Hobbies and Crafts

Some messy bird has turfed out loads of suet pellets from the window feeder :-S. I think it is the big Male Blackbird.I had to sweep it all up as it was all over the place and I don't want unwanted vermin. There was a dead Rat on the patio the other morning. I think Thomas must have caught and killed it.
Does anyone know if Hedgehogs eat those Suet Pellets?

I don't know if hedgehogs eat the pellets Jane.

Just a few of the usual birds here, but all the food was gone when we got back from our wek away. While in the Lake District we saw a curlew and an Oyster catcher. Got a good photo of the latter.

travelled back from the Lake district yesterday. I do so hate the M6, so many idiot drivers, held up for ages in 50mph roadworks because of an accident involving three cars. If they would just stay in their lanes it wouldn't happen. And, who are the people who do 60/70 in the 50 mph? Do they get away with it I wonder. Warmer here today than it was last week in the L District, but we have had sun and showers. still trying to catch up with all the things needing doing after a week away.

OH was at the doctors this morning after suffering from a painful shoulder for 7/8 weeks. It seems it is either a frozen shoulder or arthritis, if it is the former he will get an injection in it. So tomorrow he has an Xray booked and, the Dr picked up that he hasn't had a blood test for two years so he has one tomorrow morning as well. Also his BP was up but I suspect that was worry over his shoulder. Really can't complain, he phoned this morning, got an appointment with his own doctor this afternoon, got an appointment for blood test tomorrow and an appointment (when he phoned the hospital) for an Xray tomorrow afternoon :-) :-) :-)

Love to Kandj, hope there is improvement for her OH. <3

Ann,Motorways are a nightmare sometimes these days for driving on.I used to quite enjoy motorway driving but no longer.Especially when it is the four lanes.I find the biggest problem are the huge Lorries and Jugganaughts .They seem to pull out of a lane with no warning sometimes and there are so many .
I hope your OH gets some relief soon for his shoulder. I am booked in for an Ultrasound Injection in my hip on the 27th.Years ago I had a shoulder injection and it worked really well.

We had 2 Green Woodpeckers on the lawn this morning pecking away and a Squirrel running around digging up conkers or whatever had been buried.Not so many small birds though on the window feeder.There do seem to be a lot of Magpies about(on the roads)picking at road kill.

Kandj is in my thoughts all the time. <3

I hope your OH's shoulder is showing some improvement Ann, and that the injection helps your hip Jane. My OH has a knee problem that he assumed was arthritis but I wasn't convinced so persuaded him to see our GP who ordered an X-Ray. Had that the next day and got the results the day after - it's a cartilage problem, so he has an appointment with the consultant in about three weeks and we will see what he has to say.

I envy you your green woodpeckers Jane. I think they are the birds I miss most from our old house. They used to come quite close to the house while they were pecking at the lawn and they are such pretty birds.Shame their squawk isn't as pretty!

At some point most nights the security light on the side of our garage, which shines right into our bedroom, comes on and we haven't been able to work out what causes it. We've assumed it must be a cat but by the time I have got out of bed and got to the window to look it has gone. Recently OH happened to be standing by the window when the light came on so looked out immediately and the culprit was a fox. All it seems to do is come in, wander around for a minute or two and then go out again. Thankfully it hasn't rootled through the bins or left its calling card yet.

Still keeping Kandj and her OH in my thoughts. I do hope they are starting to see some improvement.

Vera it sounds like it might be a bit of Keyhole surgery for your OH on his knee.My son has had 2 lots of Keyhole Surgery on one of his knees.The first one when he was about 16. The second one he had removed about 80% of the cartilage and touch wood he hasn't had any more trouble.

Maybe your Fox is just passing through your garden on the way to somewhere else.Fox's calling cards are not pleasant.My last dog used to love rolling in it :-S :-S

It was lovely watching the 2 Green Woodpeckers on the lawn the other morning.it isn't often we see two together like that.I would rather them than the pesky Squirrel digging holes in the lawn everyday to find it's hidden goodies.
The Hedgehog is still making a mess all over the patio every night :-|..I am so glad we have the hose pipe handy to wash it all away .

