Another birthday has been enjoyed and I have been gifted plants, [ignore the shoe pile] lovely wooden candle holders and even more planters! A surprise gift was a new iphone from hubs. My canon camera recently died so he thought a more modern phone camera may be the answer. It certainly takes better pictures than my old phone. It’s such a fearful chore switching over though, you always feel that you will lose photos etc. This change-over took a couple of days but thankfully, there were no casualties.
There has been a craze in the UK over the last year for air fryers, as they reduce electricity use given they are so much faster. I was sceptical but decided to buy one a few months ago given the horrendous price of energy these days. I have to say I’m an absolute convert. They are by far faster and everything is much crispier, yet soft and succulent inside. I don’t know how I coped without one. I barely use the oven at all now.
I’ve also swapped my kettle and toaster to energy saving versions too. Daughter now refers to this area as the tea station. Struth!
Garden-wise, barely a flower is in bloom. A few snowdrops are beginning to appear along with a variety of buds, but the recent cold spell seems to have stalled the growth of the bulbs. Now we are suffering gales and endless rain….sighs.
The rat? Well, recently, to my abject horror, hubs said he saw a rat mooching around the back garden. I still have nightmares re the rodent invasion during the first lockdown, that went on for a year, so I was hoping the critter would move on fast.
Now, last weekend, I ambled out into the courtyard to tell hubs lunch was ready and to my utter amazement saw a large, adult rat racing towards me a break-neck speed. It was low to the floor and absolutely flying along. It sped passed me and disappeared into next doors garden I suspect.
It turns out that unbeknown to me, hubs and Buddy had been basically hunting it. Hubs had spotted it going under one of the raised beds in the courtyard and was flushing it out with a piece of bamboo. It finally broke cover, bit buddy and fled into the back garden with Buddy on its tail, literally! Somehow it gave Buddy the slip under the apple tree and raced back into the courtyard, where it encountered me. Fingers crossed, there have been no further sightings of it, Buddy must have given it the fright of its life! I must say I am grateful that I didn’t witness its demise.
Needless to say bricks have been placed around all the wooden raised beds now.
I noticed today that all the pond plants in the front garden seem to have died, I’m hoping they recover. Talking of the pond, have you met the gargoyles that sit on each corner? I must ask Littl’urchin to name them for me.
And Finally…
the recent cold snap sadly saw off my bird baths.
Until next time, stay safe guys.xxx
I’m late catching up .. I have been too wrapped up in other things but this has made me smile .. ugh !!! to the rat issue
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !! … I can’t whip out my phone fast enough to take good pictures so I think I am stuck on my camera still.
I am in love with your gargoyles !!!!!
Yes .. I am thinking we need to try out an air fryer too … I hate cooking and if that makes it easier …. hell yes !!! LOL
Thanks Joy. I do prefer the canon, you can’t beat the feel of a real camera. Air fryers do take the pain out of cooking, they really do make life easier, so easy to clean too.xxx
I’m hoping you’re just busy, and not ill or coping with other unpleasant realities of life! Take this as a little wave ‘hello’ and a wish for nice, sprouting flowers in your garden!
Thanks Linda, for your concern and taking time to check in, I do appreciate that. I’ve just posted which will explain my absence. xxx
Belated Happy birthday! Everyone I know has an air fryer, and they all love it….so I’m thinking we should get one!
I was interested to read you have a new IPhone instead of your Canon camera. My canon camera is getting very old, but I can’t decide what to get in replacement.
I hope winter is nearly over for you..🌞👏👏😁
Thanks Gerrie. I would definitely recommend an air fryer, they are by far quicker than a oven. The phone camera is good but I do miss the weight of the canon. It has warmed up a little around here so I’m hoping spring is on the way.xxx
Belated happy birthday! Looks like you celebrated in style.
Amalia
xo
Thanks Amalia, I was certainly spoilt.xxx
PS Sorry you *lost* your birdbaths. 😢
Belated happy birthday! I’m way behind with reading blogs and commenting due to brain freeze during these freezing cold days at home or out and about. Well done that doggy in seeing off the rat. Sorry to see that your bird baths have shattered. You have some interesting garden ornaments. Looking forward to seeing more of your gardening projects this year. Love Linda xx
Thanks Linda, oh, I totally get the brain freeze due to the cold weather, I’m the same. Thankfully there has been no sign of ratty, long may that last.xxx
I’ve subscribed three times, and confirmed my subscription, and I’m still not getting email notifications. I do, however, get notices that I’m already subscribed when I try to subscribe again. You’re not landing in spam/junk — there’s just nothing arriving. Weird. Anyway, that’s why I’m always late!
I love your gargoyles! I was going to think of names, but decided against it. I’d rather wait and see if Lil’Urchin comes up with something. I hope that your pond plants come back. My suspicion is that they will, but I have absolutely no basis for that except that the plants in our natural ponds always come back.
