Sunday 25 January 2009

Busy watching my garden


This weekend is the RSPB's GARDEN WATCH, where they're asking people all around the UK to spend just one hour watching their garden and record the birds that they see. Just one hour that's all, an opportunity to relax and look out for your feathered friends. And if you have leftovers from your Sunday lunch, this is the perfect opportunity to put them to good use, as birds are happy to peck at such a wide variety of food, including mashed up potato and pastry.

And don't forget they love fatballs too. So don't pour your fat down the drain. Instead pour it into a mould and then chill in the fridge. If you don't have a ready-made mould, you can make one yourself with a plastic bag inside a toilet roll inner - [that's what I meant to say in the video last week, but what wonderful alternative suggestions you left]. Remember to feed a piece of string through first and when full, prop up in mug or cup in the fridge for a few hours. Alternatively, spread the fat around a fircone. When the fat starts to harden, coat with bird seed or breadcrumbs.

Lots more information about feeding the birds and how to register your birdwatch can be found at the official 2009 GARDEN WATCH website (Thanks to blog reader Baba for the tip-off)

As well as watching the birds I've got a jam-packed week with children's recycling workshops, sorting out the garden, submitting my tax returns and preparing for another exciting project that's coming up. So not much time to blog.

But before I go, I'd like to send my very best wishes and support to the 1500 folk in Gloucestershire who have signed up for their very own zero waste week. Launched by best-selling author Jilly Cooper, the challenge officially starts tomorrow. Mrs Green and her family over at MyZeroWaste are joining in from the Forest of Dean, so don't forget to pop over to see how they get on. She'll show you how she's using her toilet roll inners too.

So enjoy your bird-watching, bin slimming and other zero waste activities. I look forward to seeing you soon. And if you have to fill in a tax return too...I truly empathise. xxx

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent - thanks for writing about this today - a glorious day up here for the birdwatch and am hoping that everyone had both the time to do the survey and the pleasure form participating and learning.....XX

Anonymous said...

Hi Mrs A,

Feeding birds is a good thing especially during the winter. I find all my scraps are taken in minutes, everytime.

It is great to see celebrities, such as Jilly Cooper, taking part in the Zero Waste Week. We need as much backing as possible to make it a success. 1500 participants is a good number and hopefully others will come on board as the week develops.

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Baba - We had 5 blackbirds, one robin, two wagtails and a big fat pigeon. We did it yesterday...thank goodness because today's been so wet and cold. It's really interesting to see all their feeding habits. Both the kids and the cats were mesmerised as ever. We've got some eye-pieces installed in the boys' playden so they can keep a close watch on proceedings. :-D

Hi John - It's only of late that I've taken to feeding the birds. It was an interest that developed just before Christmas...thanks to my good friend Baba...(we'll be hearing more from her soon). It's interesting to see the variety of food they eat too.

And isn't it good news to see people like Jilly Cooper behind the Zero Waste events...the more high profile people the better :-D

Karin said...

shame I read this too late - it was getting dark and all self-respecting birds were off to bed. We get a lot of birds in our garden, especially in this cold weather. I must blog about them sometime.

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Karin - Sorry you missed it, indeed my blog post was a bit late. I had meant to do something last week but couldn't quite fit it in. It would be great to hear about your own garden though. I'll be keeping a look out for that :-D

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

I sat and watched, did a head count and then forgot to go on line to record it. Tried this afternoon to find that I am too late! OK - my fault. I'll remember that next year. Hope you and your lads enjoyed it. A x

Anonymous said...

thanks for the garden watch website

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Anne - I hope to give more notice next year as it would be great to get a few more people involved too. :-D

Hi Brian - You're welcome and thanks for popping by and leaving a comment :-D

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