I won't lie. life is a bit chaotic here right now. it's the time of year when there are more activities than there is enough time or energy. add in the two birthdays and the flooding of my mum-in-law and I have to admit I have never ever been so ill prepared for the day that is only 10 days away....... We still have to organize visits to family, and family, buy gifts and food and as of half an hour ago I hadn't written a single card. I've now written two.... In the face of too much too do, and no idea where to start I have been doing what works best. Making a mug of tea and a slice of cinnamon toast, and looking out of the window.....
We have a bird feeding station just at the edge of the patio, and this is my kitchen window view. There is nothing more mesmerizing than watching the visitors coming for breakfast, lunch and perhaps a little afternoon snack. We frequently get a good variety of finches and tits and small garden birds, and occasionally some local enterprising pheasant who is not content to sit underneath and catch the dropped seed, but balances precariously and helps herself!
I was contacted a few months ago by Mill Race Garden Centre who offered me a voucher for their online store which sells a wide variety of things for your garden needs. I've been attempting to shop locally more often, instead of using big multi national online stores, but it's not easy when local doesn't always provide what you need, or it's too heavy to walk up very big hill with..... When I realised that local doesn't always have to mean local to me, but can just mean supporting a real store or small business that just happens to deliver then I felt like I'd reached a good compromise. Whilst reading Mill Race Garden Centre's useful blog post about caring for your garden in winter I decide to buy some bird food. I found a wide range of bird feeding products to keep my kitchen window viewing supplied all winter, delivery was fast and the birds are delighted with their feasts, especially the berry suet treats which despite looking shockingly pink are clearly very delicious, as that's the feeder I have to fill up most often!
So come on, is it just me that stares out the window, when there's too much to do? Does anyone else have a pheasant who comes to tea, or a pigeon that eats so much seed we have affectionately named him FP - short for fat pigeon....... and am I the only one who can't get a single decent photograph of the birds who actually come to the feeder, despite hundreds of attempts?........
Disclosure.
Mill Race Garden Centre provided me with a voucher to purchase these items. Thoughts and words are my own.
What a lovely sight from your window. I've been putting crumbs and meal worms on the bird table, and although it's cleared very quickly I haven't been seeing a variety of little birds visiting. I finally spotted a blackbird standing in the middle of the table a couple of days ago, clearing the whole thing, helped by a solitary robin. The finches and tits are round and about, but not getting a look in on the table. Re the Big Day, my suggestion is keep it as simple as you can. Drop everything that isn't essential. Order the food online. Buy people vouchers online and get them sent directly to them. Don't bother with the Christmas cards. No-one will mind I'm sure. Your sanity is more important! I hope your mother-in-law is doing okay, it must be horrible to have to deal with a flooded home and all the upheaval it entails. I hope you (and she) have a good few days now. (Sorry, grammar's gone wrong there, but no doubt you get the gist of it). CJ xx
ReplyDeleteYes - not ready for the impending 10 day off occasion, yes - still to write cards, yes - still to purchase/make/sew and wrap gifts, yes - have been known to stare out of window/blog/drink tea/knit/draw instead of doing what I should! Hope M.I.L drying out and ok - when my other half's parents were flooded in Hebden Bridge a few years ago, they were devastated, more so when despite the flood defences it happened again the following year xxx
ReplyDeleteoh flooding two years in a row, that's extra cruel. I've done quite well with my task list today, even wrote a few more cards! x
DeleteThe birds are obviously very happy and well fed! I am glad they are providing you with some amusement in amongst all of the busyness. I do hope that all will be well for Christmas and for your MIL. I am sure that as long as you are all together on the day you will have a good day, decorations, food and other things aside. Take care of yourself and enjoy some time each day just watching the birds! xx
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of ready for Christmas? Honestly, after tomorrow, which is going to be the day out of you-know-where because of kids' activities, it's all downhill. I can't wait to be through tomorrow. I have a lot of birds around here and I do put seed out for them, but I think they mostly come for the chicken feed. I could probably save some money if I just scattered chicken feed around the yard and put it in the feeders. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the view of your feeding station. We have lots of feeders hung from the cherry tree and I spend many a happy half hour just gazing out at the birds - they do seem to be getting through the food at a pace recently. We have a fair few pheasants but I'm hopeless at getting an in focus photo (that's a lot of 'f'sounds in one sentence!). I'll have to look out for the berry suet treats. Have a good week. xx
ReplyDeleteglad it's not just me who can't focus. x
DeleteYes, I often find myself with a cup of tea staring at the sparrow gang on the feeders when there is a mountain of stuff to do. We have never had a pheasant in the garden. It is really hard to photograph the birds as the feeder is in the corner out of the best light.
ReplyDeleteI've written six cards but my arm is killing me for some reason so I don't want to write any tonight either!
That's a lovely view of the bird feeder, it is so nice to be able to watch the birds. We often see squirrels in many of the nearby trees too ...
ReplyDeleteWith all that you've got going on ... just let things fall into place, they generally do, and if they don't! Oh just never mind .... focus on family.
All the best Jan
oh I love to watch squirrels, they are so funny! and yes family focus is the way to go x
DeleteI am not remotely ready for Christmas and am no longer panicked by that thought, what will be will be. We have a bird table outside our dining room window and I could and do sit and watch for hours. It's displacement activity, I have a masters in it, I am currently reading blogs when I should be writing a shopping list.......
ReplyDeletedisplacement activity ! yes that's what it is! hope you got your shopping list written eventually! x
DeleteHa -- you are so not the only one who stares out the window when there's too much to do. And, do you watch those birds with awe, wishing, if only for a brief moment, that you could lead the life of a bird instead of the life of a wife who has a month's worth of things to get done in 8 days??? I've spent many happy moments with my parents at their window watching the birds and squirrels and chippies as they feast at the feeder. It's a wonderful pastime, especially as you get older and it's harder to get around.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck with your holiday prep -- I'll be thinking of you as I rush around, and wonder which one of us will arrive at the end with the most things left undone LOL!
I really enjoy the image of your intrepid pheasant balancing precariously and pecking away! Good luck with all the preparations and I hope you get a proper good break!
ReplyDeletethe pheasant fell off just after I took the picture! x
DeleteI hope things are getting sorted out for your MIL. The media have stopped reporting about the floods but we know only too well in Cumbria that people's lives are turned upside down for months.
ReplyDeleteYes, I spend HOURS looking out of the windows when I probably "ought" to be doing something else:-}
Just catching up with some very belated blog reading Tess, and so sorry to hear your mother in law was flooded. We have been watching in deep dismay the floods on the tv news, what a disaster for those affected. I love to feed the birds, and have a good view of the feeders from one of my windows in the sitting room, but have a problem with some hooligan crows, who come along and scare away all the smaller birds, then hoover up the feed and leave none for the wee souls who really need it. If I put out more food, they come back. So far I have not found a good crow repellant so if anyone knows of a solution I would be most grateful to hear it! X
ReplyDeleteOh I do hope your mother in law has not been too badly affected, and that things are settling down. We are not a particularly bird-friendly garden currently (mostly because putting food out seems slightly pointless with the intrepid beagle ready to find it and eat it!), mostly fat pigeons this way too, and the occasional robin, but having just got a nesting box as a Christmas gift, hopefully that will change in 2016! I do, however, very much agree with cinnamon toast and tea, for any occasion really. xx
ReplyDeleteDefinitely yes to the watching and to the not being able to take a decent picture. I would love it if you managed to snap the pheasant balancing! We have a couple of woodpeckers who visit our table here and they're always the highlight for us.
ReplyDelete