It sounds as though your birthday was lovely. I’m especially interested in that air fryer. I don’t know a thing about them, because I didn’t think I needed one and I’ve taken on a spend-no-money-on-luxuries approach to life, but one might be worth looking into. I’m lucky that to date I’ve been able to keep my electricity bill more than reasonable, but I’m going onto a new plan in a month, and the bill will go up. So, corner cutting will become even more important.
I sure do hope that rat is gone. I’ve been pleased of late that our apartment management has gone around all the buildings repairing boards and sealing up places that critters could get in . No more patter of little feet at midnight!
After you flagged up that my email address wasn’t working I checked on it and there was an additional dot after the com, that may be the reason why the subscription wasn’t working so you may have solved the problem for me. You may have to subscribe again annoyingly. Thanks for raising that. Our energy rates have gone through the roof so the air fryer is certainly reducing our bills, they are so much faster and more efficient than an oven, I certainly love mine anyway. Good to hear the pitter patter of tiny feet has gone and thankfully there has been no sign of ratty here. Thanks Linda.xxx
I hope Buddy got a big treat for his brave rat showdown. Happy belated birthday, sounds like a good one.
Thanks Brenda. Buddy sure is a born ratter.xxx
Happy cake day!
I’ve subscribed again incase I typed my email in wrongly, as I haven’t been getting any notifications of new posts. So much to catch up with. Delightful to read of all the doings and of course the nit so little urchin. Rat-scapades, I’d have froze to the spot, failing to breath, trying to vomit, wanting to flee and probably fainted, lol.
You have me laughing re the rat remark! I think you need to check your junk email folder to confirm your subscription. Thanks Anne Marie.xxx
I’ve just discovered that my email was wrong in the subscription which is probably why people haven’t been receiving notifications of posts. I sorted that so fingers crossed it will work now.xxx
Belated Happy Birthday. One of the problems with new devices is trying to move everything and remember long forgotten passwords,We did consider an air fryer but weren’t sure that they suited our style of cooking and we would need a kitchen extension so it would hardly save us money.
Rats are a huge problem especially if you feed the birds. The things are everywhere,
Thanks Sue. Oh goodness yes, trying to remember old passwords is a nightmare. Space is always an issue in the kitchen, I had to juggle everything to fit mine in. The things certainly are everywhere, it’s an endless battle trying to keep them out of the garden and house.xxx
Oh, those were such glorious birdbaths!
So glad you did not have further encounter with Mr Rat. Go Buddy, go!
You’ve got all the cool gadgets now. I’m still waffling about the air fryer. With limited counter space, I have to make strategic tradeoffs and still not quite ready to pull the trigger. My mom loves hers.
Loving all the spots of color amongst the greening up in your garden.
Thanks Anne. Still no sign of ratty thankfully. Space is always an issue in the kitchen for sure, I had to do a fair bit of jiggling to make room for mine, I couldn’t be without it now. They are so easy to clean too. Gradually, more blooms are beginning to pop out, spring is hopefully on the way.xxx
Happy belated birthday wishes.
Such a shame about the bird baths …
I always like to look out for snowdrops in January, but haven’t seen any in flower yet!
Have a good week.
All the best Jan
PS Do please let us know what Littl’urchin names the gargoyles 🙂
Your garden looks so beautiful, though I’m so sorry you love those lovely birdbaths!
Haven’t tried an air fryer, but you sure made it sound appealing! You’re creating a lovely cafe there. 👍
The rat story was amusing. I’d be freaked. Mice don’t bother me, but a rat running towards me would be more than startling. I believe it would take a great deal of wine and chocolate to calm me down.
Love you; joy to your weekend! XO
Haha, smiling re the cafe and rat comment! I would highly recommend an air fryer, as well as being cheaper they use far less energy. Love to you all. Thanks Kitty.xxx
Thanks Jan. The garden is slowly coming to life now, hopefully spring will be here soon. I’ll keep you posted re the names.xxx
Happy belated birthday. Nice to see some colour in the garden. I hope that’s the last you’ll see of the rat.
What a shame about the bird baths. Thanks, and you too. xx
Thanks Flighty. Thankfully no sign of old ratty.xxx
Happy belated birthday. We’ve used an air fryer for over eight years now (just looked back at the post when I bought my first one, blogs can be so handy!). Both kids had them when they went off to university. I wouldn’t be without mine now. Oh no, I do hope that Buddy has seen the rat off and that they don’t return, I remember the problem you had with them before. I do love your gargoyles, aren’t they cute.
Goodness, you were way ahead of the game re buying an air fryer. Blogs are handy diaries for sure. Touch wood, there’s been no sign of ratty. Thanks Jo.xxx
Oh no, your poor bird baths! That’s such a shame. Happy birthday! Love the new plants and planters and those gargoyles are fabulous. We bought my eldest an air fryer/ slow cooker combo for her birthday and she’s a convert too. I hope that ratty has gone for good! xx
Thanks Veggiemummy. I couldn’t be without my air fryer now. Fingers crossed, ratty appears to have moved on.xxx