Our garden in autumn & an update on Spike

Thanks for all the comments & good wishes regarding Spike. At first we thought he'd moved on but now he's eating the food every night which is the only indication we have that he's still there as we don't have a infra red camera. DH has been very tempted but we can't justify the cost.

I'm going to try and answer all the questions his arrival raised:

Firstly he was nursed back to health & looked after by a wonderful woman who runs the local hedgehog rescue service entirely self funded & voluntary. She currently has about 80 'pigs' in & will probably have most of them until next year as time is running out to release them before the weather gets too cold. I found her by googling 'hedgehog rescue' & the name of our nearest city & suggest you do the same if you can offer a good home. Gardens must be pesticide free & all hazards including wire, dogs etc must be addressed first. If you have a totally enclosed garden (walls preferred) you might be suitable to take on an injured 'pig' as they often come into rescue with eyes & limbs damaged beyond repair but a healthy 'pig' needs the space of approximately 10 gardens to roam in.

That brings me to the next comment which quite rightly queried my dogs' reaction to them. As both my girls are terriers they'd love nothing more than to hunt & probably kill him but as you can see in the photo above DH built a VERY solid gate & fence earlier in the year in preparation for our temporary guests and because we didn't want the dogs to ruin the garden. They have the patio & top of the drive to lounge on & also get plenty of walks so it works well. For us we have a garden that doesn't smell of dogs & the flower beds & lawn aren't ruined.

For the wildlife who also live in our garden, they have safety, peace & quiet with a ready supply of food & water as we have installed two bird tables & a bird bath.


Squirrel

Bryony you beat me to it! I took the garden photo on my phone & then wrote the rest of the post via my laptop & before I could publish the changes you had already commented! First prize for a speedy commenter!


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Meet Spike!

A few weeks ago I started hinting of some changes here at blueadt house and now I can finally reveal whats been going on.


Meet Spike!

He was taken into rescue in June '06 weighing just 3oz & suffering from a variety of ailments including lung worm. Now a healthy 4lb he's strong enough to go back into the wild or rather the bottom of our garden. He'll have the freedom to come & go as he wants with the added advantage of fresh food & water delivered every evening.


Spike

DH has made him a special house & it's carefully hidden under plastic covered in a mountain of leaves in a corner under a large bush sheltered by fencing.


'Band H' Hedgehog house

We're hoping that he doesn't 'leg it' & that he choses to stay in his house snug in all the leaves. The bottom of our garden is quite overgrown & home to squirrels in the trees, mice & lots of birds including Tawny owls. Hopefully he'll fit in well & make it his home.


Spike

The Downside

to Owls in your garden & Parenthood:

Whilst it is very nice watching owls every evening it isn't so nice watching them eat Their parents have been around for the past two nights & are giving them fresh food to feast on & I really haven't enjoyed watching them tear their prey/dinner to pieces. I could always avert my eyes of course but them I might miss a short flight to another tree & they're so beautiful to watch. Plus they're being VERY noisy tonight but still I'd prefer to hear birds making a racket their our ex-neighbours with their arguments & stereos blaring.

We also had it confirmed today that DD won't be able to go on her school trip which takes place the week after her cast is due to be removed & involves abseiling, rock climbing & canoing which is just perfect for my sports mad daughter. Of course she didn't strop at the nurse who told her this ('quick' visit to the hospital as cast is smashed underneath) but saved the full vent for me whilst I was negotiating rush hour city traffic. Even the promise of Rock Climbing lessons with the refund of the trip didn't work as apparently she prefers Abseiling but I don't know of a local facility that provides it.

However the Fun Run to raise money for her football club is happening due to the loan of a wheelchair organised by our Doctors Surgery. Early on Sunday morning: That'll be fun!

Tawny Owls return

Tawny Owl


Tawny Owls


Tawny Owls

The photos aren't as good as last night I'm afraid as it was getting dark.

The day after

Thanks for the the comments on DHs' Walking Socks & the flooding yesterday. We've had some rain today but nothing like Friday so I'm hoping that it doesn't get as bad again. I spent the afternoon in the launderette as I haven't done any washing all week due to the rain & we can't dry anything as we haven't got anywhere to plumb our gas tumble dryer into yet. There were loads of people in there who were flooded yesterday including one poor couple who haven't got power so they got fish & chips whilst their clothes were washing & then went to the coffee shop for a hot drink. It's made me really pleased that DH insisted on living as far as possible up the hill when we were looking for a new house. I also found out today that a house in the street below us that we viewed in October was flooded yesterday. We're really pleased that we didn't buy it!

