Hobbies and Crafts

Raining here this morning. No birds around, probably keeping dry in the shrubbery.

Is Thomas improving Jane?

All good with the post op check up.Thomas is doing well :-D.The Vet was really happy with him.The only thing is 2 wounds on his feet.But I now have an extra 10 days antibiotics for him ,just to be on the safe side.The wounds looks clean but still a little raw.
He won't be able to get out and about as normal for a couple of months as it needs time for the muscles around his femur to strenghten up and hold the femur in place.It is just a wobbly bone at the moment as there is no 'Ball' to go into the socket.He only needs to be in the cage if there is no-one around to keep an eye on him . If he is up for a cat harness I can take him in the garden next week twice a day for a little exercise.

I haven't seen the Jay here for a few days..I wonder where he has gone !!
Has your Robin turned up Kandj?

Sounds like no holidays for you for a while Jane. Hope he continues to improve.

Thankfully Ann ,we have nothing booked until mid September :-D.I am so glad this didn't happen before we went to France a few weeks ago !!.That really would have put the kibosh on that :-S

We still have the Jay :-D.I thought it had gone.

I'm glad Thomas is doing so well. I think you may have trouble keeping him in check as he starts to feel stronger. He'll want to be out hunting again.

A neighbour has a large maple in her garden and it overhangs our fence in a nice corner so I've hung a feeder of crushed peanuts on one of the boughs. It's fairly secluded and the birds can hide among the leaves so I hoped it might attract a few, but no such luck :-( I fill feeders, then when the food has got wet and starting to go mouldy I empty and clean them and start all over again. We see the occasional bird - one bluetit yesterday, a wren a couple of days ago, four starlings today but nothing to speak of. As we have lived here for nearly 3 years now I hoped a few more might have been attracted to the garden. Perhaps they'll come around more when winter comes.

We have far too many starlings Vera, do you want some?

They are greedy birds and have knocked the window feeder on the floor this morning.
No manners!!! It's raining hard and so there is no way I'm going outside to pick the feeder up and sweep the suet pellets up just now.

The robin is still missing, we haven't seen him for some time now.

Jane, I hope Thomas is continuing to make a good recovery.

Walking back to my house earlier today, a neighbour called me over to look at something on his fuchsia. It was an elephant hawk moth, just hanging there. I did wonder if it had just emerged and was drying its wings.

I know they are fairly common in this country but I have never seen one at such close quarters before or one that stayed still long enough to be identified.

They are a very attractive moth, a sort of olive green and pink. Now, if only I could find a skirt in that mixture of colours........

Vera It does sound as though the Elephant Hawk Moth had just emerged and as you say drying off :-D.I love Olive and Pink colours :-D.I have a couple of tops with Olive colour in.

Oh Kandj,I hope your little Robin hasn't come to a sticky end :-(..Robins do fight,so maybe it got into a scrap :-S

I have seen some very little fluffy Sparrows today :-D and also a little family of very young Blue Tits coming to the feeder.

Thomas has had his first sniff of outdoors,in the cat harness..He wasn't intersted in walking far(which he isn't allowed to do),but he just enjoyed lying on the grass in the sunshine :-D :-D..It perked him up a bit I think just to have a bit of fresh air and to see the outdoors.A long road to full recovery for him but we will get there :-D

That is pretty coloured moth Vera, how lucky to see it so closely.

Thomas would have enjoyed his breath of fresh air Jane, a change from being inside the cage, poor Thomas. He is having a rough time. It's good he has you there now.

Now at daughters and great granddaughter was born this morning.

Lovely news Ann. Congratulations to the new parents, the grandparents and to you and your OH. Welcome to the world baby.

Thank you Vera her name is Inara Sarah Kayleigh.

We had not heard of Inara before but apparently it is from quite an old fantasy series. No doubt we will get used to it. :-)

That's an interesting name Ann. Say it out loud a few times and you might find you like it. I think it is a nice name and unlikely to be shortened to anything horrible. You'll very quickly get used to it. I have a grandchild called Edith, usually known as Edie. When she was born I didn't like it because it made me think of an old family friend "Auntie Edie" who was a real old cockney character, never seen without her glass of milk stout and a fag. Now I can't imagine my lovely, bubbly Edie being called anything else

I googled Inara and there is quite a lot about it - originally an arabic name, it means Ray of Light, or Shining. Apparently in one mythology Inara was the goddess of the wild animals of the Steppes.

Parents seem to be going for more unusual names these days. The latest addition to our family a few months back was named Arisa and she is gorgeous as I am sure Inara will be :-D

Congratulations Ann on the birth of your Gt Granddaughter .What an unusual name.There won't be too many little girls with her name.
The son of a friend of ours has named his new daughter Ottelie,and my Son's friends new baby boy is Huxley.Unusual names must be the 'in thing' lol

Apparently the name is from mythology if you google it, it is an arabic name meaning into the light or similar but was from the fantasy programme as well, as was Sarah and Kaylee (spelt like that not how I spelt it.)

Very many congratulations Ann and OH on the arrival of your new Gt Granddaughter. Welcome baby Inara, very unusual, a very nice name. Obviously well thought about.

Had lots of cuddles this afternoon, she is, of course, beautiful.

When I had my two in the sixties, I was in the nursing home for ten days, not allowed out of bed even for the loo for two days, and at least another day before allowed a shower or bath. Had to sleep on our stomachs for an hour every afternoon as well, babies kept in the nursery, only alloed on the ward at feed times, no night feeds. Shown how to bath baby, put on nappy etc. only fathers allowed to see babies in the nursery and only one visitor allowed at a time.

How things have changed. Jess was up and showering yesterday, (the day baby was born). Kept in overnight as her pulse was fast. Home this afternoon, going up and down stairs, doing all sorts and coming over for a barbecue with Inara in the carry cot tomorrow. And what is more she genuinely seems to have enjoyed the birth.

Yes things have changed so much Ann.They are in and out in a blink of an eye these days after giving birth.Even C Sections are home after a couple of days!
I had C Sections with both of mine.The first in 1983.I think I stayed in for about 8 days then,and then the second in 1986.I insisted on leaving after 4 days even though they wanted me in for 7.The only reason I wanted out was for my Dad to see my son.Dad was suffering from MND and couldn't face being in a hospital.
I hope you have all had a great day and enjoyed the BBQ..Little Inara might not remeber her first BBQ but I bet there will be plenty of pics for her in the future :-D

Yes the barbecue went off well and Inara slept through it. Had more cuddles of course.our only surprise was that they have already put her on the bottle, encouraged it seems by the midwife in the hospital. They obviously weren't encouraged to persevere with it which is a shame.