Hobbies and Crafts

Our bird feeders haven't been busy at all but the back garden hedge that the kitchen window looks out onto has been very busy :-D

I can still just about see through the hedge and although I haven't seen the white pheasant again I can see huge flocks of pigeons feeding on the oil seed rape :-|

Not long now Jane she should leave Bangkok at lunch time tomorrow :-D clear my washing :-S that only happens when the girls are away from home :-D I'm hoping MOG will offer to do the airport run ;-) so I can be at home cooking a full English breakfast mmmmm the smell of bacon cooking, then for Sunday dinner I have bought rib of beef on the bone...I don't think we will need any lunch :-D

Lesley x

Well she will be well on her way now.I bet her tummy is rumbling at the thought of a wonderful fry up and that juicy beef :-D.At least she will be having a nice smooth landing now all the bad weather has gone.I expect too she can't wait to get into a nice comfy bed again and will sleep for hours lol
I remember when I was 19 and came home after working in Greece I slept for 36hours .Frightened my Mum and Dad to bits as they apparently kept checking I was still breathing.But I had had a 3 day bus journey back with just a few hours kip.Oh I wish I was young again I would be off travelling as much as possible :-D.My Daughters friend has gone on a 6month trip .I think she is in Peru right now.

I don't think the birds are feeding so much now.The pellets seem to be lasting longer.I did change and put the smaller,thinner ones in which i think are much easier for them to eat and they aren't getting chucked out onto the ground :-D
No sign today of the 'You know what' :-D
I won't get too excited just yet though .

Off to London tomorrow for the day for daughters birthday.A nice lunch out and then a look around Highgate Cemetery.That sounds fun doesn't it lol But Hannah said it is supposed to be a lovely place .Give me a cemetery any day to wander around I love them :-D

I think we will all be happy when she is home Lesley. :-)

She has landed in Bahrain:-D well at least the flight has I hope she was on it :-S

Lesley x

Hope the Malaysian airplane hasn't alarmed you too much Lesley. I'm sure your daughter will be fine and ready to eat your delicious food. That month seems to have gone quickly, she will surely have plenty to talk to you about. She will see a change in baby M when she gets home.

It has been dry here in Yorkshire for the past two days but sooooo cold. It's the wind that has a definite chill factor or it could be my old bones ache and blood gets thinner now lol

Still got your little "visitor" with you then Jane? Enjoy your time with your daughter and hope she has a Happy Birthday and you all enjoy the meal out. Highgate Cemetery sounds interesting, there are sure to be ornate memorials there.

We have had starling and the young blackbird eating again from the window feeder. Perhaps it's because I have covered the fat seedcake with suet pellets.
I can't say that my efforts with the fat seedcake was a success. No idea what I did wrong, just suspect the birds here are much to fussy!

I hope your daughter has arrived safely now Lesley or if not quite yet, soon :-D

We are just ready for the off now.Need to be at Crouch end just before 12 as daughter has booked a taxi for 12 to go to lunch .I have my summer sandals and short sleeves on as it is going to be a lovely warm day.I have a light cardi to be on the safe side.
I bet everyone else will still be wrapped in scarves and thick jackets lol.I can't stand to be hot.
Have a nice day everyone :-D

Thank you our daughter arrived home safely :-D

Will try and get back on here later.

Lesley x

Hello Everyone.
I'm sorry I'm late with this bird food, Jude why didn't you chase me up?

Porridge oats , currents ,sunflower hearts, kibbled peanuts and some lard. I melted the lard then added the rest ,put in a container until set then put out on the feeding station, my birds go mad over it.

It's the first time this year we have sat out on the patio by the bird feeders, a lovely selection of 5 Robins, a pair of Siskins, 2 pairs of Bull Finches, several other Finches but no Gold finches, loads of Long Tailed Tits, Blue Tits,Great Tits, willow Tits and Coal tits, several Black Birds, Song Thrushes, hedge Sparrows , 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 pair of Black Caps which is a bit early for them, 7 Wood Pigeons, over head several Jays, Magpies,Jackdaws,and the other side of the hedge half a dozen Pheasants making a right racket . They are waiting for us to go indoors so they can nick all the feed on the ground feeders.

Happy Bird Watching Gang

Take care

Shaun

Well done Lesley, pleased she is home ok.

Shaun I think you have nicked all our birds. Gosh what a selection you had. Thanks for the bird cake recipe. :-)

Thanks Shaun....:)

l did mention birds on the Welsh thread, maybe that jogged your memory.:)..thanks for the bird food recipe :-D....what do you put it in or on in the garden....straight onto the bird table or into water bottles, l remember you saying before (yrs ago) about using empty bottle,making holes in etc??

Lesley...pleased to hear your daughter is home safe:)

Vera...hope you are better now, did you have the flu?

l'm fine now apart from getting tired very quickly when l go out and still can't enjoy tea or coffee, even wine does'nt taste right.

Birds in our garden most days but not so many this last week....

a pr robins, 6 + blue tits, 3-4 great tits and long tailed tits, sometimes one but mostly 3 - 4, 2 dunnocks, 4 reed buntings. chaffinches m & f, house sparrows, occasionally a spotted woodpecker, 3 - 4 woodpigeons, 3 - 4 magpies, 2 - 3 blackbirds, not seen the females lately, everyday a pr of mallard ducks who wait for vic to feed the other birds, and some times an extra male, this afternoon 2 extra males....today they all behaved themselves. We live near woods now and the river Wye so hopefully will see more variety of birds and animals.

