Hobbies and Crafts

Thanks Kandj, not looking forward to it.

Off later to the cinema, meeting a couple of lady friends for lunch first. The film we are seeing is a French film with sub titles.

Rain has stopped here for now and it is quite bright. It is difficult knowing whether to wear a light jacket or a raincoat these days.

One dead mouse yesterday morning and another late afternoon...... Unbelievable!!!

It has rained non stop here all day long. What's happened to our Summer??

Good luck tomorrow when you have the stitches out Ann. Hope all goes well for you.

Jane is Thomas still bunny hunting? He is saving you money on your shopping bill.

Are Vera and her OH is Russia for his very special belated birthday holiday, or have
I got that wrong?

Still here Kandj. Nearly 3 weeks to go before our holiday. We have received all our tickets and vouchers, got our visas and currency, had our jabs and got notarised translations of my prescription, so it's all systems go :-D

I always try to learn a little of the language when we go to a new country but I am struggling with Russian. Just reading the Cyrillic alphabet is difficult.

I think the endless rain is keeping the birds away though OH did see a group of long tailed tits fly across the garden and land in a tree in the garden next door. There was also a squirrel yesterday - the first one I have seen in the garden. Thankfully no mice!

I hope tomorrow goes well Ann and you feel more comfortable once the stitches are out.

Thinking about you Ann, hope everything goes well for you today. Deep breathes!

Good Luck with the Russian language Vera. I'm sure you are both getting excited.

Thomas will be ready to go off chasing his "kills" no doubt Jane.

All bright and dry here so far. Just put bird food out in the front garden, I am still not feeding the birds in the back whilst we have the mice around there.

Thanks Vera and Kandj for the good wishes. Stitches appointment is for 3.50 so got all day to think about it. Really really not looking forward to it.

Ooh Vera getting closer, about the same time we go to tenerife (doesn't have quite the same ring about it though does it?) I bet you are excited. How long is the flight? Having seen Russian writing I don't think i would have much luck with learning it.
Did you see all those flights cancelled to and from Madeira at the weekend? About 5000 people with cancelled flights.

Kandj still at least the mice are down to low numbers now, I think you are just catching stragglers.

I am getting excited but also a little apprehensive. A holiday company has made all the bookings for us and arranged transfers and guides etc. but we are not on a group tour - we are very much on our own. Should be interesting ;-)

The flights are under 4 hours. Apparently we get a meal going to Moscow but coming back from St Petersburg we don't. We are flying with BA and they have had a couple of serious computer crashes lately which badly affected their flights. I hope they have sorted it as I don't want to be stuck in an airport full of irate customers.

Tenerife sounds good to me Ann.

Kandj I am glad you are getting some bright, dry weather. We have had so much rain lately that I am thinking of building an ark. I can't believe we live in the driest part of the country. The rain did hold off for a while on Sunday but started again on Monday. It has now been raining heavily all day again. Our front and back look like paddling pools.

I have just looked out of the window to see a stupid bedraggled pigeon sitting in the bird bath which is full to the brim, with rain pouring down on him. Wouldn't you think he'd find a spot to shelter?

I am sure you are winning the war against the mice Kandj.

Good luck with your appointment this afternoon Ann.

Hope the stitches have come out nice and easily Ann. I am sure your neck will feel easier now they are out.

When do you go on your exciting holiday Vera? I know no Russian Vera . I can't imagine it is a very easy language to get your head around. You and OH are going to have a wonderful time :-D

It would be nice to go away anywhere at the moment just to get away from this horrible rain. My Daughter and her partner are in Montenegro at the moment with temps of about 36/37 degs. Too hot for me. But at least they don't have the really bad heatwave that is affecting so many places in Europe.

The little birds are all waiting branches for me to fill the window feeder LOL

Jane, we don't go away for another two and a half weeks. At the moment Moscow is a good bit warmer and drier than here.

I know what you mean about wanting to get away from the rain. It has been falling down non-stop all day and seems to be getting even heavier. I haven't even ventured out to feed the birds today.. When my kids were at primary school they used to sing a song about a little boy who moved here from sunnier climes. The chorus was "It's raining, it's raining again". The dratted song has been going around my head all day.

I hope the stitch removal went well Ann and you have a comfortable night.

Have been watching loads of Bumble Bees this afternoon on the Lavender and some of my Herb plants that have flowers on. It was lovely to see so many :-D

Thomas cat has been catching lots of mice today. (Kandj I wish we were near you ) he would sort out your problem) I have picked up three lots of 'innards' off the patio .
I ran out of the suet pellets for the window feeder today so it just had to be Sunflower Hearts.The feeder is half empty already !There was quite a scrum on there earlier this afternoon !!!

Jane I think I would be sick seeing Thomas' leftovers....Ughhhh. I am just whispering this info because I don't want to speak too soon..... BUT.... there has been NO MICE caught in the 6 traps set in the garage now for 48 hours... shhhhhh. Keep it quiet!!
We haven't seen bumble bees here Jane but quite a few cabbage white butterflies.

