Hobbies and Crafts

On the cough subject, that was just like I had a couple of years ago. I kept coughing so much I was sick, at least once a day, it went on for weeks and weeks, I coughed so much I cracked two ribs.

At the time there was talk on the internet of an " Adult Whooping cough epidemic " which some doctors seemed to recognise as a problem, mine didn't. She gave me antibiotics which I had a reaction to and made me really sick as well, and to top it all off me and Himself also got the Norovirus,

Having had Whooping Cough as a child means I always get a really " good" cough whenever I have a bad cold or flu. Have been OK so far this Winter, we had the flu jab and apart from a couple of minor colds with brief niggly coughs, I have been fine.

As I write, the apple tree is being cut down. We have come to an agreement that it will now stay but be cut back to about twelve feet high. From that it will be more manageable and with any luck will bush out again from the top but will stop the Doves and Pigeons nesting in it.

I had to stop watching him. I had put a big pot over one of the Roses and, I thought, moved the other away from the trunk. What I hadn't bargained on was the shear amount of wood that was going to be generated and end up around it. Luckily we had moved all the pots and bird bath but there is an awful lot of mess. Then his ladder fell down and missed the conservatory by a whisker. Both Roses are nowhere to be seen and at present he is sitting in his van eating his sandwiches and waiting for his mate to come back from the tip with the truck and trailer. I just hate having any outside work done on the garden, especially by "experts" !!!!! He hasn't even started on the Ivy covering the trunk.

I think I might need to go out after lunch. I can see retail therapy being the only cure . I need to find a dress for our Ruby Wedding party in a couple of months. I looked around Christmas as I wanted a red one but couldn't find anything then, I stand less chance now Spring is coming and the shops seem to be getting the new stuff in which seems to be Pink, Yellow and Orange, the three colours I don't wear.

M.

Maryanna ,you must have been on tenterhooks lol Did you go out for lunch and a bit of shopping?
You say you get bad coughs after having Whooping Cough as a child.My Sister is just the same.Goes straight to her chest :-S

I haven't done the Bird watch today as my neighbour has been busy filling a skip on the other side of the fence and OH has been having a bonfire all day so the birds have been a bit scarce .Maybe tomorrow :-D

Hmmmm, I think there may have been some manly conspiracy behind my back whilst I was out, ( no luck finding a dress ), but if that is twelve feet then I am over seven foot tall.

Poor thing looks very sorry for itself, I just hope it has the strength to grow out of the top again.

I reserve judgement until the morning.

M

Hope you don't mind me joining in.
Maryanna, when I moved here over 30yrs ago I inherited a rather large apple tree, far to big for my garden. I decided to get the saw on it! Bit by bit I chopped it down until only the trunk was left, about 4ft. Everyone said you have killed that. Well it didn't die and has given me a good crop of apples every year, once it recovered.
So don't despair, just have patience.
Joan

There you see Maryanna, Joan has cheered you up. :-) :-)

Thank you Joan, I think the biggest shock will be when I look out of the bedroom window for the first time in the morning.

Fingers crossed that Mr Bramley, who was planted by the newly weds in June 1939 will continue to grow and we will soon have some of his delicious apples.

Please join us again Joan, we usually talk about our gardens on the Gardening thread, typical of me to veer off track and the two get intermingled, although the apple tree gets plenty of mentions on the bird thread.

M. :-) :-)

Lol gardens and birds go together don't they, can't have a garden without birds. :-)

The Dopey Doves are right put out, sitting on the roof cooing.

A Robin helped us pick up the leaves and at one point he was almost sitting on my hand, I thought he was a leaf and he nearly frightened me to death when he flew off.

There has also been a Wren digging about in a hole in the tree trunk, it was there for ages until I got my camera out when it flew off into the a Thugs' Blackthorn with the Sparrows.

Lack of tree doesn't seem to have put the birds off. I just need to get something to hang the feeders on.

M. :-)

Well the only birds I have seen today (although not been looking all the time, are a black cap and one starling. :-(

I'm sure your tree will bloom again Maryanna :-D..Bit of a shock to see it though when you got home :-0..Have you looked on line at dresses ? I bet you would find something in the colour you are hoping for.

