Romance is in the air.

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Meal for Two.

The sparrows are all being very friendly, they are either pairing up or flying around the garden in groups. This pair took time out for a quick snack of mealworms.

Until tomorrow...

Signs of spring.

Todays Photo Of The Day.

The First Ladybird of Spring.

I returned the pampas grass to the garden from the greenhouse, when I went to check it to see if it needed watering I discovered that a ladybird had taken up residence in the leaves. The ladybird appeared to be black with red spots, instead of the usual red with black spots.

Until tomorrow...

Isn't it amazing what people think?

Today's Photo Of The Day.

The Man On The Bike.

I took this photo on our way back from Barnsley this morning. I could just imagine what the man on the bike was thinking! "Oh shit, it's getting a bit close!". The man driving the wagon was probably thinking " Oh buggar I wish he would pedal a bit faster!". All the cars behind the wagon were probably thinking something like " WTF can't he go any faster?".  I was thinking that will be a photo for my blog tonight!

Until tomorrow...

A Connoisseur Of Nuts.

Today's Photo Of The Day.

The Nut Must Be Tasty!

I have noticed before when one of the squirrels eats he never just cracks the nuts and eats them. He seems to really take his time and enjoy them. He cracks the shell, then he smells the nut, carefully he pulls the shell away with his teeth. He drops the shell to the floor, then sniffs the nut again, he then licks the nut before taking tiny nibbles from it. Only then does he put what is left of the nut into his mouth and finish the entire nut. He closes his eyes and licks his lips as if he has had some sort of gourmet meal. Can you imagine how long it would take him to get through a full nut box of nuts?

Until tomorrow...

Cloud pictures

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Cotton wool Clouds.

The weather has thrown all sorts at us over the last few weeks. We have had rain, snow, wind a little bit of sun and we have coped with it all. I have probably mentioned before I like to look at clouds! Well some of my favourite clouds are what I call "Cotton wool clouds". Which are what you can see in the photo above. I think they look like balls of cotton wool. However I can also see a dog in those clouds! I wonder if you can see it too?

Until tomorrow...

Strewn across the bushes like garlands at a Christmas party

Today's Photo Of The Day.

A Goldfinch

The Goldfinches are still coming into the garden, the groups get bigger every day. They flock round the feeders four or five deep, sometimes they are happy to wait their turn, other times pandemonium breaks out! The bushes across the garden are often full of these finches. The  red faces standing out through the green leaves, they always bring a smile to my face.

Until tomorrow...

A strange sort of dance move?

Today's Photo Of The Day.

A Blue Tit

The little blue Tit was on the fence opposite the shed chasing flies. At first I wasn't sure what it was doing! It seemed to be doing some sort of strange dance moves, then I realised it was catching flies and bugs. I think the Blue Tits are nesting in the nest box hidden in the ivy on the wall at the bottom of the garden. I have spotted them going in and out of there a few times, I really hope they are at least it will make up for the disappearance of the nest box from the tree in the school yard where they used to nest.

Until tomorrow...

A Successful Feeder

Today's Photo Of The Day

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker

(Taken by Tony)

The female woodpecker was the first bird to try out the new suet feeder in the garden. I think she liked it, she has been back on several occasions since this picture was taken.

Until tomorrow...

Clever acrobats in the garden

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Squirrels Found A New Hiding Place.

I keep trying to find somewhere new to hide nuts for the squirrels, I am going to have to find some more! As you can see they have mastered this place. At first it took them a while to work out how to reach the nuts, not anymore. The acrobatic squirrels have perfected the act.

Until tomorrow...

A pleasant change

Today's Photo Of The Day.

A New Drink To Try!

I don't often drink, however I am quite partial to a drop of Baileys now and then. When I spotted this in the supermarket I thought I would give it a try. It does not mix with coffee, it warns you on the bottle that it separates if added to hot drinks. I tried it over ice and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn't drink more than one glass at a time but it is a nice change for an evening drink after a meal when Tony is having a scotch (yuk).

Until tomorrow...

Strange things in the shed!

Today's Photo Of The Day.

A Shield Bug.

I have shared my time in the shed with some strange creatures over time, I think this is probably the strangest! Unless of course you count Tony, he can be pretty strange at times.


Until tomorrow...

Nest building begins

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Home Building.

This crow landed in a tree in a garden across the other side of the school playground. How it managed to fly with a twig as long as that in it's beak I do not know! It is quite obvious that nest building has begun.

Until tomorrow...

Is this an improvement?

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Back On The Roof.

