Days when I awake with a pounding headache, I am not best pleased to be assaulted by a cat.
Toby is frustrated that I have taken to wearing a hat to deter him from yanking out mouthfuls of hair.
So this morning he decided to bite me instead.
“Oh Toby!” I protested. “Must you?!”
It was not yet 6 am, but I sighed and rolled out of bed.
Might as well get the day started. I could see through the window that the long range weather forecast had already been disproved, as the Sun was moving into a clear sky.
Many years ago I remember one of our employees arriving late for his shift with the excuse that he had had to shovel two feet of “partly cloudy” off his driveway.
One thing you can depend on, weather forecasts are un-reliable!
Out I went with bird seed and water to re-fill the iced over pans.
It’s become a mindless routine, empty out the seed trays, dump the ice and begin to re-fill.
This morning though, I got distracted by an excessively loud dawn chorus. Who could be making such a racket?
Well of course, it was them.
“It’s Spring, it’s Spring!”
“It’s almost Spring!”
.
What do they sing about? I’d love to know.
“I could do a translation, for a fee.”
So kind, Master Sparrow.
It doesn’t take much to distract me and sure enough, what did I do?
Altered the mindless routine. (Seed first, then water).
Today, I emptied all the trays at once and re-filled water first.
Then tipped a large scoop of seed straight into one of the water trays.
Oh well.
There’s always a crowd around when you do something stupid.
“Did you see what she just did?”
“Be nice! Make believe you didn’t notice!”
The Sparrows are my friends.
Two Bluejays observed from the top of a pine tree, warming their bellies as the Sun rose.
They were waiting for peanuts and I managed to deliver their order correctly.
It snowed all day yesterday with just enough accumulation to record the prints of our visitors, in this case a bunny I believe.
.
At the patio door, a few bird prints and others:
His Nibbs had been gazing at us again.
Trying to look pathetic. “I’ve got a sore foot!”
.
“It will feel so much better if you let me in.”
“For a quick nibble?”
It was only a matter of time before His Nibbs was allowed in to visit. He had met up with the walkers outside and although Dee Dee is very rude to him, none of our little dears are bothered by him.
What’s one more, after all?
Like all cats, Nibbs is very shrewd. Now, when he gets let in, he makes a beeline for the sofa where I take breakfast. He flops down beside me purring as if I am the greatest love of his life.
Good move, Nibbs. We all enjoy a little flattery.
“Can I move in? It’s awful cold out there.”
“He threw me out!”
It’s not as if he is a stray. He has a home. Perhaps not everything he would like, but he certainly likes to roam. So we make a fuss of him when he visits. Lately he has asked for extensions!
When we got home on Monday, there was a deceased vole by the front door. It had pussycat-teeth type wounds and we wondered if Nibbs had brought us a thank-you for the meals we have been supplying.
Grant put it on the snow bank for the crows, but I think it got snowed under before they noticed.
At least it’s on ice.
.
“This is rather poor presentation!”
Mrs C found the seed I had dumped from the water tray.
“Never mind. It’s very tasty.”
As I washed breakfast dishes, I noticed this.
And then this.
So I went outside to get a better look:
An actual complete snow-bow. I have only ever seen a partial before.
The forecast was only partly wrong today.
Since sunrise the sky has become progressively more cloudy.
But what a magical morning.
It cured my headache.
Thank you, Carolyn, for today’s treat – the birds.
Joanna
Lovely! We’ve had a thoroughly miserable day of cold drizzle interspersed with heavier showers
One should not be distracted when you are busy preparing breakfast for the crowds 😉. A snow bow? Never seen one … well now I have and it’s beautiful!
When I used to leave out a big bowl of seed and it rained, the birds didn’t care. They just ate the wet seed anyway.
Best wishes, Pete.