Getting/not getting organised

I feel I should be getting onto Social Services. The sealing of the seat of one of my perching stools is splitting. Unfortunately it is the one I use in the bathroom for when I have a shower or clean my teeth/have a wash at the sink. At the moment I have a shower one day. The next few days after I sit to clean my teeth & water squirts out of the stool, down the back of my leg down on the floor. I’m fed up of having wet trousers or skirts for most of the morning.

However, I’ve just completed getting a fish pie together & really feel I’m past coping with their usual red tape. Maybe I’ll get around to it tomorrow.

It looks as though our French holiday is now organised. We finally, on our third attempt, managed to find an accessible room in Paris on our homeward journey. It’s in the St Germain area, which we didn’t really explore last year, so it should be interesting.

The bird count

I counted the birds in our garden over the weekend. As predicted the count was low. Indeed I saw none of the smaller birds. Some hastily dashed across the expanse from one big tree in one neighbour’s garden to a shrub in another garden. The only birds were big. Our blackbird, magpie & collared dove count seem to have stayed the same. We’ve gained a couple of crows, but that’s it.

I’m trying to tell myself things should improve by next year. Then the new plants will have had chance to burgeon. By the time the garden was planted last year, things were already started to move into their dormant phase ready for winter. I’m now anticipating a great spurt with spring. Hopefully by this time next year, there will be a lot more cover for the smaller birds to hide in. I do hope so. I miss watching the antics of the tits & sparrows.

We’ve certainly planted loads of berry-bearing plants. Extra insects have already moved in. There is a wild area too. So there should be plenty of food to attract them. And that’s on top of the food we put out & the bird bath for water. I’m convinced the real problem is the lack of cover, especially for the smaller birds, for when a bird of prey goes overhead or a cat strays into the garden. That problem will only be solved with time, as the trees & shrubs bush out. I can’t wait.

Brighter

I’ve even less to do today. Yesterday we took over Paloma, our new car, for her 3 month check up. We waited for the half hour it took. We were astonished to discover she’d been fully valetted & gleaming like new, though we couldn’t help thinking it wouldn’t last long. The day had turned damp, misty rather than rainy, & there seems to be lots of muck on the road, especially as we seem to be following tractors pulling trails of slurry behind them.

In some ways the homeward journey was quite beautiful. As we neared Heversham & looked across towards the Kent estuary, the scene became dominated by a huge glowing orange ball of a sun. It looked all the more magical for the mist rising from the intervening fields.

We weren’t late back but both agreed we were too tired to think about cooking. We went down to the village pub for fish & chips. They were good.

I never really seemed to fully wake up all day yesterday – the after effect of the sleeping pills I’d taken Wednesday night. I was to bed early. I’m glad to say I’m feeling much fresher today, more able to cope with life. I could just wish the sun would come out for a visit. I suppose I shouldn’t ask for everything.

This weekend is the annual bird count. I’m curious to see what results we’ll get. I suspect there are far fewer. Without the mature trees the smaller birds seem nervous of coming even though I keep putting food out. Our main visitors seem to be the magpies, blackbirds, gulls & collared doves. We shall see. I’m sure the bird count will increase in the coming years as the trees grow more, bushing out, & there is more shelter for the small birds to hide from passing birds of prey. I’m really interested to see what the effect of the garden changes on the bird population in our garden is.

Dopey

As there’s nothing specific to be done today. The Fox is in charge of the meal, a chicken stir fry for a change. With this in mind I took a sleeping pill last night. I’ve just got to get on top of my sleep somehow & lately I’ve had some very uncomfortable, pain-filled nights. The result is that today I’m feeling decidedly dopey. My eyes are heavy, though not closing. My brain is fighting through a fog.

It’s a pity in some ways. It’s a beautifully sunny winter day. One of those days with almost blinding clarity. We are hoping to go and get Paloma, our new car, her 3 month check over. It’s certainly a lovely day for a drive over to Levens, near Kendal. Everything has a sparkle to it. I just wish I felt more able to appreciate it all.

Zzzzz zzzz ...