Hospital visit

Good morning. A short break from the Yorkshire posts while I post an update on my poorly Hedgie. He/she/non binary 😵 has been appearing in my garden during daylight hours. It appeared to be ok, always feeding, didn't look sick. How can you tell without a closer look anyway. I put a small dot of red paint on his back so I would recognise him again. 

The night before last when the weather was wet and windy he was trying to find shelter under the hedge. I found him just before bed time. He was trembling with cold, and didn't look too good at all. I got the cat carrier out and made a bed for him in there, and brought him indoors for the night. 

Yesterday morning I rang the Hedgehog Hospital and they said I could bring him in. They checked him over, found three ticks which they removed, and weighed him. They found a small poo in the bedding and put it under the microscope. The verdict, he has Lungworm. Thankfully this is treatable. Apparently they catch it from eating slugs, which they are not supposed to do.  

Little Hedgie is now being taken care of at the hospital. He has his own private accommodation. He is snug and warm and has his food delivered. As you can see he has settled in rather nicely. He will be monitored over the next few weeks and fattened up. He will have regular weight checks and treatment for the Lungworm. When he has recovered they will let me know, then we can decide what's best for him. If I should want to have him back here they will need to do a home visit to make sure that my garden is suitable. It's much the same procedure as anyone wanting to home a rescue cat or dog. 

Andrews Hedgehog Hospital is near Appleby/Broughton, not far from Brigg North Lincolnshire. The lady in charge has been there for 30+ years, she lives in the bungalow there. 

Here is the web site for the Hedgehog Hospital. 

My other hedgehogs came last night. They seem healthy and are fattening up for the hibernation season. Last year they stopped coming in early December.

Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your weekend. More to come on the second day of the Yorkshire trip. Bedale, Masham, and Thorpe Perrow Arboretum.  

Toodle pip.   ilona

What's Mayze doing.

I'm a bit late getting this out onto the blog. Fished it out of the drafts folder. 

Have a wander around my garden with me. See what's growing, and what isn't. My haven for wildlife. Anything, feathered, furry, or spikey that drops by gets something to eat, and drink. It's rough around the edges, places for creatures to hide and snooze. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

 

Cats - garden - nature - friends

Good morning, again, ha ha. This hedgehog arrived a bit early last night, at 8pm. It was slightly smaller than the big fat ones I get, so I suppose it must be a teenager. It didn't seem to bother when I walked about in the garden filling up the water bowls, it carried on munching. He looked healthy enough, even though they are not supposed to appear in daylight. Later on there were more comings and goings as the whole family came for their supper. 

Breakfast this morning, porridge, my special mix of seeds and nuts, with fresh strawberries. blueberries, and grapes. 

This is Mayze pictured yesterday outside the back door. Empty saucer she has eaten her breakfast. The same this morning. Happy to report that she is eating and pooing normally. 

When it gets too warm she finds shade. 

My friends at the Crafty Club had a meal out at a Garden Centre after the Monday morning meeting in the Village Hall. I didn't go. It's not my thing to sit around a long table in a busy restaurant waiting for my food to be delivered. Besides I had something else to do, a visit to the Scrapstore with Angela. As we went over the Humber Bridge I noted that the car park was jampacked full. Apparently it was very hot in the conservatory where they ate their meal. I think I made a wise choice. The lunch out was a treat to use up some of the money accumulated in the kitty. As I didn't go, they brought me back this lovely flower arrangement. That is very kind, a nice surprise. 

The sun is shining , looks like it is going to be another hot day. I won't be going far, it's a pleasure to be in and around the garden. I have some ice cream in the fridge. 

I woke up with an idea in my head for a new project using the masks from the Scrapstore. I am keen to get on with that. I can see it in my mind of how it should look. A statement picture. 

Must get on. Thanks for popping in. Have a good day. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Waiting for hedgehogs

It's been a wet kind of day here in North Lincolnshire today. Some heavy showers. I have my computer and my sewing to keep me occupied. 

