Seagulls are everywhere

Remember when I was in the garden earlier in the week waiting for Tog to lay eggs. Well I decided to throw out some lemon cake for the birds, at first I put it on a tray near the house to see if I could attract any to get some pictures. After a couple of hours I just tipped the crumbled cake onto the lawn. This brought a flock of seagulls and not the little birds that I really hoped to attract. However, because I was in the garden they sat on the roof and watched me. I felt their beady eyes on me willing me to leave them to their feast. Some took off and circled overhead and eventually this one got fed up and flew off in disgust.





Of course as soon as I went in they were all over the cake like a swarm of locusts and it was gone before I could get a picture.

Archives:
2008: Witty Wednesday-53 New Wine
2007: Fun Monday-20 My Kitchen

Unwelcome Visitors!!!

The post I had planned for today didn't get finished. So instead you see I've been invaded. Don't worry they were not in the house, but they were in one of our cellar rooms and luckily they were dead. EmBee says he knows how they get in-so why hasn't he done something about it!

Archives:
2008: Fun Monday-62(Double Nickel 5 Challenge
2007: Tortoise Weigh In

Woodpigeon and an Award

I think I've become a bit obsessed with trying to get a decent bird photo. This morning, when I was making my breakfast, I saw this Woodpigeon in our yard it stayed a round for a long time and took up this position on the seat. I opened the kitchen door but thought I would frighten it away if I tried to get closer. It looks like it is inspecting my car!My friend Kitten gave me this delightful little award that she made herself.
It is so bright and cheerful and that's what blog friends do- brighten up your day. Thank you so much, Kitten, I will be adding this to my special gallery. I won't presume, but I pass this on to anyone who feels I brighten their day.

Archives:
2008: Witty Wednesday-43
2007: Fun Monday-11 What's in your wardrobe!

Butterflies and other creatures Portugal # 5

I thought it was about time I showed you some of the wildlife we saw around the villa. We were mesmerize by the number of butterflies that came to feast of the flowers. I spent ages, standing quietly, trying to get a really good photo. These are the three that I consider to be my best shots.

There were a lot of lizards of varying sizes that we saw mainly at night, hence my rather poor efforts with the camera!This one often found its way between the shutters. Guess who worried it might find its way into the bedroom! These spent a lot of time near the roof tiles. Now this seemed to be where a lot of birds nested (I could not get a single bird pictures, they were far too quick for me!)
Finally I'm going to leave you guessing what these last two photo are~ I know they are poor quality but it was dark~I expect I've give it away!


The only downside to this holiday is that we were over run with little black ants (I don't have any photos until my grandson burns me a disc as he took some better ones than mine). They got into everything even the dishwasher. We ended up using three cans of spray and still they came back~ oh and they bite. Both embee and I got bitten on our hands and it set up a nasty reaction that took a while to clear. In fact I still have a scar!

Archives:
2007: A bomb has hit the house!

Common Newt

Yesterday Embee was laying a few new patio slabs for my tubs of blueberry bushes to sit on and he had to lift some of the existing ones to level them. He suddenly called me as he had uncovered this tiny Newt (assuming that's what it is and I'm sure someone will put us right if it isn't)! We don't have a pond and there only seemed to be one so we are not quite sure how it came to find our garden. After taking a photo I did a bit of research and hiding under slabs is apparently quite common. Before you wonder we were very careful when we put the slab back so hopefully it will be alright as newts are a partially protected species due to the dwindling numbers here in the UK.