Off to bed now:)


Take care

jude xx

Many thanks Shaun. I will make that bird cake recipe tomorrow and see what happens. Aren't you the lucky one with such a variety of birds visiting your garden.
I am quite envious, send some over to Yorkshire please.

Glad to hear that your daughter has arrived home safe and sound Lesley. Don't stop up all night having a catch-up.

I hope that Jane and family enjoyed the birthday lunch and that her daughter had a Happy Birthday. What unusual memorial did you see in the Highgate Cemetery?

Ann, did you enjoy your holiday in the sun?

Still here Kandj :-D

Glad your daughter is safely home Lesley. She'll probably sleep for a week now.

I hope that your daughter's birthday lunch went well Jane and that you are still enjoying your holiday Ann.

Jude, thank you for your good wishes but I haven't been ill. I wasn't on here for a few days as I had family staying and other things on. You seem to be getting plenty of birds in the garden of your new home. Our new garden is quite small and the previous owners were neither gardeners nor bird lovers, so I do miss the wildlife round our old garden.

So far today all I have seen is one collared dove, 1 pigeon, a couple of starlings and two bluetits. Even our robin seems to have gone walkabout. I assumed he was still around because the suet nibbles and some of the seeds on the ground feeder were disappearing. This feeder has a sort of cage over it that only allows in small birds and we had only ever seen the robin use it - till today. Then I saw a starling get in, have a good feast of the nibbles and get out again. They really are greedy birds.

I've been surprised not to see a single chaffinch or sparrow in the five months or so we have been here.

As well as all the other bird food, we now have a feeder with nyger seeds. OH is sure he has seen a couple of goldfinches flitting around the trees next door and I would like to attract them in but no sign of them so far. I live in hope.

(Before I could press submit on this post I got a phone call to say I had won the spring raffle at the local theatre. I think it is a hamper. What a nice surprise!)

Kandj we had a smashing day and of course it was so warm too quite hot in fact so a perfect day for wandering around under all the trees in the Cemetery.There is the East one which is free and the West which is tours only.So we did the Eat first and luckily got the last places on the last tour for the West .
So many wonderful monuments and quite moving ones with huge sone or marble figures of beloved pets .A few modern ones in the East one.One was a block of Granite with the letters D E A D cut right through :-D I will forward you a couple of pics later.But what an amazing place it is.

I have things I must get on with now but will BBL

Lesley how did all that lovely grub go down yesterday ? :-D :-D I hope your daughter wasn't too tired to enjoy it all.

Must fly now.

Thought you would all like to see the birds in my neck of the woods, check out link.
http://radnorshirebirds.wordpress.com/

shaun

C/P this from Ann's old bird thread.

Thank you Shaun, I have made up the bird cake and its in the fridge. I'll let you know if it attracts the birds to my window feeder (fingers crossed!). I will look at your link, it is sure to be interesting.
I need to go shopping and stock up Mother Hubbard's cupboard so will be back later.

Thank you for the link Shaun. Lovely pictures.

Wonderful pics there Shaun :-D Thankyou.

No sign of the R** ,but now we have Baby Bunnies :-S :-S.Not good even though they look so sweet.
I haven't seen my Mrs Blackbird for a while now just Mr.I hope nothing bad has happened to her.Could she be sitting on eggs?

Vera lucky you winning a Hamper :-D I have never been that lucky with Raffles.I wonder what goodies are in it

What a change weatherise today.I think it is about 10degrees colder than yesterday :-S

Hello Gang :-)
Glad you like the link , it's mostly updated weekly ( I think )

We have been watching a pair of Red Kites this afternoon, a lovely sight.

By the way you can all see my garden birds on Jude's blog, some on Ann's also I think.

That recipe I gave you can be put in any container, Ann or Jude have a photo of the containers I use, Pringles Crisps tubes are great, fill them up and firm down with a rolling pin, either cut a 2 x 1 inch window in them or cut the cardboard from round the pudding and place in a peanut net. You can buy buckets of fat balls, my birds did not like them a lot so I make my own, mix all the ingredients let it all cool then put a pair of rubber gloves on and form your own and put in freezer .

Shaun

Interesting link Shaun, thank you. Fingers crossed that the birds will be tempted with your recipe. I'll put it out tomorrow. My birds won't touch the shop bought fat balls so I hope they will visit for the home made sort but they are very fussy.

Hadn't realized that you were still abroad Ann. Lucky you...... enjoy!

Lovely photos thanks for sharing Jane. Can't even think that you have the furry creature still running around (uugghh) and now baby bunnies too. What next??

Lesley I hope you are not hidden under lots of dirty washing from your daughter?

Jude I hope you are feeling a little stronger today.

Vera, your raffle prize sounds exciting. I hope there are lots of goodies for you.

I went to get stocked up at our local Tesc* which reopened today after a week of refurbishment and everything has been changed around..... and I mean everything.
I was not the only shopper grumbling that we couldn't find anything and even the staff said they hadn't got a clue either......... it can only get better.

It has been dry and bright but cold here in Yorkshire today. Not a lot of birds either. The young blackbird is missing and starlings few in number today too.
A few pigeons and a couple of collared doves and the thrush peeping from the shrubbery and that's it. See what tomorrow brings when the birdcake is there.