Exciting Times

 I was out in the garden early yesterday checking the birds and Todd is looking very happy. He still can only fly up to a low branch and then gradually make it up to a higher one but he spends a lot of time walking around on the floor of the aviary eating the seed I have put down there for him but surprisingly he has really taken to Dottie our rescue dove. He tries to sit next to her all the time and flaps his little wings hopefully, quite clearly thinking she may be able to feed him. She tolerates him sitting next to her but looks a bit bored by the whole thing. It has made me wonder if we have made a mistake and she isn't actually a white dove but a white pigeon. Apparently they are specially bred for release at weddings and funerals but still many of them never make it home. We have always commented that she and Del, the dove we bought to keep her company just ignore each other, both seem very happy, they just don't interact. What ever the ins and outs of pigeon or dove breeds, and I am amazed at how many different breeds of domestic pigeons there are when you look into it, Dottie is definitely giving Todd more confidence as he gets used to being independent so that has to be a good thing. 

I had my telephone consultation with the Royal Marsden yesterday morning and the thyroglobulin levels from my blood test hadn't come back yet. This is the marker to shows if there are any thyroid cancer cells circulating in the body. All the other results were normal and the doctor told me they have no reason to believe there will be anything wrong but I will just have to wait a little while longer to know for sure all is OK. 

Of course there is one other exciting piece of news. England won! They are through to the final on Sunday playing Italy. I'm not quite sure how that will play out in eldest daughters home as her partner is Italian but it should be a brilliant game! I could hear the little girl and boy next door singing "Football's Coming Home" all evening before the match and I felt so happy for them. Eldest son was only four and in the nursery part of the school in the Euros of 96 when the song came out and he says he can still remember the excitement of singing it with his friends. I remember so clearly the World Cup final in 1966 and the excitement of everyone in the country. I had a little World Cup Willie toy I loved. I wonder where that is now, it's probably worth a fortune! Win or lose what happy memories are being made for children all around the country. It has given everyone a real lift after such a bad 18 months.

Scarlett is coming this morning and I'm looking forward to hearing all about her day at school and as Tom is off too he will be able to spend some time with her. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Taking Steps To A Normal Life

 So all the restrictions are being lifted on the 19th July. I'm not quite sure what I feel about it, one thing for sure I'm glad I'm not making the decisions. Everyone, depending on what your life is has a different view. If your sitting at home watching your business slowly fall apart you want everything to get back to normal. I have an old school friend who is a musician, he has had a lifetime of making money singing and playing at pubs and small venues. Never a fortune, but a lovely relaxed life of paying his own way his entire life. He has not had a penny of his own earnings since the beginning of the last lockdown so of course he wants everything to get back to normal. At the other end of the balance a friend of youngest daughter is recovering from cancer surgery and looks after two elderly parents and would like restrictions to stay high. Of course she is worried and who can blame her. There are always going to be completely different view points on this one. One thing I do think is if we don't relax them now but hold on a few more months we will be relaxing them going into winter which doesn't seem very sensible, so do we hold on until next spring? That will be what some people will be saying this in the autumn I'm sure and it is not a nice thought at all for so many people who are just hanging on to their jobs. As I said I'm very glad I'm not making the decisions.

One thing I made a decision about yesterday and then worried non stop was my plans for little Todd the pigeon. I took him out into the aviary for a practice fly around. He is not very good at flying at all yet, he managed to make it to a low branch and then sat there wobbling. I left him for the afternoon and he just walked up and down the perch a bit. In the evening I was going to bring him back in but after much thought decided if I am going to let him free in the park in the next few weeks he needs to get used to being outside at night. I checked him just before it was dark and he looked perfectly happy but I barely slept all night worrying as I lay there listening to the rain battering down. It was ridiculous really as there is a roof on the aviary and if he was out in the wild he would just be getting wet but I still worried. This morning he is fine and was happily sitting in one of the food bowls eating away. All the other birds are ignoring him and just getting on with their morning as usual. I said to Tom, who had been at work so not part of the decision making "I decided to take a chance, I know something may go wrong, but he can't stay in a cage his whole life." I suddenly realised it was very like our own situation at the moment. I hope both of the choices that have been made go well! 

