Apologies that there was no blog last week. This is becoming a regular occurrence. A combination of European travel and flight delays meant that there was no time to write anything, and I had no opportunity to take pictures.

This week I have had some time, whilst waiting for flights and I have drafted in some help. So I will start with the help!

Its Me Again!

Hello Blog Readers,

I have not been allowed to contribute for some time, but I’m back ……….

The Big Fat Human (BFH) asked me to give you a quick view into my world.

Well here goes – be careful what you ask for I say!

It was another slow day. I’d walked my usual routes, staked out my usual holes and lain in as many odd places as I could, to catch sight of my friends. They seem to be rather wary of me but I don’t let that bother me. I can spend hours waiting for them. Usually as it goes dark, one or two appear with their white bobbing tails and long ears.

I had played with a few of them this week. Usually for an hour or so. Throwing my friend about and leaping around after him. He laughs a bit at first but then he quietens down and just goes with it. Finally, he doesn’t move and I have to carry him around.

How much use is a friend when he can’t keep up?

Anyway, I have had it with this lot. I turn up regularly and they still don’t greet me. I’m starting to feel like I am not welcome. I bet they play with my brother. He gets everywhere these days, even in my bed when I am sleeping. 

I wandered back to the house with my friend in tow.

As I climbed through the hole in the door, I call out. “Hey BFH, look what I have brought you!”.

I deposit my new found friend on the mat and lie down to rest. It’s hard work playing with my friends, particularly when they make no effort to help me.

The Scrawny Human (SH) sees me first. She looks at the mess on the carpet where my friend is lying. She scampers away pretending not to notice, with that look of disgust.

Next the BFH appears, wearing the latest in grandad slippers and a t-shirt that looks like it has been used to wipe up after me. “Look here, I’ve got you a present”. “He’s a friend of mine that can double up as a tasty meal if I’m hungry!”

The BFH bumbles up to me, pats me on the head and picks me up. He mumbles something indistinguishable to me. It takes me all my effort to stop myself saying, “Put your teeth in old man!”, but it might give the game away. I can understand everything he says and yet he still doesn’t know.

How can the BFH manage the garden, when he’s never here?

What a muppet!

It doesn’t matter really – the more the garden grows wild, the more friends I will find.

Anyway I wander off leaving him to scrabble around on his hands and knees for a while, scrubbing at the floor.

I wander out and relax in my favourite spot – the garden bench. Soft cushions over wooden seat, is there anything better?

What Is Hiding In The Curtain?
(Picture From My Better Half)

Monday was a tough day. The usual mix of early rising, cold, wet stuff falling from above, followed by hours of slow, comfortable, relaxation on the garden bench.

I’ve started to perfect the use of my claw to revive the BFH from his deep sleep. My brother can do it, so why not me?

When the claw fails, it often pays to run and jump randomly around the bedroom until the BFH awakes, long enough to open the door. This particular day, I had done all that. I’d slept like a baby for a few hours and then I sloped off for a spot of “I spy”.

I spy something that can run faster than me ….

I spy something that has wings and can escape my clutches …..

I spy a yellow and black thing that tastes very sharp and stings …..

I spy another type of winged thing that is much slower and can be swatted in mid-jump ……

I spy ........ what the f**k is that?

It’s brown, makes a horrible screechy noise like sucking your teeth and runs like a limbo dancer.

“Well - hello there!”

“Aren’t you weird looking, and that smell is like an SH armpit”

I wander over to check him out. He stands up on his back legs and squeals at me again.

“Calm down cousin, I’m only looking!”

Come to think of it I could take you home as a present. They are going to love you at home.

I pick this weird little critter up by his neck.

“Keep still you little bugger!”

I make a quick dash for home as the BFH arrives home, dressed up like he has been somewhere important.

The BFH goes into the house. Ten minutes later I do the same. All is quiet, and then the weird critter struggles free. Wow does he make some noise!

The BFH rushes out in his grandad slippers and pants. Oh I wish I could take an image.

He takes one look at the critter that is now rearing up and snarling at me and shuts the door to the hall. I’m now locked in a room with this little menace, that is now trying to bite me.

I’ve had enough of this, I am off, and with that I say “Good-day – have a good one”, and jump out the hole in the door. Outside into the cool night air. I consider my next meal!

Can I Make A Run For It?
(Picture From My Better Half)

As I am getting out of my suit and into my comfy clothes I hear a commotion going on next door. “Not again”, I mumble as I rush out in my smalls.

A weasel is standing in the hall looking at me, then looking at the cat and deciding who to bite first.

Quickly I lock the door to the main hall and he is trapped. “Open the back door”, I call to anyone who will listen. Then I rush around to find some clothes.

The cat makes a run for it – jumping out of the cat flap, leaving the weasel in the house and with no chaperone.

