Hopeful sign

I am feeling better for my day of rest yesterday but have still taken things easy today, knowing I will need to re-charge my batteries for quite a while before I’ll be back to full strength.

The sighting of this juvenile blackbird early this morning from the kitchen window was a good start to the day. Of late I’ve only seen an adult female blackbird in the garden instead of the male and female pair I used to see. I’m hopeful that this means they have been bringing up a second brood. 

I had another interesting sighting a bit later on, when I was out in the garden cleaning and re-filling the ornamental bird bath with fresh water. As I walked along the path towards it, I saw what I thought was a hedgehog dropping. I took a photo with my phone, and a quick check on Google confirmed it did, indeed, belong to a hedgehog. I was so excited to think that at last I had proof that we are getting nocturnal visits from one of these delightful creatures – but decided to spare you the photographic evidence, and share the blackbird photo instead! (Sorry it's a bit blurry, the long lens felt very heavy today.)

We had a friend round for a cup of tea this afternoon, and the three of us sat in the garden for nearly three hours, chatting. Apart from having various health issues in common with Smithers, she and I share an interest in sewing and dressmaking and much technical conversation ensued!