Swiftwatch 2016

So after a few weeks of wandering around giving myself neck-ache through constant staring at the sky, I finally saw my first pair of Swifts for 2016!  Well, in the UK at least.  We went to Venice for our 20th wedding anniversary a month ago, and the swifts were swooping around the skies over the Grand Canal so technically speaking I have already seen them this year but not in the UK, until today. 

I've been logging on my blog the first time I see the swifts every year since 2009 and the earliest has been 22 April in 2010 and the latest (so far) 5 May in 2014 so this year's aren't quite as late as I thought.  Then again, it doesn't really matter when they arrive as long as they get here, because that means summer's definitely on the way, and the forecast for this coming weekend down here in Surrey is for temperatures to be warmer than Tenerife!  Hooray!

Swifts arrive!

Long term readers of this frankly sporadic blog will know that I keep an eye out throughout the latter half of every April for the return of the Swifts, and they finally arrived this morning.  I saw two, very high up.  It made my heart soar!

I love these birds with a passion, their sheer exuberance as they chase each other across the sky, squealing with delight is something I look forward to every year without fail.

Although I didn't do a blog post about it (sorry), The Lovely Husband and I went to Florence for a week last summer and the whole place completely blew me away (I burst into tears the first time I saw the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral it was so overwhelming) but the thing I was absolutely not expecting and made my jaw hit the floor was the sheer number of Swifts tearing around the sky.  Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them - in the distance over the rooftops there was so many it was almost like watching a swirling tornado forming!  There were literally too many to count, and up until then, I thought the 50 or so we get here where I live was a lot!

I took video from our hotel window - they're tricky buggers to film but hopefully you get an idea of what it sounded like (check out the atmospheric Sunday morning bell-tolling) as well as seeing the gorgeous terracotta roofs and the blue, blue sky (sorry the quality's not that great!) -

SwiftWatch 2014

Every year I keep a weather eye out for the return of the Swifts and this morning spotted my first two, swiftly followed (see what I did there?) by several more over the course of the day.  By this evening there were small gangs of half a dozen screeching in delight around the houses.  I love this time of year.

SwiftWatch 2013

Every year I keep an eye out for the first returning swift of the season and today was the day for their return!!

UPDATE - and that was the only swift I saw until this weekend!  I don't know where the others had got to and I was getting a bit concerned, thinking they'd all taken a wrong turning somewhere and had got lost but, no, finally, FINALLY, everybody else arrived yesterday, and I can now hear them all squealing with delight as they meet up with old friends circling high above my house.  Bliss!

The swifts have arrived - finally!!

At long last, 2012's cohort of Swifts has finally arrived, a week later than last year.   I keep an eye out for them every year as they're the most amazing birds - the fastest flying in the world, squealing with delight at being in each other's company, they bring me such absolute joy.  I've spent much of the last week staring at the sky, looking for tiny crescent shapes, high up in the clouds, when I finally spotted the first one today, about an hour ago.  Within about 20 minutes there were about a dozen more, and lots more will be arriving from Africa now over the next few days.  One of the best things about the allotment was that the houses surrounding the allotment site provided nests for these summer visitors and they'd swoop and dive at breathtaking speeds just above our heads - I'll miss that now I've given up my plot.

Summer can start - the Swifts have arrived!

As has become customary at Jones Towers at this time of year, the last few days has seen me, when out in the garden, staring intently up into the currently blue, blue sky, awaiting the arrival of our summer visitors from Africa.

Last year I saw my first one on 22 April, and today, 21 April, at 5.45pm, I saw the first one of 2011.  I was, as last year, sitting by the plastic-houses at the end of my tiny garden, sowing vegetable seeds for the allotment, when TLH came out for a chat.  I said to him that I'd been checking the sky constantly for swifts and, as I said that, I looked up and saw one!  How's that for timing?!? And I'm extra pleased because TLH saw it as well.  Just the one, solitary crescent wheeling high, high up in the sky.

I understand it takes a good couple of days for them to complete the journey so I'm expecting more and more to arrive over the next week until the air is filled with my favourite sound of the summer (apart from the pop of a wine bottle, or the cracking of ice in a glass as a Pimms is poured over it), that of gangs of swifts chasing each other at high speed just above the rooftops, squealing for all their worth.

