Hobbies and Crafts

Ooh yes Jane I really, really hate cockroaches :-(

I have just filled up the window feeder again.I did it this morning.But they are making a right mess by flinging out all the bits they don't want to eat :-S.I think they need to be taught some table manners lol

All our birds must be at your feeder Jane, could you send a few back to us please?

We had a HUGE daddylong legs spider run across our lounge floor last night! No idea where that came from or where it is now but don't get freaked out by spiders so I can live with this.

I agree cockroaches are horrible Lesley, but still don't get palpitations like I do even thinking about having a mouse around! Glad your grey mouse got caught Ann, but any sign of the black one again? I only ever saw black or white mice as pets.

I went to close the drive gates around 10pm last night and spotted a movement in the dark on the ground feeder. I FROZE and thought it was a RAT!!! but then saw it was a hedgehog. This has left its poo on the patio at the back of the bungalow and I hoped it wasnt a rat but recognized this as from a hedgehog. SOOOO relieved to be proven right. I am ok with this visitor, but it must have moved quickly because when I came back down the drive it had disappeared. It looked a big one.

Blue sky with white fluffy clouds here in Yorkshire today. A real tonic.... loving it.

Hello Everyone.

Not been here for ages.

Made a load of my pudding mix this morning.
The long Tailed tits are here in abundance a lovely sight.

Hope you are all managing OK.

Stay safe and well

Shaun

Kandj are going to be feeding your Hedgehog? I know a few people who have little Hedgehog Houses and feed them .One person had visiting cats who gobbled up all the food though :-S :-S

Shaun you are lucky to have so many Long TTs .I don't know where all ours went.
Today there have been scores and scores of Swallows flying on and off our roof.They seem to pick at the tiles so there must be lots of insects up there. :-D

Hello Shaun, nice to see you popping in again.

Jane..... NO... I won't be feeding the hedgehog because I don't want to leave food around and encourage the mice! I did look a site though and put a shallow dish of water out. My neighbour said there are 4 or 5 hedgehogs in our street gardens and they are being fed by two neighbours, so I won't be leaving food for them here.

We had loads of starlings all fighting to get on the window feeder this afternoon. There were so many that they actually dislodged the feeder...... we could see what was happening and I told hubby that the feeder would end up on the floor. I have no idea where all the starlings came from and they are not our favourite bird but perhaps others will follow these tomorrow.

Kandj,I'm not keen on the Starlings either and am thankful they are one bird that don't tend to visit us :-D.I was just watching a big flock of them in the horses field across the road again.As long as they stay there I'm happy :-D
We had a little Robin in the Summerhouse yesterday.Poor thing was bashing itself off all the windows trying to find a way out.So I opened up both of the doors and left it.After a while I had a look and thought it had gone but then my OH spotted it just standing on the floor beside the settee.I went right up to it and it didn't move.it was just like a stone statue and didn't even blink .It was just as though it was frozen,but when I flapped a tea towel near it ,it flew straight out :-D So I was very relieved it hadn't injured itself.

Jane, maybe that Robin has lost it's way? Ours has disappeared! Could you point it in the direction of Yorkshire please.......... so glad that it did eventually take flight though.

I gave Robin a map Kandj :-D and said Gloria wants you ,but have a funny feeling it just flew as far as the window feeder !!!
OH and I were sitting outside just now and heard a funny tapping noise very close by.He asked if it could it be a Woodpecker.I thought not .But then an adult Woodpecker flew right across our patio.I wondered then if it might have been a young 'pecker' we could hear,just trying things out lol
Magpies here seem to be very active and NOISY early in the mornings ,but then they suddenly disappear and we never hear or see them for the rest of the day .(very strange)

A change in the temperature here in Yorkshire today and it's been raining for most of the day too, so not nice at all really. Is Ann still enjoying the sunshine? Lucky girl.

Yes so far three weeks never lower than 23 degrees up to 10.30 at night. Rain supposed to be on the way for wednesday. We go home 22nd. :-D

I'm in Turkey at moment. Temperature about 33. A bit hotter than I like. It's turning out to be the holiday from hell!

I was Ill before coming and only got the go ahead from doctor 2hours before leaving. Flew to Istanbul, had a couple of good days and then OH went down with "Delhi belly". Then our pick up to take us to Istanbul airport for a flight to Dalaman failed to show. After telephone calls and a lot of stress the hotel organised us a taxi which they paid. By the time we arrived check in was closed. But staff were great, reopened systems and just got us on plane as it was ready for take off.

Had a good day here yesterday, then I became ill this morning, doc has been and I'm back on antibiotics and other jollop. Bang goes the moonlight cruise and dinner that we had booked.

As for the wildlife....plenty of Mosquitos! Birds, we have only seen pigeons, sparrows and hooded crow. But I am fascinated by the dogs... There are lots around. They don't seem to belong to anyone yet don't seem to be scruffy strays. They look reasonably well fed and groomed. Most have no identification although we have seen a few with collars and a couple with ear tags

Hope Ann is having a better trip than us and hope Kandj's OH will continue to improve

Vera

Hello everyone, I am here, I just haven't had anything to report since we came back from our lovely Spanish holiday.

The Magpies and Jackdaws seem to have grown up enough to leave Mum and Dad so it is a bit more peaceful round here these days.The Wood Pigeon is in residence in the apple tree at present having taken over from the silly Doves.

