This little male squirrel is still not sure about me

He's found a nut

He's taking it away

He thinks I can't see him

Waiting in a queue of traffic, Tony pointed out the seagulls on top of the streetlights, there just wasn't enough room for all of them so one decided to sit on another's back. I only had my phone to take a picture with, I don't think it did too bad

There just wasn't enough room

How does the old saying go?

Red sky in the morning, Shepherd's warning.

Until the next time...

Back in the garden...

I went back down to the garden again yesterday, I didn't stay for long because it was very cold. 

However while I was there I did take some more snaps of the brave little squirrel. 

He decided to stay for a few minutes. 

Then he moved on to the fence where he posed for a photo.

One of the reasons I had gone to the shed was to check the trap we have for the mice.

It was empty yesterday and again today. 

 

These are 2 pictures of a mouse that was in the trap a few days ago.  It looks so cute it is a shame that they cause so much damage. 

I don't hurt them we release them  at the bottom of the garden where they usually run into the corner and under the fence. Tony says that I am probably catching the same mouse time after time.

I don't have anything else to  tell you at the moment so ...

Until the next time...

I bet you didn't expect this, did you ?

 

 First let me wish anyone reading this a Happy New year 🎉 

I hope everyone is safe and well,  we have a few family members who have  Covid or are still suffering  side affects. Lynsey caught Covid ages ago she still has limited scene of smell or taste what she does have she wishes she didn't. Lynsey is very limited to what she can eat, she said food smells like the bottom of the bin, everything tastes of dirty water, salt or rotten eggs. I hope that I never catch it.

I have been trying to make friends with the squirrels again. We have a few young ones in the garden again.

This one is just Greedy.

  

This one likes to watch me though the window. 

This is one of the young ones. 

I have some more pictures of squirrels but I thought I would just ease you back in gently.

We haven't really been anywhere or done anything, we still have appointments but most of them are done over the phone now. However I have been fast tracked a couple of times, for cancer referrals that came back clear. One of them was for throat cancer.I have problems swallowing and feel like I have something stuck in my throat.  Tony has done the Heimlich maneuver on me when I  have been choking. When the test came back clear I heard nothing else, I still have trouble swallowing  it still feels like there is something stuck in my throat a lot of the time, but hey it's not cancer so your fine live with it. 

Right enough of that.

I go see Mum every  Thursday we chat about things we have done and if we have any news. Then we take it in turns to fall asleep in front of the telly. Oliver wakes us up, he makes sure Mum makes a cup of tea every hour so he can have a biscuit. Then he tells us when it's 2 pm so we have an ice cream, just so he can lick the bit of ice cream we leave on the stick for him. 

Well I think that's enough for now. 

Until next time...

*

Going nowhere fast...

 

We are still here and going nowhere fast, the weather is so cold so even if the lockdown wasn't on we still wouldn't be going anywhere!

I was notified on my NHS app that I had been close to somebody who had tested positive to Covid-19 so I had to self isolate. It is strange Tony didn't get one because we go everywhere together. It didn't make much difference we have to stay at home anyway.

So now I have finished my 3 minute moan lets move on.

I have discovered Hazel had moved all the nuts again, but had not put them in the bird house this time. I searched round the shed but I could not find them anywhere. I filled up the container and put a few monkey nuts in shells on top to see what would happen.

When I went into the shed a couple of days later the monkey nuts had gone but the rest of the nuts were still there, maybe Hazel had worked out that whenever the container emptied it was filled up again, there was infact an endless supply of nuts. So I had another hunt about, and I found the missing hazel nuts from the time before.

The first time Hazel took the nuts she carried them from the red container to the bird box with the purple top. Remember Hazel emptied that over night, how long must that have taken?

The next time it was emptied the nuts were carried 9 feet to a bag at the opposite side of the shed. Just imagine how many times Hazel must of crossed the shed to do that?

I have left the nuts in the bag I didn't have the heart to move them after all the hard work Hazel had put in.

The squirrels are being. their usual mischievous selves, one of them has found a unique place to bury his walnuts,

At least the magpie isn't watching him there and coming and digging them up as soon as he goes.

One of the squirrels was having problems with a crow yesterday, the crow was trying to take some nut so the squirrel kept chasing the crow away, even at one point jumping on the crows back. The crow left after that but I am sure it will be back another day.

