feel that hot blood in my body when it drops

[pensnest]

Had a very nice Official Birthday Lunch at my Bun's place, which was also Boy's Birthday Lunch *and* Father's Day. Bun is now on the FODMAP diet, Boy is trying to figure out what is stirring up his Crohn's symptoms and thus was glad to be pointed towards a FODMAP diet, and I'm thinking of trying it myself, since eating beans and/or lentils (very good for you, particularly if you're diabetic, as I am) gives me appalling wind. But Bun managed to produce a delicious roast dinner that we could all eat, and we played a game that involved collecting unicorns.

*

The squirrels may think they have won, but I refuse to be defeated.

The fishing line 'twixt house and fence is down. Whether it was bitten through, clawed asunder, or just broke, we shall never know, but the peanut cylinder and the fat ball holder were both well emptied by the time I discovered this tragedy.

We went to the Norfolk Show on Thursday. Partly because my Beast's chorus was performing there, so it seemed like a good day to go, partly because I wanted to speak to beekeepers, partly because I haven't been for a long while. While there, we purchased a pole with a double spike on the nether end and three iron arms at the top. I propose to taunt the squirrels with food suspended from these arms. If, as seems possible, the squirrels climb up the pole, I shall (a) add Vaseline, which strikes me as likely to be amusing, and (b) purchase a slinky to encase the pole, which according to the vendor will baffle the blighters.

I shall report again soon.

*

I have sowed a few seeds in the desperate hope that there may be vegetables in the months ahead. I doubt it, but we shall see.

*

There are adolescent magpies in the garden! I saw four magpies together, and two of them, though perfectly magpie-formed, were quite small. My deduction that these two were offspring was confirmed when one of them sat down and opened its beak, and one of the big magpies stuffed something into the gaping maw.

And this evening I spotted a large crow with two smaller crows in the back garden. Wonkywing has babies!

Comments

[minoanmiss]

*continues delighting in The Squirrel War*
*delights newly in magpies of assorted sizes*

[pensnest]

I am delighted to report that one of the baby magpies has figured out how to eat from the dangling cylinder. It has pigged out for a while now...

[minoanmiss]

woot woot!

[sperrywink]

Happy belated Birthday!!

You and your arch nemeses the squirrels. Ahaha

Yay baby magpies!

[pensnest]

Beast has already spotted a squirrel happily feasting at the cylinder, and taken action! He has put a fat plastic tube onto the metal stalk. We shall see!

[wenchpixie]

Belated happy birthday!

Feeder cages seem to work okay against squirrels here (as long as it's spillable enough seed so the dunnocks, collared doves and wood pigeons can get some)

[pensnest]

We do have a proper cage, which the squirrels huddle over but cannot get much out of - occasionally one gets a paw in to grab something. But having bought the cylinder and the fat ball cage, I'm gonna use them and have a war about it!

[watervole]

Stick to the FODMAP for about 2 weeks and then gradually re-introduce foods. I found I was fine with many items that trigger for other people, but not all.

Yay for baby birds. We've got half a dozen young starlings, which we are feeding with about a fatball per day.

[pensnest]

I shall have to do some proper hunting for the FODMAP diet. Sigh.

The baby birds are fun to watch, though I think these are more adolescents than babies. One of the junior magpies has figured out how to eat from the peanut/suet/worm cylinder!

[watervole]

There's many good FODMAP pages. My pain levels went down dramatically. Still some lingering irritation, but massively better than it was before. And many FODMAP risk foods turned out to be fine when I brought things back one at a time, every few days.

[turps]

A slinky sounds like an excellent addition to the squirrel war.

[pensnest]

We have gone hard core with a plastic pipe, since a mere metal pole apparently represents no obstacle to the little blighters. Which I regret, a bit, since I think a slinky would be more fun! We'll see how the plastic pipe holds up. I might even get to put Vaseline on it....

[ephemera]

The ever increasing armaments of the squirrel war continue to entrance ;)

Very glad you had a good birthday dinner!

[turlough]

The Squirrels-Pen Arms Race is heating up!

It's so much fun watching teenage birds pestering their parents.

Congratulations to Wonkywing!