8 shiny eggs settled in nest. Mum sitting happily in nest despite the cold, wet weather.

Dad showing himself frequently with fresh grubs and seeds. The wait begins…

A raucous rookery at Vicar’s Wood at 6am of a morning. Squirrels squirrelling in the lofty branches. A dawn chorus of delight and energy.

Next egg duly laid at 6am…but I’m sure there’s also a face in there…

Glorious!

The first egg was layed early this morning and still the nest is being added to and modified.

If all goes well we should now see one egg layed daily for about a week and then the incubating begins.

Less busy day but still enterprise and endeavour in good supply.

Nest just about done now but she’s still tidying frequently so maybe another day or two to properly finish. Only saw the male once today.

New nesting box with a camera finally put up on a north facing wall in January. Not one living thing bothered to take a look inside – until yesterday (27 April) 😃

Couple of blue tits entered and decided this home was for them. Cue a whole day of busyness from the female and by the end of the day a recognisable nest had been constructed…tired out she then slept from 8pm until 6am this morning.

I’ve not shown myself at all on here for so long now. 2018, nearly the end too.

Summer finished though still warm and sunny. Autumn looming. I took early retirement last year (aged 55) as the deal on offer (including redundancy) was too good to turn down. My illustrious teaching career complete.

Sounds like a good idea to use this blog as an online diary, thought processor and a different way to organise the rest of my existence in a useful and informative way.

Let’s see how this pans out…

Resolutions galore as always at this time of year. But which ones are actually achievable.
I’d like to think that some of the following could be gained by this time next year…
– walk 1000 miles
– cycle 100 miles
– read 50 books
– learn French (or a bit of it anyway)
– photograph something meaningful

Let’s see how that goes for now…

Helen finished wrapping, lucy at work for most of the day, matthew forecasting that he’ll be upset if his PS4 isn’t under the tree and Claire rising at 2pm daily.
Me? My contribution to anything christmas-related is very minimal at best – I do transport everyone around though.

Blew a gale last night but much calmer now but so mild – still around 10 celcius.