We had a visit from the female great spotted woodpecker today. She was on the upright bar of the crossbar still as she could be. She does this when she thinks there is danger near by. I don't know if she had seen me in the shed, or if the sparrow hawk had flown by (he has a few times in the last couple of days) or if she was just checking before she got settled. Something must not have felt right to her she made a quick grab at the peanut butter then flew high up into the sycamore tree.

Lynsey my youngest daughter as you know has a cat named Biscuit, for some unknown reason he likes pizza boxes. When Lynsey has finished with the box she puts it on the floor and Biscuit sits in it. Biscuit will not let anyone take his pizza box and if Lynsey's other cat Pepper tries to get near it Biscuit slaps him. So that gives you an idea how much Biscuit loves his boxes. However I think this is taking it a bit too far!

Lynsey was eating her pizza with the box on her knees, when Biscuit jumped up and sat on the box as if to say "my box don't forget". Lynsey took the snap before pushing him off and telling him he had to wait until she had done .

Keep safe and well

Until the next time...

I'm glad I'm not a brass monkey...

 Well, here I am again like the preverbal bad penny!

I am feeling a little stir crazy agin at the moment because the weather has stopped me being able to go out. This means I cannot go to visit Mum, I think she is feeling abit the same.

I have discovered I have a new friend in the shed. We have decided to call him/her Hazel. Hazel got the name because I have a metal container in the shed that is for kitchen utensils, I have it full of hazelnuts so if the squirrels come I can entice them with the nuts. Anyhow I went into the shed and the container was empty, I knew it was full last time I went in. I looked around wondering if I had put them somewhere else and forgotten, like I do, but then I spotted them! The bird house on the side ,there was a nut poking out of the hole. Sure enough the bird house was full of hazelnuts, I didn't put them in there, I know I didn't. Then I got to wonder I started to  look around the shed. I returned the nuts to where they should be and then began to look in that corner on the work surface. I moved a few things nothing, then I pulled the shelf that has been on there for a while and out shot the cutest little wood mouse I have ever seen. 

I have no pictures of it yet but hopefully soon I will, Tony put the trail cam in the shed and he caught it on there. I felt quite guilty about putting all the nuts back when I saw it.

The snow never stopped all day yesterday, it hasn't snowed anymore today but it is so cold I just don't function properly. I am a bit like a crazy chicken who doesn't know what to do with it's self, a bit like this

I helped Lynsey with some work on the computer three days its taken me, what do I get when I email it to her, nothing, I said is that what you wanted I get a "yeah". What happend to the "thanks mum, that really helped mum". Pfff next time she can do it herself.

Well I hope I can get out soon in the mean time I suppose I will just have to imagine that I am.

You can believe anything if you try hard enough.

Keep safe & well,

Until the next time....

Early shopping was a good idea,

This morning we left home early to do some essential shopping. We decided to go to Rothwell to call at Lidl there. On the way I took a couple of photos of the sky, it had beautiful pink, orange and lilac colours from the sunrise.

It was a very cold morning, the car dashboard read -1ºC , on my phone app it said -1ºC feels like -4ºC.

On the way home when it was a lot lighter Tony pointed out the moon in the sky, (well where else would it be), I took a quick snap not knowing if it would turn out or not.

I don't think it is too bad. I have cropped it slightly but not too much to spoil it.

Soon after we had settled in at home this happened...

Take care & keep safe

Until the next time...

Happy New Year

 Well 2020 is over but the pandemic is far from over. 

I think it's going to be along time before that ends if it ever does.

I hope it does, but in the meantime I hope that everyone stays safe and well.

Here is my photographic summary of the last 12 months. 

There are always squirrels! I was amazed how many photographs of squirrels I have.

 Then we have the birds , all the usual suspects were there, a couple of surprises  as well. 

The Jackdaw who visited a few times, and several young Woodpigeons. 

There was lots of Ladybirds in the garden.  I found a few in the  shed in the corner of the windows.

 A lot of the photographs didn't turn out very well, but I thought that these were OK.

 

This last lot of pictures are just a few that I  thought I should put on, some because I like, one because it's different and one just for the hell of it. I will leave it to you to decide which they are. 

Keep safe & stay well,

Until the next time...