Goodbye to 2011

It's new years eve, so I decided I would spend some time in the shed to get the last shots of 2011.
We bought the squirrels some chestnuts as a treat, some apples and pears for the birds.
I was pleased to see the Long Tailed Tit's in the garden it has been quite a while since they have been around. The garden in general is very quiet, maybe the sparrowhawk is about! The weather recently has not been good hunting weather for him so he must be hungry, and he seems to like feeding in the garden.
Squirrel seems skittish today she came for a look but didn't even come down the fence into the garden. I know she will be back later the food is too good to miss. The dunnock's are calling to each other across the garden, one sits on the fence at each side of the garden and they call before they venture down for the food. The starling continue to fight over the food no matter how much is put out. The sparrows hide in the few bushes that are left after the neighbours cut theirs down, (this made it easier for the cats to catch the birds unfortunately.)
The female great spotted woodpecker is calling in most days now, I haven't seen the juvenile for a while maybe he has moved on,the grey wagtail has not been for a couple of days either but that could just be because of the bad weather.
Well the light is going so the photography is over for now the year is almost over so its goodbye to 2011.

I wish everyone health wealth and happiness for 2012.

The weather is just too cold for the shed...

I haven't been down to the shed again the weather has kept me indoors. The rain, wind and cold does not help with my aches and pains.
So I have been keeping myself busy rearranging my bedroom. Tony buys me cards for my birthdays that have comical animal pictures on rather than traditional cards, I have put them into a frame and hung them on the wall as the cards increase I will fill another frame to hang on another wall.
I have also been going through my many photos I have on disc and hard drive to choose which ones to print and put in albums to give to friends that have asked for them. This is going to take a while as I have hundreds of photos to look through, at least it will keep me busy till the weather gets better.

The squirrel is still coming into the garden for her daily feed, today I think there were two squirrels called. Tony shouted to me to look to see if I thought it was a different squirrel as it looked smaller than usual. I had to agree after looking that not only was it smaller but the markings were different.
The grey wagtail is a daily visitor at the moment, the wren is seen more often, the robins are back daily, even the blackbirds are calling in and best of all no more poorly collar doves.

A peaceful time in the shed

I am happy to say that there are no more deaths to report in the garden.
I spent a peaceful couple of hours in the shed in which time I managed a few photographs of the female woodpecker and a group of goldfinches.
As my luck usually goes after I went back into the flat I looked out of the bedroom window, at the bottom of the garden there was the sparrowhawk eating a starling. As usual it was too far away for either Tony or me to get a photo. The sparrowhawk is coming more often and killing in the garden on a more regular basis so between us it will happen, when it does I will let you know which flickr site to look on.
For now here are some goldfinches and woodpeckers for you to look at.

Happy Christmas

This morning Tony and I took Christmas presents to my grandchildren. My grandson likes Toy story so following my daughters suggestions I bought him a Jessie doll. His reaction was amazing, you would have thought I had bought him the world. My grand daughter gave a much cooler reaction to her gift but she is 9 going on 19yrs old.
We called to see my Mum as well, we spent a while chatting and had a laugh about the present she bought Tony (a bah humbug mug), Trevor was out with the dog but I did notice his present from my daughter was sitting in full view on the radiator. Trevor likes the meerkat adverts so she  bought him a meerkat in a Santa suit (I think Happy (the dog) will own it before too long).

Now on a sad note I had to remove 2 more bodies from the garden this morning, the 2 Collar Doves from yesterday didn't make it. I haven't seen any more sick looking birds today so fingers crossed tomorrow I will not have any bodies to remove.

Tony has been busy today making a chindian buffet, (chinese / indian) we decided against the traditional Christmas food, neither of us really celebrate Christmas, so we thought something different would suit us better.
So the menu so far has been

Prawn  Toast
Spring Rolls
Samosas
spicy Pork in sauce  with pancakes and onions
Later we will be having

Rogan Josh with rice
Christmas Pudding with cream spiced with Brandy.

Then I think we will both be falling asleep in front of the television.
So all that's left to say is Happy Christmas or Bah Humbug!

An unhappy few days in the garden.

We have had an unhappy few days in the garden. It began with the sighting of a Collar Dove looking unwell. It was all fluffed up head down looking very unhappy. The Dove sat close to a tray of seed tried to eat but gave it up and moved over to the side of the garden by the fence. I said to Tony I didn't think the Dove would survive the day. Sure enough within a couple of hours the Dove died.
You can imagine my horror when this morning we spotted 2 more Collar Doves that looked unwell.
I have a feeling of dread of what tomorrow is going to bring.

Christmas shopping, cold weather and a quiet garden.

I don't like crowded places, filled with strangers, all talking at once, it brings on panic attacks, so christmas shopping is my idea of hell.
At this time of year I prefer to stay home, spending time in the garden watching the birds and squirrels, maybe taking a few photographs. enjoying the peace and quiet. The only problem with this is...

