Hobbies and Crafts

It is so quiet here on the bird front.I filled the feeder about 11am and it looks hardly touched.Very strange :-S

Jane, I can send some starlings and wood pigeons your way if you would like that?

I was preparing veg today and looked out of the kitchen window and the
little robin was on the wall and seemed to be looking right at me.... awww,
I thought he had gone somewhere else and was so pleased to see him close up.

Most of our feeders are still not going down and we have had so much rain again over the last couple of days that everything will be going mouldy. I shall have to clean everything out again :-(

I was sitting in the conservatory this afternoon and a flock of long tailed tits flew in. Several of them had a go at the fat balls and they were flitting around the garden for about half an hour before they flew off. It was quite a large group and it was good to see them. The couple of sparrows that have been nibbling the fat balls sat on the fence and watched them and looked quite cross about the intruders on "their" fat balls, but didn't attempt to fly near them.

How lovely Vera to have all the Long T Tits :-D.None around here .I think they are such lovely little birds.

No thanks Kandj.I will pass on the offer of your Wood Pigeons and Starlings.We have too many Wood Pigeons already,and no Starlings.I definitely don't want Starlings.

We were kept awake the night before last with an Owl or 2.My goodness what a noise.It was just outside the back of the house beneath our bedroom .It started before 1am and was still going on at 3.30 !!. and the mess that they left !!!!.The Patio table and chairs were covered in poop :-S :-S Last night was peaceful and I hope tonight will be too. :-)

Do you ever see the owls Jane, might be worth the mess if you did. We have a few more birds here, goldfinches, Great tits, young starlings, blackbird.

No Ann,it is too dark to actually see them.My Son said he saw them briefly but they fly off so quickly and silently he just got a glimpse .I did hear one again last night but just for a few minutes about 1.30am..Few more deposits left on the Patio table :-|
Goldfinches seem to love our TV aerial and sit there singing their hearts out :-D.They never seem to come down to ground level though.

It has been a lovely day here today - such a change from the endless heavy showers and thunderstorms we have been having. Nothing much about today except for a couple of sparrows.

How is Thomas doing Jane? I was telling his story to a friend a couple of days ago to try to reassure her that her cat might survive just as well. Sadly the friend backed out of her garage and knocked down her own cat. As you can imagine she was distraught. She rushed the cat to the vet where she (the cat) has been ever since. She apparently has a broken pelvis and is being operated on to put a plate in place. Apparently the vet was very pleased yesterday as the cat had eaten some dry food, had had a wee, and was purring and the vet thought her internal organs were undamaged. The cat is 14 so may not bounce back as quickly as a younger animal but we all have our fingers crossed.

Oh Vera,what a thing to happen.Your poor friend must be distraught.Sadly these accidents happen more often than we realise.The same thing happened with our friend who ran over their cat.It wasn't a good outcome as Bella had to be put to sleep.
But the fact your friend's vet was happy to operate must mean there is a good chance of the cat recovering.14 sounds old for a cat but if it is healthy and fit it may live for many years more.
Thomas is doing fine.Still need to keep him on the harness in the garden for a few more weeks.He has been a right pain in the you know what today. Wind up his bum and trying to hare around like a loony.He must be feeling well on the mend.The problem is he shouldn't be running around and jumping yet.He has reminded me of little boys who run and then drop on their knees and skid along the ground when they get super excited.I am hoping he has worn himself out and I can get some sanity back now LOL..He just has to go back to the Vets in a couple of weeks for X-rays and then should be signed off :-D

My friend was able to collect her cat from the vet today, and she is doing remarkably well. Cat has to be kept indoors for 2 weeks and the vet has lent my friend a crate for her. She has to be confined so that she doesn't attempt to jump. Vet hasn't mentioned taking her out later on a harness like Thomas. Perhaps he's saving that little surprise or maybe the cat's injuries are such that she won't need the harness. Fingers crossed that she continues to recover well.

