Christmas Raffle

Going back to December now.  Just before Christmas I called in the Charity shop where I volunteer one morning a week.  Hadn't been working for while since having an operation on my foot in November so I called in to say Happy Christmas.   I just called in in time to buy tickets for the staff raffle.  Then I went off to do my shopping.

Half way round Asda my phone rang asking me to call back in the shop.  When I got there I was surprised to learn I had won both prizes in the raffle. First was a Christmas cake and second a hand knitted blanket.  Both had been made by volunteers.  Apparently the first ticket drawn was for the cake which I won and there were 3 different tickets drawn for the blanket and none of them wanted it.  So 4th ticket drawn was mine.  I wasn't saying no to the lovely blanket but I did decline the cake as nobody in the family likes it.

I was going to give the blanket to my baby granddaughter but as she is still in a cot and doesn't need it yet I decided to hold onto it.  It is single bed size but just covers to top of my daughter's double bed so it can stay there for now.

 Close up of pattern below. Must have taken hours of work. 

Bird nesting boxes

Today I emptied my bird boxes ready to clean them out before replacing them in the garden ready for spring.  Last year there were lots of earwigs and wood lice in them.   The first one I opened today had no insects in it.   Then I realised why when a rather large spider came crawling out of the nest. He had been feasting well since the birds left.

 This is the larger nest where the spider had been living.  It was nice and dry and made mainly of moss and feathers.  You can see some white cotton in there which I must have dropped in the garden when sewing outside in the summer.  Also in this one there were several filter tips from cigarettes which I think maybe the window cleaner had dropped in the garden.  It is surprising what they use for nesting materials. Last year I found what seemed to be horse hair in one of them.  I think both nests this year were made by bluetits.

The second nest was quite a bit smaller and very damp.  A big colony of woodlice had taken residence in the box.  Like the other this was mainly moss and small feathers.  The rain must have managed to get into it and the inside of the box has some white waxy looking substance in it which I think must be some kind of fungus. Perhaps I will need to buy a new one for this year.  I do have a robin nest box I bought at Christmas so maybe I can put that up instead.

This is the inside of nest box. The white substance is also on the base of the box outside.  I will let it dry out and see if I can remove it .

Jasmine the gymnast

Granddaughter Jasmine is enjoying her gymnastic training.   She is never still and practices all day long.

Poppy on video

Poppy is a very playful cat and likes to play with pens and pencils.  They keep disappearing though so don't know where she hides them. Don't think she does either

Now if only I could get hold of this pen I could fill in the form

I thought the pen was in this bag but must have hidden it somewhere else. 

Perhaps this pencil will be better for filling in forms, or should I go hide it with the pen?

Poppy's first adventure

Poppy had her first outing today to the vet.  I had kept her carrier out and open since I first brought her home in the hope she would pop in and out and not be worried about going in it.  I haven't seen her go into it once.  She was not impressed when I put her in there this morning.

She mewed a little on the way in the car but nowhere near the howling I used to get from the previous two cats.   There were two dogs in the waiting room and she looked at them warily but didn't seem at all distressed.  Then a man came in with a husky pup which came straight up to her carrier and she actually growled at it. 

First she had to be weighed and tipped the scales at 2.3 Kg.  Not sure if this is good or not but when the vet had looked at her eyes and mouth  and listened to her chest she was declared to be a very healthy kitten.  I do not know when she was born but from her apparent age they gave her a birth date of 27th April so now we know when to have her birthday party. 

Next came the nasty part, vaccination and micro chipping.  She was so brave I think they should have given her a sticker like they do with children at the dentist!

She was hoping she would be allowed outdoors once she was vaccinated but the vet said to wait until a week after her next jab in 3 weeks time. 

On the way home the mewing became louder and I think she was quite distressed by the time we reached home.  She immediately went behind the chair in the lounge and curled up to sleep. She is still there 3 hours later.  I was told she might be a but grumpy for the rest of the day, after all it was a big ordeal for her.

Meet Poppy

Time to tell you about our new cat.   After almost five years of being catless, (hubby doesn't like the upset of losing them), we now have a lovely girl we have eventually decided to name Poppy.  She was Coco for a while but I couldn't really take to it.

I got her from a local animal sanctuary called All Creatures Great and Small which is only 2 or 3 miles from where we live.  They had many lovely cats and I was torn between two who were sharing an enclosure.  Would have been great to have them both but I was not pushing my luck.  As you will see from her photos, Poppy is tortoiseshell and white her friend was ginger a white and they looked good together and seemed happy with each others company. I felt quite sorry to leave ginger there alone though I suppose it wouldn't be long before she found another room mate or hopefully a home of her own.

Poppy is about 5 months old and had been neutered a week earlier. She didn't hesitate to come to me and enjoyed being stroked so I think we hit it off.  I brought her home last Monday and she had fun exploring the house.

 A stroll along the study window ledge being very careful not to knock over the family photos.

  A sniff around the kitchen

Now the garden looks interesting but she is not allowed out there yet.

Exploring the lounge and all the interesting things, including the fireplace. 

What 's up there?  Only the light!

Now did I spot birds flying overhead?

Yes I think I did, and maybe a squirrel too.  What fun when I can go outdoors.

After exploring it was time for food. That's good!

Next a wash and a stretch on the mat.

 Mmmm, good for scratching!

Now time to try out the chairs

Armchair is very nice

 So is the chair in the study

Maybe my igloo isn't too bad either if I can't get on anybody else's chair. 

Time to explore the desk.  These pens look like fun

But perhaps in the 21st century I should be learning about computers.

Yes the wires seem to be connected properly.

Wow! this is a mouse?  I was given to understand it would be furry and run from me.  

Well you live and learn!

Now I like this little person and I think he likes me too.  I will have to be nice to him so he will visit again.

My Wildlife Meadow

I have a small patch of grass which I have left to grow now over several summer and only cut it once a year at the end of summer.  Not sure how much wildlife it has attracted but it certainly has a large population of wildflowers.  (according to the gardener they are weeds!)