Summer 2011 has officially arrived!

Swifts arrive!!

Every year I look out for the annual return of the Swifts and this year they've beaten me to it!  I was pottering around in the garden, sowing vegetable seeds and chatting away to a visiting Robin when, by chance, I glanced up into the sky and saw, wheeling away, quite high up, the unmistakeable crescent shape of a Swift!

Seeing the swifts each year for the first time fills me with total joy and, grinning like an idiot, I rushed inside to inform TLH that they were back.  I then checked back on last year's first-swifts-of-the-year posting and it was 1 May.  Apparently the year before that, 2008, they arrived on 3 May, a good 10 days later than this year. I've no idea why this should be - perhaps this spring is warmer than in previous years so has tempted them up from Africa sooner?  Who knows.  I'm just pleased they're here, that's all.

[P.S. This post was going to be a tutorial on how to make blackberry vodka, but that will have to wait until later, possibly quite a few days later as tomorrow is my thirty-seventeenth birthday and I intend to drown in Margaritas first....]

[PPS. Is that picture of the orchid at the top too large?  It seems nice but a bit hulking to me....]

The Happiest Song on the Planet!

If you're feeling in any way glum, this will cheer you up - it has an animal disco and everything!!

Just call me Mrs St Francis of Assisi

I managed to save a little life today - something hit my sitting room window (which is on the first floor) and plummeted down to the patio. I saw Damian (the cat who lives both with us and his 'real' mum 3 doors down) suddenly shoot off to investigate. I leapt to my feet to see what it was and it was a Blue Tit fledgling that was now sitting on one of my large pots. Unfortunately Damian got to it before I did and was off down the side alleyway with it in his mouth. I raced after him and, extremely fortunately, managed to get him to drop it. Poor thing was completely stunned, lying on its back, breathing rapidly - I didn't hold out much hope for it. I carried it back into the house, cradling it in my hands while it started to come round.

The Husband and I didn't really know what to do with it but he suggested putting it on one of our suspended bird feeder tables to see if it would fly off. So I did, by now it was the right way round but still a bit dazed. I kept popping out every 5 minutes or so because I was so concerned. It still had the fluff and big yellow mouth of a young fledgling and I wasn't at all sure that it would have a good outcome. In the end I decided I would have to take it to a wildlife rescue centre. We used to have one near us at Hydestile, Godalming but it closed a few years ago. The nearest one now is Wildlife Aid at Leatherhead which you may have seen on the TV programme 'Wildlife SOS'. I rang them, told them what happened and they said to pop it in a box and bring it over (they're about 30 mins drive from me). I found a suitable box, lined it with paper from the shredder, made some holes and went to fetch it. I could see that the suspended bird feeder it had been sitting in was now full of pigeons and collared doves, so was very worried that the little Blue Tit would be squashed. I shooed them off but it wasn't there! I heard 'peep, peep' by my feet and saw that it was now in a bush on the ground - whether it had flown there or been pushed out I don't know, but Damian was suddenly very interested so there was no time to lose. It had got itself tangled in the branches so I had to very carefully extricate it & put it gently in the box. I then persuaded The Husband to drive us all over to Leatherhead.

All the way there I could feel the Blue Tit moving around in the box and peeping away so I knew it wasn't in too bad a condition. When we got there, they had just taken in a parakeet that had been found at the side of a main road and a pigeon that had flown into a conservatory. We opened the box and the little thing was sitting there, bright as ninepence, obviously none the worse for its spectacularly traumatic day. They said they'd check it over but it looked like it was fine and it would be released. These people do such a wonderful job and it's all funded by contributions from the public (yes, I left them a donation). Sorry there's no pictures but speed was of the essence and taking photos was the last thing on my mind. I hope the little thing realises how lucky it was.....!

The swifts have returned!

I was pegging out the washing this morning (it's the only domestic chore I like doing) and checking on the vegetable seedlings in the plastic-house, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my back, birds singing away when I suddenly heard a familiar (and much-missed) sound - 'squee squee' - that can mean only one thing: the swifts have returned. Gazing up into the achingly blue sky I spotted them, two dark, thin crescent shapes, weaving around each other. As I watched, another joined them, then another until there were six in all. I like to think they must have arrived overnight, finally completing the 5,500 mile journey from South Africa that they endure every year, and they're gathering together to have a quick gossip before getting on with the important business of finding a mate and somewhere to nest. The sadness is that they're only here for12 weeks to raise their young, and then they're off again and the skies are just that much quieter.

