Clarice's Inbox

Judirumble ~
That must have been great seeing the Goldcrest !
Thanks for confirming my advice about sunflower hearts.:o)

My goldfinches come to the garden all year round but they can disappear for seeks on end and then re-appear. I had a great thrill at the weekend - a Goldcrest appeared in my conifers (well - the non-descript trees someone had planted, I suspect old Xmas trees!!). never seen one before in my garden.
My goldfinches like sunflower seeds

These are native birds Clarice and do not migrate.In fact more likely to see them during winter as feed becomes scarce.

They are tough hardy little birds and often see them glued to nyger seed feeders when blowing a gale and few other birds out in such weather.

More and more people are putting out food that they almost exclusively feed on , only moved here last year and 3 used to visit .Increased the number of feeders and they ve had young and large flock now visit.

Dont worry TT right they do the rounds as it were and can go for a few days.They ll be back esp if weather bad.Sure they know they can rely on you so taking advantage elsewhere.

I've heard it said that putting out sunflower hearts attracts the goldfinches.

Sometimes it's just a case of the small birds coming back to the feeders when other natural food sources have been exhausted. In autumn they feed on thistles and other tall plants.

It could even be the fact that some people in your neighbourhood have just set up a particularly attractive feeding station for birds, and the goldfinches are currently trying out this new 'restaurant' .

I hope the goldfinches come back soon to your garden.
They're pretty birds, aren't they. :o)

we live in the south , and havn't seen any for about 3 weeks. but leave the seed feeder out, they may return!!

I love pusscats. This one looks like my Alfie.Do you have any more pics of Smokey?

Musical intervals definitely annoying me in this evening's Gardeners' World (3rd Oct 08).
I'm sure Toby can pick apples and Alys can dig holes without intrusive guitar music and violin accompaniment.. :o).

what a great idea! we have cold winters here and often put out the bird bells... thinking this would be way more fun with the kids :))

It'll be noisy when Toby starts on the Ajuga Reptans - bugles. Pass the ear-plugs...

Wait till they're doing the winter bedding - will they be planting the violas in a tub-a?

Gardeners' World
( 26th Sept. 08) ~
music seemed a bit less intrusive.
Maybe it's getting a bit cold for the orchestra to be outdoors...

Now that's the way I love to see a garden look. Practically bursting with blooms !

You can tell, there is alot of love put into this garden ! Looks great !

Thats a lovely story Clarice you obviously come from good stock and what a great occasion to all get together like that. Hope more to follow for you.

What a Gorgeous Display of Lupins Clarice :) Iv all these colours 2 :)

So lovely one of my top ten favourites!

Beautiful, looks like a giant rose, fab colour too.

Very pretty border, thats what I like to see a place for everyone!

I love them too!

What a gorgeous pussy cat, looks so cosy and content

Bird Cakes How Fab :)

Wonderful Clarice, a girl after my own heart, spend a fortune on birdseed and nuts, I used to make bird cake similar to yours with my grandchildren, but afraid thats a number of years ago, you have inspired me tor enew the habit. [We Lancashire gals are a shrewd lot]

sounds like you had a good time Clarice, nice to get away now and then. we organised a suprise 50th bithday for my bro this yr. his partner took him to Madrid where we all turned up lol his face was a picture.
funny that we cant seem to find the time here to meet up , that it took a trip abroad to be able to do it .

I'm glad you had a lovely time with your family Clarice. That's nice.
Glad you're back on GOY too.
Best wishes, Hywel.

Very funny TT. I've left a message in Hungarian for Kev by the way.

Chrispook ~
telling porkies about your age just to get a bus pass?
We all know you're only 35 :o)

Well done Clarice, we are a family of 10, 7 sisters and 3 brothers, I take my hat off to you, for what you have managed to achieve in one week. As we are all scattered about, we have not been able to me up together for years, I have even lost count of how many greatnieces and greatnephews I have got. But one good thing, we are in regular contact via phone. Where would we be without the phone? I am number 6 in the family.

Wow Clarice, wondered where you'd been. I've read about these free bus passes for over 60's in UK. Sadly since we live in Hungary we cant get them for when we visit UK. You have to be resident. The good news is for us is that very soon we shall be able to use all types of transport free of charge in Hungary, which includes buses, trams, metro, and trains. All EU citizens over 65 can do this here, which is actually more generous than the UK. (OOOps now I've given away my age!!!

Last week's Gardeners' World
(19 Sept 08) ~
The content of the show was okay BUT did that orchestra really need to interrupt Toby every time he picked up a pot or walked into the greenhouse?

Someone needs to sort out the music. Preferably remove the orchestra all together. Let's face it ~ those musicians will trample all over the newly planted shrubs, and too many trombones will scare away Alys's Jack Russell Terrier.

Less music, more gardening, please. :o)

That`s lovely to all meet up like that, time does go by so quickly sometimes and we need to make the effort to keep in touch with our families. Do your sisters all enjoy gardening too?