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message 1851:
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suzysunshine7
(new)
Sep 17, 2018 02:46AM
Whew! - Tree2mydoor.com kindly confirmed cancellation of my Order and promptly refunded my money first thing this morning ;o>
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Jolly good! I’m looking forward to your Crocus order arriving, I really hope you won’t be disappointed after my enthusiastic endorsement!
A lovely sunny day here with a delightfully warm Breeze gently blowing - very similar to yesterday in temperature except that yesterday was quite overcast.I've been sat out in the Back Garden in my PJs most of night just enjoying the warmth of it and watching the Wildlife wandering around - the Fox Cubs have grown up and moved on - but we have had some kind of mini furry Loch Ness Monster(!) ambling around recently.
I've only caught glimpses of it from my Bedroom Window so far - it is about the size of a small Dog with a long Body and Neck and Tail. It's hard to be sure? - but I think that it could possibly be a Weasel? ;o>
Lez wrote: "Jolly good! I’m looking forward to your Crocus order arriving, I really hope you won’t be disappointed after my enthusiastic endorsement!"My only bit of a niggle so far could be with the Delivery Date - as all it says against the Order is ... 'Delivery within 3 weeks'. It doesn't have to arrive on their Anniversary but just a couple of days before or after would be very nice timing.
I could pick the exact Date with the Tree2mydoor.com Order but I didn't think that this particular feature was really worth paying out £42 inc p&p when I could buy a slightly smaller Emerald Lace Japanese Maple Tree from Crocus on their 20% special offer deal for just £29 inc p&p. The money saved on it will go towards the cost of the Cake.
I have got their personalised Sundial gift for the day itself - and, in our family, we usually tend to space out any other gifts over a few days to make such special days and occasions last for that little bit longer ;o>
I wasn't sure that the extra £5 Gift Wrap option would be worth it? - and so I've bought some Hessian wrapping from off eBay and some Emerald Green Ribbon from off Amazon for only a couple pounds - and they should be arriving sometime tomorrow.
Hmmm? - having done a Google I am now thinking our early Morning visitor could possibly be a Stoat? I thought it seemed to be a little too large for a Weasel and it's Tail is definitely much longer and far bushier as well ...
I was just going to suggest that, Suzy. Weasels are really quite small, we used to regularly see a couple in Boroughbridge Morrison’s car-park. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stoat. Stoatally different of course.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d2CTVqt...
Edit : an escaped ferret?
It looked to be just that bit too long and too large and substantial a creature from the distance of my Bedroom Window looking down and across the Back Garden for it to be a Ferret? - and that's why I have been referring to it as our mini furry Loch Ness Monster all week ;o>It stopped ambling down the Path towards the Shed at the bottom of the Garden and turned slightly as though looking at me and it had such a long extension to it's Neck and Tail that it had me quite puzzled as to just what it might be.
I am definitely leaning towards it probably being a Stoat now ;o>
Awww! - I am SO in love with that absolutely adorable little Ozzy now!!! ;o>
Mystery solved! - for some reason I have always thought that Stoats were much larger than Ferrets - possibly because my Great Uncle only ever bred and kept what were quite small Ferrets. However it seems, on Googling, that fully-grown adult Ferrets can grow to be almost twice the size of a Stoat? And so I think that it must be a large Ferret that I am seeing - cutting through our Back Garden in the direction of the Farmland over the Road at the end of ours. I guess it is going off to do a bit of rabbiting ;o>
... then again? ... it could possibly be a Polecat? ... ! ;o>
suzysunshine7 wrote: "... then again? ... it could possibly be a Polecat? ... ! ;o>"
You haven't said Otter yet :)
You haven't said Otter yet :)
Nah! - it doesn't have a long enough Neck! ;o>
You’ll be lucky to see a polecat, they’re not rare but very secretive. Simon King (Springwatch) waited 42 years to see one!