Every year I watch out for the return of the swifts - summer can't begin without them. Last year they arrived on 3 May so they're 2 days earlier this year. They always give the impression of having so much fun - they're the fastest flying birds on the planet and I just adore that 'whoosh' you get when they swoop low overhead, squealing as they go. I would choose a Swift as my daemon.

Once more around the Sun.....

It's my birthday. I'm 46 years old today. 46. God's Teeth - how did I get old enough to be a grandmother? When did my life all happen without me noticing it? The fact that I am now nearer 50 than 40 is both exhilarating and terrifying. Being Mrs Archaeology-head I am, of course, aware that in earlier centuries I'd probably be dead by now (and, actually, I've done a pretty good job of nearly being dead in the 20th century) so I am eternally grateful that I was born when I was and that the NHS exists.

Like practically everyone else (and, yes, it will happen to you too), I envy the young their youth, it really is wasted on them but then again, I wasted mine so perhaps that's what it's for. I miss that carefree self-centred existence where, in reality, considerations such as a having a roof over your head, food to eat and bills that have to be paid do not impinge on the really important things such as trying to look like Kate Moss (or a hybrid Siouxsie Sioux/Marilyn Monroe in my case), how to look cool while smoking or how to attract the attention of the beautiful floppy-haired public schoolboys you're at sixth form with.

As for the benefits of getting older (apart from not being dead), I'm sure there are some and if I think hard enough they might appear to me. Let's see - I know I have been on this planet long enough to have accumulated a little knowledge about quite a lot of things and a great deal of knowledge about a handful of things. Probably none of which is of much interest to anyone but me. I really enjoy learning which is something I have definitely grown into. My teenage years and early 20s were so full of upheaval and externally-inflicted angst that it took me until my 30s to finally hear the seductive siren call of a University library and to discover the sheer unalloyed joy of writing an essay comparing the social contexts of burial barrows during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages in Wessex. Bliss.

I have finally grown out of listening to Radio 1. Radio 3 is where it's at for me, Daddio.

I have rediscovered the pleasure of allotment gardening. I know exactly how that sounds, or at least, how it used to sound but it does seem that, for once, I'm in front of the zeitgeist on this one. I've had my allotment down the road for about 14 months now but had been growing vegetables in my tiny garden for a few years before. Actually, this isn't strictly an age-related thing with me - I had an allotment in my mid-20s when I lived with The Artist in Guildford but I had to drive to it (I can walk to my current one), I was working full-time in an office (which I'm not now so have more time) and I could never get anyone to give me a hand (P will come along if I beg and plead) so it only lasted a couple of seasons before I gave it up. There is a deep visceral pleasure in sowing the seed, Nature growing the seed and us eating the seed. Plus being outside in the open air can only be beneficial (except when it's raining and I have to hide in the shed). Anyway I have a different blog about it for all your allotment growing needs.

I've always 'enjoyed' animals (if that's the right word) and have always stopped to speak to any cats that I find but now, as I've got older I find myself doing things like actively feeding the garden birds, to the extent that we now have a resident pair of collared doves and a robin who will eat from your hand (we also occasionally get rats who come for the bird food but we'll just skip over that, shall we?) It thrilled me no end to discover that birds are actually the descendants of dinosaurs so, to me, what I'm really doing is feeding miniature velociraptors.

This all comes from my nurturing side, the side that won't be a mother and won't ever be a grandmother. I enjoy looking after stuff, feeding it, cosseting it and in the absence of children, this is the best I can do. In an ideal world I would have a smallholding with a whole menagerie of beasts to poke and fret over, but in the world I have to live in, I don't think I do too badly on the whole.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is now. It kinda started off on a reflection of age and ended up being about dinosaurs - I get so easily distrac....ooh, cake!

Wintry Weather

As an aside from the maudling thoughts on my probably imminent demise, I thought you might like to see some of my most recent photos, taken during this extraordinary winter weather we've just had. Yes, there's a cat in there and some snow and some trees and some birds. Damn, I wish this blog was more entertaining....

Things that made me smile today...

