BANG.

I am finally up to date with my school work. Tomorrow I shall start to try and get ahead. It's not been the best of half-term holidays with both of us having colds and not being able to do that much. But then again how much worse would it have been if it had been a normal working week. At least I have caught up with myself and I've got into a routine with my class. It always takes a while when you move to a new year group and for me it's been a move to full-time teaching as well. And this week I've been able to have a lie-in in the mornings. That goodness that tonight the clocks go .... well whichever way it is that we get up 1 hour later. 5.45 would have seemed like the middle of the night otherwise.I started the day with a little blog browsing only to be startled by a loud bang on the window. Yet another bird had hit the glass and lay sprawled on the ground.
I rushed out to find this Blackbird which was rather stunned.

I gave it the opportunity to fly off but it was still shocked so into my boot box it went with the lid down for an hour to give it a chance to recover in peace.

An hour later I brought it outside again and after sitting in the box for a while it hopped out and took itself off. While I was watching it I'm sure I heard the sound of a woodpecker but I couldn't spot where it was. I've never seen one here before but the nice plumbers mentioned the other day that they thought they could hear a woodpecker.

Now imagine this, a wood elf perched in a mossy tree, bow in hand sheltered form the rain by the golden canopy of leaves above. That was almost me this afternoon though the bow was a bow saw and I don't think wood elves wear welly boots. I had climbed up the big Beech tree on my neighbour's land and was attempting to remove some of the overhanging branches. It was very pretty and mossy and the golden leaves above were sheltering me from the rain. I cut one down then decided to go for a really big branch (about the thickness of a man's waist). Didn't quite get there even though I was expecting it to start cracking at any moment. It wasn't easy perched up in the tree with little twigs poking me in the eye and up my nose. I'll give it another go with the newer saw tomorrow. If I'm lucky it might have broken off on it's own. I had also cut back the biggest of the buddlia bushes. I love those plants for their bright flowers that draw in clouds of butterflies.