I'm off to meet my sister to go and see my Dad today. It's raining heavily here but hopefully it will dry up a bit later on. I've started an experiment of not putting the TV on in the morning but listening to music when I get up so am slightly unsure what the weather is going to do but never mind I'll just put an umbrella in my bag, hope for the best and sing songs about sunshine. Here's one to get me started! Have a lovely day everyone what ever the weather. xx

Dottie Update And Keeping Up Fluid Intake

 I left for my Dad's first thing yesterday morning and he had already been seen by the nurse, had his bloods taken and his blood pressure checked. All seemed well, but the nurse reminded him to drink plenty of liquids in this hot weather. When my sister, my Dad and I were back drinking a cup of tea and chatting about how much we have to drink, my Dad said he doesn't feel thirsty. "I know why that is Dad" I said "I remember from my nursing days when you get older the part of your brain that tells you, you need to drink doesn't work as well." "I've got news for you" he said "as you get older the part of your brain that tells you what day it is doesn't work as well either!" Oh dear. Despite all this, Dad was in good spirits and we managed to get all his shopping and tablets sorted out and the sun was shining on all his beautiful roses which always lifts everyone's spirits.

The little pigeon, Todd is still with us and seems quite bright really. When I left the house yesterday I said to him "All you have to do while I am away is stay alive, can you do that." He blinked his little eyes as he sat in his cage and managed to do what had been asked of him. It is very sad he cheeps and flaps his little wings to try and call his Mum for food and then just sadly pecks in the food bowl. I have got the scales out I used to weigh the baby cockatiels on when I hand reared them so am now able to check if he gains any weight. He was 162 g yesterday so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed his weight goes up not down. 

The office staff at Tom's work are eagerly awaiting a photo of Dottie our dove after they looked after her for a day when Tom had found her. He asked me if I would take a photo of her when I was out feeding the aviary. She's a lovely big confident bird now and seems to be really enjoying her life in the sunshine.

Her favourite part of the day is splashing about in the bird bath. I was trying to get a photo of her enjoying her bath but sadly she wouldn't oblige. It wasn't until I was back in the house showing youngest daughter that she pointed out the fox cub to me!

Scarlett is coming this morning and I'm hoping the rain may stay off for us to get out and about a bit. Our roses have been battered by the rain and need deadheading, I thought it would be a nice little gardening job to teach Scarlett and may start a life long love of roses too. I'm especially thinking of a friend of mine this morning who's son is in hospital after being knocked off his moped last night in a hit and run. He moved to London with his family to The Fens in Cambridgeshire for a safer life so it is very sad. Although he has lots of injuries he appears to be stable but it's a terrible thing to happen to a young man. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

New Garden Buys

 We took all the boxed figurines to the charity salesroom early yesterday and even though I felt guilty, once they were all gone I felt so much better. They may not be my taste but I know there will be someone out there who will like them. Then we went on to the garden centre. Other than going last December to buy our Christmas tree we haven't been for over a year. In that time, what was a family business has now been taken over by a large chain. Local facebook groups have not stopped complaining but I thought I would go in with an open mind. I must admit it has totally lost it's individuality and the farm shop has even become a Sainsburys Local. I was talking to one of the staff and she was telling me that every area has been franchised out to separate companies and so no one who works there has any idea where anything is. You couldn't fault the staff though, they were all really helpful and friendly. The home sections were nice with a big selection, but the plants seem to have doubled in price. I have become a bit stingy with growing so much from collected seeds and roses from cuttings so there is no way I would have paid the prices. I did buy a little Pieris for the rockery as it said it liked shade, for £4, but it was tiny. 

I bought this garden clock with a thermometer on the other side. It will be so useful so when I am working out there I can just glance up to see the time.