The two circles in the centre are now stitched onto the black backing fabric. The inner circle is wrapped with gold coloured thread. That is very difficult to work with having eight strands. They keep separating if you let go of it. The 11 small circles are plastic washers, I think I have already posted a picture of those. Each wrapped in a different colour of embroidery thread. 

Now I am at the stage of arranging more small pieces, trying to decide which configuration is the most pleasing to the eye. I've got plenty of the small hearts. I don't think the buttons are going to look right unless I can find 11 of the same colour and the same size. I don't want to spend any money on this. The silver glittery bits are cut from pipe cleaners. I bought some from a craft shop years ago. Anything can happen as I play around with it. 

Brunch today was broccoli, carrots, and peas. I made extra last night, so this was warmed up in a pan with oil and sweet and sour stir fry sauce. Add some ready cooked rice and there you go. Simple and easy. 

This afternoon I made a dash for Aldi. It was chucking it down when I left home, but thankfully it had eased off by the time I got there. £50 spent, all stocked up again. I am going to be using more frozen vegetables in the future. Sometimes good quality veg is not always available. There were some limp and scraggy cauliflowers on sale. At least with frozen you get no waste. 

I was outside with the camera last night at 10pm, hoping to catch the hedgehogs as they arrived. I waited but they were late, so I clicked off the camera after ten minutes. Later on I looked out to see if there was any sign of them, and three were in the garden. I tried to get them on camera but it was too dark with too many shadows. I will try again another night and set up a better light. 

Quick dinner tonight. Potato in the microwave with cheese and slices of beetroot. The rain has stopped so I'll go out and do a village walk. 

Thanks for popping in. Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

In the garden

Aye up mi ducks. It's been a lovely day today. Sunny and warm. I went to the Post Office this morning to pay a couple of bills, Anglian Water, and Council Tax. Also got some cash out for spends. 

This is one of the plants I bought last week. The bees love it. Don't ask me the name of it, I throw away the labels when I pot them up. 

Where are the cats? Mayze is in the shelter up by the summerhouse. She is the boss of the cat family. The boys give her a wide berth because she shouts at them. 

Oscar is curled up in his nest in the long grass. 

Mickey can often be found in the front garden, or near the front door. He got up when he saw me, so I took a bowl of food out for him. He used to live up the street and sometimes goes back there to visit. I was speaking to them the other day and they are amazed he is still around, at 19 years old. He is a lovely boy, sleeps on my bed with me every night. 

I recorded this video yesterday and uploaded it today. My subscribers like the chatty ones best. 

It's just coming up to 7pm so I am going to get something to eat. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

A look at Linden Nurseries

Aye up me ducks, how are you. It's gone warm again here. I went out litter picking this afternoon, down the hill and up the hill. I was almost flaking out with the heat. I saw a lady who goes to our Coffee Morning, she asked where was I this morning, everybody missed me. That's nice isn't it. I said I couldn't make it because I had a dentist appointment. Seems like the next three Wednesday mornings are going to be disrupted. Next week there is a big funeral so there will be lots of people at the wake. We have to move into a different room. The following two weeks the organiser is on holiday so there will be no Coffee Mornings at all. 

The dentist appointment went ok. I have a chipped tooth on my bridge. The dentist explained the options. Remove the whole bridge and he can make another one. That will be expensive, and painful. He can try and repair the damage but there is no telling how long that will last because my tooth is ceramic and a conventional filling might not stick to it. Option three is leave it alone. I have gone for that option because people have said it looks perfectly fine. I tend to agree, it is hardly noticeable. So, nothing to pay at the dentist this morning. 

I called in at Aldi in Brigg to top up my fridge with a few items. 

On the way home I called into a Garden Centre to buy some plants. I have some empty pots and want to fill them. This is a family owned small Garden Centre which I have been using for a few years. I was surprised to see they have massively expanded onto the land next door. I had a walk around before I chose some plants. I must say I don't like really big Garden Centres. Now it looks like one of those big ones which sell everything else, plus a few plants. I took these photo's anyway. They have worked really hard, and hopefully their expansion will pay off. It looks good, but too much choice for me. I bought four plants for £22.  

