Bless - thank you! I think with bear, he's pretty awesome and is such a good lad, but I don't want to be unrealistic. I've read blogs where everything is just so wonderful and fantastic and perfect that it's discouraging. Bear is amazing, and I'm still not sure where we went right, but it's a pretty normal household here. Bear has yet again failed to take his plate to the kitchen.
And speaking of normal, we have rats in the garden again. They are raiding the seeds dropped by the birds and the squirrel. I don't approve of rats in the garden. In addition, I'm a little worried because there are so many rats around that poison might be put down, then the dogs next door but one might be vulnerable if they catch and eat a poisoned rat.
Last time we got rid of them (mostly) by clearing away a load of vegetation, moving stuff around and generally tidying up. Apparently rats hate change. They also apparently hate peppermint. I was wondering about dousing the bird feeder with peppermint oil, then I worried whether it would deter the birds. Do birds like peppermint oil? Can birds smell peppermint oil? I realised that I never thought of birds having a sense of smell, but I knew that Tyrannosaurus Rex had (apparently) a great sense of smell and that birds are descended from T. Rex's cousins. Then I was a little worried that I knew more about a dinosaur's sense of smell than I did about a sparrow, but I guess my knowledge has blank spots. I googled and apparently birds do not like peppermint oil, and I think squirrels aren't keen either. So we won't be using much peppermint oil. We've had a few goldfinches around as well as the usual crowd of sparrows, blue tits, assertive robins, thrushes, blackbirds and I think a wren.
The yellow rose is looking better than it has done for years and I suspect that it's in part because the sparrows have been keeping the aphids down.
And there are some bluebells on the way.
I'm feeling a lot better (apart from a seriously iffy tummy) and the antibiotics continue, so I'll have intermittent goes at the garden over the next few days, weather permitting.
Hugs and good health to all.
Glad you're feeling better. I wouldn't think too much of those 'perfect' blogs, those are usually the houses where nothing is normal lol. I think that's the downfall with social media sometimes, everything looks lovely and perfect. I know my life isn't like that. My house isn't like that either.
ReplyDeleteHope you can get rid of the rats. Sounds awful. We had things clearing up the birdseed, but (hopefully) not rats lol. I need to do work in the garden. Everytime I look out there I think of something that should be done, but thinking is as far as it gets lol
Glad to hear that you are feeling better, Lyssa. The upset tummy might be a side effect of the antibiotic (antibiotics will kill some of the beneficial bacteria we have in our digestive system). Rats in the garden can be a problem. I've heard that ammonia is a good rat repellent. Maybe spray some ammonia around the garden and see if that helps?
ReplyDeleteDon't overdo things in the garden while you're under the weather. It's surprising how many different muscle groups get used after a good gardening session. Somedays every bit of me aches after pottering in the garden
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