PLEASE REMEMBER THE HEDGEHOGS.

Hi Folks

Don't reckon many will be reading this as I've been away so long, but if this saves one hedgehog that's a bonus.

Thank you..

Lots going on with me this year, and cannot get my head around blogging.  I haven't gone for good but it may be a while before I'm back.

Hope everyone is well, sending you a {{HUG}}

Very best wishes

Rose H

x x x x

Finally, a post!

Hello folks, before I start with my post I would like to say a very sincere thank you for all the comments I received on my last post.  I found them very moving.

Right, here goes.  

There's been a lot of changes in my life and attitude to things of late (not really surprisingly) I've been trying literally to put my house in order.  The seemingly endless task of sorting out and decorating has begun, and as I'm sure you know the rooms that are finished make EVERYTHING else in the home look super shabby!  Last Summer I did manage to decorate our downstairs loo and hallway and also the bathroom, which were long overdue but finally I have redecorated our dining room!  I really don't like to admit that it has been many, many years since it was last decorated.

I took the plunge and 'Annie Sloaned' the dresser, corner unit, bookcase and hostess trolley, and though I shall whisper very quietly that I'm really not a fan of 'shabby chic' I really needed to make drastic changes.  Out went the over sized dining table and 6 chairs (now re-homed with my beautiful daughter and her lovely partner.)  It's taken me a while - I'm not getting any younger and I know when I've done enough!  Here's some befores and afters....

The dresser top before - I don't have good views of the whole of it!

(incidentally, the daffodil china is one of the (many) things that has been re-homed.

Sold it to a vintage tea shop.)

Painted in AS Louis Blue and Original (off white)
then it's been AS Soft waxed to finish.

The knobs are crackled cream (eBay)

I've painted the interiors to match.
Please note fab new carpet

Couldn't find a before photo I'd taken so this is from here but identical to mine.
Mahogany heated hostess trolley

After!

My pine bookcase was very similar to this one, but of course mine only cost £25 from a charity shop!

but afterwards it looked like this!

(This shows a little of the old peachy carpet)

The 'old' corner unit

And again after it'd been Annie Sloaned.

I managed to get hold of a fab pine farmhouse style table and hard wood chairs off eBay which someone had kindly already painted and waxed in AS Pure White.  

(Sid's sleeping quarters showing by the radiator - she's 19 now and needs a bit of comfort.) 

Since taking this photo I've also changed the curtains to a china blue colour.

It took me around 4 weeks plodding along at my own pace to do but we are delighted with the finished result.  I did however roller on the AS paint as I preferred the finish to brush painted.

There has been a LOT of thinning out of 'stuff', some has gone (back) to charity, some has been stored in the loft and some given to friends - with more to do in every room.

I'm in the process of sorting out the gardens at the moment, and then the kitchen is next up, it too will be attacked by Annie Sloan - who has time to rub down oak cupboards and drawers?  Not me!
I have taken to decision that ALL our downstairs rooms will be in blue and white.....well why not?  Both hubs and I like those colours :o)

On to other matters.

Hedgehogs are still a huge part of my life :o)  I've actually lost count of how many I've released back into the wild this year, I think it's nine or ten.  Four of those were my little Autumn juveniles, and the others needed a safe place to live and Joan at the rescue centre chose me to release them.
I found out an amazing fact from Joan when collecting one of the spiky little critters for release - she has run the rescue centre for the last 15 years, taking in between 450 -500 hedgehogs a year.  Those who are able to be treated are lovingly cared for and cured only to be handed back to the folk who bought them in for release.  Joan had NEVER seen any of them returned to the wild!  A few days later Joan rang me and asked if I could take another one, and that she could bring it round for me as she would be in the area.  I suggested she leave it until later in the evening so that she could release it.  She was over the moon!  She arrived around 8 o'clock, we had a cuppa and a chat until it was dark enough.  I marked 'Lucky' so that I could keep a close eye on him for the next few weeks.  Joan placed him into one of the hoggy 'Hiltons' in the garden and we sat on a bench and waited for it to emerge.  Half an hour passed and nothing happened, then Joan gave me a nudge as another hog had appeared for a forage around the food in the garden - she was beaming from ear to ear.  A few minutes later another hog appeared and started to hoover up some mealworms, then a third large hog appeared and snuffled over right between our feet to  one of the water dishes for a long drink.  Joan was beside herself.  Then 'Lucky' finally snuffled out and promptly began to eat.  We were both overjoyed.  We stayed outside for another 15 minutes or so until Joan had to leave.  She told me the next day she'd had a lump in her throat as she was so moved to see the delightful little creatures doing what they should be doing.  It was a privilege to be the one that finally let Joan release one of her beloved little patients.