I bought some new solar lights for the aviary. Over the winter our last lights snapped on a windy night and I chose some really sweet ones in the shape of bees. You can't really see them in the first photo but I took another one of the detail of one. 

The other item I bought was a crystal wind spinner. It's so pretty in the sunshine. I may try and get another one for the end of the garden. It was only when we were on our way home in the car I realised I had completely forgotten the compost. How annoying. I'll have to check out the prices online.

One thing that happened yesterday was a total surprise. When I went up to the end of the garden to check the birds first thing in the morning the figure I had put in the rockery of a runner was missing an arm! The fox had bitten it off and carried it ten feet away to the other side of the garden. Well, I thought that figure certainly isn't bronze! I'm going to try and repair it but I can't help but wonder if anything at fox level may get chewed up. At least I didn't spend any money on it! Yesterday evening the new lights lit up beautifully. I suppose the fox will be able to see what it's chewing now!

Scarlett is coming today and I'm looking forward to showing her what we have done in the garden. It's rather a shame I can't do any planting with her but I'm sure we'll find something to do. I hope everyone has a lovely day and has time to enjoy some of this lovely sunshine. xx

A New Start For The Doves

 "Never destroy someone's character." That's what my Mum used to say and she said her Mum used to say it to her.  She would never talk badly about someone to other people and that is how my sister and I were brought up. If ever there was a character destroyed by the press it was Prince Philip. We have all had a constant stream of stories over the years of his gaffs, his blunders, his rudeness. The same press who are now sharing the constant stories of his kindness, his compassion and his life time of good work. What a shame they didn't share it when he was alive. The funeral was simple and moving and the sight of the Queen all alone was heartbreaking. The military were all faultless. the sun shone and I found it very sad. 

My day yesterday went really well. I spent the morning spring cleaning the aviary. I started off just giving it a sweep round then I thought I may as well do it all completely. I swept and cleaned every corner. It took me hours. We had put a pile of large stones in the corner that I had dug up in the garden. Several years ago we used to breed Chinese Painted Quail and they used to love sitting on these rocks in the sun. Sadly they have now all died so I have taken all the rocks out as they just are a corner for collecting mess now. I'm going to clean them up and extend my new rockery. When the aviary was all cleaned we put out Dotty and our new dove called Del. I make it sound easy, it wasn't! It took youngest daughter and I ages. Transferring birds around from cage to cage and then to the aviary is really difficult when you are trying not to stress them, but in the end it was all done and they were out enjoying the sunshine. There is a nice warm inside part with a heat lamp so it shouldn't be too much of a shock but I hardly slept last night worrying about them.

I planted some more seeds in the greenhouse. Tomatoes and cucumbers, I hope they do well but I'm a bit of a chuck it in and hope for the best sort of gardener. If it doesn't work out never mind, move on to something else. I will just have to see how they go. When Tom got in at 10pm he said everyone out and about observed the minutes silence for Prince Philip at 3pm. Luckily he was at the turn around stand so could easily too. We watched the news special of the funeral as Tom hadn't seen any of it and I felt sad all over again. With all that seemed to be going on during the day I didn't get round to finishing the caravan step. That  is a job for today. 

First thing this morning I went up to the aviary to check them and Dottie and Del were flying up and down cooing away! They have seemed to set off every collared dove in the neighbourhood who were all answering them. Oh dear, that won't go down well with the neighbours! Dottie has come such a long way from that little bloodied, injured bird Tom found lying at the side of the road last November. I'm very pleased. The sun is shining again this morning so onwards and upwards. I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday what ever you are doing. xx

Too Good To Use

 Tom took the five boxes of cleared out items back down to the charity salesroom yesterday morning before he went to work so they are finally all gone. I resisted taking items out so everything went and I'm going to get a few more boxes from the loft this week and try and get some more ready for next week. Anything not useful enough to keep, good enough to take to the charity salesroom or to recycle into another use will  be taken to the dump. I'm hoping to keep the latter items down to the minimum. There is another category that I think everyone probably has which is "Too good to use!" You see them everyhere at car boot sales, charity shops and even jumble sales (remember them! sigh) . Those perfect little boxed items or pretty things that have quite clearly never been used. Pastry forks in little presentation boxes, cutlery sets, best linen table cloths and napkins or even sets of soaps and bath salts. Put away too good to use and in the end given away when the person dies to another person who thinks "too good to use". We talk about saving the worlds resources if everyone used everything they had put away for best we could probably avoid manufacturing another item for a year!