Has anyone heard anything of Maryanna? I am assuming that she didn't renew her membership. I hope that's the reason she isn't posting now.

No, not heard anything of Maryanna.

I imagine that Maryanna has not renewed her membership.That is a shame if that is the case as I enjoyed her posts.

Just seen a Heron perched on the top of a big Fir Tree at the bottom of the garden :-)
How it balanced up there I have no idea LOL.Must have very strong legs and feet :-)

I found my cat last night nose to nose with the Hedgehog under the patio table !! Thomas was literally sniffing the Hedgehogs nose. :-D

I have been laughing to myself at the thought of a heron at the top of a fir tree :-D

The sparrows have again emptied the seed feeder. I remembered I bought it at Tesco in a 3 kg bag so I will buy a couple of bags on Monday. We have seen a couple of blue tits today which makes a change from sparrows.

Ann, is that a new picture of Inara? She looks a real sweetie

Vera, yes taken last week when we and daughter had her for the day, she is a smiler, and a sweetie.

Jane check Thomas for crawlies, hedge hogs have lots of fleas. I have pmd Maryanna but not heard anything back, I gave her my email

I had to laugh too Vera when I saw the Heron on the top of that tree.When it flew off it looked HUGE !!.
Thomas is due his Flea treatment in the next few days so hopefully he will be clear of any unwanted visitors from the Hedgehog who we have called Mr Squits or Mr Squitty because of the mess he leaves :-S :-S

Still no great improvement here and so I'm just popping in to say THANK YOU
for all your kind thoughts and supportive words....... greatly appreciated right now.

Good to see you Kandj. But so sorry there is no great improvement. I don't know the actual problem so can only say, look after you as well as your OH and maybe with time??? <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I will continue to hold you both in my thoughts. xx

Just put a load of photos on the blog, Tenerife, Lake District and Westonbirt Arboretum.

Great pictures as always Ann. I love the colours in the Arboretum.

OH and I were having a cuppa in the conservatory when I saw a movement in the tree outside. It turned out to be a young goldfinch on the niger seeds that were hanging on a branch. At least I think it was a young goldfinch. It looked very similar to an adult but hadn't yet developed the red on its head. Loads and loads of sparrows who seem to really like the brand of seeds I am now buying, though himself had a bit of a moan at all the wheat he had to pull up from where the sparrows had dropped or thrown out some of the seeds. I told him it was worth it just to see a bit of bird life in the garden :-D

I am sorry that your OH is not much better Kandj. I hope that time will bring an improvement. Sending a gentle cyber hug to you and keeping you in my thoughts <3

Glad to see you are having plenty of bird activity Vera :-D I haven't seen a Goldfinch for a couple of months now.
This morning there was a right racket going on in the big tree out the front.It was a big fisty cuffs between Magpies and Crows(or Rooks).The noise was dreadful.It it had been humans I would have been calling the Police !!!. In the end I opened the big window upstairs and yelled and flapped my arms..That sorted it out :-D :-D

Will have a look at your pics Ann :-)

Kandj ,you know I am thinking of you <3

Vera fingers crossed that the young goldfinch will spread the word!! Jane birds can be very noisy and squabbly!! :-D

Well our bird population was a bit more interesting this morning when we had a visit from a coal tit and two greenfinches. :-) :-)

I have a very nasty Chaffinch that is a real bully on the window feeder.It attacks any other bird that tries to land on it :-S.I have not seen one quite as aggressive as this one.

Can anyone explain this please. I thought I had two blue tits nesting in one of our boxes. The two birds kept flying in and out of the box, so I thought they had built a nest in there. They kept on doing this for weeks so I thought they must be feeding the babies. Then one day I noticed the entrance hole had been made a lot bigger so I thought The woodpeckers had got them and the babies. I was quite upset. All the activity around the box had stopped so I assumed that was the end of them.

Well the other day my husband went to empty the box and there was nothing in it just a couple of twigs. So what were the blue tits using it for. It appears they never made a nest in there and they didn't have any babies.

Jane

I am not sure Jane. I wonder if they make 'pretend' nests to keep predators away from the real one? Not sure why the hole was made larger though. Life is full of these little mysteries.