Lucky.

Thank you for reading this, I know I've been missing for quite a while and there's been a lot of heart searching as to weather or not I was going to blog at all...for now I will try and 'get back into the swing' of it all as I do miss catching up with you all.

Best wishes as always

x x x

A bit late posting this, but PLEASE check.

Will post again soon, hope you AND the HEDGEHOGS have a safe bonfire night.

Best wishes

Juvenile hedgehogs.

Hello folks!

Life continues to keep me too busy (read stressed!), so as usual posts are rare and fleeting.

Over four nights last week I captured 4 juvenile hedgehogs from the garden, their weights ranging from 250g to 300g which is far too small for them to hibernate overwinter as they need to be an absolute minimum of 600g (preferably 650g at this time of year.)  A neighbour bought another one to me that was wondering about in daylight - a SURE sign that there is something very wrong.

The lovely Joan who runs West Midlands Hedgehog Rescue has taken them all, despite being overrun with even more juveniles - she has been taking in  as many as 8 a day.   Sadly, despite her care and dedication the little chap found out in the day didn't make it, it's back leg had been injured (by a dog) and the wounds had become infected.  Joan had administered pain killer and antibiotics.

Joan with one of the hogs, 

The other four are all doing well and I shall return them back into the garden in the Spring.

Sadly, I just don't have a suitable place to overwinter these dear little creatures, and anyway they do need a health check to ensure they are in good health first.

PLEASE. keep an eye open for these hedgehogs as they DO need our help, without it they will most surely die.  

If you do find an injured/underweight or sick hog pick it up in an old towel and place it in a deep box (as they are good climbers) and place in a warm, dry place until you can find help (not in an outbuilding as it will be too cold.).  You should also place a hot water bottle (an old plastic drink bottle will do) wrapped in another towel to give heat as a sick hog will more than likely be suffering with hypothermia.  It is best if there is an area without heat so that they can move away if they get too hot.

Please note if you see a hedgehog out in daylight there IS something wrong, it WILL need help.

Visit the British Hedgehog Preservation Society web site for your nearest rescue centre.  

Remember that these centres are all voluntary and would benefit from even a small donation to help care for these endearing little creatures.

Here's a link to the Friends of West Midland Hedgehog Rescue Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-West-Midlands-Hedgehog-Rescue/173568902822170?fref=ts

Hope to be back soon.  In the meantime stay safe and well dear friends.

x x x

P.S.  I'm sorry to see that I have lost a follower, but I guess it's because I'm just making enough posts....

A Timely Reminder

Please pass it on.

Thank you

x x x

A few changes. (Long post)

Hello folks, I'm finally posting after what seems like months.

For those of you in the UK you know we are in the middle of a heatwave - I don't function too well in the heat!

* * *

Hello to my new followers!  Hope you stick around even though I'm not posting too regularly.

Then, thank you again for all the wonderful, supportive comments I've received.  I truly do appreciate them - you're a wonderful lot!

* * *

There's been a lot going on.  Further to Mom's assessment (last post) I received a copy of the report.  There were three large inaccuracies in it.  Firstly it stated that she 'was unable to hold a pen' - Mom had held the pen and written a legible sentence when asked.  He'd also stated that she was 'unable to handle money' - This subject had not been broached when he asked Mom if she shopped on her own, she has no problems with this at all.  Then, thirdly he's started a paragraph with 'Mary lives alone.  Florence has no insight into her problems' and went on to describe Florence's other problems.  I wrote to the Memory Service nurse pointing out the inaccuracies (I hand posted it, sending a copy to  Mom's doctor).  I received no reply and have had to chase it up.  Finally, yesterday I received a reply stating that they use a template that should have been blank before typing.  Even though it had been checked before sending out these problems hadn't been noticed!  Gives you a lot of faith in them eh?

Just had to add this photo of my first cherries ripening - looking forward to tasting them :o)
As the next photo was featured for my post (How off-putting.)

Do you recall the garden bench covered in bird poo? (Ugh, shudder.)

Well, it's had a bit of a facelift..

The metal frame was made by my maternal Grandfather as a wedding gift to Grandma (in 1914)

So it's almost an antique!  I've painted it with smooth Hammerite paint, and we've put new seat and backrest boards on.  These have had three coats of Ronseal  Woodland colours 'Bluebell' wood treatment.  I need to paint the table now, along with...

The new arbour seat :o)  When it cools down I shall paint it with the same bluebell colour outside, and ash white inside.

Do you remember the bug boxes I put up on the new fence?  This morning we've discovered that some Leafcutter bees have found the tubes :o)  I'm really pleased about this as the garden MUST be BEE FRIENDLY!

I've added a Cedar wood Lacewing Box too.  I followed the instructions and stuffed it with straw after smearing lacewing attractant on it.

It's quite large and was a bargain from Amazon.

* * *

One of my neighbours had put out a water feature for the scrap/rubbish man to collect.  I have a small pebble pool in the back garden that we rarely use as the water reservoir below ground is rectangular and the returning water 'misses' so it emptied quickly.  I thought the bottom part of the feature would be better, so asked if I could have it.  It turned out that it all worked and they were just altering the layout of the garden.  It wouldn't have been my choice in a garden centre - but for free? 

;o)

Nice and weathered - it'll do for me!

* * *

On the wildlife front.

Hedgehogs GALORE!  We had ten in the garden the other night, a three, a four and a two.  All different ones.

The other evening I 'captured' one to mark it.  Meet Ted.

Yes, leather gloves were required - a VERY prickly character ;o)

* * *

I've been toying with buying a Wildlife camera, and finally decided to plump for

The Bushnell Natureview HD (The link takes you to Wildlife Kate's site, please take a look around while you're there.)  Kate has been on BBC's Springwatch, and gave them the idea for the mouse cave.

I'm still playing around trying to get the settings right, and the place to set it up, but here are some of the results.  (Date/time bottom right)

Juvenile Starling

Female Blackbird

Over-exposed Hogs :o(

Once I get the settings sussed I can do videos too.

* * *

The border in the back garden continues to 'fill out''!

(Blue Strawberry planter continues to disappoint, no good for strawberries and as far as I can see little use for anything else!)

* * *

Well, I've waffled on again for too long.  So I'll sign off now - I REALLY need to visit some of you!

Best wishes

xXx

Do come along to buy some fresh eggs and a stroll down the lane :o)

I forgot to get the eggs yesterday, so armed with my trusty camera I though you may like to join me.

Out through my nice new tall gate onto the pathway and into the lane and down to the dairy farm on the left

in through the gate and there you will find a table 

with a box and a tin

Inside the box there is half a dozen free range eggs

if you need more, just ask at the farm :o)

There's two lovely blue hens eggs today - I think they're from Araucana hens(?) I've seen them call Easter Eggers too.

If you peek over the fence there are some free rangers there.

and of course there's the handsome rooster with his girls - 

I often hear his crowing :o)

I'm pleased to say there were also some rescued ex-battery hens just behind.

I walk on a little further to visit some of the dairy herd

Billy bull is in with these girls too - he was certainly bellowing at me!

I was glad the metal fence was between us ;o)

On the other side of the lane were some more sweet girls, 

and it looked to me like they needed milking.

As I turned I saw the 'finger post' at the junction had seen better days..

It certainly needs straightening and a coat of paint!

I strolled back home and decided to check the hog boxes to see how many had booked in last night, just one tucked up asleep - here's a peep,

snuggled up tightly fast asleep :o)

Hope you enjoyed walking with me.

Enjoy the weekend :o)

x x x

P.S.

Thank you dear Mary for the inspiration :o)