That January Feeling

Bless - I've failed at compost in the past, but I may have another go. I think I shall keep an eye out for any nests. And I never thought about using the onion skins, but it makes sense.

Sharon - thank you! There is a reason that I've switched to reading a lot on kindle, well, the kindle app on my phone. It saves a tremendous amount of space. I'm also taking full advantage of Kindle Unlimited. It's £7.99 a month and I've read three books from there already this month. Your squirrel sounds adorable. Mine is just well padded.

Eileen - I've already bought some reusable ziplock bags. As I've been buying the frozen onion, they've separated out easily enough, and the mushrooms haven't got that much moisture in them before cooking, so I hadn't considered freezing them in smaller portions, but I think that will be the way to go.

Cherie - I'm not sure about our robin being tame. I can't help feel that if I try hand feeding him, he'll headbutt my ankle and have my hand off at the wrist. Seriously, I suspect that I'm in the middle of a territorial dispute as the one that was glaring at me on the way in tonight seemed a little bigger and somewhat ruffled. I may try, though. I love seeing the birds in the garden.

We may have a problem squirrel. I came home on Saturday from my 'sit in a car park and knit' session (which I find amazingly therapeutic) to this.

Yep, that's Spenser Squirrel sitting in the top of the drainpipe on our porch. When he realised that I had spotted him, he flattened himself against the porch and froze. I got DH to come down and make noise from inside the porch and eventually Spenser shot across the garden, saw me, did the squirrel equivalent of 'oh bugger' and zigzagged away into the bushes across the road. 

The porch roof is incredibly rickety and I am worried about Spenser getting in there. I think that's where the bat got in. Fortunately, the porch was added on some time after the house was built, so the only way in is the inner door - which we are keeping firmly closed. As the roof in there leaks, I suppose it's time to get it repaired. I've been putting it off. Today I found that the peanut butter tub had been removed from the bird feeder, chain and all, and was stuck half way up the gate. I suspect Spenser may have been involved as the tub is relatively heavy and the wind hasn't been that strong. 

I think we are all feeling the January feeling of it being dark, damp and after Christmas. Bear has a pile of exams coming up, plus he's been asked to take part in some sort of maths competition. I'll share what I find out. It's also quite a sad time. There used to be about a gazillion and four birthdays in January, for both DH and I, but so many of our older family members has passed on that there are far fewer cards to buy. It's also coming up to the anniversary of my late mother's death. I think I will call in at Tesco tomorrow and buy a load of sweeties for the food bank as a way of remembering. 

Writing stuff - I managed to write a little flash fiction here. 

Hugs and good health to all.