I have so many of these items and as I get older I keep thinking what on earth am I doing keeping these? I may as well use them. I have a beautiful little art deco sandwich plate wrapped in bubble wrap in a cupboard. I had thought to put it on a wall but have never really found a place for it. I decided I may as well give it to the charity salesroom next time but it seems silly to give it away becuase it is so perfect I don't want to chip it. I'm going to get it out and use it everyday for my lunch. It is so pretty I'm sure it will make me smile and isn't that what life is all about? If it gets chipped or broken too bad, at least it was used not kept in a cupboard. Several years ago I bought this pack of soaps at a jumble sale for 10p. I have no ides why I bought them just to put them away. Much as I would love one I haven't got a guest room with a guest en suite to put them in, so they just sit in a drawer with the box getting more and more damaged, the same as they have been for probably fifty years. I doubt Tom and youngest son would be grateful if suddenly dainty little lavender soaps appeared in the bathroom so I may as well just hang on to them for now, at least they make my dressing table drawer smell nice. William Morris, the well known 19th century British arts and crafts designer, famously said "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." Well why shouldn't it be both. I'm going to try and think like this more and more!

On the subject of using things, yesterday when I got to my Dad's, my lovely sister after reading yesterday's blog post bought this round for me.

I am so thrilled with it. I spent most of yesterday evening reading it. I have been reminded by a lot of people in the comments about some of the problems with fondues I had forgotten about, such as taking an age for the oil to warm up and being quite unsafe really, espcially in a caravan!  After reading this, I think chocolate fondue may be the way forward. If that doesn't win Tom over nothing will! There are lots of other 1970s recipes that I can't wait to try like Flaming Cherries marinated in rum. When the cherries come out on our tree later this year, I know what I'll be making!

It looks like a nice bright day today. I still have some seeds I want to get planted in the greenhouse so I think I will try and get out to do that. I'm going to give the aviary a bit of a sweep round too in preparation for the doves going in later in the week and see if I can set up a platform for them as doves seem to like that not perches. I hope everyone has a lovely day how ever you plan to spend it. xx

Travelling In London And Routemasters

 It seems quite exciting these days to go a bit further afield for a drive. We set off after lunch to go and buy a white Barbary dove as a companion for Dottie our white dove. We drove past Hampton Court Palace and over Hampton Court Bridge. All the flags were at half mast in respect for the death of Prince Philip. It was quite busy all around the area, although I noticed a sign at the palace saying that you could only visit if you had made an appoitment and I would imagine it is the outside only at the moment. I love that stretch of the river with all the pleasure boats and house boats. It took me back to childhood visits when my Auntie and cousins came to stay. My Mum and my Auntie would never stop talking they were so pleased to be together again and on one trip from Kingston to Hampton Court on a pleasure boat we missed our stop completely they were talking so much and had to go back up the river again to visit Hampton Court. I said to Tom that we should really visit some attractions this year. It's quite exciting to try and think of all the places we would like to visit again. 

One reason we have decided to travel about as much as possible this year is our free passes. If you live in London, when you are 60 you get free travel. Free on the trains, underground and buses. Tom gets free bus and underground travel as he is a London bus driver but now he is 60 he also gets free train travel and I got my free pass last August. I have counted the days to this and then there is a pandemic! I have no doubt that very shortly, with all the cutbacks that are on the way, it will be taken away from us. I intend to use it not stop until that day comes. 

