What a Day!

Last Thursday was the day my dog Riley, was booked in for his neutering and micro-chipping at Vets4Pets, as they partake in the Dog Trust neutering scheme. He had to be there at 10.30am to see the vet and get his relaxant injection. We arrived, Mum, David, Riley and I, and proceeded to wait over half an hour to be seen. There were lots of people with dogs, it must have been a dog day!

We were at last called in by the vet! He checked Riley over and informed us of the procedure. The vet said Riley was healthy though a bit stressed, he is like his owner stressed at social situations. We were then put into a ‘quiet’ room and waited for the sedative to work on Riley. He was left lying on the cold floor for half an hour, I was not very happy with the service we received! At last we got the attention of a vet and they came to take Riley to the kennels. I was sad to leave him. I hoped they would look after my Riley!

The rest of the day was torture for me! I hate waiting for anything and waiting to phone up for Riley was excruciating! Nothing could stop me thinking of how Riley was getting on in his operation, not even visiting my brother Stephen and his kids!

David and I bought Riley lots of toys from B&M and we put them in a plastic bag for him to find when he came home. 🙂

After 4.30pm we went to pick Riley up. He was micro-chipped and neutered! We were called into the vets room and there was Riley all in his buster collar standing at the open doorway waiting for us! We all greeted Riley who looked so sorry for himself!  At one stage Riley tried to go back to the kennels lol. 😮

After the short drive home, Riley, still slightly doped, found his bag full of toys and brightened up a little. He slept off the effects of the anaesthetic and after 10pm that night, Riley had eaten all his dinner and had a big long drink! He even had energy to play with his new toys!

On Monday afternoon we have another appointment with the vet to see how his wound is healing. I’ll update you on the results!

At Last a Baby Dunnock!

Monday was eventful bird wise. After my last blog saying about the increasing number of Starlings; Monday morning the yard was awash with brown and speckled wings and the squawking of them. There were lots of Starlings, about 20 of them, all fighting over the fat balls and many of them were youngsters! What a racket they made! 😀

I also found it amusing that while the Starlings were in the yard the charm of Goldfinches were all sitting in the tree opposite waiting for the noisy neighbours to leave. 🙂

Yesterday evening, I was alerted to a high pitched squeaking sound,  I wondered what it was. As I peered into the yard, my eyes alighted on a small brown bird. A Dunnock! But this wasn’t Mr. Dunnock who visits but a young bird. David had arrived by that time and was also watching, he said that there were ‘two other Dunnocks in the tree opposite.’ Mum and Dad? Thankfully the baby Dunnock stayed on the wall long enough for me to film him before he disappeared into the foliage.

Today, Tuesday I have also been lucky enough to have my camera handy to capture the Greenfinch that has been a regular visitor to the sunflower seeds. I hope you like?

Birds, birds and more birds!

Bird news this weekend is that there were about 18!Yes 18 Goldfinches on the feeders this Sunday! There are lots of baby Goldfinches and I think their numbers have been successfully added to this cool damp summer! I believe I am feeding probably half of all Goldfinches in Liverpool. 😀 I am really thinking of setting myself up as a charity to get more donated seed LOL! 😀

Apart from Goldfinches the other ‘main’ news of the weekend is the return of the dreaded Starlings! Their squabbling awoke me first thing this morning and just now (3.30pm), there were four! Yes four Starlings on the fatballs! I don’t think I will be able to cope if there are 20 Starlings and 20 Goldfinches on the feeders this winter!

I also spotted the Blue Tits over the weekend and the tail end of what I think was Mr. Dunnock. I do hope he still visits, though I think he will not like all this bird traffic lol. My Back yard has become more ‘popular’ since he last visited. 😀

Early morning on Friday a Robin was also spotted amongst the Goldfinches! 😀

The weekend has not been a weekend of relaxation, though I really need a holiday. David and I were busy scraping the Artex off the bedroom ceiling, in the new house. It was an arduous task, which lasted all day Saturday but today, we managed to fill in the cracks and hopefully this week coming I will be able to start the well awaited painting. 🙂

Update: there were seven Starlings on the feeders as of 4pm!

One Room Completed and a New Visitor. :)

It was David’s birthday on Thursday, he was 38! He won’t like me saying that but the tide of time waits for no man. lol :p

For his birthday he took two days off work so we could do more work on the house. Over the weekend past we put on the skirting board for the main bedroom and the box room. I also painted and completed the box/gym room. We decided to go for light grey to add to the metallic look of the gym equipment. I am pleased with the outcome. 🙂

On Friday I spied a new visitor on my feeders. It was a GREENFINCH! 😮 I was so happy, though I have not seen him since as he was chased away by the numerous Goldfinches about. The baby House Sparrow was also chased away from the feeders by one of the adult males, I guess they are all developing their new territories.

The Blue Tits have been frequent visitors to the feeders over the weekend, they must really rely on the food I am putting out. 🙂

Saturday was eventful for one of our Society finches, Caramel. We had to catch her to clip her toenails but as I was trying to grab her from the cage, she escaped the cage and started flying around the room. lol 😀 I eventually caught her and David shakily cut her nails, careful not to cut her quick, we didn’t want blood all over the place! For a treat we put Caramel and Chocolate’s cage in front of the window for them to catch some light and to chat to the Goldfinches. 😀