Sunday 19th January 2014

What a cracking day. Dry, mild with sun most of the day.
2mm overnight rainfall.
12c average outdoor temp'.
2 mph average wind speed.
Lazy morning watching birdlife in the garden, female woody, sparrows, green finches, gold finches, robins, starlings, wren, chaffinches, collared doves, magpies, and pigeons. A good result, hope I have this sort of result next weekend for birdwatch.
         Enjoyed a stunning afternoon walk at Fobney Wetland Nature Reserve. In flood and with the blue sky, bright sun it made for some beautiful reflections. One of my favourite photographs today has to be the pair of mating swans.
Picture 1 - Part of the lead flashing replaced yesterday on the bay roof.
     "     2 - So in love at Fobney.
  " 3 & 4 - Reflections at Fobney.
As a matter of interest it was 40 years ago today we moved to 479.

Saturday 18th January 2014

After a little overnight rain the day turned out to be pretty good.  A fair bit of sun, breezy and most importantly, dry.
Builders had a dry day to fix the bay roof, a longer job than first thought but happy a good job carried out. Messy job now to remove and re-plaster the damaged living room ceiling.
                    Unable to do much today as had to be on hand for the builders. Did see the Sparrowhawk briefly this afternoon. Think I disturbed her as flew away after only a couple of minutes. 
Looks as though I have a sick Dove, throat looks pretty swollen to me. Only washed out the feeders last week, so important to clean feeders at least once a month especially during this wet spell as food soon becomes a smelly mucky mess.
10mm rain this evening.
Average wind speed 9mph.
Average outdoor temp' 10c.

Friday 17th January 2014

A wet start with 7mm of rain recorded between midnight and 8am. Day was mostly sunny, a little breeze but at least dry.

Average outdoor temp' 9c.

Average wind speed 4mph.

Day mostly spent indoors, booked a long weekend in Wakefield to include a tour around the Rhubard Triangle. Also booked a long weekend in London to see the War Tunnels and meal in the Shard Restaurant.

Great view of the Heron again, after taking a few photographs it was time to shoo away before it struck at the pond.

Robins totally love struck so placed a feeder of Gtech fluff on the fence to help with nest building.

Picture 1 - Heron on top of the Lelandii Tree.

Picture 2 - Feeder of fluff.

Thursday 16th January 2014

Wished I had not got up today, just hope I am dreaming and tomorrow is Thursday. 
Rainfall - 61mm.
Average wind speed - 4mph.
Average outdoor temp' - 9c

eBay suspended
Twitter refused
Split screen monitor not working
No wonder I was not in the best of moods today. Handykam are at a loss as to what has gone wrong with the monitor. Awaiting now a replacement power cable to test. Sadly at the moment they are out of stock! First the squirrel chews the cables meaning another £100 on 8 replacement cables and now this latest issue. Will I ever enjoy my outdoor camera system from the comfort of my Observatory?

Wednesday 15th January 2014

Mild, little sun with a few very slight showers.
2mm Rain.
Average outdoor temp' 10c.
Average wind speed 5mph,
A further day spent in the workshop, can't move now until I have shifted all the office stationary which is the first part of the clear up. eBay not interested having suspended my account so guess it will be the wheelie bins?
Missed my time in the garden today so not sure what has been about. Looking at the empty feeders I would say the three Squirrels have had a field day.

Tuesday 14th January 2014

After a hard overnight frost the day turned out good. Dry with plenty of sun.
15mm rain overnight.
9c average day temp'.
5mph average wind speed.
Plenty of bird activity, Robins and Doves clearly loved up. Sparrows and Green finches back after  a couple of months not seeing them. Starlings also very busy with a pair now residing permanently in the Swift box (now to be called the Starling box).
Really have a serious problem with the Squirrels now. Three of them with a pair together all the time. Thinks the cats are playing with them and and respond accordingly, fun to watch but am at the point now I want the cats to kill, sadly.
          Most of the day spent sorting out all my office stuff ready for selling/giving. eBay is a no no. My account suspended within 24hrs of opening without explanation so will use the small ads in the local paper.
           Very sad to hear of the news Uncle Cecil died yesterday. So pleased we were able to see him just before Christmas. If interested Cecil set up the company Cope & Cope Ltd, manufacturers of Chicken machinery for the chicken industry. Based in Vastern Road where the Thames Water building is now. It was Cecil who provided his car and chauffeur for our wedding back in the seventies. RIP Cecil.
Pictures 1 - 4 - Tufties after the peanuts.
      "          5 - Loved up.
      "          6 - Woody at the peanut feeder.

Monday 13th January 2014

After the heavy overnight rain the day stayed dry albeit pretty dull with little sun. 20mm of rain last night with wind speed today averaging 9mph with outside temp' averaging 12c.
New coal bunker arrived early this morning so a little time putting together and siting. Rest of the day spent in the workshop finding more goodies to sell on eBay.
Picture 1 - New coal bunker.
     "     2 - New outside w/c.