Lost and found + a couple of birds

Oh, HSGold, I'm sorry to hear of your accident but glad to know you are on the mend. Sometimes it does feel, too, that we have been visited by the plague and the flood now all we have to look forward to is the locusts! We all empathise with the sick, the bereaved and all those who are likely to be flooded.
Your photos of the snow are magical. We have a regular visit from a sparrowhawk too, but I reckon because we feed the birds that, on balance, we save more than are lost to it. The antics of the avian population keep many of us happy. We have a resident greater spotted woodpecker whom we've nicknamed "Frilly Knickers" (!) and we eagerly await her visits. It's the little things that keep us all sane at the moment. Spring is coming. Hopefully things will start to improve before too long. I am really rather overexcited by the appearance of my 2 aconites!

poor you HSG. at least people did ask if you wanted help.
lets hope you get your wrist sorted in the not too distant future.

the birds are keeping us entertained here too. yesterday a chaffinch lost a few tail feathers as the sparrow-hawk came hurtling through. the hawk was far from impressed but by the time she had turned and got ready to go again all the birds had hidden themselves.

What a frustrating time for you, Honey. These things are so maddening, but you are sounding positive. Your garden looks so pretty in the snow!

We luckily had our jabs yesterday, and need to stay as isolated as possible for the next few weeks. Yes, we all have to keep smiling under our masks 🙂.

Sorry to hear of your accident Hsg. I hope it will end up as good as new for tackling your big garden this year. The pictures of it in the snow are lovely. I get visits from pheasants also. The squirrels are a bit of a pest, if only they didn't eat quite so much, even the mealworms(dried)
that I put down for the blackbirds. Good photo of the sparrow hawk. Latter raised 3 young close by a couple of years ago but I haven't seen them around for sometime. A couple of red kites in the area. It's a pleasure watching the birds.

Thanks Meadowland, my appointment for the nerve check is the 9th February, and though I am not that keen on visiting the hospital I am grateful that I am getting it looked at in these busy times for all NHS workers. Sadly I didn't know who my helper was, but as he had followed me out from the surgery, I said if anyone asked how the stupid old lady was who fell over, would they thank him.
Strangely, my Sister who is two years senior to me also fell over and cut her head open. She was tackling a stubborn piece of branch that had been cut off and when it gave way she fell backwards and split her head on a kerb stone. My accidents are usually garden related, so I can see how that happened. My cousin who is my age also fell in her garden, slipped while plodding about in unsuitable footwear! All the things we used to do without a thought, now at 70+ have to be considered more carefully.

I agree Anget, it seems one thing after another! I bet Boris Johnson is not so keen now that he won the election, one nasty problem after another to deal with, the pandemic one no-one has had to think about for decades.
The snow always looks magical when it coats the trunks and branches of the trees, little is wonderful, huge drifts and months of it, not so good.
We love the birds and spend a lot of time watching them on the tree where we hang the feeders. We have also just hung one on the gutter outside the living room window (we live in a bungalow, otherwise it wouldn't work) and after a couple of days the sparrows have discovered it and we can watch them a few inches the other side of the glass. After a few panics they now don't mind being so close.

You're right Seaburn about the chap who stopped, not everyone would have done. He helped me up and escorted me back and made sure they let me in to be looked at. Great guy, whoever he was.
Your Sparrow-hawk miss just proves that they don't get a meal every time! Lucky Chaffinch, living to fight another day. When we are sitting watching through the window and the feeders are suddenly empty, you just know that the Sparrow-hawk is about somewhere. We also see the male sometimes, smaller, browner and obviously not as familiar with our garden as she is - unless she warns him off of course.

Thanks Sheila, the garden looks good under the coating, not so much without it. I must spend some time cutting back the dead stalks which get left for the birds to clear the seed heads, then of course not done. If I do cut things back I always find sleeping Ladybirds, Lacewings or beetles, so the dried stuff can't then go on the bonfire!
Great you have had you jabs and are still keeping safe. Some of the people we have seen on the TV have had the jab and then go on about how great it is they can now see family! Surely that sort of remark should be put right immediately otherwise people will get into the idea it's fine for them to go out again as soon as they have had it. We are a bit behind over here in East Anglia, but when I get mine I intend to still keep away from the majority of people, including family. I think that all NHS hospital staff all the way down to someone who sweeps the carpark should have jabs first, also the Police who get shouted and spat at, Firemen and Council Workers like my friendly bin-men. All in danger of contagion surely.