... then again? ... ! ... ;o> ... ;o> ... ;o>
Lez wrote: "You’ll be lucky to see a polecat, they’re not rare but very secretive. Simon King (Springwatch) waited 42 years to see one!"A Lady came across an abandoned baby Polecat wandering around the ruins of Furness Abbey a couple of weeks ago and it has been homed now and named ... 'Noodle' ... ! ;o>
http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/barrow/...
Then again there is also the possibly lesser known family member,the wily and wonderful pine marten, unlikely as they are mainly found in the far north, Scotland and reported sightings around Cumberland and Northumbria. Indigenous throughout Northern Europe their preferred habitat is remote forest/woodland areas. Their appearance is deceptively cute and cuddly almost feline, don't be fooled, carnivorous by nature they are suberb hunters. On the 11th of March 2013 a football match between FC Thun and Zurich was interrupted when an escaped pine marten invaded the pitch. Before being caught eventually by the gloved goalkeeper it had bitten defender Loris Benito on the finger....... or was it a woozle?Once caught a brief glimpse of a weasel scurrying along a railway track several years ago whilst walking our then dog Ben, a collie/Alsatian cross with a sandy coloured coat.
Ordered a new plug in charger for my portable dvd player from AC Adaptors Are Us on the 1st September which was subsequently lost in transit, after a short email they responde with an apology and dispatched a replacement which arrived this morning so well done chaps and chapesses!
There’s a Pine Marten Hotel near Harrogate as apparently they’ve been seen there. My nephew worked at a call centre up there for a few weeks and saw one when he was cycling home at midnight.Really exciting.
Nice to know Lez that even in this increasingly urbanised world that these small enclaves of nature survive and can be occasionally glimpsed if one is lucky enough.
We definitely do get Polecats around here - but I'm not sure if we get Pine Martens living this far down into the UK?
Luck does play a big part in seeing wildlife - eagles, otters, kingfishers, foxes, all by pure luck (although being in the right area, say Scotland, often helps! No chance of wild dolphins in the Midlands). In almost thirty years in our house where we have a smallish suburban garden, I've twice had a really close view of a kestrel, landing and sitting. By not being on the right spot by a margin of five minutes or so, I wouldn't have had a clue what I'd missed. Makes me wonder how much is out there when my back's turned...
Very rarely see kestrels now, buzzards have taken their place. They seem to nest in one of the tall trees on a traffic island down the road. I usually have a family of four circling above my house every summer. Beautiful birds. There’s also a local sparrowhawk which I rarely see but I often find a pile of feathers in the morning.
Judging by the state of the cars on our street there must be a fair few shitehawks around thoigh I haven't seen any yet!Our local bird population consists of a couple of pigeons, the occasional sparrow, a passing crow or seagull, very exotic! We are quite close to the edge of town so the highlight is to catch a brief glimpse of some kind of hawk as it soars overhead before returning to the open fields nearby. Our streets are squashed up terraces with tiny back yards and very little in the way of greenery so not much to offer the discerning feathered visitor. Even the magpies seem to have deserted these barren wastelands for better food and lodgings elsewhere.
I remember my mum's back garden having a variety of finches and tits, sparrows, starlings, blackbirds and thrushes,all regular visitors for the smorgasbord of bread, seeds, fruit, nuts etc on offer, even the occasional dollop of dripping or lard was not refused. Somedays the noise of squabbling diners was enough to deafen you and a face at the window would be met with a flurry of wings beating a hasty retreat but never too far.
Martin wrote: "Judging by the state of the cars on our street there must be a fair few shitehawks around thoigh I haven't seen any yet!Our local bird population consists of a couple of pigeons, the occasional s..."
Do you have a wall to put brackets on for hanging baskets and bird feeders? Seeds are better than nuts and fat balls (!) are very popular with most birds. Any space for pots for growing climbers against a wall? Birds and bees love honeysuckle, it grows very quickly and smells gorgeous. Easy to look after, just pruning when it gets too much. Is there space for a birdbath? Birds need water at all times of year, not just to drink but to clean their feathers. Never put bread out, it has no nutrional value and can encourage rats.