Indoors for just 2 weeks!!! that seems a very short time .But then I suppose the vets know what they are talking about.I think the reason Thomas has had to be confined for so long is because of all the ligaments/muscles /tendons that had to be cut through ,and the fact his femur is not attached to the hip joint now .
That must be great news for your friend Anne :-D.. It was my idea to use a harness for Thomas and I must say it has been a really good thing.I can give Thomas a bit of excerise without the worry of him disappearing :-D It does sound as though your friends cat is doing really well :-D :-D

We had a good weekend in Milton Keynes, good to see them again after quite a while. Son took us out for a meal Saturday which was nice as both grandchildren came too.
We came home today and driving along the A40 near North Leacha deer, (quite a big one) ran across the road in front of us , luckily we were not going that fast and didn't have to brake, I would hate to have hit it.

Just had 6 Red Kites above our garden :-D

Just read back and had a look at the photos of your garden Ann. It's very colourful
and lots of interesting things going on there. I prefer it to a neat/tidy garden I think.

Oh dear Vera, what an awful thing to happen to your friend and her cat!!!
It's good to know that the cat is operated on and on the mend. I bet your friend
was a nervous wreck and I know that I would have been.

Seeing the red kites must have been amazing Jane. We only have our usual birds
here. I'm keeping both bird baths topped up and it's being used a lot today.

Jane lucky you with the red kites, although I did see in the paper where they are becoming pests in some areas even attacking people with their claws for food.

Kandj, yes the garden is colourful but we have failed in trying to make it low maintenance I fear, there always seems to be dead heading to be done. I was out there for an hour this afternoon just pulling up hardy geraniums that have flowered and gone to seed to stop them spreading, if allowed they will take over the garden. But, success, today there was one Red Admiral and one Small tortoiseshell on the Budleia.

Any news on your friends Cat Vera? I do hope it is recovering well.

Ann,I don't think there are any problems here with Red Kites attacking people for their food.I hope not as those talons are huge !!!!..Bad enough if you have a Seagull swooping down ,,but a Red Kite !!!!!!!!!!! That would be a bit scary :-S

The window feeder food is lasting a bit longer these days :-).I just fill it once a day now.
The Woodpigeons are so noisy.There is one with a very deep voice lol.He sounds very grand :-D
It is just so hot and sticky again today .The humidity is a killer :-S

We have just filled up the bird feeders but we are not having to do it as often at the moment. We do have wood pigeons and collard doves coming to feed plus two regular goldfinches and a bluetit or two but not much else. Mr blackbird is very busy round the garden though.
Yesterday we had a goldfinch that was eating the seeds of a lavender, it stayed there pecking away for ages.

Sadly we also found when cutting down a rambling rose, an abandoned wood pigeon's nest with two eggs in it. We knew they were up there a month or so ago but never did see a nest. they must have been disturbed. And the nest was really well camouflaged.

Lots of Thrushes on the lawn tonight .One looks a bit strange wit ha longer beak.I am wondering if it might be a young Woodpecker. It is a shame when you find an abandoned nest with eggs.I wonder what actually makes parents abandon their nests.

Thomas has had his X-rays done today on his hip..Poor thing is still away with the fairies.Eyes like saucers !..All looks good on the X-rays but I think I will still have to keep him on the harness for a few weeks longer until his leg muscles get stronger .He won't be happy about that :-S.Better safer than sorry .

Poor Thomas - he must be getting fed up with his harness by now. Look on the bright side Jane, at least when he's on the harness you know he isn't getting into mischief somewhere.

My friend's cat seems to have been luckier than Thomas. She has seen the vets today and they are amazed at how well the cat has recovered, especially since she is 14 years old. My friend still needs to keep the cat in and prevent her from jumping but she doesn't have to keep her in the crate anymore. The vet wants to see her again in a fortnight.

Not much in the way of bird life in the garden at all, apart from the two sparrows that keep coming to the fat balls. They are getting quite bold now and aren't a bit bothered if we are close by. The pigeons and the blackbirds use the bird bath a lot and could do with learning some manners. They leave the facilities in a disgusting state!

That is really good news about your friends cat Vera :-D I had a call from the Vet today as I didn't see him when I picked Thomas up last night. Yes I have to keep him on the harness for at least another month!!!.This is going to take us up to about when we go to Pembrokeshire .Then it will be to the Cattery :-S

Poor Thomas he will probably be confused now when you finally take the harness off.

Good about your friend's cat Vera, she must be strong.

Jane have you seen the strange bird again?