Hobbies and Crafts

Many congratulations Ann. Enjoy the rest of your day with your OH.

Jane, Thomas would think he was in cat heaven if you let him have the run of your loft I bet he would make short work of the mice.

The girls went back on Monday afternoon and I am missing them but I have to admit I was feeling my age by the end of our time together. It was lovely to spend time with them as we don't see them very often - probably only a couple of times a year.

A couple of days of washing, ironing and housework, then Thursday was GCSE results day and, with 2 grandchildren awaiting results, there were lots of texts going back and forth. Thankfully they both did well enough to have their 6th form places confirmed.

Also on Thursday we went with a group to tour a local area that is hard to describe. It is a number of acres of woodland and wetland that is a sort of managed wilderness. It is part of the "quiet gardens" scheme and is privately owned, but anyone who has problems or just wants quiet time to think can ring up and ask to visit and spend time there. In terms of wildlife we only saw insects, butterflies, particularly speckled wood, and dragonflies but there is evidence of an otter using the site and possibly water vole.

Yesterday we had overnight visitors again, and as soon as they left we dashed off to a charitable coffee morning at a friend's house. So we have had another busy week. At least I don't have time to get bored
:-D

Belated Anniversary wishes Ann. I think 18 yrs more than me .I hope you had a lovely day celebrating :-D

Vera.I did wonder about putting Thomas up in the loft but it would probably freak him out being shut up there LOL Plus the loft is not completely boarded so he would have been walking on that horrible insulation stuff. I must remind OH to get back up there and see if the poison has gone.
Well done to your Grandchildren on getting their brilliant GCSE results :-D

It is all really quiet here bird wise.Although we still have so many young Robins.I don't think I have ever seen quite so many. Lots of little battles go on on the lawn at times.I am not having to fill the window feeder too often .Once a day at the most and maybe every 2 days.The Male Blackbirds spend a lot of time on there and chuck so many suet pellets out .The ground underneath sometimes is covered in the things.I try and keep them swept up as I don't want to encourage Rats.
I hope my Daughter will remember to keep it topped up when we go to Pembrokeshire as she will be staying here then.My Son would normally do it but he is going to Scotland with his girlfriend at the same time we are away.

We did have a wagtail in the garden early today, and a blackbird but not many other birds.

It was a sad day yesterday as our neighbour (in her 80s and very fragile) next door had a heart attack. The ambulance and paramedic were both here very quickly and stayed here over two hours, they did all they could but were unable to save her. Her husband, also in his 80s is not well himself, he thought he had problems with one of his eyes but the eye clinic could find nothing wrong so he has been referred to the neurological clinic next week, he feels and looks drunk most of the time. Luckily his daughter who lives on her own, has moved in with him at the moment.. We are wondering when the funeral will be as we have so much booked for next week.
Also today the young couple opposite have a new baby in the house, not sure if it was born today or yesterday or what sex it is. Need to know so I can make a card. They already have a little girl about 2.

Thursday 1 September, the first day of autumn and a lovely bright, warm sunny day. We went into town as I had a chiropodist appointment. Went to M&S and struck lucky in their sale. Got a pair of white footglove sandals reduced right down from £39.50 to £13.49, a pair of bikini boy shorts bottoms in black reduced from £16 to £3.99 and a Per Una top reduced from £29.50 to £12.49. I was well pleased with these bargains. Had lunch in Wetherspoons.

Ann , you got some good bargains there in M&S
That is very sad about your neighbour.I do hope her Husband will be ok.It does sound as though he has something going on medically wise :-S At least the daughter is with him now.....There might be a bit of a back log re funerals with it having been a Bank Holiday so the funeral might not be for a while.
A new life too.So good news as well as sad news..

We have just had a young Green Woodpecker on the lawn .Looking sightly lost.We heard another Woodpecker in the trees next door and then the little one flew off in that direction :-D Hopefully it found it's parent :-D

And we had a flock of long tailed tits in the garden.

Just seen the new baby over the road, she was born on Wednesday and is gorgeous of course, as all new babies are. She is called Georgie. She was asleep and looked very peaceful. :-)

That is so sad Ann that your neighbour has died and left her husband who is elderly and unwell himself. It's good that his daughter is able to stay and support her Dad now

A new baby in your road. Now that is happy news and no doubt you will be busy
making a special card for Mummy and Daddy and big sister. Your M&S bargains sound really good. Hope all went well with the chiropodist in town.