We did try a few things but to no avail, the surrounding area just does not seem conducive to attracting any kind of birdlife. Still, I have my walks with the dogs around a few fields and wooded areas where I can soak up a litthe bit of nature to satisfy my soul.
Lez wrote: "Do you have a wall to put brackets on for hanging baskets and bird feeders? Seeds are better than nuts and fat balls (!) are very popular with most birds. Any space for pots for growing climbers against a wall? Birds and bees love honeysuckle, it grows very quickly and smells gorgeous...."I have honeysuckle growing over a pergola right outside my back door. It's covered in berries at the moment, although I don't think they're ripe yet as the birds are still demanding seeds in the feeders. I have a very loud quarrel of sparrows around the door in the mornings, with the odd lumbering pigeon on the ground picking up spilled seeds (so to speak). When the sparrow chicks were hatching it was Bedlam as the daddy sparrows went foraging (i.e. fighting) for food for the babies. The blackbirds moved out as soon as they possibly could.
Martin wrote: "We did try a few things but to no avail, the surrounding area just does not seem conducive to attracting any kind of birdlife..."It's cats that are the strongest deterrent to birds, and the most effective exterminators of birds should their paths happen to cross. We have very few cats in my neighbourhood, which is probably why we have so many birds.
The other thing we have a lot of is bats. It's past the best time of year to see them, as it gets dark quite quickly in autumn. In summer, when we have a prolonged period of twilight, we can catch frequent glimpses of bats hoovering up the midges & gnats. You never get to see them properly because they fly so fast and change direction so frequently & rapidly, but they're always zooming across your peripheral vision.
Again going back to my parents house we used to get a lot of bats, even a solitary owl in a nearby tree could be heard plaintively hooting through the night. Luckily there were quite spacious gardens with wide streets, most with grass verges, also lots of wooded areas, parks and fields. Corby was back then one of those new towns of the fifties with generous areas given over to a more natural environment side by side with the urban development. On the otherhand Kettering is more in keeping with the late Victorian/early 1900's of growing industrialisation where such attitudes were not given much consideration. Only in more recent times as new developments have emerged has the trend swung to a more greener, friendlier environment for both human and wildlife. Sadly with land at a apremium price the pendulum looks set to swing back again as every plot of spare land regardless of size and suitability is bought up and crammed with foats and houses to be sold or rented out to our ever growing population.
I have a robin, wren, goldcrest, blackbirds, chaffinches, greenfinches, goldfinches, bullfinches, assorted tits - blue, great, coal and long-tailed, woodpigeons, collared doves, magpies and the occasional woodpecker. A few starlings, very rarely any spadgers. I usually see a bat or two, but suddenly this year I had about 12 of them whizzing over the fence from next door every night, almost in formation. It must mean there are plenty of insects which is a good thing. My sis in Harrogate has a terrace house with a very small garden but has lots of containers and a trellis with roses and honeysuckle. There’s a rough lane at the back with allotments behind and beautiful red kites wheeling about, sometimes directly over her house.
Lez;
We've got loads of Sparrows in our garden - I'll send you up a squadron or two :)
We also do quite well for other birds - a pair of Robins, a pair of Blue Tits, a pair of Chaffinches, numerous Pigeons and Collared Doves and Starlings all visit every day. Not seen many Blackbirds recently but do often hear them from their hiding place under the bushes.
There is also the occasional visit from a Great Tit, a Greenfinch and a Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted, I think.
We've got loads of Sparrows in our garden - I'll send you up a squadron or two :)
We also do quite well for other birds - a pair of Robins, a pair of Blue Tits, a pair of Chaffinches, numerous Pigeons and Collared Doves and Starlings all visit every day. Not seen many Blackbirds recently but do often hear them from their hiding place under the bushes.
