Hobbies and Crafts

At about the same time I got your photo I looked up and outside it was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie scene. There was a huge flock of starlings all over our lawn and feeders. Such a noise too. I had to shoo them off. :-D

It must be Starlings night out tonight Ann :-D :-S
I'm off to bed now Early start in the morning.

Had an amusing ten minutes this afternoon watching some starlings

A starling was feeding on the fat balls when a sparrow flew in to join him. Starling flapped his wings a few times at the sparrow who took no notice at all, so the starling let out a squawk and in flew another three, presumably the rest of his family. All four then buzzed around the sparrow, wings flapping, and making a lot of noise but they just could not intimidate him. Eventually they gave up and dropped down to the lawn where they argued amongst themselves for a bit.

The sparrow then had a quiet feed on the fat balls, hopped to the peanuts for a while, moved to the seeds and completely ignored the starlings.

And who was frightened by the birds? My wuss of a cat who came hurtling in at the first flap of a wing

Probably the noise they made Vera the young ones are really screechy.

Earlier this evening we could hardly believe our eyes when a young hedgehog came scurrying across the lawn, onto the path and eventually ending up underneath the BBQ:-D I hope you don't mind Ann I've taken the liberty of sending you two pictures of it.

Thinking of you kandj<3

Lesley x

Thank you Leslie, the photos are cute, I love hedgehogs and we rarely get them in the garden these days although we always used to. I have put the photos on the blog.

Kandj, hope you are ok and taking time for yourself. Hope the birds are still visiting to give you something to watch. Thinking of you. <3 <3

Home from Paris.We were so lucky our Eurostar train wasn't cancelled after the trouble with train the day before being stranded in the tunnel after a power cut !!!.Morning trains from Paris were cancelled but ours being late afternoon was fine .It was crammed .We tried to upgrade ,but no spare seats.
So back to normal now.Washing done ,food shop done ,and a nice comfy bed :-D
Our Hotel was very nice but ...oooh the bed was too hard :-S.
My son and a friend have been keeping the window feeder topped up so my little birds haven't gone hungry :-D
Nice to see our little lonesome Moorhen is still pottering around in our garden :-)

Welcome back Jane hope you enjoyed the break. Lucky you were not flying with all the security problems.

Good to see you back home safely Jane, you must tell us did you get to see Moulin Rouge?

~~~~~~to kandj <3

Lesley x

She is keeping very quiet about what she did Lesley :-D :-D

Ha Ha ! Ann
No Maryanna we didn't do the Moulin Rouge :-(.........but did get around a fair bit .The Hop on and off open top bus was brilliant so we had a 3 day ticket and it was well with doing.It absolutely tipped it down on sunday all day so we got somewhat wet and kept having to take shelter in cafes and bars.Had a few glasses of wine doing that lol
The queues for Notre Dame were horrendous so we didn't bother joining them(but have been before) .We did the Boat Trip on the Seine,Rodin Museum,Musee D'Orsay,
Luxemburg Gardens,Shakespeare and Company bookshop (amazing place),bit of shopping on the Rue St Germain.(stocked up perfumes :-D) and basically wandered .Love the Latin Quarter which is where we stayed.Our Hotel was in a lovely position right by the Sorbonne .I think it was called Place de la Sorbonne .Lovely water fountains and a few brasseries and cafes where we had breakfast each morning.

Lots of rough sleepers around Paris and nearly all had their dogs .One lady even had a cat :-(...We had no trouble with beggars until we got out of the taxi at Gare de Nord .
In fact even before we got out of the taxi there were 2 women holding their begging notes up to the windows.The Taxi driver had to shoo them away.A few more just inside the station so all in all we were lucky not to be bothered too much.

It is nice to be home and see my little feathered friends again.The Moorhen today has actually been pottering up by the `patio !!.OH has been in the garden all day picking veg and doing this and that so I think the bird is getting used to him about and doesn't feel threatened.I just hope it doesn't decide to walk in the the Patio Doors :-D

Sounds as though you had a great time Jane, certainly packed a lot in. Glad it all went well. :-)

Thanks Ann,yes it was lovely.Next time we think we should go in the Spring.In fact any more city breaks won't be in the summer as it is just too hot.

I meant to say that the other night me and my son were just standing chatting on the patio about 10pm and we were watching a Bat flitting about over our heads.It was after a moth and we actually saw the Bat catch it :-D.I have never seen that before :-D

Glad to see you had a lovely time in Paris Jane.

M. :-)

Glad you had a good time in Paris Jane.

We are away for a long weekend at the moment, though nowhere as exotic as Paris. We're in Wiltshire and very nice it is too. Before we left I stood out in the pouring rain and filled all the seed feeders and fat ball holders but I know they will be completely empty when we return.

Went to Lacock (village and Abbey) today and saw a couple of tree creepers. Didn't see a lot of other birds but we could hear them and the singing was beautiful.

Going to Bath for the day tomorrow

Vera ,Wiltshire is lovely.Sounds like you are having a good time :-D
Hope the weather is staying good for you.

I heard from Kandj this morning,Although she is not posting she is peeping in now and then and says thank you so much for continuing thoughts and wishes.It helps her so much to know that we are all still thinking of her and her dear Hubby.She is still enjoying her window feeder :-D

Ann, your Luke is a lovely little boy, hope he had a super birthday.

Heard from a very good friend earlier, her son's wife had a baby on Wednesday and her daughter gave birth yesterday, a bit earlier than expected.

She is so thrilled, she was beginning to give up, two little girls in a few days. Her other daughter then announced that she is expecting in December. She wanted to keep it quiet until the other two arrived, she can let it all hang out now !!! So happy for them all.

We have another baby Wood Pigeon in the apple tree. Most if the other birds, apart from the sparrows seem to have been frightened off by all the Carrion we now seem to be getting. Magpies, Crows and Jackdaws.

M.

Jane Your pigeon photos and the painting are on the blogs, the first on the photo blog, the second on the craft blog.

Thanks Ann.How do I see the Craft Blog?
I love your Luke.What a happy little boy :-D :-D

PMd you Jane.

Yes he is a happy soul, loves people around him too, very sociable.