Another bird in the hand!

I hope all’s well, as always…

Firstly, I wanted to say thank you again for your many kind comments left after watching my wildlife relaxation film – I have tried to reply to them all, apologies if I missed anyone.

I enjoyed a rainy but nonetheless pleasant and restful week at home, during which I was able to work through a list of DIY jobs around my home and garden. I also popped down to see my mum for her 85th birthday and plant a couple of flowering shrubs for her – a beautiful Ceanothus (Californian Lilac) and a hardy evergreen Fuchsia. My mum loves her garden and takes immense pride in every aspect of it, from its lush well stocked borders to its fruit trees and bird feeders.

Mum inherited her love of gardening from her mum and I know it would have pleased my nan immensely that my two brothers and I now get such pleasure from our own gardens. I suppose it’s a rite of passage in a way, as when I was much younger I only really saw the garden as a source of sport or fun, never fully appreciating its beauty or stopping to smell the flowers – literally!

At home my wife Tracey has been busy planting up many pots around the patio and they are putting on quite a show already, and this summer we bought a wooden archway as both a feature and frame for evergreen jasmine, wisteria and ivy. With all this rain I’ve had to cut the grass twice this week already and I’ve also had to re-order more of Richard Jackson’s Premium Bird Food and Grumpy Gardener’s Fat Balls!

Obviously, the more birds you attract the quicker the food goes. Whilst my family take pleasure in watching parent birds leading their fledglings to the feeders, it’s also increased competition amongst them all and once again, we’ve had a youngster fleeing a squabble, collide with our lounge windows. It was raining again as I heard the impact and ran outside, saw a stunned Blue Tit motionless on the ground, and picked him/her up and cradled them in my hands before moving inside as I had done previously with the Coal Tit (see previous blog).

He/she gradually came to and started to look around and fidget (a good sign), so not wanting to stress him/her out I stood outside and opened my hand to let them get their bearings and fully expected he/she to fly straight off, but he/she chose to stay in the palm of my hand for a good three minutes, then hopped onto my thumb, leaving a little “thank you” gift on my hand. In all, he/she stayed with me for over five minutes and I managed to film it all on my iPhone – I’ve shared an edited shorter version with you here.

It was a magical moment I’ll never forget and hopefully there was no lasting injury to the little mite. We have kept the living room curtains permanently closed behind this window since the Coal Tit episode and it was again raining, which might be a factor? Who really knows, but as you can see in the video, once they’d got their bearings and fully come to, they flew off powerfully, so fingers crossed.

This Sunday (the 18^th) we have a Summer Gardening event running through the day up until 7pm and I’m lucky enough to be presenting three hours, starting at midday with Tools for the Home & Garden, followed at 1.00pm with an hour of Thompson & Morgan and back at 4.00pm with Gardening Inspirations. Our Today’s Special Value (TSV) of the day is from Auraglow in the form of a Set of 2 Battery Operated Rope Lights, a stunning addition for your garden or balcony.

As we spend more time out in our gardens, lighting can play an important role in creating a wonderful ambiance as the sun sets and of course being battery operated, they can be used anywhere along the top of a wall or fence, around a tree, arbour, arch or gazebo or simply along a pathway – the choice is yours and you’ll receive two at a great TSV price.

We’ll have more great ideas for many of your gardening needs along with planting inspiration for planning ahead to next season, so I really hope you can join us at some point through the day – we’d love your company.

Until next time, stay green fingered and well…

Dale x