Strange week

I have had a strange week. The fact that the weather has been so up and down means that plans have been changed continuously to fit in with it. One minute it is glorious sunshine so I've been out and about with my sketchbook trying to find elements in the landscape that I want to translate onto paper . It does not float my boat so part of me is happy to find an alternative occupation when it it raining - like more experiments with the tyvek. I rusted a few more sheets - when it was hot one afternoon - and then looked for scraps in my rag bag to bond it to. I found a small piece of lace and some grey ribbed fabric and wondered whether I could somehow sandwich them all together. I bonded the lace to the grey first and then bonded again into the tyvek. The results were not bad so I found some more lacy scraps and decided to have a go on some curtain interlining. The scrap above is jusy tyvek onto lace but I am really pleased with the piece below.

The soft interlining gives it a warm feel and it is quite flexible. I think I could manage to embroider some beads or stitch into it and then use it as a book wrap or book cover... but I am no embroiderer so that may just stay in my head as a possibility. In truth I have spent most of the week fretting over the bird life in my garden. I normally love this time of year as the nestlings fledge from all the boxes in the garden but the weather has played a strange role this year. Blackbirds are apparently struggling because the ground is too hard and there are not enough worms to feed on. Our moth traps have not been very productive as yet and after an initial burst there are very few butterflies around. There is not enough insect food for fledglings so we have started to put nuts and seed out again for the adults.

So far this season I have only seen one baby blackbird and he has disapeared. I saw three young robins in the garden but found one of them dead the other morning. Sadly, he had flown into my bathroom window. He is now amongst my tiny collection of deceased avians. The goldfinches have been successful and they are around and about, as are the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers too. The adults are regular visitors and their calling has been going on for a few weeks now so it was great to finally see a juvenile appear this week on the feeder. I'd be surprised if they only had one youngster but that's all we've seen to date.

There are also chaffinches around and I caught this little chap and a few others in the tree last night being fed by the parents but every time I look at the feeder I either see the woodpecker or the frenzied grouping of these Great Tit fledglings. They are super abundant this year, along with blue tits and they swarm over the feeders. We are going through seeds and peanuts like nobody's business almost as much as we do in the winter. We don't know what to do for the best. If we keep feeding we worry that they won't try to find other food but , on the other hand, we're not convinced there is enough other food out there at present.

The swallows are incredibly active but there is not sign of any young as yet. I have not seen as many swallows around this year and not a single swift at all. Very unusual. The biggest surprise came last night. I was sat in the conservatory in the semi dark just before 10 and a beautiful, but quite small, barn owl glided across the garden from the field next door. In the twilight it was as ghostly as you'd expect it to be. Despite living in a very rural area that is only the third time I've seen a barn owl here in 10 years so it was very special.

Now is the time of year that we should be putting out a moth trap and recording the data at least 2 or 3 times a week but there is no point in all this rain.... and there is more of it again today. Flaming June eh? I am hoping for better weather next week and a return to summer..... oh no, I just remembered it's the start of Wimbledon. It may be more of the same then. Better get my brolly out.