There is also the occasional visit from a Great Tit, a Greenfinch and a Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted, I think.
we have a phenomenally widespread variety of birds in our garden - mrs tech dailly puts out food for the scadging, wee keech anywhere little bast........, i digress, upon the point of describing the vast range of species to be cherished whilst they feed. we get brown ones, black ones, big ones, wee ones, black and white ones and seagulls (or as they're now called, 'what's a sea gulls'). the wee brown ones are the fastest, as measurable by how rapidly they take off when i let lux out to chase them away!
Tech is standing in for Bill Oddie this year on Springwatch, you know? ... ! ;o>
Don't forget 'the pink ones' that fly around Kilmarnock after a night out! ;o>
Hasn't it suddenly gone very warm?
When the wind stops gusting, it's like summer has come back again. We were on the verge of shutting some of the windows that have been open for months but have decided to leave it a bit longer now and the quilt has been taken off again, leaving just a sheet on the bed :)
When the wind stops gusting, it's like summer has come back again. We were on the verge of shutting some of the windows that have been open for months but have decided to leave it a bit longer now and the quilt has been taken off again, leaving just a sheet on the bed :)
Grizzlygrump wrote: "Hasn't it suddenly gone very warm?When the wind stops gusting, it's like summer has come back again. We were on the verge of shutting some of the windows that have been open for months but have d..."
Yes, same here. I’ve not needed the fire on for 3 days now. It keeps raining though.
I'm having a PJs while sat out on the Patio day today ;o>It is blowing up quite a Breeze but it is so deliciously warm and soothing and restful.
I'm having a six hours on trains and three hours in meetings day. It was threatening to pour with rain as I was setting out from Shrewsbury this morning. It's been warm & sunny ever since. Just on my way out of London now.
...Unfortunately sat opposite a sales person who is telling one of his staff on the phone - very loudly - that he's not good enough.
Gordon wrote: "I'm having a six hours on trains and three hours in meetings day. It was threatening to pour with rain as I was setting out from Shrewsbury this morning. It's been warm & sunny ever since. Just on ..."Awww Gordon, I hope that you have an easy-going, pleasant and relaxing journey with lots of really interesting views out of the Windows ;o>
Gordon wrote: "...Unfortunately sat opposite a sales person who is telling one of his staff on the phone - very loudly - that he's not good enough."Oops?!! - did I go and jinx that on you by wishing you a pleasant journey?!! ;o<
What an 'orrible little Man?! Apparently one with no appropriate sense of there being a time or a place for having such frank conversations with colleagues - and seemingly showing a distinct lack of self confidence/courage in himself in that he feels the need to do it by Mobile Phone in a very public place instead of in an Office and face-to-face?
It's been a rather odd kind of a day here ... we enjoyed an Easter Egg between us for Brunch because Mum found one that she had hidden away and then lost! ... and we are just debating on whether to use up an Out of Date Christmas Pudding for Tea tonight or tomorrow night?! - LOL!!! ;o> ... ;o> ... ;o>
!!? ... is that the next size up or down from Budgie Smugglers ... ?!!;o>
depends on which midgie yer rakin' in! :)
They're a snug fit, just a lttle tight around the collar!
"midge raker definition : scottish jakies or cadgies that dumpster dive or (politely) person who sifts through the rubbish of others"Eg : "I wonder where she got that coat from? - She's a midge raker she got it oot the bins!"
Hmmm, I think that a certain person is feeling jealous! - has Mrs tech got you on a Salad Diet again?!
... Hee, Hee, Hee!!! ;o>
yeah, yeah, well jelly! passin' roon' the foosty chocolate 'n' squeezin' the booze oottan ancient pudden! set a place for me! :)
The Easter Egg was perfectly fine and absolutely delicious ... and the Christmas Pudding is only just a month Out of Date ;o> ...
aye, the month o' sundays! parp!
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