Hobbies and Crafts

Just wanted to say THANK YOU to you all for your kind words and thoughts.
Very much appreciated. Hubby is improving very very slowly and we are both
relaxing together and keeping warm now that the temperature has dropped.
We have to pinch ourselves and remember that we are in December already!
Whatever happened to October and November...... they have gone in a flash??

No change with our birds though. Just the usual Mr Blackbird, hedge sparrow,
pigeons, doves and occasional thrushes. No sign of the robin lately. All the birds
seem very hungry and are enjoying using the bird baths even though its cold.

Oh, no Jane I didn't see that but lovely for you to rekive memories about the church.

Kandj, I am pleased that your OH is improving albeit slowly. Baby steps. I hope the improvement continues. Continue to take it easy and keep warm. At least you have a selection of birds even if everyday ones, they need food too. <3

Kandj, lovely to see you post. I hope the improvement in your OH's health continues. Frustrating when it is slow but hopefully things will get better and better for you both. I'm keeping you in my thoughts <3

I had a good laugh this morning at two very fat pigeons trying to balance on two very spindly twigs to reach some crab apples on the tree. It's a young tree so not very sturdy yet and they looked as though they were going to fall off at any moment.

I went out to fill up the feeders about 4 o'clock and found the bird bath completely frozen. So defrosting that again will be the first job in the morning.

I defrosted our birdbath at 6.30 this morning and it is now solid again :-S..I always worry when I thaw it just incase any birds get there too quickly and burn their little feet lol The frost has stayed on the lawn again today and i think it is starting to get a bit foggy now.It is supposed to be really bad by the morning here.
I had a friend here today and he couldn't believe the number of birds on the window feeder and he was in stitches seeing them all lining up in the branches of the tree waiting their turn :-D..Dancing Blackbird did his show too for my friend :-D :-D
Vera I never understand how these birds can manage to hang on and balance on very thin branches especially when the branch is bending and swaying. They are brilliant acrobats :-D :-D

I am pretty certain that the best way to melt ice is with tepid or cold water as hot refreezes more quickly

Our birdbath was not frozen yesterday morning, but had very little water in it so I went out and gave it a quick scrub with some clean water and refilled it.
I hadn't even chance to get indoors and wash my hands before 2 collared doves were in it, both drinking and bathing, soon joined by a starling who quickly made sure that they all got the 'showered-all- over ' treatment.

Glad to see the wren again hopping in and out of the ivy on the fence. A blue tit was checking over the twigs on the silver birch, otherwise it was just the usual visitors today. There were small mussel shells on the path, so I guess the gulls have been around too. They do come to the bird bath a lot in the summer, but I don't ground feed and encourage them in the garden...... they'd tell all their friends, then we'd have even more around here.!

Ooh yes Gwyn, you don't want the gull telegraph to work. Very damp and dark here today so not many birds around. We did have three goldfinches and a little wren but been busy with Grandson, his wife and baby Inara calling in on their way to Devon so didn't notice any more birds around.

Hungry birds here. The starlings eat everything in sight. Filled the feeders twice and
also cleaned out the two birdbaths. Two blackbirds were enjoying being in the water.

Monday was a hospital routine outpatient appointment with hubby. Always painful
and tiring for him, especially as he is still far from well. The Consultant who we have seen for very many years retires next month which has saddened us both because
Dr B has taken good care of hubby and also helped to support me. He deserves
a long and happy retirement. We will miss him as will the staff and other patients too.

Hi Kandj, cold weather making the birds hungry.

It is stressful when much trusted doctors retirisn't it. You have to start to build trust with a new person. I had the same problem the last time I needed basal cell carcinoma treatment, I discovered my much tryster hospital doctor had retired and in his place was a very young specialist nurse, who was very pleasant but did everything differently.

Hallo Kandj, I hope your husband is feeling a bit more comfortable now. I am sure you will soon build up a rapport with a new doctor. I have problem teeth and was very unhappy when my much trusted dentist decided to retire early and sail round the world before he got too old. But the dentist who took over the practice turned out to be wonderful and I have recommended him to so many people that I think he should be paying me. Fingers crossed, you will find the same with the new doctor.

The birds have deserted us the last two days :-(. Perhaps the milder weather means they are able to find enough food for themselves.

Good to see you posting again Kandj <3...I can understand how sad you will be with Hubbie's consultant retiring after so many years of wonderful care.Hopefully you will be happy with the new one.Any change like this is horrible after so long but hopefully you will soon get to know and be happy with the new Consultant.

No desertion of birds here.The feeder is as busy as ever. More food bought yesterday .I haven't seen the Woodpecker though for a while.

Was it something I said? My birds have all disappeared. I had sparrows at least emptying the feeders and occasional other visitors but I filled everything a couple of days ago and hardly any food has gone. OH cleaned the bird bath as well. Usually when we do that something arrives straightaway to make it mucky again but it is still pristine. What on earth is happening? :-S

That is weird Vera. Maybe it is all your birds filling their faces at my house LOL.
The window feeder here is empty now ,but it has been raining so much this afternoon I haven't been outside to refill it. Hopefully all the little birds will be tucked up somewhere dry now and will be looking forward to a nice feed in the morning.

weird as Jane says Vera. However, do you think there is a chance that a sparrow hawk has been around? We had one once and it was ages before we saw the birds round the feeders again.

We have had 4/5 goldfinch feeding today, one starling (don't know where his mates are), our little robin, a blue tit and a blackbird plus a woodie and a collard dove. Yesterday, in the rain we had a very busy little wren in the border.

Hope your birds have come back again Vera. Ann is quite right regarding the sparrow hawk. We had one ages ago and it was sat on the wall staring into the kitchen window. It was a scary sight even from indoors and it kept our birds away for a while.
Or maybe Jane's bird feed is more tasty than yours?? lol.

It is dry but very cold here this morning. A real chill factor in the wind bbrrrrr.

The usual birds are hungry enough here. I might have to go outside and top up
the feeders. Our little robin has come back this morning. A joy for us both to see.

Drizzle and cold here today.

Kandj isn't it strange how that aggressive little red chested bird cheers us up when it visits us? I love to see robins. maybe it is the colour of their chest, reminds us of Christmas and happy times.

OH is playing golf this morning bet he will be cold and wet when he comes in.

Foggy this morning but then it cleared to be a generally grey day.

I did wonder if the birds might have been frightened off by a bird of prey but, apart from the occasional kestrel, I have never seen anything like that round here.

You are quite right about how scary the sparrowhawk looks Kandj. In our old house I had one swoop down and take a young starling right in front of the window and it was quite frightening.

As it happens we did have a little flurry of activity at lunchtime. Half a dozen sparrows, a couple of starlings, two collared doves, two blackbirds and a pigeon all arrived together. Perhaps they thought there was safety in numbers. The sparrows managed to half empty the seed feeder, the starlings had a go at the fat balls and the others pecked around on the ground, then they suddenly all flew off again. They have probably all gone to Jane's. I think her bird hotel must be 5 star :-D

I don't expect to see many birds for a while we had a sparrow hawk in the garden this afternoon.
Yesterday we had a pair of coal tits and this morning at least five goldfinches.

Just had a load of Goldfinches :-D :-D. That was so nice to see. They seem to have vanished now though. The window feeder is as busy as ever.I have been and bought a load of suet pellets today that should see them over Christmas.
I think Coal Tits have been on the feeder ( I need to check pics on google) as I get a bit confused with some of the Tits. :-S

coal tits are brown and black Jame.

well we have not seen any sparrows today but have had at least 5 goldfinches feeding and several blue tits, so they are obviously not put off by the sparrowhawk thank goodness.