Hi Joan,yes do join us :-D

Ann it seems to be mainly Chaffinches on the feeder at the moment,also 3 Robins.The Blue Tits and others will no doubt be on there soon.
We had to laugh this morning to see the 4 Moorhens walking in a line one behind the other alongside the big Yew hedge.It was follow the leader :-D.The big one in the front .
All the poison in the Rat Station went overnight so it is filled up once again.Hopefully at this rate we will soon be rid of them.

I found one I liked in Monsoon not, alas, in my size. Have tracked one down on the internet. Which I will order tomorrow.

I wanted a nice rich red, most reds have a bright , orange tinge to them.

We booked a local pub today, they will do us a Carvery, I think we will have about sixty people there. The list keeps growing.

M.
:-)

It should be lovely Maryanna.I like Monsoo*.Sounds like a good party then :-D :-D

Well I have filled in the bird watch survey.It isn't totally accurate as i couldn't count all the birds visiting my feeder.But I have done the best I can :-D I was going crossed eyed at one point with the numbers lol

Well done Jane with my one black cap and one starling I didn't bother.

I did my bird watch yesterday and like Jane I could not do an accurate count. I have had so many sparrows this year. I also have a lot of chaffinch, a robin 3 blackbirds, 3 blue tits and I think 2 coal tits, a jenny wren, my regular wood pigeon and a collared dove.
A funny thing this year, normally I have a lot of goldfinch, but they seem to have disappeared and replaced by the chaffinch. Has anyone experienced this ? I wonder whether its because I have so many sparrows, they don't get a look in and have gone elsewhere.
Joan

We used to have a lot of goldfinches but last year for some reason they all absconded to the bungalow over the back (can't work out why) and now we are lucky if we get two on our feeder. However we have lost a lot of birds this year, haven't a clue why or where they have gone. used to get so many. Now we get excited if we see a chaffinch. Nothing has changed in the garden or surrounding gardens. It is a mystery.

The Wren is very much in evidence again this morning.

I know we have always had them in the garden, not seen them much, except for something very small darting about in the Ivy or undergrowth, hear them a lot though, noisy little things considering their size.

Yesterday and today, there has been at least one, sitting on the stump, on a pot, scuttling along the fence, in the fallen leaves. it seems every time I look out I see one and I got some lovely photos yesterday, in the end.

I put some stale scones out earlier, it didn't take the fat old wood pigeons long to appear and now about eight of them are waddling about on the lawn.

M. :-)

Didn't do the bird watch this year but I did keep an eye on the garden yesterday. All we got were a few starlings, two collared doves and one lonely sparrow.

Our old garden used to be full of chaffinches but even OH remarked on the fact that we haven't seen one since we moved here 16 months ago. BUT this morning I am breaking open the champagne! A goldfinch has at last found its way to the niger seeds and was on the feeder for a good ten minutes while I watched. :-D I hope he is going to be back and bring all his friends.

I do love the little wren Maryanna. On one of the quiz shows (may have been pointless) there was a question about which bird featured on the old farthing. It was, of course, the wren. They said either it was then or is now the most common garden bird. OH coughed at the time and drowned it out. We often see a wren in our garden.

This morning all I saw before I went out were tqo squabbling male blackbirds - must be asserting their territory - and a dunnock plus a couple of sparrows.

Fingers crossed Vera, we do get just the one goldfinch on our feeders while the flock goes over the bottom fence to the garden there. I guess we get billy no mates!

I think that the reason I have a lot of birds is that my garden is separated from fields by a hawthorn hedge that runs the length of the garden. They dart from the hedge to the feeder, up to the apple tree and back again. They are so quick!

We have a sparrow hawk that visits. I often go to fill the feeder in the morning and he has obviously had his breakfast by the amount of feathers.

Joan

Every time we have a sparrowhawk visit we don't see sparrows for about a month, they just disappear. We do have one in the neighbourhood which may explain our lack of birds. Joan you are lucky being in a country location then.