Regarding DHs' Walking Socks he absolutely adores them. He loves the fact that I made & designed them just for him & was very amused by the comments about hiding the pics from other DH's!

His new pair are being steadily worked on but as I'm working on 2mm needles the progress is painfully slow:


Small Tiles toe up socks

The yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch which I bought whilst on holiday last year. The pattern is 'Small Tiles' from More Sensational Knitted Socks.

I've also found a partial solution to DDs' boredom & frustration caused by her broken foot:


Class sock from Sensational Knitted Socks

So far I've helped her with the cast on as she struggles with Long Tail, picked up the stitches on one side of the gusset & with rearranging the stitches on the needles. Since this photo was taken this morning she's finished the foot & started the toe decreases so next she'll be learning Kitchener Stitch! Not bad for an 11 year old

Finally I'm going to leave you with a new visitor to our garden:


Tawny Owl

We've been watching a pair of them for the last hour & think they're after the mice that are nesting in the undergrowth under the trees at the bottom of our garden.

I hope they don't keep us awake tonight!

Ramblings

Yesterday I read a something that really struck a cord with me. For the past few months I've been rambling about the house & the grease as I can't reveal what I'm knitting. I started something back in February for DH which got put on hold big style due moving house but it's back on track & will be finished soon. I've also got another little something going on as well & yarn & patterns were purchased on my birthday but I kept quiet about it. It's something small as the recipient hasn't been born yet but it couldn't be a total surprise as Mum-to-be has a 'thing' about some fibres & I had to check that it wouldn't make her skin crawl before I cast on. Luckily my chosen yarn Bergere de France Ideal was acceptable & as it's machine washable I thought it be a good choice for a baby.

So there will be some more FO's on here at some point as knitting is taking place but just not yet.

Now if you've just come on here to read about knitting please click on the sidebar & go & visit another blog. What follows isn't about knitting in the slightest but about what's happening in my life 'beyond' the needles as it were.

I had a bit of a stressful afternoon/evening today & arrived at Knitting Club an hour late because of it all Firstly DD has/had a problem with Verrucas for a long time. I blame it on the fact that she's been swimming for nearly 6 years & spends a lot of her time walking barefoot in showers or on a poolside. Our Doctor disagrees with the association but even he was shocked when he saw the state of her feet as she had 33 verrucas on the soles of her feet & toes & even 1 on her hand. I've been trying to arrange Cryosurgery for her for a while but the receptionists kept fobbing me off due to her age & referred me back to the chemist for more cream. But last week I stood my ground & got stroppy with them so got an appointment for her to see the Doctor. I had thought he would kill them off over a number of appointments but no he did them all in one session. Poor DD was nearly climbing the walls with the pain & was screaming with tears running down her cheeks. I tried to distract her by suggesting a special pudding after dinner & asking would she prefer chocolate cake, cheese cake or ice cream. It didn't really work as a distraction as her feet were so painful & as she had so many he just kept going with the liquid nitrogen. It seemed to me that he was enjoying himself in a perverse way. However she did manage to hobble into the supermarket afterwards & choose a cream cake with strawberries on top WITH strawberry ice-cream.

Then it was back home to collect the dogs as now it was Annie's turn. I've been worried about her for a couple of weeks & had my fears confirmed at the vets. She has gone blind in her right eye due to a Cataract but as she has severe von Willebrands Disease surgery isn't an option for this dog.


Annie - an old photo but one of my favourites

I'm not concerned about caring with a blind dog as I've done it before as my first Airedale Libby went blind when she was 3 due to PRA, Instead I feel sad as she's already been through so much in her short life & has just recovered from another nasty disease that I didn't mention on here. She's such a sweet shy dog who just wants lots of cuddles & is insanely greedy. She'll still have a great life even if she loses sight in her other eye as well but she could die any time due to the blood disease so every moment is precious.

Now just when you're all totally grossed out by DD's feet & then if you're an animal lover feeling sad about Annie, something to make you smile:


Grey Squirrel in our Ash Tree