A Sort of Busy Day

I'm still catching up with the blogs, but I'm enjoying it when I feel able to dip in.

Sharon - I'm still getting used to the bag. DH is definitely getting more done working from home. Daughter's work sounds fascinating. Bear is practising hard, which is awesome. I'm enjoying the garden so much. There is so much to see if you just look. The sparrows are currently zooming in and out like Spitfires. Your garden sounds more active and a lot of fun! Thank you for the kind thoughts.

Bless - thank you for the hugs and the kind thoughts. They are so much appreciated, and you and your scan are very much in my thoughts as well. Thank goodness DH will continue to work at home, apart from the odd occasion. It makes life easier for him and he gets more done - a win all round! Bear's revision is carrying on, and thank you for your thoughts. I know what you mean about getting one the right size. It's so tricky to get one that fits all my stuff and yet isn't the size of a shipping container. As for peace in the garden - it is anything but! But it's so entertaining.

Cherie - squirrels can do so much damage, and I've pretty much abandoned the idea of growing much productive. Uncle loathed them. They used to fight on his roof, and it was a tin roof, so it wasn't exactly subtle. He put out rat poison in apples in his garden to try and thin the numbers. We had a huge stand of hazel trees and we never got a nut.

Hazel - I'm so glad that you are enjoying the books. As they are on Kindle Unlimited, I'm having a lot of fun dipping in when I am waiting for bear instead of knitting!

Eileen - I can't tell you how much I appreciate your good thoughts. Thank you. 

Sarah - I know that squirrels and foxes aren't strictly urban but will try out city living, and I've even seen a squirrel in the trees in Leeds City Centre, years ago, but I always thought that it was too urban here. I may try the chili trick, as we are enjoying the birds but I know that squirrels are trouble. As for foxes, I am soft enough that I wouldn't stress too much if I saw one, as long as it kept a distance, but I've heard too much about the wanton havoc they cause to complain about a farmer going after them with a gun. I suspect that they don't flourish here because Matalan puts down a lot of poison for the rats, and foxes don't do well on a diet of poisoned rat. 

Today was sort of busy. I dropped bear off and then drove to Kwik Fit to get the tyre check pressure light sorted out. Apparently there is nothing wrong, but we've been here before. They didn't want paying so I left a box of chocolates for them. Then I organised a plumber for the leaking shower and rearranged the time at the breast clinic as I needed it to be later. Normally I would let bear make his own way if I had something to do, but all the buses that go that way are on strike. The trains aren't too bad if bear walks two miles, but if the buses aren't running then they will be jammed to the fill line. The walk between his school and us is eight miles, with some very busy junctions, so I would rather drive him. 

The small honeysuckle in the corner appears to be dying off and it looks like mildew. If I am going to spray it with something chemical then I need to pick my moments as there are a lot of bees in the big honeysuckle. Here are some pics

I've heard that milk could help get rid of mildew, so I may have a go with that. 

The fuchsia is as robust as ever and overrun with sparrows.

There will be a lot of berries later on, but I won't have a chance to try fuchsia berry jam. The sparrows are definitely going to get there first!

Writing stuff - Today's flash fiction is the latest in the Under the Dark Hills serial and it's here - Something Hidden. And I also have a small piece, part 1 of 6, on the Three Furies website all about research - Researching, Writing and Rabbit Holes. I finished the series last week, and I'll share when the next one is posted. Three Furies Press are the wonderful people who published a couple of my novels, and they have a load of books on there as well as some lovely merchandise. I'm trying to resist the cute stuffed panda on there.

Hugs and good health to all.