Well it didn't take long for a repeat performance. Same boy different day.
He didn't stay up there very long. He was alone today, he threw a few snowballs at the teachers. One of the teachers laughed and encouraged him to throw them. Then she told him " you can throw three more then you must come down". To my amazement he threw three more snowballs then climbed down from the roof and back on to the playground. Things must be improving!
The school put a letter through the door a day or two ago, during the next holiday the fence around the school is going to be extended to 10 feet hopefully this will stop balls coming into the garden and children.

Until tomorrow,,

The snowfall came overnight

Today's Photo Of The Day.

The Snow Fell Over Night.

Photo by Tony

The weatherman got it right for once! The snow came overnight, it is still falling this morning. The man on the pushbike must be mad in my opinion!

Until tomorrow...

A Snowy lunch

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Squirrel In The Snow.

Photo by Tony

This squirrel still came to eat the sunflower seeds even though it was snowing. It just shows what a tough little squirrel she is. I wouldn't go out in this weather, can you imagine having to go outside, hang upside down to get something to eat? I think I would be losing a few pounds and staying indoors until the weather improved!

Until tomorrow...

Birds on the wing

Today's Photo Of The Day.

A Pair Of Red Kites.

This photo was taken by Tony the when we went to Wales. I think it is an excellent photo and well worth sharing.
There were Red Kite's flying in at a great speed, there must have been 80 or maybe more birds. Then there were Buzzards and crows all of them coming from all directions. It was very difficult to get a picture of an individual bird. So I think Tony did extremely well to get this shot.

Until tomorrow...

The long way round

Today's Photo Of The Day.

The Crane.

We went shopping on the retail park, first we went to Sainsburys, then we were going to move the car to the other end of the car park to go to a couple of shops there. The only problem was, this crane. It was putting up some metal frames for shop signs, so they had tapes across the road to stop people driving past while they were working. This meant we could not get to where we wanted to be. The shop we wanted to go to was just at the other side of the crane. To get there we had to go out of the retail park turn left back to the roundabout, round the roundabout bearing left , past the post office sorting office, then follow the road to Wilkinson's roundabout, go round onto Kirkgate, round past Halfords, back onto the road we started from, turn into the retail park lower down, then we parked at the other side of the crane further down the car park. What a waste of time just to where you can see the first sign on the wall behind the crane.

Until tomorrow...

Would you eat it?

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Jew's Ear Fungus On A Log.

This log is behind the shed on the patio. The fungus grows on it every year. The Jews Ear fungus is really called Auricularia auricula-Judae. It is known as Jew's Ear, Wood Ear, Jelly Ear, or by a number of other common names. It is a species of edible Auricularides fungus found worlwide. I don't think I would like to eat it, however it is often used in Chinese cookery so maybe I already have! Apparently there are 284 calories in 100gs.


Until tomorrow...

I even let Tony take my photo.

A visit from Christopher, Joanne, Logan and of course Willow this morning was lovely. They had come to bring my belated mothers day cards. So of course I had to have a cuddle with Willow, I even let Tony take a photo of us.

Today's photo of the day.

Willow with Nannan Soo.

Willow is in my eyes a beautiful baby, but then I would be biased as she is my youngest grandchild.

I got some lovely mothers day presents this year. I got a pot plant and slippers from Emma, Katie, Olivia and Aron and 2 lovely cards. Lynsey bought me, a handbag that looks like a foxes face, some smellys from the body shop and some duck bath bombs.  How lucky was I! 

Until tomorrow...

From snow to floods.

Today's photo of the day.

It's Raining again.

This morning we had to go out to do some shopping, it was such a lousy day. It began raining at about 2am and didn't stop all day. (How do I know it started at 2am I hear you ask? well at 2am I was wide awake with my old friend toothache). The rain poured down, any snow that had been left melted and joined in with the rain running down the roads, so now we had floods to contend with.
Down in the garden it was waterlogged, Mrs Squirrel could have used a pair of wellington boots! Rain ran down our road like a stream, people were worrying about having to get out sandbags, I suppose that is one upside of living in an upstairs flat, if the water reaches our door we know there are big problems. Thats when we start watching for Noah and his ark.

Until tomorrow...

The chase is on.

There was such a hullabaloo in the bushes it sounded like something was being murdered. Then out came a flock of about ten sparrows, all male chasing after a female. Obviously she was ready for breeding and each male wanted to make sure that he was the one that caught her.

Today's photo of the day.

A male House Sparrow.

One of the male sparrows giving chase decided he wasn't going to catch the female stopped to rest, when he saw another female he began to display himself, his tail went up in the air, his tail feathers spread out and he bobbed up and down, then the chase began. As soon as some other male realised what was happening they joined in the chase, over the garden over the school wall and away to who knows where.
It made me tired just watching.

