Today was a beautiful summer day, temperature about 23C, blue skies, sunshine and a gentle breeze and we have spent much time in the garden, some reading, some weeding and a lot of birdcrastinating.
We’ve had more butterflies than we’ve been seeing, our squirrel came by and we’ve watched the delightful Long Tail Tits and Blue Tits enjoying the seeds on the Crinodendron Hookerianum.
Squirrel
Long tail tits
Blue tit in the Crinodendron
Close up, getting the seeds
and the new word for you:
We are getting beautiful sunsets at the moment and here the golden light is streaming into our hallway and being reflected in the mirror.
The Long Tail Tits are back! We havent seen them for a couple of years but today they were feeding in the morning and again in the evening. The photos were taken on a very long zoom from inside the kitchen so that I didn’t frighten them off.
We’ve harvested our first tomatoes today. The black one wasn’t really ready, the red cherry ones were delicious. 
Our squirrel visitor is enjoying the fat balls we have put out for the little birds. Here, it just posed for the photo!
We hope the Blue Tits will make our box their home but they don’t seem to have decided properly yet.
I bought some lovely colourful new earrings at the market yesterday, made by a local maker, Chilli-G by the sea.
We have a charm of Goldfinches in the garden, taking turns at the feeder. Sometimes, when the feeders are full, there are a dozen at once.
There are two regular courting pigeons in the garden. One had just flown off as I took my photo. 
Today’s poem in the book, “A Poet for Every Day of the Year” made me think about our dear friend John who loved cricket, so this poem, ‘The Catch’Â by Simon Armitage is here in John’s memory today.
Welly Dog spent the afternoon on the bench today while the lawn was mown. He seemed quite happy up there with the blue flowers mentioned yesterday, forget-me-nots under the bench and bluebells in the foreground.
We had lots of bird visitors on this beautiful Spring day, among them the Bullfinch at the feeder and a Dunnock, like a sparrow but with pink legs, perched at the top of the old pan stand. 
We froze Seville oranges in January so that we could make the marmalade when we had time. Today we have made several month’s worth! 
I also made the coffee cake for tomorrow’s market, the first this year.
My lovely Mr S just managed to catch the woodpecker as it was leaving the feeders. I love this photo of the wings in flight.
I put the hyacinth bulbs in water in our Victorian bulb glasses today. They are very late and are now in a dark cupboard but I don’t know if they will work, certainly not in time for Christmas but maybe in time for my birthday.
AÂ Great Spotted Woodpecker visited us today. 
I love words as regular readers will know. This one, from the Middle Ages, is the past participle of forswinke which means “exhausted from physical exertion.” That’s been me for the last couple of weeks!
I’ve been sorting through books we inherited from my parents, some real beauties there, many picked up at auctions in Truro many years ago. I was charmed to find some personal notes in the margins and cuttings from the Manchester Guardian of 1887.
Published 1870
Here’s the opening of one essay, The Guillemot, containing the wonderful word, ‘nidification’ which I take to mean the nesting habits of the birds. 
Page 62
Rather gruesome cat’s head on his desk!
Just been to see the film, Downton Abbey, The Grand Finale , thoroughly feel good!
I love it when the sun makes a silver horizon.
On our way home from the sea visit, we called at the garden centre to get some more tulip bulbs. Hanging in the middle of the displays was an open cage with a jackdaw sitting and preening itself. We watched it for quite some time and it kept its eye on us all the time. We asked in the shop about why it was there and learned that it was found in the Spring having fallen from its nest and with no parent anywhere showing any interest. The staff looked after it and expected it not to survive but here it is, their friendly Jack Dawson! It pops down the road to the local pub in the evenings and spends its days in the garden centre.
Last Tuesday at Roots there were quince on offer having been brought in by a volunteer form a crop laden tree. This afternoon I have made Quince Jelly, beautifully scented and what a glorious colour. I also reduced some of the jelly further to make a tray of Membrillo, lovely little cubes to eat with cheese.
Quince
Quince Jelly
Membrillo (with reflection of the kitchen light!)
Morning Manx cat on my Mummy morning walk
The Manx cat again
A seagull flew over Truro Cathedral
A flying Magpie
Goldfinch in the limelight
Triple Goldfinch saying Hi
Goldfinches feeding again, eating seeds
LiveWire 4 here again! All photos are hers.
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