Anne's space

Another kind of Birdwatch

apthomas — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:03:17 +0000

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

apthomas — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:22:20 +0000

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

apthomas — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:31:36 +0000

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

apthomas — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:49:35 +0000

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!

apthomas — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:59:47 +0000

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!

apthomas — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:55:53 +0000

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’

apthomas — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:03:13 +0000

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!

stormy weather

apthomas — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:42:28 +0000

As the wind howls around the house and rain lashes the windows I have been busy tidying ahead of the Christmas decorations going up. OV staunchly supported operations in between the damands of his work. Slumped on the sofa, aching feet up, I survey the chaos – why does it always look awful after a day’s ‘tidying’? Tomorrow will set the seal on things – tomorrow and tomorrow and… but I digress. The crib is now up in the garden and the slightly-worse-for-wear lights are in place. Whether the same will be true at the end of this storm is quite another matter!
She has had a busy day – dashing here, dashing there – watching all we were doing and trying to work out what it was all about. (She has now settled between me and the laptop, which is teetering on one of my knees, and has decided to wash her feet!)
In a moment of inspired innovation I found that an empty margarine box (large) pressed firmly over the vetilation aperture in the living room stops most of the howling gale flooding in from the south west! (noisy though)
Pity the garden birds seeking shelter from the storm… head under wing will hardly do the job!
Now, where did I leave that dust pan and brush?

Ruined answers!

apthomas — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:47:06 +0000

Apologies to all of you who are still waiting for the answers to the ‘ruin’ question. Here they are, in order:
Lindisfarne Priory
Lindisfarne Castle
Warkworth Castle
Dunstanburgh Castle
Etal Castle
Banburgh Castle
Alnwick Castle
Berwick Town Wall near the Quay
Well done to anyone who managed to get them all. No prizes – but you may feel smug for five minutes!

Grief and pain!

apthomas — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:27:40 +0000

My sons’ piano teacher used to bring out a little ditty whenever she or her friends were having a Spring clean or a mega sort out at home. It went:
“Everything here is grief and pain… over the road they’re doing the same!”
In this day of complicated refuse and recycling collections it is important to read the runes and do your sort out in the right week. Black bin next Monday (All Bins Must Be By The Roadside BY 7a.m. By Order!) so I guess this is the right week to start on the pre-Christmas Clutter Purge.
Oh my!
I feel the need to locate an old-fashioned tape recorder so that I can listen to my Jane Austen collection whilst I work. I reckon that the cupboard in the spare room will take all of Emma to sort through, and as for the dining room… Mansfield Park will hardly be long enough!
I’ll save Persuasion for the wardrobes and chests of drawers.
Sense and Sensibility must be kept at a distance when sorting through old mail – or I shall need another box of tissues … perhaps I’ll clean out the kitchen and utility room cupboards to that one.
Northanger Abbey… oooh, I know – I’ll play it loudly through the door to the attic when I venture up there to sort out the bat droppings!
And P&P?
I think I’ll save that for the mending pile – after all, one never knows who might call!