We love the pheasants Feverfew and we had one who stood and had a stare-off with me this afternoon as I went out to carry on cutting up wood for the burner. He wandered away from the barn and stood and stared to see if I was going his way. Naturally I slipped into the shed until he had his fill of the Peacocks food and I could get on! Ridiculous isn't it? As we have had half the massive Leylandii cut down to a sensible hedge the roosting pheasants moved along into the Elder trees which are opposite the back door. So of course going out at dusk involved two irate Pheasants calling and taking off into the field - together with about four pigeons.
We get visits from two squirrels, but not regularly, so where else they go I don't know. When they are here they hog the feeders and chew holes in them if possible. I know they are pests, but you have to admire their agility.
We get the Buzzards flying about over our field and the hordes of rabbits we used to have up there have disappeared, whether from disease, the Buzzards or what I don't know, but you don't see them now. Which is good from the point of view of the plants I kept trying to grow as a hedge bottom for the birds etc., it was a case of plant something and it would be gone the next day. Now they will have a chance.

It was good to read that there was someone to look after you and to offer a helping hand. Even so, you did have quite a shock and I am glad you are getting better except for your arm which must be a nuisance.

Your snowy garden looks a picture. We have not seen one snowflake!!!

Stay safe and well, no more adventures!

Its good to see you back Hsg, but not so good hearing about your accident - it must have shaken you up a good deal. Thank goodness there was a good Samaritan around to help you! Does this mean you have to take a break from your cake making? Hope the pheasants understand.. Although if you are able to go out cutting wood maybe your cake arm is back in action?
.Yes the garden does look nice under the snow - good thing your birds have daily supplies delivered!

Nice to see you again :)
I'm sorry to hear about your fall but it's good to know you are getting over it.
Thanks for the warning about the birds lol :D
Hasn't the weather been terrible ? I hope we have a nice spring.
Most shops around here have signs like 'No mask, no entry' or similar. I'm fed up with not being able to go to a garden centre. I hope they'll be open by the spring.

Thanks Wildrose, it might have been different if he had been younger, not that I am casting aspersions on the young males, but certain age groups could not walk past an older person lying on the ground in need of help!

I think the hospital thought that I was either lying about how I got the injuries or blacked out and had something underlying going on Yorkslass. I am sure that the good Samaritan would have mentioned if I was lying there and had blacked out. I think it was a case of loose summer trousers, uneven ground with loose stones and lack of concentration - toe in the trouser bottoms and stubbed toe and bang! The arm is back good enough for cake making and the wielding of a chain saw, as long as I don't swing it about too much, but not safe enough to pick up a boiling kettle and twist it round, it's the sideways bit that's not quite there.

Yew, it's been a while since I have been on Hywel. As for Spring the bulbs are trying to come through, just hope that the chaps who are coming to cut my hedge down don't trample too many of them. I expect that will be something that I will have to put up with this year, next year the hedge will be sorted and it won't be a problem. The mention of the birds is for you as I understand, my daughter is much the same.
I agree about the Garden Centres, even if they are open the ones that I want to go to are miles away and would not come under a 'local' visit. It would be lovely to just wander round and admire the plants. I hope that they don't have a horrendously bad year again like they did last year, the plants that must have been thrown out doesn't bear thinking about.
When I mentioned to one of the small local shops about how many people weren't wearing masks she said that it was either they were the foreign workers on the land round here and didn't understand, or pretended they didn't, or people who just popped in and didn't bother. They weren't allowed to ask in case the non-wearer had an ailment that excluded them. Load of rot I thought, what's the harm in asking? Should be mandatory!

I hope you are much better now and not suffering too much with the after effects Honeysuckle!
I loved all the pictures of the birds and you got a good shot of the sparrow hawk too! We have one come in the garden occasionally which hides in a corner of the hedge. I know they are a lovely looking bird , but it is upsetting when we see a little one taken, even though the sparrow hawk is feeding its young.
I am have chrome book and I had the same problem until a goy member told me to go on firefox, which works now.
Take care and stay safe!

You are right Honeysuckle, although we’ve had our jabs we are still being ultra careful and obeying the rules ... we’re not out of the woods yet!

How is your wrist now? I do hope things are improving for you.

Just waiting for the second jab notification but I shall still feel that strangers are to be kept at a distance. I expect this is something that we will be living with for years to come, especially when everyone starts travelling abroad again. Though of course it depends on whether other countries want us bug-ridden people there with one of the highest death rates and an English variant! Not that I mind as I have no intention of going anywhere.
The wrist is still not perfect, no strength in it, it's a sight to behold seeing me trying to get up off the floor when I have no strength in that wrist!
Today I am having a phone-physio, but what good that will do I am not sure! How do you do physio over the phone?