Caught in the act

Remember our sunflower from this post? Last week I cut the flower head off and hung it in a tree, wondering if the birds would find it. Well, I didn’t have to wait too long - yesterday I noticed these two... can you see two? Click on the pic to enlarge it, one bird is on the branch, just above the sunflower and one higher up the same branch camouflaged in the leaves. From my bird book I would guess that they are Great Tits (wonder who gave them that name?)



It was lovely to watch them, they would come down from the branch to get a seed, then fly up into the leaves where they would try to break open the seed by holding it in their beaks and ‘hammering’ it on the branch, their little heads and bodies bobbing up and down.





Sorry the pics are not the greatest, I think it's time for a new camera.

~A

Autumn in the Allotments

Our house backs onto allotments. If you are not familiar with them, they are small pieces of land that the local council (usually) rents out to people so that they can grow vegetation. I guess during the war people grew food but these days people seem to have different motivations for having an allotment.

Most people have a shed



Which they decorate in various ways





Some plots have personality








(I love this cat keeping watch over this tiny pond)

Some plots are neat, tidy and organized





Some are just plain messy





Some people grow fruit and vegetables







Some people grow flowers







Some have a plentiful harvest







Some not so plentiful



And some visitors go home with a handful of seeds so that next summer they can hopefully grow some of those huge sunflowers.



~A

Super Tuesday - the British way

Our local Domino's Pizza has a 'Two for Tuesday' deal - buy one get one free every Tuesday. My husband, who loves all things American (as do I), has renamed the deal Super Tuesday (Google 'Super Tuesday' for the real meaning if you are not familiar with it).

This was last week's Super Tuesday..





What's on your menu today? Wishing you all a Super Tuesday!

~A

Heritage Weekend

It was Heritage Weekend in our town this weekend and the theme for this year was World War II

The town hall was decorated for the occasion


and we were taken back in time. The tea car was there



Anyone for a cuppa?



This fine looking Rolls (wonder who had money to drive one of these during war times?)



and this army truck



with minimalist interior



Inside the town hall memorabilia was on display



What??? a whole week?



more memorabilia



Anyone for pie? (hey, my grandmother and aunt had knives like that!)



I'm crazy about old handwriting, so these were a real treat for me








A message from the past or a message for our future?



And finally, the town jail - complete with rats!



~A

Spider Catcher

I hate it when I find one of these in the house (like I did today). Sorry for the bad pic but I didn't want to get too close.



Even though I don't like spiders and bugs, I don't like to kill them either. So I use my very own design Spider Catcher - a real high tech gadget!! to catch them. Cut the bottom off of a large plastic bottle (the bigger the bottle, the further away from the spider you can stay!) - keep the cap tightly screwed on.



To catch a spider, hold the cap end and place the bottle over the spider. Slide a piece of cardboard under the cut off end and your spider should be safely inside.



Release the spider outside. Result - one happy spider instead of a dead one!

~A