Surprisingly, I'm actually enjoying the cold weather, bizarre as that may seem. I like a cold, sharp winter with frost and clear blue skies, and, frankly, we haven't had enough of them in recent years. Winters have been too warm lately, grey, overcast, depressing. Of course, I may change my mind when I reach 70 (if I reach 70, that is) and am feeling the cold and wishing for warm, grey and depressing...

I feed the birds in my garden, have done for many years now, and have found that the robins really appreciate a good dried mealworm (yummy). I now buy them by the bucketload (and fresh wriggly ones in the summer - double yummy) but I needed to replenish supplies so P and I went off to our nearest big garden centre to get some. While I was wandering around looking at the houseplants and suchlike, P had spotted a couple of robins flying around inside the 'showrooms'. He opened one of the doors and ushered them outside. This has pleased me immensely - kindness to animals warms my heart.

The second thing that happened today was a post C, my sister-in-law, sent me. I asked for a purple sequinned beret from Topshop for Christmas which she kindly gave me. She said there was something she remembered reading about wearing a purple hat and I thought she meant that famous poem that starts, "When I am old I shall wear purple. With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me". She finally remembered today what it was and sent it to me - I've posted it below. I'm 45 years old and have grabbed my purple hat - don't you think you should have yours by now?



BEAUTIFUL WOMEN

Age 3: She looks at herself and sees a Queen.

Age 8: She looks at herself and sees Cinderella.

Age 15: She looks at herself and sees an Ugly Sister (Mom, I can't go to school looking like this!)

Age 20: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly"- but decides she's going out anyway.

Age 30: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly"-but decides she doesn't have time to fix it so she's going out anyway.

Age 40: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly"-but says, "At least I am "clean" and goes out anyway.

Age 50: She looks at herself and sees "I am" and goes wherever She wants to go.

Age 60: She looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.

Age 70: She looks at herself & sees wisdom, laughter and ability, goes out and enjoys life.

Age 80: Doesn't bother to look. Just puts on a purple hat and Goes out to have fun with the world.

Maybe we should all grab that purple hat earlier.

Pre-Xmas Drinks Do

I'm not feeling quite so curmudgeonly about Christmas this year. No idea why. I haven't even bought all my presents this year online, as I have done in previous years - this year I even braved the shops. I think it was probably the sad sight of the-middle-class's-favourite-faux-ethnic-store The Pier going out of business that turned me from someone who perennially sneered at those poor saps in their manmade fabric, drip dry sportswear queuing outside the doors, into a born-again shopper, complete with running shoes and specially sharpened elbows, ready to fight my way to a scented candle with 50p off or a handmade Indian wall hanging (complete with pole, no less) that had had its price slashed by 30%.

But I still can't do sociable. Even with the neighbours. I mean, they're nice enough people - retired, keep themselves to themselves, have a holiday home in France that they disappear to for 3 months in the summer. They even tolerate our cats crapping in their garden, which is damn near angelic of them. But the husband, B, can't bear the squirrels which, I have to admit, I do feed, if only to try and distract them from the food I put out for the birds. It kind of works, but we do suddenly seem to have the fattest squirrels I've ever seen - they look like they're wearing fat suits - one, in particular, is so fat we've named him Mr Creosote. Anyway, they drive B to distraction, gawd bless 'em, so much so that, in the past, he's thrown small stones at them while hanging from the bird feeder in their garden (the squirrels hanging, that is, not B - although that's a remarkable image...) He caught me watching him doing this and, looking gratifyingly shamefaced, stopped. What he does now is even better though - he claps his hands very loudly at them. P and I like to imagine that he's performing some kind of Squirrel Deterrant Flamenco Dance just out of our sight.

The thing is, they're having a drinks party - right now, as I type. And they invited me and P, but we're quite shy socially and don't really want to go. Actually, we did have an excuse, P's sister originally summoned P to install some curtain poles in readiness for the royal visit by the aged parents-in-law for Christmas, such installation to occur today. However she's having a new wooden floor put down in her kitchen which was to have been finished yesterday but has overrun, so we're not going over there now. But we've already told B & H next door that we wouldn't be around for their lunchtime drinks do (as we had to go to his sister's, yada, yada...) and now P's out the front washing the car and the guests are arriving. I think we're going to have to hide and pretend we're not here for a couple of hours...