We have had a lot of sparrows and several thrushes in the back garden but just
the usual pigeons and the starlings in the front garden, as greedy as ever.

I did see a robin through the kitchen window. It was a nice surprise this morning.

I have taken the ground feeder away from the front garden as I have reseeded
several burnt patches on the front lawn and don't want to encourage birds to feast
on the grass seed, although I have put enough down in case this happens.

Plenty of hedge sparrows and a few thrushes in the back garden plus the ever
greedy starlings who swoop in great numbers and devour everything in sight.

You are lucky to get thrushes Kandj, we never see them here. Or, shouldn't say never, about once a year we might see one.

Not much in the way of bird life around at the moment, just the usual collared doves who like the bird bath and an occasional sparrow. A couple of days ago there was a loud squawking from the garden so I looked out and it was a large flock of starlings having an argument, but even the starlings didn't hang around for long.

Though we haven't seen him we think our resident frog is still around as we have several times heard a plop in the water when we have gone near our tiny pond.

Mitzi, the cat, is much the same. She is hardly eating, just about enough to stay alive, but she seems contented and relaxed. I wonder if old age is catching up with her. She will be 15 in December.

Just seen a goldfinch on the Niger seeds. It's the first one I have seen for ages :-D

We don't ever get goldfinches or hardly any of the small tit birds which are the
pretty ones. Usually fat pigeons and lots of starlings. Don't see many of the
doves either and no sign of the robin or Mr Blackbird for a while either... strange??

Ann we regularly seen thrushes in the back and front gardens and they are beautiful.

Mitzi seems content enough Vera and I guess that 15 is a good age for a cat, so
enjoy her and I hope she is with your family for some time to come.

Sadly, you spoke too soon Kandj. OH took Mitzi back to the vet today and they decided to keep her there to do scans under anaesthetic. At lunchtime the vet rang to say she had a number of growths on her liver. There were 3 options. She could have surgery and chemo but would be unlikely to survive, we could bring her home with no treatment and await the inevitable or we could not let her wake from the anaesthetic she was under. It was a terrible decision to have to make quickly but we felt we had to let her go

I keep looking in the garden and expecting to see her there. No more now, it's making me cry again.

Aaw Vera I am so sad for you,we had a similar thing happen with two of our cats, both about the same age as Mitzi. I know it is no help but you really made the right decision for her, she was peaceful and out of pain at the end. Thinking of you <3 <3

Oh dear, I really did speak too soon didn't I Vera? Like Ann, I feel so sorry for you both. It must have been a shock and an awful decision to have to make so very quickly. I believe you made the right one, given the other two options. This was the kindest for Mitzie but obviously the hardest one as you come to terms with her not being around. Be kind and give yourselves time to grieve. Take care now. Big hugs.

Oh Vera, I am so sorry to see this news..You have made the right decision ,she would have known nothing.I had to make a decision like you when our old cat was still under anaesthetic.She will always have a place in your heart <3

Off to Pembrokeshire tomorrow.So I will not be posting for a while (unless I take my laptop with me) :-)

You have not been on here for a while Jane I wa beginning to get concerned. Anyway, have a nice break. :-)

Ann,we have had visitors .One lot from S Africa and the second from Washington DC.Hence the reason for me not getting on the thread.I thought I had LOL but maybe I just didn't press the submit key !!!.It has been all go here for the last couple of weeks.
Now I am looking forward to getting away and seeing Pembrokeshire and the coast :-D

I see I did post on the 1st :-D.I just feel ready to drop into bed now after a hectic day.Shopping done,Packing done ,the cat taken to the cattery and dinner finally done.
Tomorrow morning will be packing up the car and having a quick clean around the house then we will be off :-D..
My Daughter will be staying here while we are away so she will be in charge of filling the window feeder.My Son is going to Scotland with his girlfriend.
My daughter would have been happy looking after Thomas ,but couldn't cope with him bringing Rabbits and Mice.So the Cattery it is.I have no worries about him there as he has a good sized accommodation and the Lady who looks after him is great.It is a very small cattery (8-10 cats).His neighbour is called Mr Jiggs :-D
Time for bed.

Love the name Mr Jiggs. enjoy Pembrokeshire. Nice area

Thank you everyone for your sympathy. I tried to put a picture of Mitzi as my avatar but all the system has done is remove my old picture without putting the new picture up. I might try again later.

Enjoy yourself in Pembrokeshire Jane. We've had a couple of good self catering weeks there and liked the area very much.