D

Hope your blackbird is safe Kandj, no bubbles this time, a couple of books and a board with animals to slot in plus a jacket and a pack of dinasoeurs.

Poor baby pigeon Jane, maybe Thomas found it first.