Desperately upset this morning as yesterday sitting on my patio I viewed a black bird with a twig in her mouth. I watched, alarmed to see her perching on the patio fence with a twig in her mouth. She was building a nest in-between the rafters of the fence just above the patio. How lovely you might think. Unless, of course, you have a killer cat. Who already in the past week has deposited 2 birds and 3 mice on our living room carpet? She has even bought in a very large dead rat which she dragged upstairs and left besides my bed.
I googled “how to remove a bird’s nest” and the answer was don’t. But what if it is in a danger cat zone, I asked Siri. She replied, “I don’t understand your question.” Sadly I destroyed the nest to save some of the next generation of black birds.
This morning sitting on the same patio at the same time I see the same bird building a duplicate nest in exactly the same place between the rafters that I destroyed yesterday’s nest. This little bird is very determined. Clearly this was a choice spot. And would have also been a choice spot for my cat. So this nest had to go too. I went and kicked the cat.
While I am on the topic of animals it’s the day of reckoning for Izzi the dog today. At midday she will have 2 x-rays to determine why she is choking, and why her back leg isn’t working well. She is nearly 13 and dearly loved by us all. A Collie Cross with Belgium Shepherd she is a wonderful dog that just consumes love. A people’s dog rather than a dog’s dog. I am reminded of Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘The Power of the ‘Dog. Below a short extract
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
https://www.bartleby.com/364/335.html
Need to be be uplifted so thought I would attempt Jake’s recipe for chocolate truffles. He made some for us last week and they were so incredibly delicious that we fought over the last one. I use the word attempt as I started with a defeatist attitude which I know wasn’t helpful. I diligently weighed everything out before hand – which is a first for me as I usually start a recipe and invariably find out halfway through that I am missing some key ingredients. This time however I am prepared. I think you probably know where this is going. Yes. Disaster. The sugar melted well much to my surprise and it didn’t burn but the issue came when I poured in the cream
It kind of cystalised. So I put it back on the heat hoping the heat my save the day but to no avail and this is what I ended up with
Doesn’t look like truffles to me!!!! Didn’t bother to put in the chocolate so that at least we could eat it in replacement for the truffles. I wonder had I been more positive in the first place maybe I would have had a better outcome. Bit disappointing.
Sorry -Toby no desert. It’s his turn to do dinner. We take it in turns. I think tonight is Viennas, sweet potatoes and courgettes. Running low on veg only have courgettes left. I realise that I am spending a lot more on food at the moment but then not eating out so little luxuries are ok. Except that there is always that little nagging voice inside of me – the parsimonious part of me – that gets a bit anxious about money. It’s not that I can’t afford it. But the hiding-under-the table with mum because we couldn’t afford to pay the milk man is hard to forget.
Still feel bad about the blackbird. Apparently, it is the female bird who makes the nest and moulds it around her body. What must she have felt about me and indeed why did she come back a second time to rebuild the nest when it had been completely destroyed? Dread to think what I might find tomorrow.
Think I need to kick the cat again.
Not fussy about where she sits – butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth
“Let’s be careful out there”
Serendipity Me 