Hobbies and Crafts

I haven't seen it today Ann....BUT we have a RAT back .It has been around the patio and under the Window Feeder for the last couple of days :-S

Brrr! it is so cold ,but no snow here.We had a few flakes last night that settled for a little while.
My Daughter flies off to India tomorrow morning so I hope there is no snow tonight .

Jane I will take your sparrowhawk if you will take our rats to keep yours company :-D

Lesley x

Apart from a couple of pigeons I haven't seen any birds in the garden for days until today. This morning we have had a blue tit and a robin on the feeder. Only one of each but at least something has appeared.

My brother received a window feeder as a Christmas present so I will be interested to hear what birds he attracts. Many years ago he had a window feeder on his office window. It was visited every day by a robin. If the robin arrived and the feeder
was empty he would tap on the window with his beak till my brother got up and refilled it :-D

EDIT. I pressed send too quickly. I meant to say I hope you all had a good Christmas. I hope your brave sil and daughter were able to enjoy Christmas Ann, that baby J continued to flourish and that Kandj's OH is showing improvement. Thinking of you all
<3

I have put this on other threads but you may not have seen it.

Sadly Jon died yesterday evening.. He was just about with us for Christmas day then gave up on boxing day. It was very peaceful with Lyn holding him and youngest son Greg in with them coincidentally the district nurses were here at the time which was a great help. While we are sad and Lyn is occasionally in bits, we all know he was ready and is in a better place.
We have been up here since the Saturday before Christmas
Xxx
Sent from my I Pad

Ann I am so sorry to hear this. He was far too young. RIP Jon

I will be keeping you all in my thoughts <3 <3

Thank you Vea

Such sad news Ann. I'm so so sorry and send condolences to your daughter and to you and all your family. May your son in law now Rest In Peace. Warm hugs for you.
xxx

I am sorry to read this sad news Ann, my sincere condolences to you and all your family and friends. <3

RIP Jon.

Lesley x

Oh no Ann!.I am so very sorry .Such sad new.
My heart goes out to all the family <3 <3 <3

Oh Ann, that is so sad, thinking of you all and sending love .

M. <3. Xxx

Sorry to hear your sad news Ann. I look in here at times and saw he was terminally ill. Much too young to die and your daughter must be heartbroken even knowing it was expected before too long. The good thing is that he went peacefully and was with his family around him. Best wishes to you all. <3

Thank you for all your thoughts, in the end it really was for the best, he was so uncomfortable and had no quality of life at all. For someone who loved walking and climbing the mountains there only a couple of years ago, the fact he could hardly move and that his muscles just wouldn't work was very dispiriting for him. He never really complained and for this last year has been so stoical that we could not have wished him to go on. Daughter too was exhausted so it is a release for her as well.

The funeral is going to feel a bit strange to us traditionalists. It is a woodland burial. The coffin is covered in a beautiful photo of Derwent water. We are all to wear bright colours, walking or casual clothes and there are absolutely no flowers. It is a humanist funeral and afterwards is to be a celebration of his life. It has all been planned by Jon himself.

This morning we were pleased to see in the garden, 3 goldfinches a chaffinch and, I am pretty sure, a green finch. Hopefully they are returning with the cold weather. :-)

Ann it will certainly be a different kind of funeral .But it will be a wonderful send off for Jon .I keep fingers crossed that the weather will be good though.
My son helped bury his friend a few weeks ago at a similar kind of site and it tipped it down as well as blowing a gale.His trousers had mud right up to his knees !!
It must be a relief in one way for your daughter now knowing he is no longer struggling but she will miss him so much :-(

Well I caught sight of the Squirrel earlier today.The whole of it was squished into the food bit of the Window feeder.It was almost as though it had settled there for the night lol

I wish everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.For those who have had a difficult 2014 I hope that 2015 will be a much better one.
Bye for this year ...see you next year xxx

A very sad beginning to the new year Ann for you and your daughter and family.

I have attended a couple of funeral services where the Humanist Minister spoke well and comforted the close family members. I have no knowledge of a woodland burial but it doesn't sound as traumatic as the traditional burial, if that makes sense on such a deeply sad occasion. As these were Jon's wishes, then I hope that everyone can be helped on the day just knowing that it is what he had wanted. Now Jon is free from pain and at rest, bless him.

My thanks to everyone for kind words of support and encouragement over last few months. Our local hospital still is almost like hubby's 2nd home and we keep going.

I try not to neglect the birds though, but its still lots of Starlings who eat all the food.

Sending out Happy New Year thoughts and good wishes to you all today.

Lovely to see you are able to post again kandj.

Birds have deserted us again. There were a few around for a couple of days when it was very frosty and the ground was hard but yesterday was warmer and we have had some rain so I think they are probably foraging for their own food again. This morning I added some bacon fat to all the other goodies on the feeder but there have been no takers. Perhaps 2015 will be a better bird year for us.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. If 2014 hasn't been good to you (and we have had our share of health and other problems this year as well) may 2015 be the year when everything gets better.

EDIT: For Ann - I have been to a woodland burial. This one was a bit disorganised as the family hadn't arranged for anyone to lead it, so no-one quite knew what to do next. However it was a beautiful, peaceful spot to be laid to rest and I am sure that alone will be a comfort to your daughter.

The Celebrant seems very switched on and is visiting daughter tomorrow to discuss things. The funeral directors seem very aware as well and have suggested walking or wellington boots if possible.

Ann I have been to couple of Humanist Funerals now and I must say that is how I would like mine to be.The last one I went to ,a prayer was said (by request from the family) for those in the congregation who were religious ,and I thought that was a very nice thing to do.

It is blowing a gale here this evening.Not nice at all.But we are all nice and cosy ,not having to go out, and looking forward to a nice Roast Beef Dinner :-D..My mouth is watering now as it smells so good.
Birds,Squirrel and maybe the Ra* still feeding like crazy.saying that I haven't seen the r** for a few days.maybe I am just not looking out of the window at the right time :-S
My window sill under the feeder is covered in foot prints Squirrel ones :-S :-S

The little lonesome Moorhen has spent most of the day pottering around here ,pecking about under the Window Feeder !! Also the Red Kites have been flying low overhead :-D with the usual Crows chasing them :-S

We actually had a blackbird and a chaffinch in the garden today. OH changed the seeds in the feeders and tipped some out onto the lawn and that is what they were eating. Also had one collard dove. that is a bit sad I think as we always had a pair until last month when we just had the one visit. That pair had, I think, been together for a long time. I am assuming something has happened to one of them. :-(