Until tomorrow...

We were just talking, then it appeared...

Today's photo of the day.

A Sparrow Hawk

It was quite funny to see this Sparrow Hawk sitting on the fence today. Tony and I had just been saying how long it had been since we saw one in the garden, then there it appeared. It sat there for a good five to ten minutes long enough for us both to take some pictures of it. Mine are not very good because they are taken through a closed kitchen window. However it was good to know the Sparrow Hawks are still around and hopefully they will visit more often once the weather gets better. It is of course coming up to nesting season so that always encourages the Hawks to visit the gardens.

Until tomorrow...

A lonesome chaffinch

Last week I saw a male and a female chaffinch, today I saw only the female. She sat in the bush watching the garden, she seemed to be looking out for something, maybe it was her mate she was waiting for!

Today's photo of the day.

A female Chaffinch.

I never saw a male come into the garden, the female flew down into the garden ate some seeds and some suet then flew away over the school. I hope she found her mate before darkness set in.

Until tomorrow...

How many are a flock?

How many birds make a flock?

Today's photo of the day.

Goldfinches on a feeder.

The Goldfinches seemed happy to share the feeder today. Not like some day's where one bird decides the feeder is just for them and nobody else. Peace reigned over the garden today.

Until tomorrow...

Mrs Squirrel is not looking her best.

Mrs Squirrel is looking decidedly scruffy, she has small bald patches over her body. This is usually a sign that the babies have been born or are due to be born anytime now. She pulls out her fur to line the drey to make it warm for her babies.

Today's photo of the day

Mrs Squirrel.

If you look closely you can see one of the bald patches just at the top of her front leg, she has more round the other side, however I could not get a picture of her from that side.

Until tomorrow...

The Early Bird Catches The Worm.

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Blackbird With A Meal worm.

The early bird catches the worm, Mr Blackbird was happy to know that this was true this morning. He was the first to appear this morning after I had put out the food. He had first choice of everything, he chose the meal worms.

Until tomorrow...

Up on the roof

Today's Photo Of The Day

Up On The Roof.

This is a regular sight from our kitchen window. It is the school roof at the bottom of our garden, a school for children with special needs. Obviously the school should be trained to deal with the children, so how does a 10 year old boy manage to climb up on to the roof?

As I said this is a regular sight, the boy's climb on the roof quite often, they stand on the wall at the bottom of the garden, they throw things at us, they spit at us, they verbally abuse us, what do the staff do? Nothing, Nada, not a thing! It puts me off going into the garden because when I do that is what happens just about every time. I can't even pick a time when they are inside because there is no set times that they come out, the staff seem to go by the children's rules, if a child wants to go out that's what they do. Then they come to the door asking if we would let the boys help in our gardens with any gardening or odd jobs! I don't think so!

Until tomorrow...

A bit of gold

Today's Photo Of The Day.

A Goldfinch.

This Goldfinch was sitting in the bush across the garden all by himself. I thought it unusual, they are more often seen in groups. He sat there on his own just watching across the school playground, as if he was expecting something to happen. About five minutes later a flock of about ten other Goldfinches flew into the garden, the Goldfinch flew down into the garden to join them. they didn't stay long, before all flying off together.

Until tomorrow...

Happy Birthday.

Today's Photo Of The Day

Lynsey.

Lynsey is 30 years old today.

I have no decent photographs of Lynsey, because she will not let me take any! the best one on here is the one of her with Andy Devine, ( Shadrack Dingle ). He lived on a boat at Stanley Ferry Marina at the same time we did and happily had his picture taken with Lynsey. The top  black and white photo was taken in Portugal when Lynsey was in her I don't want my picture taken even if I am on holiday mood. 

Any how I hope Lynsey has a Happy Birthday and finally stops getting asked for ID in shops and pubs when trying to buy alcohol and sharp objects. It must be lovely to be 29 and still people think you are too young to buy those things.

Until tomorrow...

Are they displaying, or is it too early?

Today's Photo Of The Day.

Greenfinches.

The photo is a little bit grainy, bit the content is fine. It is difficult to tell whether the Greenfinches are fighting or displaying in this picture! I think maybe it is a little early although we have seen some crows displaying at Asda so maybe not!

Until tomorrow...

Two friends ...

Today's photo's of the day.

Squirrels in the snow.

 Photo's by Tony.

These two squirrels were not bothered how cold it was in the garden, they were quite happy to spend time together in the snow. 

Until tomorrow...