Woven With Gold Strings: A much better idea

Sunday, July 19, 2015

A much better idea

25th May 2015
I was pleased to see the swallows going back about their business of nest building this morning despite the intrusion of the ‘other’ swallows yesterday! However there is still an awful lot of nest material on the floor. The problem is, the swallows are building their nest on a ledge less than 50mm wide and there is a gap of 20 to 30mm between the wall of the house and the ledge. It’s through this gap that all the nesting material is dropping. Time for me to lend a hand and make up for the disturbance of introducing a mirror!

We often enjoy a trip to Silverdale on the train and visit Leighton Moss which is an RSPB nature reserve. It’s a great place to see, among many other species, Avocets, Bearded Tits, Bitterns, Marsh Harriers and Otters. We were going there today so I took the opportunity to chat to a member of staff about bridging the gap for the swallows. He said it was a good idea so long as I carried out the work as quickly as possible.

26th May 2015
Right I have a job to do. A bit of wood, a few screws, some picture framing hardware and a splash of paint. It didn’t take long and within minutes of removing my ladder one of the swallows returned to the nest!

4th June 2015
The swallows have remained busy over the last week and I think the nest is now finished. The finishing touches include some lovely looking clay. Now that they have a good nest with a solid foundation they just need some insulation....

Mind the gap

Right tools for the job

Job done

Thanks very much!

Finished

Lovely clay

1 comment:

Anne MurphyJuly 21, 2015 at 11:28 AM
Aw job indeed well done!! It's what parenting is all about .. and I mean you and Sarah!! The swallows have no idea how lucky they've been in chosing the residents of Ash House as their landlord/lady!! xx
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Thanks.
David.

Woven with Gold Strings

When we found ourselves without our beloved Smeagol, we realised how much we missed the company of a cat. He had been with us both for fifteen years and I had got him when he was just eight weeks old. Smeagol passed away in March 2012, he would have been twenty years old that year!

We decided to plant an acer tree and bury his ashes under it. We found the tree we wanted from Abi and Tom's Garden Plants, a Kinran acer. Tom told us Kinran translated to Woven with Gold Strings.

Whilst we were deliberating about getting another cat and whether another cat could replace Smeagol, a stray cat started paying visits to our garden. He looked very young and was remarkably similar in appearance to Smeagol. He took to sleeping under Smeagol’s acer tree by the back door and when he finally decided to come into our house, he took to sleeping on his chair too!

Nearly one year later, Strider is as much a part of our home as Smeagol ever was.

I recently started a blog about how my Mum & Dad met and married in India. There are so many wonderful old black & white family photos of us all as children and of Mum & Dad when they were younger. Sunlight from the Nilgiris is about our history. As much as I enjoy writing about these old photos from our past, I’ve decided I also want to write about and show photos from more recent times, including today and tomorrow.... and it’s not just about cats!