There are no birds in the garden, no squirrels either. Next doors cat is spending a lot of time in our garden, we try to dissuade it but it keeps coming back. Somehow we have to find a way, we have tried a few things, chasing it, shouting, orange peel,(apparently cats don't like the smell) aniseed balls, mint imperials, but the cat still keeps coming. Then there is the sparrowhawk
only now there are two. We think one is a juvenile still hunting with an adult.
Whatever the garden is pretty empty for photographing at the moment. As well as that it is so cold, I cannot stay out in the shed too long or I ache so much I cannot move for the next day or so.
At least the school over the wall at the bottom of the garden has broken up for the christmas holidays now so I may be able to take some photo's from the bedroom or kitchen windows.

Tony is still doing well at the moment although he has had a couple of bad days when he has suffered with pain in his back. He doesn't complain much but you can tell by his face that the pain is sometimes worse than he says.

The son informed me the other day he has been successful in an interview and will be changing jobs in January, at least that means his hours will not be as long so he will be safer traveling to and from work. He might even use public transport instead of the scooter when the weather is bad, (a mothers mind at rest.)

Singing carols in Trinity Walk

Today Tony and I went to watch my granddaughter singing christmas carols in Trinity Walk shopping centre in Wakefield. This is surprising as she is usually too shy to join in with any thing that will put her in the public eye. She did very well we even got a smile from her.

 Even more surprising both her mum and dad came to watch and listen. They both smiled as well, the wonders of christmas!

Tony has finally received a date for his MRi January 15th 2012 which is a sunday, yes a sunday. The NHS  must be trying to catch up with the back log of patients on the waiting lists before the government make more redundancies and make the hard working medical staffs jobs even harder. (just my opinion of course)

Bad backs and Scooters.

This week has been a very slow week for photographs and outings.
 Tony's back has improved slightly this week which is a good thing. I hope this is and a permanent thing and that it continues to improve.
I have been suffering slightly and have bought some mittens, advised by my mum that they are warmer than gloves. I have worn the mittens outside and inside, I have to admit mum is right the mittens win out over the gloves. So thanks mum.
Christopher my son bought a scooter when he began his new job. Public transport did not fit in with his hours. He rang me at 7:45am the other morning to tell me he had come off his bike on his way to work. All sorts went through my head as you can imagine. "Are you OK? " I asked " Yeah and the bikes fine." I didn't care about the bike that could be a mangled mess for all I cared it was him I was bothered about!
"Have you been checked over ? have you been to the hospital?" The answer I got " no mum I'm fine the bikes fine stop fussing" What could I say? He might be 30years old but to me he's still one of my babies I am allowed to fuss, aren't I ?

Starling

Starling, a photo by cruisersoo on Flickr.

This is one of the few photo's I managed over the last few days, Autumnwatch marked it as a favorite.
So that cheered me up a little bit.

The weather is not good, unless of course you like strong winds and rain!
I haven't had any luck with the camera in the last few days, in fact I broke a lens.( I could of cried)
It was a small lens for my Olympus, I was trying to take off the lens hood, got one of my twitches and don't you know it instead of the lens hood coming off the lens comes away in two parts (a couple of £100 down the drain). Not one of my better moments.

Tony is wating for an MRI to see if they can find out what the problem with his back is.The district nurse came today to do a circulation test on his legs and feet. He was not impressed he is in more pain now since she did the test.

Tony is making a sign for the steps with 1A in large figures so the postman knows where it is. This is due to the fact that he keeps delivering our post to the wrong address. The postman put a parcel for Tony in next doors bin put a note through the door to tell them it was there, then put another card through the door to say their parcel had been returned to the postal depot for collection. I think the postman must be numerically dyslexic.

Dull and foggy days

The last few days have been cold damp and foggy, not really the sort of weather for sitting in a garden shed photographing birds or squirrels.
So I did what any right minded person would do I stayed inside with a book, my sleeping bag and a hot water bottle.  I did go down to fill the feeders and the nut box so they didn't go without food. I realised that we had run short of some things when Mrs Squirrel looked in the box this morning, slammed down the lid, looked up to the window and glared at me with a look that could have turned me to stone.
Tony and I went out to pick up some supplies. We came back with, nuts suet balls, shredded suet, suet blocks, mixed seeds, mealworms and oops I forgot the sunflower seeds. I will have to pick those up when we go to the doctors tomorrow.
So I replenished all the feeding trays and settled into the shed. I waited, and waited. What happened? Nothing! for 30 minutes what gratitude.
Then I saw movement at the bottom of the garden, a Wren, no 2 wrens, no 3 wrens. They move so fast, I couldn't get them all in the same place at one time. They were so far away, I fired a few shots off just hoping for the best.

I had a look when I came back inside only 2 were worth keeping and I had to crop them really close to get them anything like decent. So here are the 2 photos of the day.

I never expected that..

