Bird Boxes

Swallows swoop and reel over our roof. They chatter and cheep constantly. They land on the roof and slide skittering down. They fly so close to the skylights that their wings sweep across the glass. I opened the skylights and they sat on them because it gave them somewhere horizontal to land. Then one flew in and I knew it was time to shut the windows! Although these photos were taken about 11:30 a.m. you can see how dark it was. Big black lowering clouds that brought rain and more rain.

This year we more than doubled the number of bird boxes we have in the garden and have been rewarded with lots of birds nesting, laying and rearing their chicks. One of the bird boxes is right beside the kitchen window.

There are baby sparrows in this box. They cheep really loudly for such tiny little creatures. The mother feeds them all day long. Sometimes I can see a baby bird with its head at the entrance to the bird box, mouth wide open, waiting for mummy bird to come back. Then, after checking that all is safe, mummy comes to the entrance and feeds her chick.

All the birds seem to love sitting in the hop that's growing over the pergola.

No matter how many times I try, no matter how long I wait, I just can't get a picture of the feeding in progress!

Late on yesterday evening I went out into the garden to pick sweet pea. Look at the size of the bumble bee I spotted on one of the flowers. It seemed to be sleeping as it didn't move at all no matter what I did.

There were gladioli in this vase which were past their best. As I was cleaning it I wondered what it would be like to put sweet pea in the vase; below the top so they would only be visible through the glass. This is the result. What do you think? It would probably be better if the vase didn't have a waist.

 

 

Mmmm - sweet pea probably look best displayed the usual way in a small vase.

 

Lots of vegetables are now ready to use from the garden.

 

I roasted some of the courgettes and put them in the freezer so they can be added to other dishes later on.

These beetroots looked at lot better once they'd been peeled!

And this is the first of the plums. There are so many more to pick!

 

Well that's it for now. Still trying to re-organise things to make my craft room a reality. There's only time to do a wee bit each day. Of course it doesn't help that I move things and then decide they need to move again to some other location. It'll get done eventually!

 

Thanks for all your comments. I'm not replying to every comment now but just when there's something more to say than just 'thanks'. Rest assured that I read them all avidly and just love getting them. So please keep leaving your comments.

 

All the best for now!