Fabric, birds and some decisions made

I've had a very positive day, and managed to tick everything off my 'to do' list.  The painting in the hallway is almost finished - I just want to put a second coat on the bannister and a bit of touching up on one of the doorframes where it was caught before it had properly dried.  I'll get that done tomorrow.

I've also made real progress with the latest sewing project.  It was a case of just getting on with it and not stopping until I had finished.  Yet again I have re-learned the lesson that nothing gets done just by looking at it!  We are giving one of the girls a lift to the hospital tomorrow for an X-ray, so I can nip down to the shops to buy the extra 25cm of fabric I still need - again, that will be washed and cut up tomorrow.  N made me smile this afternoon as I was to-ing and fro-ing with piles of cut squares.  He asked if he was going to 'lose' me to a quilt all summer.  It did make me stop and think, though, as I know that once I get going with a sewing project, it can be to the exclusion of everything else, so I wondered if it would be sensible to set time aside, maybe an hour every evening, when we both know I shall sew.  Just an idea, and obviously it would be flexible.  I mean, if it's pouring with rain (and given recent British summers, that's quite likely!) then a bit of stitching might be just the thing to pass the hours.

The peony in full flower

We've added another bird to a garden list this week - we watched several swifts darting across the sky, easily recognisable with their crescent-shaped wings in flight, and v-shaped tail.  On our walk to Quarr earlier this week we heard a woodpecker drilling a tree trunk, but we didn't catch sight of it.  We are seeing quite a few fledglings in the garden at the moment, and to begin with, I kept getting confused between the young brown starlings and the female blackbirds, but I think the starlings have stubbier tail feathers.  The magpies have obviously raised a brood locally, and it is amazing just what bullies they are.  They dive-bomb any bird that dares to infringe on 'their' territory, no matter what species.  Today they were chasing off some rooks, and they're pretty big birds themselves.  

Yesterday we spotted a crow with a deformed foot, and checking it out through the binoculars, we saw that it had somehow managed to get what looked like thin plastic twine caught around it claws and digging into the skin.  The whole foot was looking infected, and the bird was unable to put much weight on it.  There is no way we would be able to get close enough to catch it to take it for treatment, and it was a sad reminder of how easily discarded rubbish can be bad news for wildlife.

I've been mulling a problem over for the last few days, and in the wee small hours of this morning a moment of clarity suddenly hit me.  Decisive action is needed, and after a little more thought, a plan of campaign emerged.  Why all this has to happen at night when I really want to be fast asleep, I don't know, but that's the way it seems to work for me.  Anyway, this weekend will see some positive and practical steps being taken, and taking control of the situation will hopefully make my way forward clearer and brighter.