The Birds

It has been a lovely day. Blue sky and sunshine, if a little breezy. I filled up the bird feeders and did a lot of dead-heading. One of the bean pots looked a bit dry so - lots of watering cans, and everything that looked dry has had a can full. As soon as it rains the water butt will fill. Because the guttering collects from the whole of the roof it fills amazingly quickly. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

There is a jackdaw trying to cling on to the feeders, he's having a bit of a struggle! As soon as he moves on the little birds come back, and there are dozens of them. The year we have had 16 different birds on the feeders as well as some on the ground beneath. The only disappointment has been the non-appearance of long tailed tits, who visit a friend less than a mile away as the crow flies. At the moment the goldfinches are absent, but I imagine there are lots of seeding thistles close by. There are baby swallows in the coal-house. I wonder if they will fatten up enough for their long journey. We shall never know.

Harebells

Today has been mostly dull and fairly wet. The summits of Dead Man's Hill and Little Whernside have been obliterated by the low cloud and droplets hung on the Geraniums. Such a contrast with yesterday when the sky was clear and the sun shone. We had a trip through to Skipton in the sunshine, very pleasant and there were Harebells all the way along Braidley Bents, We could hardly get through Kettlewell for visitors as it was the annual Scarecrow Festival, and of course we had forgotten about it. The traffic between Kettlewell and Skipton was something else! We came home later than usual so that most of the visitors had had time to leave and we met fewer than we would have done earlier.

A wet Monday morning

Today dawned dull and damp. I wrote my piece for the Upper Dales Newsletter and Leyburn Life. By the time I had finished the sun was out and the day much warmer. It seemed that the song birds were glaring balefully at me for my neglect so I filled up the feeders and washed out those that had got wet and were quite disgusting. Its funny how meal worms go so smelly if they get wet. Last year when it was hot and dry I didn't notice any smell.
Strange that the sun's appearance changes how the world looks. I have a pink  hardy Geranium which was looking thoroughly disheveled, and now it has opened up a new spread of flowers. There are more sweet peas and the runner beans are flowering fit to bust. The wind was so strong last week that one of the pots blew over, but my other half set to with a nail and string and they now seem secure.
We're planning a trip out tomorrow, probably to Skipton. If you know the road its a lovely trip over the "Col de Park Rash". It scares many of the visitors but its fine when you're used to it! I shall look out for the Harebells on the roadside.

A fairy ring

There has been a dark circle in the grass for a few days, but this morning it has sprouted toadstools. I haven't seen one of these since I was a child, and certainly never on this patch of grass. The footpath runs just to the side of it, and one group of walkers took pictures of each other standing in the middle. They'll surely remember this part of their walk.