Hidden Nesting and Washing Machines

Photo copyright: Maggie May

These past few days, I have noticed that a pair of blackbirds have been taking bits of nesting materials into my garden shrub. It is a very tall Elaeagnus Pungens and borders my next door neighbour's garden too, with a bit of an overhang, especially at the top.

I am quite excited that they seem to have chosen my shrub, as they usually nest in another neighbours tall Eucalyptus tree, along the terrace.

For young birds to survive here, they will have to evade my next door neighbour's four cats on the other side and my other neighbour's tendency to suddenly chop down everything in sight without any rhyme or reason.

I also get a regular pair of dunnocks, wrens, great tits and blue tits but no house sparrows anywhere in sight.

When I was young, the house sparrows where in such profusion that their chattering could be heard all the time and they would swoop down into the garden constantly. Even when my children were young they were a very common sight. So I wonder where they have gone? I suspect it is because of modern buildings regulations giving no room for little nooks and crannies in roof spaces for the sparrows to nest in.

Some of you have remarked that you are worried about the state of my mangy fox and wondered whether I could do anything to help it. I think the answer is no. If it got so that it couldn't jump the wall and could be trapped by a box, then I suppose that I could call the RSPCA and they would despatch it but it is still too fast and would bite me if I tried to trap it now.

I know that I have had to lower my horizons a great deal....... I no longer work and go to wonderful places or have the same access to the grandchildren, so you will see that I have had to concentrate on much simpler things so you will probably groan when I say that I am quite excited today because I have ordered a new washing machine. I decided to buy locally and that paid off as the company promised that they would deliver the next day and take the old one away as well as reconnecting the new model and getting it ready for its first wash.

The old machine was still working but it jumped about all over the place and some one had to sit on it to stop it travelling round the kitchen.

Can you imagine having to leave a guest mid speech to go and sit on a washing machine in the next room? Or having to stay in until the washing was taken out?

It was one extra burden when I wasn't feeling well having to wrestle with it.

So I hope they do come this afternoon with the new one as I have a good pile of washing to try out in it.

You know what they say about simple things pleasing.......... simple minds?

Sock Shock

When we were on holiday at my daughters over Easter, I found myself alone. Deb and Harry had gone out for some supplies for the garden project and I was looking after the boys. Well in actual fact, they were looking after themselves, doing their favourite thing, heads pressed against the computer screen, eyes down, playing a game of some sort. They seemed happy to be left alone to get on with what they were doing.

I noticed a huge pile of ironing that needed to be done and after a while I had turned it into a lovely stack of pressed clothes, ready for the airing cupboard.

Deep down at the bottom of the washing basket was a net bag, full of socks.

"Oh," I thought, "Deb must be too busy to sort these out." I proceeded to empty the bag and intended to put them out into pairs. Only there weren't any pairs at all. Each of these socks has lost it's mate. Some of them were toddlers socks so they must have been lost a long time! As you can see, there were dozens of odd socks of assorted colours, shapes and sizes.

She told me later that she kept them just in case the matching ones turned up.

Where DO the missing socks end up, though? Does anyone know? Does the washing machine eat them up? If so, you'd think that the machine would have died of indigestion by now. Or is there a sock snatcher at large, breaking in at night to take what he fancies?

Short of wearing odd ones, what can be done with all these lovely socks?

Any ideas?