I don't know what to say?

It is so long since I wrote a blog that I just don't know what to say! I  have no excuse, I just didn't seem to find the time than after so long I just couldn't be bothered.  I have been a bit down, however, I am not sure why so I have decided to begin again. Quite a few things have happened since I last wrote.
Lynsey has been away to The Netherlands and Germany with work, she enjoyed it, but managed to injure herself. Lynsey  came home with a pair of crutches and a small cast on her leg. She had fallen on some stairs in Germany and had damaged some tendons in her ankle.

Lynsey went to Pinderfields because she had a lot of pain in her leg. They x-rayed it again but could not find any breaks. Lynsey was given a larger cast, like a big black boot that came up to just below her knee. She said that felt better but it still hurt.

Emma has passed her driving test, she is very pleased with this because it means she can share the driving when the family take any holidays. I am very proud of her.

Tony is waiting for an operation on his back, this should make his legs better, which means he will be able to walk more. We are both a bit worried about this operation and the waiting is not helping.

Garden Update.
The garden is a little bit quiet at the moment, however we have 3 squirrels, occasionally 4 still causing havoc we also have a male, female, and 2 juvenile great spotted woodpeckers calling. There are the usual small birds as well but they just seem to be very few visits.

We have been to Scotland and actually found somewhere to stay that told the truth! We had red squirrels right outside the door.

This feeder is straight opposite the door, there was 3 different squirrels that came to feed. We know this because of the markings

The squirrel above has some sort of growth on its nose.

The squirrel above has part of his ear missing.

It was amazing to get out of bed on a morning and see these delightful creatures just outside your door.

There was also a Red Legged Partridge that came to sit on the fence at the front of the cottage.

Every day this bird would appear about 6pm, it would sit there just looking round for a while. Then it would jump down onto the grass peck and scratch around for a few minutes, then walk away around the side of the cottage and to the owners house.

There were also some deer that walked down the path at the side of the cottage and into the paddock at the bottom of the drive. I didn't get any pictures of these but Tony did.

Well I found something to say.

Until the next time.

   

2019 That crept up on me...

So bah humbug season is over, it wasn't too bad we survived it again. The new year crept in quietly when I wasn't paying attention, lets hope this one will bring us better health than the last one. Having said that Tony has to go for the scan results he had done just before christmas on monday. I am back at the dentist on thursday ( the abscess has gone along with the tooth ), to have a check up and a broken tooth looked at. I think that one will be going as well.

The garden had a flock of Redwings but neither Tony or I managed to get a photo they were just too well camouflaged in  the tree. The Sparrowhawk has been back a couple of times, no pictures there either.
There are some photos though, the new year would not be the same without some squirrels.

A selection of Squirrels.

Squirrels new drinking place

Squirrel with nuts.

             Having a rest

      

Starling mealworm feast

 Somethings never change.

Until the next time...

More than just a toothache

You have all heard me complain of toothache in the past, well this time it is more than just toothache. I went to see my dentist on friday and told him I think I have an abscess coming. He prodded and poked then he took an x-ray. No sign of an abscess there he said. So away I went thinking well it still feels like it to me.
Saturday morning I got up, I thought something doesnt feel right. I looked in the mirror, this is what I saw...

Oh no, there's no abscess.

Who do you think was right? Me or the dentist?

The dentist wasn't open again until Monday. First thing Monday morning I phoned I was given an appointment for 3pm. I didn't see the same dentist ( funny that ) . The dentist I saw was amazed when he saw me he gave me a prescription for some strong antibiotics, told me if it got any worse I should go straight to A&E because of all the complications I have with allergies and angioedema.

Tony is on antibiotics as well because he went to hospital to see about his ankles being operated on, the consultant told him he had to be treated for the infection before they could do any ops. He has cellulitous.  He has to go for a CT scan on Saturday morning. We make a really good pair.

Garden update...

It's wet and soggy

Until the next time...

Oh no it's coming...

Well here we are it's November already and "Bah Humbug" season is just around the corner! I have seen so many Christmas things in the shops and heard Christmas music being played already I am fed up of it. Why do they start so early?  Christmas items were in the shops before Halloween costumes and sweets in Wakefield I don't know about anywhere else?
 We don't have to worry about Halloween, all the local kids are scared to come to our house, they are scared of Tony! I don't know why he isn't a grumpy old man really, he is a pussycat, oh no he won't like that, he is a teddy bear, no he won't like that either, hmmm! I know he is a big softie on the inside but doesn't want children to know it or they will take advantage of things like Halloween and penny for the guy.
He doesn't mind Willow, Logan, and  Keira coming, although if they get a bit noisy he does tell them a witch lives downstairs, which their Mum and Dad quickly agree with. (Poor Margaret if she only knew.) I have actually bought two  Christmas presents for family members, this is very unlike me.


I don't have many photos for you because I have not taken many worth keeping and the garden has been slightly lacking in life. However, I have been looking skyward at the clouds and I have a couple I kept just because I liked them.

Suburban Clouds.

I like big white fluffy clouds in blue skies. They make me think of cotton wool or candy floss.

We have also had some spectacular sunsets, unfortunately, I haven't managed to capture many of them, a case of wrong place, wrong time, or no camera. However, I did get a couple one evening which again I kept because I liked them.

Sunset near Stanley Ferry.

