Hobbies and Crafts

Well it is another really horrible day here today. It feels as if the cloud is sitting right on your head like a blanket. dry, very dark and cold and damp. Very quiet out whenw e went to tesco, quiet on the roads and quiet in the shop. At least that was a plus. In for the day now, and just noticed there are 20 updates waiting to be done on here. :-(

There is one goldfinch in the tree, otherwise not a bird in sight.

Loved it at Batsford yesterday, despite the grey misty day the trees were full of birds and bird song.

Another cold, grey dark day here, five in a row :-(

Jane I am pleased your heating is working again, my daughters was off last week also, but only for a day. It must be lovely to hear a nightingale, I have never heard one. Hope the rats have gone for good now. Are you pleased with your new car?

Ann glad your hospital appointment went ok. I have had my appointment for my eyelids to be done on the 25th Feb, have been waiting since May.

I think you have all the goldfinches, I haven't seen any this winter.

I have the usual assortment of birds at the feeders. The only thing of note I have seen is a crow chasing some seagulls in the field.

Crows can be aggressive Joan. Have you ever seen them when a buzzard approaches their teritory. They gang up and chase it and usually win as it flies off.

Glad you have got an appointment date. I hope it will solve your problem.

Not long to go now then Joan.Hopefully it will be a great success <3
It has been the same cloudy dark day here too today.Not a glimpse of the sun.
When I hear the squawking of the Crows I know they are chasing after the Red Kite.There has been a fair bit of that going on lately :-S

Yes I have my new car :-D.I picked it up at lunch time today.Lots of technology in it to get the hang of !!!!.Built in Sat Nav ,Blue Tooth ,Cruise control etc etc .I doubt I will use most of that lol.Maybe in year or so I might just about have the hang of it all lol
The Garden was very busy this morning with the Moorhens ,the Squirrel and baby bunnies !!!!.OH says the bunnies days are numbered :-S :-S.They look so cute though.
Yes I do think the Rat problem has been resolved for now.But I think it is best we leave the baited boxes in place.I do hate having to put poison down ,but needs must sometimes.
It is bliss now to have the heating back up and running .Fingers crossed we have no more trouble.But in this house you never know what the next problem will be.These last few years have been a nightmare with leaks and floods and you name it we have had it .

Also a dark cloudy day here in Yorkshire so the birds must be huddling in the shrubbery as hardly any are to be seen today. I am making the fat seedcake to put out tomorrow and hope to tempt them to our window feeder then.

Haven't seen any postings from Lesley for a while (unless I have missed them). Hope all is good and little M. is keeping her busy.

The only buzzards I see are flying high in the sky. My friend who has a farm in the hills sees allsorts of predators, in the sky and the ground. I have seen buzzards, red kite and an eagle on a visit to the Isle of Mull, a beautiful little island

Your car sounds very hi-tech, a bit different to mine which is a basic 02 VW polo! but goes well so I am reluctant to change it as I don't drive very far now.

I know that the eye op won't solve the problem completely but I am hoping it will at least improve sufficiently enough for me to be able to go out in the summer. Last summer I sat indoors with the curtains shut and dark glasses on until the sun went down :-(

We were out all day but when I got home, at about 3pm I looked out of the upstairs window and there were four male blackbirds all busily pecking away around the garden, obviously finding something to eat. The Goldfinches have been in evidence again today, sometimes in our garden and sometimes next door.

It has been another really grey, miserable day and cold too. We went into town by bus, had coffee, then walked down to Gloucester Quays, the wind was cold here being by the docks. Bought a very lightweight black cardigan and OH bought a polo shirt, both for holidays in the M&S outlet. Walked back and had a curry in Wetherspoons (Thursday is curry day) which was very nice. I had Lamb Rogan josh, OH had Chicken Tikka Masala. So no meal to cook tonight. :-D :-D

Not many birds around again but yesterday there were two robins round the feeder at the same time and as they weren't squabbling I think they were a pair. Also saw two great tits together.

Today has been murky - grey and damp all morning and very grey and wet all afternoon :-(. Roll on Spring

The Blackbirds are out in force here these days.As are all the others.It is a very busy time with them all chasing each other .Spring is definitely in the air :-D

Just had one blackbird today eating the mealy worms I sprinkled on the lawn. Filled all the feeders, the sparrows always empty theirs first but the goldfinches have been in and feeding so had to top theirs up this morning. They mostly seem to eat before we get up (we are not very early these dark winter mornings!)

I think my friend's Grannie might have been right. Today there has been a right frenzy of goings on.

The Dopey Doves were siting on the fence cooing at each other and getting friendly, as were a couple of Jackdaws.

The Magpie's nest is getting bigger by the day and is in danger of becoming as big as the small tree / big bush they have built it in. The good thing about it is they have thinned out the Blackthorn nicely in order to make it.

There has also been a lot of cheeping and chirping from the Sparrows who live in the Blackthorn.

We have also had some blue tits and great tits and the Robins, Thrushes and Wren are still about but nothing terribly exciting..

We were in Taunton earlier and on the way back saw a couple of Hares boxing each other in a field.

Glad your heating is sorted now Jane, enjoy your new car, nothing like that new car smell.

Quite a nice sunny day here today. Just a few dark clouds lurking about.

M.

Well yesterday I moved one of the thistle seed feeders higher on the outside of the apple tree. So there are two thistle feeders fairly close together. This morning we have had four goldfinches feeding, two on each.

Yesterday we had four wood pigeons in the garden, they came for lunch and then returned for tea. At which point I shooed them off. :-D

We also had four blackbirds in feeding again on the lawn.

I have spent most of today shooing the Squirrel out of the Window feeder :-S :-S
Will send a pic Ann.

And the pic is on the blog Jane.

Thanks Ann
Squirrel is a right little porker.He has been back several times again today lol
I don't understand how the feeder doesn't come unstuck from the window with it's weight .

Yesterday I saw a man riding a Quad Bike up the road with a HUGE bird of prey(it looked like an Eagle) sitting on the handle bars !!!!!!.It was obviously tethered ,but it looked so comfy sat there lol.Heaven knows where they were going ,or why he had the bird like that????.I have never seen anything like it.

The mind boggles Jane. Glad it was tethered or squirrel friend might be no more. On the other hand.......... :-D :-D

I was quite dumbfounded Ann .It just looked so unreal .Once again the camera was nowhere nearby :-S.It would have been a great pic :-D
Squirrel quite safe :-D :-S.Still fitting quite nicely in the window feeder .I filled the feeder up before we went out for most of today .Came home to a completely empty one.Not even an empty shell of a sunflower seed :-S.I think Squirrel must know when we aren't here and just sits in there and eats the whole darned lot :-| :-|

Your only hope is he/she keeps eating until too fat to fit in the feeder. Try filling it with bread for a couple of days and see if that puts it off. The birds will soon return.

Ann I have tried putting bread in and it gets turfed out :-S :-S..We still have Ra** so I don't want a lot of bread on the ground.I will just keep my eye open and shoo the squirrel off as soon as I see it it scampering up the garden towards the feeder.The only other thing is not to feed my birds and I can't do that .They would be mortified lol..There could well be a riot :-S :-S