We bought the new dove from a lovely young man who breeds them. Despite me navigating with my phone in an area I had no idea where we were, we got there. There was a tricky moment when it went wrong and we ended up going round and round an industrial estate in Feltham, as you can imagine that was quite scenic! It only ended up taking 40 minutes each way and we were back home with the cutest little young dove. We have put their cages together and at the start Dottie was horrified but by the end of the evening they were sitting next to each other through the bars. I think a freindship might be developing and I am hoping they will be very happy together when they go out into the aviary in a week or two.

Eldest son sent me lots of photos of his Routemaster bus out driving around. He said it was such a successful day and so many people wanted to travel on it and talk to him about the history of it as it is has a special Queen's Jubilee livery which seems quite apt this weekend.

There is another busy day ahead of us today. Tom is off work and is having his hair cut this morning. Finally, he will stop complaining. Then we are off to the charity sales room with our boxes that I have been sorting out for months. All non essential retail is opening up in England today and pubs and reataurants are allowed to open to serve people outside and in pub gardens. However I feel very sorry for all the pubs who have worked so hard getting ready for opening today. This is what greeted me this morning. It will have to be a hardy (or desperate) person who wants to sit in a pub garden today.

I hope everyone has a lovely day, manages to stay warm and if you live in England enjoys some of the freedom we are getting today. xx

Working At Aintree

 The Grand National holds a very special place in my heart. From a Liverpool family, when I was little we lived at Aintree, it wasn't just my link living close to the racecourse that makes it so special though. My Grandad worked on the racecourse for years. I grew up with so many tales of it and he loved it. Becuase of his work he would always stand at Becher's Brook during the race but alway said that jump was cruel. Horses always fell and even though it has been altered in modern times, still do. Many of these horses over the years died and in my Grandad's day Shire horses were then sent out to drag the dead horses away. These were the horses he worked with and loved. Among my most treasured possessions are some of the horse brasses my Grandad collected from these Shire horses at Aintree racecourse. As a little girl I would polish them at the table with newspapers all laid out. This was my job on a Saturday morning and when I polish them now with Scarlett I can't believe it has come right round in a big circle. Yesterday there was an enormous milestone in the history of the race, a woman jockey won! I doubt my Grandad would ever have believed such a thing would have happened, and all, because of the pandemic, with not a single spectator there, but what a breakthrough for women. This photo was taken of my Grandad working at the racecourse around 1930. He is on the far right of the photo looking very big and strong I always think. These are one of the sets of horse brasses from the Shire horses I have.

Coincidentally one of the items I saved from the boxes I brought down from the loft was another item it had been my job to polish on a Saturday morning. It was this brass planter. All through my teenage years I remember it in our house with a plant in it. My Mum had plants everywhere, all beautifully tended, she kept plants for years and they always did so well. We don't have window sills in our house now, so growing house plants is much harder but I love my plants too. I've polished up this planter and I may even keep it at the caravan during the summer so we have a bit of greenery there.It would mean I would be transporting plants back and forwards which I'm sure would make Tom despair of all the "paraphernalia" as he puts it I insist on taking, but I love it to look nice while we are there. He says everyone else on the caravan site is sitting sunbathing and I'm polishing!

Talking of polishing eldest son phoned yesterday evening and he is taking his old Routemaster bus out today and he has spent all week polishing it and getting it ready as it has not been used for months. He took it for a short drive round and everyone was waving to him as he drove past. He said it hasn't felt so normal for such a long time. I hardly dare to believe when so much of the world are still having such a terrible time that we may get back to some sort of normal life. I was telling him about the new wheel arch for the caravan I had ordered and he said he would get it resprayed for me the same colour as the caravan and then take off the old one and fit the new one. I'm ever so pleased as it looked like a very tricky job to me!