I know there is not much difference between them but I could not decide which one to use, so decided to put both on.

Just so you can see the garden has not been abandoned completely here are a few of the visitors from the last few weeks.

My very friendly Robin.

One of the regular Squirrels.

A very scruffy male Blackbird.

A family of Goldfinches.

A variety of spiders.

    

                       





They left their intricate webs behind so that I could photograph them while covered in frost.









Until next time...

A Few Days In Stamford Bridge.

Mum, Oliver (her dog), Tony and I all spent a few days in Stamford Bridge. We were going to watch my brother Russell run in The Yorkshire Marathon. This was his second marathon in six months! He ran the London Marathon last April at the age of 59 years which meant by the time he ran the Yorkshire one he was 60 years old. I think he is a little bit barmy myself, even more so when he is already talking about doing the London Marathon again in April and maybe the Yorkshire again next October!
When Russell ran in the London Marathon it was the hottest on record, when he ran the Yorkshire Marathon it rained continually throughout his entire run. He beat the time it took him to run in London by 38 minutes, finishing in 5:48:16 a time to be proud of I think.

Russell smiling while running the Yorkshire Marathon 2018.

Before we went home we had a ride through Sand Hutton where my great grannie lived. My Mum had a trip down memory lane telling us about her childhood. It sounded like she had some really happy times there. I remember going and staying at Sand Hutton when I was a small child, I remember my Great Grannie having to leave and move into a home at Thirsk called "Cherry Garth" I remember climbing up on the wooden horse used for chopping wood and knocking myself out, most of all I remember being happy there.

Sand Hutton.

The House Mum's Nana & Granddad lived in.

The House Mum's Nana lived in after her Grandad died.

The second house is the one I remember going to.

The apartment that we stayed in at Stamford Bridge was quite nice, it was situated in the middle of the square standing out in the middle of the river.

We stayed in the building in the water.

All night long you could hear moving water, which I have to admit made me need to get up a couple of times if you know what I mean. Oliver liked the apartment, he had a viewpoint from the back of the sofa, the window sills or even better if he could get somebody to pick him up to look. Oliver was very well behaved, he had brought some of his toys so it was home from home, he could play ball here just the same as at home. 

Oliver Keeping Guard

It was good to spend some time with Mum, to hear her talk about her past. She seemed to enjoy herself too. I hope we can do it again some time, we never seemed to have spent much time together.

I know you won't like it Mum but here is a photo of...

 Mum, me and Oliver.

 Tony has to get a mention of course because without him we wouldn't have been there. He drove the car to get us there, he watched Oliver while Mum and I went to watch Russell run, he mended the window that was left swinging free in the apartment when we arrived, he carried most of the bags in and out and he had to talk to the not so nice woman that told him he had parked in the wrong place.
Tony took most of the photos including this one that amused us all.

Wherever you go there is a woodpigeon

Until next time... 

Five Squirrels.

Today I thought I would stay with the squirrel theme. This is another story I read on the Internet.
However this one has a happy ending.

Five Squirrels with a tangle of tails.

PHOTO: WISCONSIN HUMANE SOCIETY.

This looked like a lot of hard work for somebody to untangle these tails.

You can imagine how scared the squirrels must have been, so the first thing to do was to anaesthetise them.

The Wisconsin Humane Society worker began working on unravelling the "Gordian Knot"(google it) of tightly tangled tails and nesting materials. It took about 20 minutes according to the worker.

The Squirrels after separation.

PHOTO: WISCONSIN HUMANE SOCIETY.

The squirrels will be watched for several days to keep an eye on the blood flow to their tails. If the blood flow is impaired it can lead to something called Tail Necrosis. This means that the squirrels tail could die, the squirrels use the tail for balance, losing the use of the tail could prove really disastrous for a squirrel, it would affect its ability to jump from tree to tree to find food. 

A sad day for an Albino Squirrel.

I was very sad today to read about an albino squirrel being knocked down and killed in Edinburgh.
Albino Squirrels are believed to have sight and hearing problems which makes them vulnerable to hazards. It is thought there are just 25 albino squirrels in the country, with odds of being born albino around one in 100,00

A Rare Albino Squirrel.

    © Alan C Tough / SWNS.com

                                                 

We are still having daily visits from three squirrels, it is better than watching the TV watching squirrels. They sometimes remind me of Benny Hill sketches the way they run around the garden, it just looks like they have been speeded up.

One of the Squirrels.

It always makes me think they are saying "Who me?" when they stand in this pose.

This one was so laid back he fell asleep eating.

It's a good job he woke up before he fell off.

The picture below is the new nut box I told you about that the squirrels took the nuts through the hole before realising they could lift the lid. You can see where there tried to make the hole bigger, it reminds me of what a lot of birds do, such as woodpeckers, magpies or crows to get to chicks in nest boxes so they can steal them away to feed to their own young.

 The new nut box damaged by squirrels.

A juvenile Goldfinch comes to feed on the sunflower hearts every morning, always on its own. The young finch stays about 30 minutes or so then flies off over the school roof until later in the day when it returns for another feed.

Juvenile Goldfinch.

The stump is still popular! The Sparrows and Blackbirds are usually the birds that visit it. The Sparrows often spend the most time there, however, today a male Blackbird ruled over it.

A Male House sparrow on the stump

A scruffy looking Male Blackbird on the stump.

Until the next time...