We had a bus ride into Wakefield today to have a look at The Victorian Market on the precinct.

There were quite a few stalls and lots of people looking around. All the stall holders were dressed up in victorian costume and were enjoying playing the part.

I took a few photos and may go back over the weekend to take some more.

When we arrived home Tony shouted to me to look out of the window, "there's a parrot in the garden", he called. Oh yeah I thought. I looked and would you believe it there was. I had to capture this on camera. I grabbed the camera and snapped away. This is the result.

I never expected to see a parrot in the garden so I don't think anything would surprise me now.

More raking, wrens and pills...

More raking and bagging up of leaves has taken place in the garden, when is this tree going to be bare?

No matter how many times we do it they seem to come back as soon as I turn my back!

The Starlings are calling again in force and squabbling over any food they see,  but it is nice to see them back. On an evening they gather together and fly around above the houses, I will have to try and get a photo of them to show you it is certainly a spectacular view when they are up there.

The Wrens are coming out more, I have managed a couple of snaps, I was lucky really I had just gone into the shed when I spotted them on the fence. I grabbed my camera and fired off a few shots not sure if they would come to anything but I was quite happy with the results.

Tony's back seem's to be a bit better, the painkillers must be doing something. The thing is are the just masking the pain what happens when he stops taking them? Does the pain come back? I hope not for his sake but I don't have a lot of faith in tablets they don't cure anything in my humble opinion they just make your brain think they do...

A visit to the A & E

We paid a visit to the A&E this morning arriving there about 9:45am, we left about 1: 00pm . Tony has been having problems with his back and legs for about 3 maybe 4 weeks now.

 It all started when he was trying to murder a bush in the garden, yes you heard me right, murder a bush. Tony had managed to cut the bush down to a size he thought he could finally handle. He put his foot against the bush, pushed to uproot it, the bush fought back, it was bush against man, as the bush felt it's roots leaving the earth it gave a mighty push back, Tony fell backwards and landed flat on his back on the ground. Tony hurt his back but he had succeeded in murdering the bush!

Anyhow back to A&E Tony was seen by 3 doctors, prodded and poked, sent for an x-ray and the outcome of this was :-
Doctor number 1 said
 he had a small abnormality (well we all knew that ) at the bottom of his spine, so he would need an MRI. So he would need to get his GP to refer him for that.
Doctor number 2 said
the x-ray was fine but he would write to his GP asking him to refer him for an MRI just to make sure everything was fine, then gave Tony some painkillers to help with the pain.
Doctor number 3 said
it is a muscle problem that Tony should take the painkillers plus some more painkillers he named and see his GP if it didn't improve.
I wonder if this is the little abnormality? Tony's "cheeky" tattoo.
                                         "The last great act of defiance"

 I feel a warm bath, hot chocolate, a cookie and a good book calling!

Garden centres and cowboy boots

So much for raking the leaves up yesterday! I opened the bedroom curtains this morning to be greeted with a garden covered in leaves. (Tony had warned me of this but he can sometimes be known to be a wind up in such things )   The sycamore tree in the school grounds at the bottom of the garden may be the squirrels favourite playground but it takes some keeping up with at this time of year. Never mind it wont be long before all the leaves are gone, although it never looks like the tree has lost any.
Tony and I decided to have a look in a couple of garden centres this morning just for inspiration, it didn't really work. We left one with a new top for the bird table which was fine, but the second one we left with jelly babies, biscuits, jars of pears and peanut butter. At least the peanut butter was for the birds and squirrels.

A trip to Tesco was also made for basic essentials we didn't get from the garden centre. I have to have my home comforts for watching the X-factor.
On the way home we spotted two cyclists one of which was wearing cowboy boots, I don't know why but for some reason this amused us both so out came the camera and a very shaky shot was taken. I blame this on the fact that we were traveling at the time and there may have been a bit of laughter involved! Another shot was a Volkswagen Beetle but it looked more like a wasp than a beetle.

Some old and new sightings

This morning Tony (my partner) and I decided it was time to rake up the leaves in the garden. We spent an hour or so doing just that when I spotted an unusual bird in the hedge, a female Goldcrest. I have never seen one in the garden before of course I didn't have a camera with me so no photo.
After raking up the leaves Tony and I went back up to the flat for a cuppa where I stood looking out of the kitchen window. I couldn't believe it there on the shed roof was a Grey Wagtail it looked like a juvenile. We have not seen a wagtail in the garden for months, again no camera to hand so no photo.
I decided to go into the shed for a while as there seemed to be something in the air, I had only been there about ten minuets when a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew onto the fat-balls, at least I got some photo's of that even if they were not very good!

On the buses

This morning Tony (my partner) and I went into town on the bus. It amazes us how the older age groups manage to hold conversations with so many people at once. They seem capable of listening to their own conversation and everyone else's as well. It is a shame you can't photograph a conversation.

 I didn't manage to take any photo's today but here are some I took a while ago.