Sunday, 22 April 2018

Scruffy dusters

Hello. When I looked out of the window this morning, I saw that my feather dusters were looking a bit bald. How did that happen? It hasn't been particularly windy. Very strange. 
Five minutes later I had the answer. Just as I looked up a little bird was taking flight with a bundle of feathers in it's mouth. Aha, there is the culprit. I watched as it flew straight across the road and landed on the roof of the house opposite, and went underneath the eaves. Nest building, what a clever bird, finding this lovely soft material to make a comfy place to lay some eggs.

I was thinking about chopping the top off a very tall conifer which is at the bottom of my garden. It leans over the boundary into my neighbours garden and I don't want it to grow any taller. I should have done it ages ago but kept putting it off because it means climbing it with a saw in one hand and holding on with the other hand. I mentioned this to the neighbour yesterday and she said there is a wood pigeon nest in it, so I will have to wait a bit longer before I can take action.

I tackled the Forget me nots yesterday, pulled quite a lot up. Put some in a big tub, transplanted a bunch to fill a gap, and left a few where they were. Trouble is that now I have some bare soil in the beds and the cats see this as a toilet. I have spread some plastic trellis over it to hopefully keep them off. Now I need to buy some plants to fill the gaps. I am going to a plant sale next Saturday at Aunties, so I will get something there.

The home made wooden tree is coming along nicely. All painted, now I need to put the leaves on. I'm going to get some bird feeders for it.

Another sunny morning so I'm going to get off this computer and go outside. Some painting to do in the summer house. Luckily someone gave me some free paint so I have enough to freshen it up.

Thanks for popping in. Make the most of the sunshine and go out, that's if you are in the UK, those knee deep in snow stay warm indoors. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

15 comments:

  1. My other half went to Lidl and bought me a powersaw its huge and brilliant , tree branches,bits of wood for odd jobs etc etc , he cant saw any more and im overly ambitious , so its working out quite well

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  2. Thats a good idea to put trellis on the soil.I noticed one of my cats using my new compost as a toilet yesterday so I will try that.Im going to make the most of the sun in the garden today.Ive already had 2 coffees out there,but all the wooden seats are damp because of the downpour we had last night...and hubby says that the rain is due again this afternoon! Well at least it saves me watering the plants.Im sad that I think that my yucca plant has died.I bought it as a baby one in a small pot and it grew massive,so I planted it in the garden.But I think that the snow we had a while back killed it off.Im going to leave it for a few months and see if it picks up.xx

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  3. I can’t wait to see the tree you’re building! I’m always in love with your choice of bright colors.
    Still lots of snow but it’s receding, finally! No snow forecast until Wed., but just light. Spring is on its way!
    It’s nice to see the birds making nests. Soon, I’ll be able to put the hummingbird feeder out. It’s the only feeder we have. We get so many pigeons that i’d never be able to keep up with their seeds!

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  4. Hi, Ilona! How I love your blog and YouTube channel! And I'm so lucky that I've found them in a moment when I was in most need. Thank you so much for your work!

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    1. It's great to have you on board, welcome. I've made a video today, will get it out tomorrow.

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    2. Linda, South Devon23 April 2018 at 09:48

      The same was true for me of Ilona's wonderful blog. As I quoted when I found it, "when the student is ready the teacher will appear".

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  5. I currently have two cats, they are both shorthairs, but over the years I have had three longhairs. These of course need more grooming, and I save the fur in a bag and then in spring, hang it out in an old nut feeder. In recent years a friend's cat has donated his long fur brushings, another friend gave me the soft fur of his alsations. The cat fur always gets taken rapidly by the Tit family, but no-one pays any interest to the alsation fur. Nice to think of little birdies cuddling down in my kitties soft fur.:-)

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    1. We used to put out the soft brushed hair from our rabbit for the birds, I also liked the thought of the birds in fur lined nests!

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  6. i really enjoy your daily posts - we have a lot in common - i am 68 a huge cat lover also frugal i am also a carer of a disabled person - keep up the great advice. thank you ilona.xx

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  7. I want some free paint tooo! :o)

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    1. Ask your friends or anyone you know if they have any half tins they don't want. Let it be known in your circles that you are happy to accept any freebies. Don't be shy.

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  8. oh so they're forget-me-nots; they appeared in my backgreen last year and i think i've just found a few coming up now. I pull most of them out cos they spread everywhere really quickly. To stop the cats peeing in my veg plot, i fill in the gaps with large twiggy bits that have fallen off our trees - does the trick most times.

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  9. I bet your garden is looking great.

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  10. I sprinkle red pepper on bare spots that the cats love. You do have to reapply after the rain. But, it beats cat poop.

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