Garden Girl Blog

The garden has been full of birds with their babies visiting the feeders and looking for bugs. We have had rain on and off for days so I am amazed they have had so many babies that are doing so well.

The woodpeckers brought their young the other day and one of them has taken to hanging around the garden quite a bit.  The crows have been along with their not so little one and the jackdaw as well.  The magpies seem to be visiting quite a bit but I think their little ones must still be in the nest.  These all sit on the grass calling to be given food, so it gets rather loud.

The trees at the back of the garden are full of little birds with their young, coal tits, blue tits and great tits, all very busy getting filling up at the feeders. It is lovely to see nature in action.

Hubs has been working long hours all well and is in work today and I think tomorrow, I have the house work to be getting on with so best get moving.

I am busy trying to pick photos for my OU course that I am currently undertaking, it is a short photography one. I hope to use some from my recent holiday and was thinking of using this one:

This has to go down as my 'SeasideMan' moment, but I really like it and can see the appeal. So let me know what you think.

The other news is that I passed my business studies module and even got a distinction so I am very pleased.  This means I have passed the Certificate in business studies with the OU.  I am not sure if I will take this any further as really I would like to find a job now.

We had a lovely holiday but it was really warm!

We started in Pisa and stayed for several days; they had the festival of lights while we were there.  We went out to see it but it was so crowded we had to hang back as we thought we might get squashed.  The second day of the festival was a Regatta of Saint Ranieri and it was much less busy.  We got a spot right on the river wall to sit and watch.

We then moved down a bit from Pisa into a self-catering cottage, it was very warm but had everything we needed and seven cats so I was happy!  We visited towns and the beach doing quite a bit of walking and generally tried to avoid being eating alive by the bugs or melting in the hear.

Click to make them big.

Just to say back from holiday but will not post until Tuesday in support of BCUK bloggers' day of peaceful protest.

Today the Olympic Torch came to my home town and hubs and I took a stroll up the road to get a view.  There was lots of build up with police bikes, buses, sponsorship floats and even a girl on a bike getting the crowd going.  The chap who was to run with the torch past us stood waiting his turn then it arrived.  He was off and running and past in a flash.

It was good to see this event which I am sure we will never see again and it was nice that so many people were out to watch.  Even better the sun had his hat on for us.

Click to make big.

Hub and I have been getting out and about in the evening.

We went for a walk up to a local landmark which has lovely views over the Pentland Hills.  We stopped on the way to feed the ducks, the babies seem to have disappeared which is a shame.  It was cool on top of the hill but the view was fab.

The next night we went for a cycle of about 8 miles in total, it is along an old railway line so it should have been easy, but most of my gears have stopped working so was a bit harder than I thought it might be.  Hubs will sort them out for me at some point.

At the point we turn around to come home there is a field with lots of lupins it, it is lovely and colourful.  In the photo of the view, you can see Roslin Chapel on the right.  Click to make big.  

It is nice to get out and about.

The weather man said that today would be nicer than yesterday, so I thought I would spend some time in the garden today getting some of my plants in the garden.  How wrong was that thought?  I started to potter around the garden pulling up a few weeds and put a few plants in.  I was thinking about were some of the others could go when I started to feel drops on my head, before long it was pouring.

I retreated into the house and watched the puddles in the garden fill-up.

The birds are not very happy with me; the starlings are still around and empty the feeders within a few days, consequently they need filling up.  Mr and Mrs Coaltit have been visiting with the babies and they are not pleased that the feeders are almost empty.  I might have to brave the rain to put some food out if it does not stop soon.

I went into Edinburgh this morning to get a few bits for holiday.  I ended up getting rather a few more bits than planned and had a very good shopping trip.  I brought some lovely shoes for going out in the evening on holiday and some hopefully, sensible shoes for walking around.  I will post some photos later.

It was sunshine and shower in Edinburgh today.  The preparations for the Olympic torch, which arrives on Wednesday, are in full swing.  They have Olympic rings up in some of the gardens and I am sure lots more planned.  I am now thinking that I might have to go in on Wednesday to see the torch in Edinburgh as well as in my home town on Thursday.  It is all so exciting!

Edinburgh is still feeling very British after last weekend with Union Jacks flying and lots of the shops with British things in.  Here is a photo of a fab window display I spotted.

I have had my first strawberry of the year ripen in the garden.  Hubs has eaten it and said it was very nice.  I do not like them as they have too many little seeds, so I am glad that he enjoyed it.

I have also had lettuce out of the garden already and hope that I have lots more to come.

It is wet here today, as seems to be usual.  I hope to get out in the garden a little later but the midges are out so might have to retreat to the house for fear of being eaten alive.

This morning I have a friends request from a spam loan advertising chap and from someone who says he is 12 and has set up a group called Questions and Answers.  I sent him a note saying that we already had Ask or Answer so why do we need another group.

In the past I always thought it would be nice to be popular, now I am not so sure!

I have been feeling rather unwell today and a bit of yesterday, bit of a bad tummy. So today I had a very lazy day and stayed in bed most of the morning.  I got up and pottered around doing the housework in the afternoon.  I hope that I feel better tomorrow as I am doing voluntary work all day.

Lots of rain today, the poor birds are flocking to the garden in search of food, I put out quite a bit so hope it will tide them over until the rain eases up.  The starlings are still coming to the garden with their babies, there are so many of them they can clear some of the feeders within a day.  They do not normally stay for long so I assume things will go back to normal soon.

Hubs and I sat with a glass of wine and some chocolate and watched the Jubilee concert and it was fab!  It all seemed to go very well and Prince Charles did a nice speech at the end.  It must have been great fun to be there and maybe next time there is something like this we will go to London.  We hope that Price Philip will be feeling better soon.

The sun is out at the moment so hope it will stay a while longer.

Hubs and I went for a ride on his bike to visit a friend near Pitlochry.  We set off Saturday afternoon and had a clear run, but it was rather cold. We went out for dinner on Saturday night and were back on our way home Sunday morning.   We got back home in time to sit and watch the Jubilee on the TV, it was a shame they had so much rain in London.

Today we are off to visit a friend for lunch. 

Hubs took a day off on Wednesday and we went for a visit to the Isle of May.  I wanted to get some photos of the Puffins in the hope that I could use a few in my end of module assessment for my current OU course.

We set off to Anstruther which is about two hours away from where we live.  The weather was not looking good but we thought we would go anyway, were had planned to have lunch here, which is always nice.  We parked up and went for lunch, the chips were lovely and crispy and taste like they have been cooking in fresh oil.  Lovely.  While eating lunch it started to rain, not the idea conditions for an hour long boat crossing and then three hours on an island taking photos of birds.  We were having second thoughts about going.

We went for a chat with the lady at the ticket booth; she told us that when the weather is like this the birds stay on the island so we could get to see loads of birds.  Needless to say that was us sold so we purchased our tickets and got on the boat.

The crossing was not bad and it had stopped raining when we arrived.  We started our wander around the island spotting loads of birds straight away.  Overall we got to see Puffins, Eider Ducks, Guillemots, Razorbills and Shags and lots of all of them.  The fog rolled in before we left but I had lots of photos by then.  Here are a few, click to make big.