Vera I expect that you and OH are counting down the days before your Russian
holiday of a lifetime. It sounds amazing, you are sure to bring back lots of lovely memories between the two of you to treasure forever.

Ann, hope everything went well on Wednesday and you are beginning to feel a little more comfortable now the stitches have been taken out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANN...... hope you have a great day today. xx

Vera, another day nearer to the Russian holiday of a lifetime. Have you and your
hubby started to get excited yet?

Jane, hope Thomas is still ridding your road of mice and bunnies today.

Another mouse free day here again yesterday...... fingers crossed it continues!!!

Kandj, perhaps the mice have learned to stay away. Fingers crossed.

Still about 2 weeks to go before our trip. We are now in the limbo stage - all the essential documents and paperwork sorted so there's nothing to do till we pack.....correction, till I pack. I am getting quite excited now but 2 weeks isn't going to be nearly long enough so we have had to be quite selective in what we choose to see and do.

Are sparrows getting more numerous? They are by far the commonest bird in our garden and seem to be increasing in number. We noticed it was the same at my brother's house when we visited last week.

Hope you are having a marvellous birthday Ann <3

Belated Birthday Wishes Ann. I am sorry I hadn't realised it was your Birthday today <3 I hope you have had a really great day.

My poor Thomas is having an overnight stay at the Vets Hospital as he has been very unwell for a few days.I was lucky enough to get the last appointment of the day today .
He is on a drip to keep him hydrated and having bloods done.It is looking like there is a problem with his Potassium levels which can affect the Kidneys and Heart . But the vet is hoping that the drip will get things back to normal levels. The cause I know what .So a rather stressful afternoon here.
The mice and Rabbits will probably have a party tonight .

LOL Vera I bet you have lots of clothes ready for the holiday but if like me there will be lots changes . I lose count sometimes of the number of times I pack and repack .As for what to see and do it is always a problem as there is never enough time to get everything in. We often have a week away thinking it is plenty of time to see all, but come away not having seen half of what we wanted to actually see.

Oh dear Jane. Poor Thomas. Fingers crossed that the vet will be able to sort him out. Let us know how he gets on

Thank you all for my birthday wishes, I had a lovely day with OH, daughter and her partner. We went out for a meal last night too which was nice.

Jane I hope Thomas recovers from whatever is the problem.

Another dead mouse in the garage....... I'm not very happy about that at all..... grrrrr!!

It was good to have your daughter and partner to share in your birthday meal Ann
You are sure to have had a lovely time together the four of you.

Sorry that Thomas isn't well Jane. Hopefully, the Vet will be able to make him better.

I think you will need to sit together and decide what your priorities are for your
Russian holiday Vera.... it isn't somewhere you can go back to again in a hurry.

I saw a large hedgehog scurrying across the patio a couple of nights ago. At first glance I thought that it was a RAT. (that's all I need), but it was a hedgehog pheww.

We have a hedgehog in our and our neighbours gardens. Sorry you are still seeing mice Kandj, surely they must be at an end soon.

We had a lovely time with daughter and her partner over the weekend and had a good meal on Sunday. It will be October before we see them again now, seems ages.

How lovely to have a hedgehog. With luck he'll keep the slug population down.

Poor Kandj. You will get the better of the mice sooner or later.

Jane, how is Thomas? Has the vet sorted him out?

I haven't seen our Hedgehog for a while now. In one way I am quite pleased as it always pooed all over the patio and I had to hose it down every morning !!! But on the other hand I used to like seeing it scuttling along in the dark . Maybe it has moved next door :-D
As for Thomas , he is back to normal but in my bad books. The vet put a drip up to give him extra fluids and did his bloods twice. The Potassium levels were too high the first time (probably because he hadn't been eating or drinking), but the second lot of bloods showed it had come down a lot but still just slightly up. I was supposed to keep him in unti lFriday when he goes back for a check up but by 5.30 yesterday morning I just couldn't stand any more meowing and clawing at the doors to get out so I let him go. He came back about 9.30 for a sleep and then out again about 11.30 . At 12 I heard this dreadful squealing /screaming and he had brought a Baby Rabbit in the lounge !!. The noise was just dreadful. I managed to get it off Thomas and pushed Thomas out into the hall and shut the door. I got a Teatowel and picked the bunny up with it s little legs kicking and twitching. What to do with it I wasn't sure so I went to take it down the garden to put it on top of one of the compost piles so that it might recover safely there. But it died before I got there. :-( I can tell you I was in a right old state.

Glad you had a lovely day with your Daughter Ann.. October isn't too far away really before you see her again.

My Daughter and her Partner have just arrived back from a fortnight in Montenegro and Dubrovnik . Hopefully I will hear from her tonight and hear all about it.From her photos it just looked amazing especially Kotor in Montenegro .

Kandj how is the meece situation today? Thomas has eaten 2 today :-S.Could be more but I just saw the 2. He would soon have polished off your lot LOL

2 MORE DEAD MICE in the garage yesterday.... I think this brings the total to 17 but
my hubby says it is 18 now... he could be correct, I have lost count to be honest!!!

I am thinking of leaving home, Uuggghhhhhhh...... anyone want a lodger????