genialgemsandothergabblings

Earlier in the year when we had all that ice and snow the pond liner was damaged by a man with a stick[we will leave the rest unsaid] so it meant that the fish were without a home and they had been in temporary accomodation in two small tubs in the shed ever since. Anyway 3 weeks ago Peter and my nephew Craig spent a very busy day clearing out buckets and buckets of smelly mud and removing about a 100 frogs and set about relining it. It proved a difficult job as Peter had on a previous effort cemented the stones on with great effect and trying to shift them was a massive job. Anyway after some really hard work  once again the fish and frogs are happy in time for Spring! Infact it did feel like Spring was on it's way but with all this cold and wet weather it seems to have once again gone into hiding and the fire is back on and after a visit to my favourite craft shop Craftyhearts in Preston I was inspired again ,coming back with some lovely bi...

Jasper came into my life on Wednesday morning at about 10am while I was over at Mums in Wigan... by 1pm he had gone but it was lovely while it lasted as I fell head over heels for his dark good looks and affectionate nature! The first thing that I noticed about him was his fetching long tail as it disappeared beneath the shed in the garden and so I went to investigate,stooping down to peer below,  I saw a little face and then heard a plaintiff cry.  'Well then and what are you doing under here ' I said and in answer out popped a little black kitten, very upset but friendly.' 'Oh my ,I think you may be lost and probably hungry' and he followed me up to the house where he proceeded to demolish a whole packet of cat food  just to prove me right. Having no collar on him I was then at a bit of a loss as to what to do and he was by this time sitting outside the back door wailing his little old head off to be let in.  When I went out to take the washing...

I have to say that one of the nicest things to happen to the family in the past year is the arrival of George, my niece Lisas lovely Staffordshire Bull Terrier. A dog with a more loving disposition would be hard to find. You are greeted with a shower of affection by him as soon as you enter the door. For a few tasty treats he will perform  his array of doggy tricks and then allow you to have a lovely stroke and talk with him. Everyone in the family has benefitted in some way by his addition especially in getting people out and about  using legs again!

Valentines weekend we spent up in Keswick in the lake District, relaxing a little and doing the usual things you do when you visit, such as a boat trip on Windermere from Waterhead down to Brockhole to have a  scone and cup of tea. The pictures were taken then and the stark looking trees seen in one photo  are covered by common European cormorants who seem to like it there a lot, judging by their numbers! The lovely couple that run the Cartwheel Guesthouse where we stayed found out it was my birthday and left a lovely surprise on the bed for me when I returned that day. They said it has been really quiet up there and there is still a lot being done to restore the mess left from the floods of last year. as we saw when we popped over to Cockermouth. They have the main street up through town and are trying to get back to normal in time for the season. There was snow on the high fells but none at low level. Whatever time of year you go though, the peace and beauty of the ...

Well while I have been here at Wigan  in the role of carer and head cook and bottle washer...as they say I have at least had some visits from my two little furry pals that live close by. Kitty the tabby lives just across the street from mum and we have become good pals as he often pops in for a cuddle and the odd treat. He gets a bit fed up as his owners are out at work, but there are risks involved in venturing here as mum has been known on a couple of occasions to somehow lock him in the garage for a few hours......! The little black cat was in a bit of a sorry state when she first appeared and I took to giving her handfuls of biscuits whenever she came by thinking that she was a stray. It turned out that she was left behind when her owners moved... how cruel... and luckily for her a lady in a house close by has taken her in now and she is looking lovely. She is the sweetest little thing and runs over to see me as soon as she spots me and we share a stroke and a ...

Well  this is the sight we found to greet us down at the marina this morning when we went to check out the boat. Never have we seen it  like this although it has been icy on the cut' before ,just not this  bad! However it did look glorious in the winter sunshine with the frost and ice twinkling away. Poor old ducks were all confined to one small patch of free water and were waddling ,slipping and sliding over the surface. I expect they are having a hard time at the moment like a lot of things. Last January we were out on the canal for a trip as it was so mild but I think that it will be somewhile before we can do the same this year. We have a bit of  a turf war going on in the garden at the moment as  two rather large Mistle thrushes have moved in on the apples I was putting out, much to the disgust of my resident Fieldfare , who up until now had them solely to himself. So there has been a lot of charging and chasing going on. Why can't they just share,.....

With the ground being so hard after the recent snow and ice I threw down some of the apples I had been storing from our tree since October. That was yesterday and today the fieldfare flew in and spent the day gorging himself on the them. We just about managed a few shots, as he was very shy and the magpies kept bothering him, trying to get to the fruit as well. I wonder is it the same one who came at this time last year? Jack Frost came too and left us a beautiful vision in ice painting on the gate . I well remember scenes like that from my childhood but then it was on the inside of our bedroom windows at Corton! It is a very good time for birdwatching , today I saw Goldfinches as well. Most of our snow has gone but we may not be out of the woods yet as another weather front of snow and low temperatures is on the way.