Another kind of Birdwatch

Oh dear! The buzzards are very much in evidence at the moment…. and one of them tried to make lunch from Sherpa!
I looked up from the kitchen table to see the sky filled by the outstretched wings of a buzzard – swooping down across the field straight at the house. Then I realised that Sherpa had jumped up on the window sill in front of me. OV let her in as the buzzard dropped short and landed in the field, just the other side of the fence. A near thing.
I have searched the internet for cats falling prey to buzzards, but nothing came up. Sherpa is such a dear little cat – she’ll never grow big – so I only hope that the buzzards fill themselves up on road kill, slugs and beetles – leaving no room for our four-footed friend.
In other news, I spent a happy half-hour or so this morning touring the barns at the farm – a guided tour by the farmer’s wife. My visiting friend K and I sketched the cows and calves there. Birds filled the barn, free-loading on the cattle – nicking their food – then rose in a flock, scared by the sudden sound made by our farming friend as she clanged the large, solid metal gate. They circled the farm and settled in the trees nearby.
All this is a bit too much like Daphne du Maurier for me! Think I’ll stop indoors for a bit.

Birdwatch continued

So, the temperatures have crashed and the birds are coming to the bird table in flocks. Isn’t that just typical? Not much sign of them for the annual census, but once the paperwork is past, out they come!
My home-made fat based bird food (using all the nuts and fruit and crumbs at the bottom of the baking cupboard) is going down well – especially topped up with bird seed and dried meal worms. A splash of hot water in the water dish conquers the ice – at least long enough for the birds to top up with water.
So, today – fieldfares, blackbirds, robins, blue tits, long tailed tits, great tits, wrens, jackdaws (grrrr) and the odd sparrow plus a wandering pheasant and an overhead buzzard. Dum dum di dum….. must start earlier next year and overwhelm the birds with kindness ahead of the count!
(I would post a few photos, but the camera died this weekend.)

The Great British Bird Watch

Yes, this is the weekend when we all dash outside into the garden and sprinkle birdseed around the bird feeders which have remained empty and neglected (apart from a few broken biscuits and breadcrumbs, peppered with dry mealworms) since before Christmas. Then we make the essential cup of tea and sit down to watch and count the birds.
Having checked the RSPB email instructions and settled down for the statutory hour, I realised that Sherpa had moved from one chair to another and was presenting a delightfully alert pussycat profile to any birds braving the feeder just four feet from the window – and five from Sherpa’s nose.
That, together with the angle of the sun, which was throwing any birds landing in the trees and hedge into monochrome silhouette, made any identification of species impossible.
Never mind – I enjoyed the cup of tea – and when I walked through to the kitchen I realised that several small birds had been feasting on the bird table on that side of the house.
Hey ho – tomorrow is another day! (Actually, it is The other day – only one more chance. Come birds and gladden my eyes, making all the effort of finding the box of bird food worth while!)

Ans Sherpa… go and sleep on a bed!

Conundrum

Here’s a puzzle for you: what is the connection between the first picture to the second?
Is it:
a)I dropped the jigsaw puzzle when I tripped over the cat?
b)Sherpa has just got a job as junior mouse-catcher at Westminster Abbey?
c)I was taken ill at Westminster Abbey, took an ambulance ride to St Thomas’s hospital and have been tucked in bed all weekend, covered by colourful blanket, accompanied by Sherpa?
d)Sherpa ate one of the jigsaw puzzle pieces and now Westminster Abbey lacks an arch?
e)None of the above – make up you rown answer?

Answers ‘on a post card’!

Happy New Year!

Ok, so I’m a couple of days late …or so…but the sentiment comes with oodles of enthusiasm.
So far this year the beautiful British weather has flung storms and rain squalls – some torrential – in equal measure. I wouldn’t like to say that the Rectory window frames are warped, but the wind is actually making the curtains ripple!
The mildness of the weather has confused the lump of hibernating ladybirds in our back bedroom (where I sit and write) and they are waking up and flying about haphazardly, landing on inappropriate surfaces and creating an olympic trim trail for Sherpa the cat, who adores trying to catch them. They clearly taste disgusting, because no sooner has she munched one than it gets spat out again.
Despite all this activity the writing is going well and the plot…thickens? (well no, actually it is becoming more transparent – but whoever heard of a plot thinning?)
As a welcome relief from all this storm-watching, Monday was a gloriously mild sunny bank holiday – so OV and I improved the shining hour by hacking away at various hedges, shrubs and trees – in an attempt to make Prince Charming redundant (you know – all that briar-hacking to get to the sleeping beauty.) We even ate a sandwich lunch in the garden without getting too cold!
Speaking of which, Sherpa is snoozing and I feel an irrisistable urge to do the same – or at least, pretend to do some crochet work whilst gazing brainlessly at the box in the corner of the room (I refer to the TV and not the margarine box stuffed over the ventilation point to prevent another set of curtains flapping in the wind.)
Cheerio!
And Happy Whateveritisnow!

He is Born!

A blessed and meaningful Christmas to you all – as you answer the ‘knock on the door’ may you receive Him in truth and light and love!

Seasonal ‘jigsaw’

Peace on Earth and goodwill to all men..
or pieces on Earth – all over the place – fragments of the Christmas season. See if you can help piece them together before the weekend!
Cold cures
tissues
chilblains
sore hands
burnt fingers
sticky floor
sugar dusting
tree teeters
lights fusing
marzipan rolling
carol singing
scissors, paper, string.. and glue
decorations
crackers
hats
jokes
smoke alarm goes off
spilt custard
last minute shopping
TV listings
no more sprouts
mulled wine
mince pies
trifle
turkey
stollen
bacon
sausages
(vegetarian alternative)
stuffing
brandy
crib
candles
where are the matches?
run out of logs
extra milk
double cream
gloves
scarf
woolly hat
handkerchief
telephone calls
cards
letters
memories
cut out the stamps
those no longer here with us
sadness
gladness
friends of old
need and plenty
fun and frantic
holly
holy
holy
holy
muddle

Jesus Christ is born
Life is stable!