By the time I get to back door to open it, my better half has got there first. Hearing the call to action she instantly opened the door to let out the noisy creature. Now there is no sign of it, and we both wander around looking for it – hoping it has gone. No sign and no noise, “it must have gone”, we surmise.

The next day, I am working from home, ahead of flying to Glasgow.

My better half is sorting out a few things and I am on a teleconference in the study, when she spies the weasel. Before she can say “I spy”, it starts to climb the curtains. Ever ready to support this blog, she quickly gets her phone and takes a few pictures.

Then the fun starts.

How do we get the weasel out of the house?

Having grabbed me to help, we both arm ourselves with a broom each.

We then spent an hour chasing the poor little thing around the lounge trying to get him to go out of a very large hole in the wall, otherwise known as the French windows.

Do you think we could get him to go?

He kept running around, hiding behind furniture, baskets of wood, the TV, etc.

Each time we got him towards the window, he swerved off and went back into the room. Almost like he couldn’t see the window.

The frustration was palpable. He kept snarling and chaffing. We kepy huffing and puffing.

Finally, he ran across the room and launched himself out of the French window and into the garden.

The sense of relief was huge.

The adrenalin-rush you get to start with, wears off after an hour and you start to feel quite shaky. That feeling didn’t leave me all day.

I went back to my teleconference as if nothing had happened. My better half started sorting out the lounge again.

Relief!!

An odour of weasel lingered in the air – a reminder of what had ensued.

Our Three Male Bull Finches Enjoy A Meal

I have been writing this blog for over a year now and using a small Sony camera to snap the odd picture. It has served me well and generally provided some half-decent material. It is now faulty.

A couple of weeks ago I invested in something better. I wanted to get something to take pictures of birds. I also wanted to better reflect the wildlife that visits us.

You will have seen the picture of a kingfisher last time, snapped by my better half using the new purchase. So far the best shots have appeared when I have not been around. But armed with the new device, my better half has captured some of our visitors. There is something slightly ironic in this, but it is great that she has embraced the opportunity.

Joining the ranks of the photography crowd is a strange feeling.

No longer can I walk past a photography shop and not marvel at the new lens that I don’t have.

Thoughts about aperture and shutter speed fill my mind at random times, like a new addiction. I now have to listen when colleagues discuss their latest purchase or feel compelled to assess the latest offering from a particular vendor.

The first question I had to answer was Canon or Nikon. I weighed up the options – and plumped for the Nikon. Now I have a new body – (I wish) – camera body. This has so many settings and options that it is impossible to understand them all.

We bought a large lens.

To be a wildlife photographer you have to carry around a big lens. Big enough that people can see it and say “Wow – that’s a big one”.

Our budget didn’t stretch to the “Wow – that’s a big one” size. Instead we went for a second hand, “Wow – that’s a heavy one”. Heavy enough that you need a tripod to hold it. So we got one of them too, and a bag.

“What will we use to take pictures of normal things?” – I pondered.

So next was a smaller lens that you can actually carry around, but people don’t even look at. So now we have a collection of gear, capable of taking some great pictures. Now all we need is the experience to actually use it.

I looked for the option to make me a better picture taker – but it seems they have left off that option.

Instead you are presented with lists of menus that when set-up in tandem are supposed to give you a better focus area, a greater depth of field or more likely, a missed opportunity while you mess with the settings. I’ve already managed that.

But scattered through this blog are our first few pictures. See what you think. Be gentle – we are still learning.

More Summer Visitors

While writing this blog a couple of weeks ago, I could hear a strange tap, tap, tap on the window, sound. I walked around the house looking outside, but could see nothing.

I opened the front door and still nothing.

I ventured into the front room. It seemed to be coming from the fire.

Another great tit had flown down the chimney and was trapped in the wood burner. It was tapping on the glass viewing window. This is the third time we have had something down recently.

I opened the French windows and let it out.

It instantly flew off straight into the glass to the side of the window. It dropped to the floor stunned.

Thankfully it dusted itself off and flew out. Free again, and probably feeling confused and dazed.

A Strange Bed

With the variable weather we have had, a garden visitor has chosen to take advantage of the sun and lounge on the top of one of the bushes. We’ve seen it a few times in the same place. It seems to have made the spot its own.

Rumour has it that there is a glut of these visitors this year. So keep your eyes out when you are weeding.

We spent a weekend away last week. The weather was beautiful and we even managed to get a decent walk in. The views were astounding and it is not so far away, and yet we hadn’t been there before. More on this next week, but here is a taster.

I downloaded a few mixed collections from Apple music to keep us company.

This track is one that my better half purchased as a single – she told me - as we drove along country lanes. I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzoEK545j64

Have a great weekend!

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