My November

Happy holidays! I’m a bit late in writing this round up of my November. In some ways 2021’s November has been a short month, I’ve enjoyed getting all festive and planning Christmas and also David and I took a short break to the Lakes mid month. We also visited a zoo, something which we haven’t done in a few years, it was one activity that cemented our relationship. Here’s what I’ve been up to this month.

With the long, dark chilly nights drawing in, I’ve been catching up on some TV shows. The new season of Dexter is meeting expectations and the new series of Shetland is as compelling as usual.

Bill

Sadly our aviary had another death. This time it was Bill, the silverbill who passed away. He survived his mate Silvie by two months. I was saddened by Bill’s loss as he was such a loving, friendly little chap. Fly free little one!

During our short break to the Lake District David and I took in a visit to Safari Zoo, which used to be South Lakes Zoo before all the turmoil regarding the owner and malpractice. We spent a leisurely three hours walking around the enclosures. My favourites by far were the Giant Otters and Red Pandas, of course!

The main reason for heading back up to the Lakes was to extend my wild swimming season into November. I assumed that the water would have been colder than my birthday swim in October where I swam in Llynnau Mymbyr, but sadly the water wasn’t breath taking as it was in Wales, although the wind was! The tarns I swam in were Eskdale’s Blea Tarn and Devoke Water, both remote and atmospheric.

The remainder of November was all about looking forward to the festive season. Mid month, I put up my Christmas tree for some much needed cheer and ordered a new wreath for the front door as the old one had given up the ghost. I love buying presents for all our fur babies, and couldn’t resist in purchasing another Christmas jumper for Riley to wear. Doesn’t he look cute?!

What are you most looking forward to during the festive period?

Thanks for reading,

Christine xx

My September

I’m not much of a fan of September. I don’t particularly like the encroachment of the darker mornings and evenings and I still have echoes of the dreaded ‘going back to school’ feeling, even though I am in my 40’s! The beautiful season of autumn as the leaves change colour is no consolation. September has been a mixed bag for David and I, but oh boy how fast it has gone! I can’t quite believe I’m writing this review!

At the beginning of September, David and I were in the middle of our holiday to the Trossachs in Scotland. I had many swims, including a sunrise, sunset, afternoon and even a night time swim at Loch Venachar and also visited the chilly waters of Loch Chon, Lubnaig, Earn and Katrine. It was a fab holiday! 😁

Our cabin for the week in Scotland had a feeding station and not only woodland birds visited but red squirrels and even a shy great spotted woodpecker!

The aviary saw the sad passing of our female silverbill, Silvie. It was a shock as Silvie had been in good health previously. I feel sorry for Bill her partner, singing all alone. 😪

September is the month we got Artie, he was a big seven this year! We celebrated by buying him a new cat tower.

One mid September weekend turned out pretty bad for our wild bird rehabilitation. We picked up two birds, who were sadly too far gone to be helped. All we could give was palliative care. We took in a pigeon who was so weak and diseased with canker that she only lasted one night. The next day we picked up a poor goldfinch who was so ill, he only lasted a few hours and passed away in David’s hands. Our only solace was that both were safe in our home, and not left vulnerable outside.

This September I have been enjoying watching some TV. I am a big fan of Silent Witness, so I am busy catching up on the new series. While visiting my mum, we are enjoying A House Through Time, which is more a social history lesson, but so interesting!

Since I am back working five days a week and my hours have changed I am doing a lot more reading while on the long commute. This month I have read the Agatha Christie thriller, Witness for the Prosecution, and have now started Libby Page’s The Island Home.

To cheer up a wet and cold end to September, here’s a picture of a cosmos, there are many of these growing around work which does lift the spirits.

How has your September been?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Four Out of Five Birds…

By no means is this post sponsored by Haith’s – Bird Food Specialists since 1937. However, after previously testing their wild bird food, (you can read all about that here). I decided to purchase some of their foods for our indoor aviary, which houses seven finches, with two in the ‘naughty’ cage! Overall we have a mix of nine foreign finches.

We regularly offer millet sprays to our birds. We usually buy Chinese millet from a local pet store. On perusing Haith’s Cage and Aviary website, I spied French red Anjou millet sprays. Though a little more expensive than the Chinese millet I was won over by their deep red colour.

Foreign Finches enjoying Anjou Millet

French red Anjou Millet Spray

Haith’s delivery is supper fast. On receipt of my goods, I couldn’t wait to give the finches their first taste of the red Anjou millet. Needless to say the new millet went down a treat!

With two of our ladies laying eggs at present (in rather unsuitable places I may add), I purchased Haith’s foreign finch tonic food. This blend is to support staple foods and is enriched with nutritious seeds to help with a balanced diet. Like their wild bird seed, the foreign finch food came SUPERCLEAN™. You can read more about Haith’s cleaning process here.

Foreign Finch Tonic Seed

Granulated Charcoal

To help with digestion and aid in egg production I also purchased some granulated charcoal.

We are very happy with the purchased products from Haith’s. The birds are loving the new tonic seed and red Anjou millet. I will definitely purchase these items again from Haith’s in future.

Thanks to David for taking the pictures!

Christine x