Looks to me like they are aiming at top end customers with big houses and fat bank accounts to pay for it. Some of these trees in pots you are looking at a thousand pounds each. Just a big pot is several hundred pounds. 

If you want to visit it's called Linden Nurseries. Ermine Street, Appleby, between Scunthorpe and Brigg. More information here. 

Now I'm going outside to pot up my plants. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Gotta laugh

It's been raining tonight and Oscar was sheltering under the new table. I put some dry food in there so he wouldn't have to come out. 

I went to check on Janet's cats and when I came back Oscar was not there. Look what I found instead. 

😂😁😆 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Tables and cat shelters

Good morning. I like pottering in the garden, more so than pottering in the house. The wonky table was made more stable by hammering in a few extra nails. More carefully this time. I reused the table cover from the first one, scrubbed it clean and fitted it to the now not wonky table. I now have a storage area underneath. The smaller bench like thingy on the other side used to be a base for a barbeque. I found it on a front garden with a label on saying free. The man said I could leave the actual barbeque behind, and just take the bench. It has two wheels so I was able to push it home. So now this is my work area for any outdoor diy projects I might fancy doing. 

You can't have too many tables. Two free ones underneath the back window. A friend gave me the big one, and I found the smaller one in a skip. Oscar cat likes to stand on this and look in when he wants to come inside. 

A pallet table I made. The metal bed headboard was propped up on someones front. The label said free to take, so I did. 

Another pallet table. A low coffee table style on the seating area. The top is covered with plastic panels, the sort you line out a shower cubicle with. Found in a skip. 

This table is close to the back door. It is a real picnic table which had metal legs. They were buckled and bent so made a wooden frame and the top sits on there. I put the hedgehog food under it to keep it dry when it rains. I have a spotlight which shines out through the window so I can watch the hedgies when they come. Usually two or three every night, sometimes four. 

This is also outside the back door. A handy table to put things on while I am working outside. 

Mayze has decided to make camp in the shelter next to the summerhouse. This is Oscar's favourite bolthole. I have to bring her in overnight so Oscar can go to bed. I made this one out of a dog crate. It has a cupboard underneath for storage. 

Oscar can sometimes be found in this bed as well. He has a choice. 

Everything in my garden is made from what I have found in skips. I don't need fancy Garden Centres. The fun for me is playing with an idea, looking around for free materials to use, and trying to make it work. Make do and mend is in my DNA. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Job done

Good morning. The refurbishment of a collapsed table. It stands over a pallet covered with a piece of heavy duty floor covering. Mayze is a bit miffed that I have destroyed her shelter. 

The ends are from a single bed recovered from a skip. Held together with some cross members of wood. They can be left as they are. Old plastic all stripped off. All I need to do is replace the top and recover with new plastic. 

The half pallet can be reused. I have some old shelving which can be cut to size, Now I need to build it up to the height of the pallet. 

That is near enough. Held together with nails and cable ties. 

I have a role of heavy duty plastic, given to me by the men who took down my garage. After all, I have paid for it in the price of the job, so they said. So, I didn't bother opening it out, it is huge, meant for use as a weed suppressant on the ground after the garage removal. I didn't need it for that, there is a concrete base which doesn't need covering. I covered three sides and the top of the table, it is several layers thick. I then moved the table top back over the pallet on the ground. 

Finally place a piece of waterproof table covering on the top. I've had this for years. Knew there was a use for it. I put the original piece of carpet back inside, and an old curtain on top of that to make it a comfy waterproof shelter for Mayze. She is happy now. She can sit there and watch the birds. 

This is what happens when you are not paying attention to what you are doing. Bloody hell, that hurt. My mind is always one step ahead, thinking about the next job. The table next to this one is a bit wonky so I need to add some wood and nails to strengthen it  

All cats fed, mine and Janet's. Birds fed, one duck visited this morning, don't know where the rest of them are. Bins out for collection. Now time for breakfast before I go to Coffee Morning. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona