Tuesday 12 April 2016

Rain, rain go away.

And please don't even think about coming again another day.   We have had quite enough rain so far this year to last us a long time.   It has rained here overnight and from ten o'clock this morning.   And now at almost seven in the evening it is still pouring with rain.   The farmer is feeling much better and is itching to get out and get on with all the jobs he has to do - but it is far too wet to get on to any of the fields.

One extra pheasant egg is appearing each day.   She will probably lay a dozen or so before she sits on them.  The farmer has spotted one more nesting place.   He is very good at spotting them.   The pied wagtail pair are nesting under the roof of the silage shed.   He has watched them going in and out with nesting material.

Birds really are clever the way they construct their nests aren't they?   A couple of years ago the farmer took my camera with him on one of his organised walks and photographed this nest in a piece of old material hanging from a beam in the barn where they had their lunch.  I have put it on my blog before but for any new readers I make no excuses for repeating the exercise.
This afternoon I went round to friend M's for the afternoon and we had a lovely chat about this and that and lots of laughs.  M is my oldest friend up here - we were neighbours and met the day we moved in more or less.   Another friend, G, called in and M made us a cup of tea and we had further chat until it was time for Tess's afternoon walk with the farmer (yes, I am afraid she can tell the time).

Tomorrow friend W and I are off to Kirby Lonsdale to meet our friends P and D for lunch in the Italian - we always have a bet on whether or not we shall be able to see Ingleborough* - more often than not it is covered in cloud.   If the weather stays like it is now then I think it is unlikely that we shall see it.
*Ingleborough is one of the 'Three Peaks' - the other two being Pen-y-Gent and Whernside.
 

11 comments:

Gwil W said...

Maybe the rain is a blessing in disguise. The lion tamed. Just for a while. I see the farmer is again champing at the bit.

Heather said...

We had overnight rain and all day rain yesterday and a lovely day today, so I hope you get a fine day tomorrow. My 'farmer' has been pottering today topping up the bird feeders and even taking a little walk outside the garden. Such a relief that they are both recovering.
Have a good time with your friends and a tasty lunch tomorrow.
I love the nest in that old pair of trousers! I wedged an old tin kettle in the branches of a shrub hoping it would encourage a nest, but no luck so far - it's been there for years.

angryparsnip said...

When it is so wet the Farmer can't work so that might be good for his recovery.
I love the bird nest I hope it was stable for everyone.

Sorry about your rain but so happy we have had some. We always need it.
Fire season has already started much too early.

cheers, parsnip

Doc said...

Birds are amazing opportunists

Derek Faulkner said...

I imagine that your bird's nest belongs to a Wren, it's a typical place for a Wren and I have seen them nest in hanging flower baskets before now as well.

Cro Magnon said...

When I was very small I found a Robin's nest in the pocket of an old overcoat that was hanging in an outbuilding. In the picture it looks as if someone has been counting something by scratching lines on the beam; I have a similar beam in my 'potting shed' where I counted Mole catches.

Librarian said...

My Dad and I once found not a bird's nest, but a family of Mother Mouse and several babies living in the drawer of the old wooden kitchen table in the small hunting lodge in the woods where we often spent weekends when I was a kid.

Sorry to hear that you are getting more rain than you need, but maybe it is good that the Farmer can't throw himself so fully into work just yet.

Dawn said...

Sol can tell the time too, he gets restless and starts pestering me when it is coming up to walk time,
we had a day of sunshine and so far today its blue sky and sunshine

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks Derek for the wren suggestion. I had though probably a long-tailed tit as have
seen their nests in trees and they are that shape.
Thanks too to Cro. I had never noticed those scratched on the beams.
Thanks to everyone for dropping by.

donna baker said...

Two things here Pat - American history here says that the indians learned their basket making skills from watching birds build their nests and people actually roam through barns and mines looking for the oldest denim Levi's. They are worth a fortune.

Bovey Belle said...

We managed to avoid rain yesterday (apart from a few drops when we got back to our car) so that made a nice change. I love to find bird nests = the Blackbirds like the rose thicket that is formed by the Paul's Himalayan Musk, whilst the Blue Tits favour holes in the barn walls, and we have Robins and Wrens in the old pony boxes, and Swallows in the barns and stables. Some enterprising Blue Tits are also above the kitchen window, the Sparrows are behind the barge boards at front-of-house and two years ago we had Redstarts above the only west-facing window. They were a joy to see.