I actually saw a Robin a couple of days ago but there even seem to be far fewer Sparrows than a few weeks back.

It all seems very quiet without the Swifts screaming overhead.

I have been working on my Family tree a bit on and off, found a new branch on my Dad's side which went way back to the 1400s, but it seems whenever I look in on the chat boards we are back to the usual snipping and sniping and I can't be bothered with it all.

Nice to see you back kandj.

M. :-)

Poor Vera, sorry to hear that you have both been poorly. Did others in the hotel have it? Assuming you caught what your oh had. Hope you are feeling better now. Temp here is 30 today and not much sun, humidity 74%

Maryanna, I must have missed the sniping on chat, not seen anything bad lately. Hope you had a good holiday, where in Spain were you?

Thanks Ann, feeling just a little better. Think OH and I have had different things. He was ill in Istanbul, I've been ill in Kalkan. Other hotel guests are fine.

I've been looking up about Turkey's dogs and cats. Apparently to own a pet you have to have training in its needs and care and get a certificate. It is illegal to sell a pet to someone who has not got a certificate. Weak or ownerless animals cannot be put down except in certain circumstances so the population lives with, and looks after, its strays. I have noticed lots of shops have big bowls of water outside.

I can think of a few British pet owners who could do with a bit of training :-D

Oh Vera, I do hope you both soon feel better and are able to enjoy the rest of your Holiday.There is nothing worse than being ill when you are away from home.Then with all the trouble of getting from Istanbul to your next destination.
I hate to see lots of roaming dogs and cats when I am abroad as I always worry about them.But unfortunately it is the norm in some countries.

Maryanna,I'm glad you had a great time in Spain .I bet you feel like you have been home for ages now.
Fancy tracing ancestors all that way back to the 1400's !!!!!!! Brilliant :-D
I too like Ann must have missed any sniping going on on the boards.Not like me to miss something lol but then I don't add to anything if trouble is going on.I just sit back and watch :-D
Still busy here on the bird front .I woke up really early this morning and had a peep out the bedroom window .Through the fog I could spot about 6 Blackbirds on the lawn busy pulling up worms :-D

Thanks to Vera and Maryanna for kind words. Hubby is still working hard to get well.

Sorry Vera, that you are not good yourself, hope that the antibiotics will help so you can enjoy your the rest of your holiday.

Maryanna, at least your holiday was good. You have done amazingly well to get your family back into the 1400s..... well done you! Don't have time lately for the general chat, but I do add to another thread and thankfully there is never any nastiness there.

Lucky you Ann, a further week of sunshine...... enjoy it all.

Jane we still have no other birds around so I am guessing that they are all at your place. Even the hedgehog has disappeared!

Just pure luck I decided to fill in some details I had found ages ago but not put on my tree.
When I went on ancestry I discovered that the Parish I was looking for had all it's records online and fortunately that particular branch had a very distinctive name and there they all were.
I have got a baptism in 1436 so I guess his parents, no marriage unfirtunately only fathers name, would have been born around 1410.

I was quite miffed I couldn't go back further. Himself just looked at me with his mouth open when I complained that I had hit a wall !!!!

I have gone back to about the same time with one of his branches and also one on my grandads side. Sometimes you can be very lucky with parish records being online,especially in Devon and Yorkshire as well as London.

I always like it when I seem to be the only person who has found these people, like when you get a certificate so can fill in a name that everyone else has as a " ? ". Because no one else has bothered to buy that certificate.

I have only looked on Chat a few times over the last weeks, each time someone had been RRed and a certain young man seems to have returned and is winding others up with his questions and so many members seem to be leaving........

Off to work later, that came hard after seven weeks off !!!!!

M. :-)

Good for you Maryanna in getting back so far in your research.

I am feeling a little better but decided not to risk the coach trip we had booked. Instead OH and I had a nice relaxing day. While we were pottering around some old ruins we saw a bird we didn't know. OH tried to get a photo but it may not come out very well. It was dull coloured but had some sort of crest. It was slim and between a sparrow and a starling in size. Unfortunately it flew off before we could get a really good look at it.

I asked the hotel manager who is English about the dogs in Turkey. She said there are 3 sorts. Those who are loved, cared for, kept indoors and go out on a lead; those who are loved and cared for but left outside as the culture says they are dirty and shouldn't come in the house, and the street dogs. In the summer the street dogs are fed by the restaurants or the tourists, in the winter a charity has feeding stations all round town for them. The charity also runs a clinic to treat any that seem unwell. The ear tag means they have been neutered. The manager said she volunteers with the charity in the winter when the hotel isn't busy.

I really do think the Turkish people are doing their best with these animals.

Vera ,I hope you are both feeling ticketyboo now and are able to enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Maryanna ,I bet your holiday feels a long time ago now,especially being back at work :-S.I always think after just a day back home it makes you feel like you were still away lol

I have just brought in the food tray from the window feeder and emptied out ALL the seeds that the birds just won't eat.I think I will just stick to the suet pellets for a while even though I know they will be gobbled up so quickly and I will back to the shop very soon to restock !!.At least the Squirrel doesn't seem to be visiting the feeder and scoffing the lot :-D....I hope I haven't spoken too soon.

Kandj have you had any new visitors now other than the Starlings?