Tom is off today and we are going to a place near Heathrow to buy a white dove as a friend for Dottie. Then after a week or two, when they have got used to each other and if the weather has warmed up, we will put them out in the aviary together. Dottie is so adorably sweet I can't bear to think of her having a life on her own in a cage so I hope it all works out OK. I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday what ever your plans. xx

Looking Forward To David Essex

 It was another warm day yesterday, a sunny cheerful sort of day that somehow brightened us all. Tom is on late shifts all the way though until next Tuesday but at least that means he gets the morning at home. I had ordered an extension to the hosepipe with the replacement attachment and we ran it up the side of the garden fence so not only does it look much tidier I can sit on the bench and give the ducks a shower instead of them just having a swim about in their little pool. They loved it and I can see on warm days this will be a job all of us will want to do as it is so amusing to watch their antics when they are enjoying themselves.

I may even try the cockatiels with a bit of misting on warm days now the hosepipe reaches right up to the end of the garden. They certainly seemed to enjoy the early spring sunshine yesterday.

There has been more news about things hopefully opening up later in the year. Musical festivals have announced they will be taking place later in the summer. A friend of mine who is a musician has announced he will be playing at venues later in the year, after a year with no work I am so pleased for him. For me, one really exciting thing I am looking forward to almost seems possible now. My sister and I were meant to be going to see David Essex in concert last September which was of course cancelled and postponed until this September. It was looking as if it was a distinct possibility it may not even happen then but now suddenly it seems a bit hopeful! We saw him at The Sutton Granada and The Hammersmith Odeon in 1974 and 1975. Sigh! What happy days. For any one else who remembers that twinkle in his eye here is a trip down memory lane!

Scarlett is coming today and sadly the weather doesn't look quite so good for us, but other parts of the country who have been having rain are at least due some sunshine. Hopefully we'll still get out for a walk and have a bit of fun today. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing and is managing to plan something nice for after lockdown. xx

Waifs And Strays

 I went out to check yesterday and decided it was much to cold for gardening. I will check again tomorrow but I think it may be a case of a few more days inside in the warm. There's not much we are able to do until the weather warms up but we thought we may redo our duck run in the next few weeks. Our female duck Scoot laid the first egg of 2021 yesterday and I think she deserves a bit of extra love and care.

The whole neighbourhood knows we take in waifs and strays. I have lost count of the number of knocks on the door we have had with neighbours asking if we can take in this baby blackbird, budgie found on the allotments, ducklings or chickens from school hatching projects even lost dogs that are dropped at our door with the parting comment "I thought you would know what to do". The lost dog was reunited with a heartbroken owner a few roads  away and we managed to find homes for the ducklings at a local farm we used to buy our chicken feed from. The budgie lived for years more in our aviary and the baby blackbird was released in the wild after being hand reared. It is something I enjoy so much. If I can't manage the situation there is always someone to turn to who will help, with care or rehoming.

Eldest son is exactly the same. He spent months catching Millie my Dad's cat who was virtually feral when he found her. I remember trying to get her into a cat basket to take her to the vet, she was totally wild! Now all this time later she will barely shift off my Dad's sofa! Injured seagulls and pigeons, they all have spent time in boxes in his kitchen. He like us can't turn his back on anything. 

Our latest addition is called Dottie. A few months ago, on the way home from work, Tom found a little white dove lying at the side of the road. With a bloodied wing and unable to fly she would probably not have survived the night. She was exhausted and starving. She was so thin I didn't think she would survive. We have fed her up and kept her warm and now she has completely recovered. She is a domestic dove, not a wild one, and we have tried to find her owners. Lots of people have said  they have lost doves but they all have had rings on their legs which Dottie doesn't . It looks as if she is staying with us and we are already planning an aviary for her. She is adorable, she really interacts with us, making lovely cooing noises. Scarlett, after initially being horrified by her bright red legs, now loves her too and chats away to her. 

Well it's Valentine's Day today. Tom and I don't do Valentines Day at all, we used to send each other cards when we were younger but it has all become so commercialised and another reason for us to be manipulated into spending more money. Oh dear don't I sound a misery! I did get a Valentine card, from my adopted donkey Bonnie! I have put that up on the dresser and no doubt it will give us a laugh today which I think is what it's all about. 

I hear warmer weather is just around the corner, which is exciting in itself. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx