I can see you
- 8th March 2025
Hello dear reader and welcome to another sunny Saturday at Comb Towers. Yes, it is indeed only early March and yet here we are, being little baskers in glorious sunshine. We have had a week of it and oh my, have so enjoyed it. But … I am long enough into my snaggletoothed life to know that if March comes in like a lamb it will go out like a lion. Mentally I am bracing myself and girding up my loins for what the month might have in store meteorologically.
I am not so sure that Mother Nature anticipates these events however. The sparrows are singing their little heads off in the sunshine and eyeing eachother up speculatively. You can hear it in their twitterings, ‘Are you dancing? I’m dancing.’ Our resident male blackbirds are sleeking themselves up in the hope of impressing their mates with a view to nesting. Our pond has become the local avian lido with birds of all shapes and hues smartening up for spring. No-one can hold a candle to a blackbird taking a bath; they are so energetic and enthusiastic in their birdly ablutions as they hop in and out of the pond, going back for a second or third bath on the trot. We must have the cleanest blackbirds in England.
Our fish have emerged from their winter deeps of the pond and are energetically swimming about, looking to be fed. We are like magnets to them and they follow in our direction, wherever we are in the garden. I cannot believe they are hungry, as they have been feeding off the riches of the bottom of the pond and grown sleek and stout. Maybe they are just looking forward to a change of diet. There are two very small goldfish we haven’t seen before. They must have been born quite recently by the look of them. Naughty me, I upset Spouse when I gaze at them all lovingly and say ‘fish and chips’. If he could cover their fishy ears he would. Instead, he glares indignantly at me and stomps off in disgust.
As ever, our resident pigeons buck the trend. Whilst I have seen many species of bird take advantage of our bathing facilities this week, I have yet to see our pigeon friends in the water. The weather has been too nice and they appear to enjoy sporting their bedraggled looks for a while longer. No, what a pigeon really likes is a good old fashioned downpour and then they will be out in their droves, bathing in the pond and enjoying the rain stair-rodding down on their bodies. That’s pigeons for you. In addition no amount of bad winter weather can put them off their avowed purpose in life … which, after many years of observation, appears to be to fight with eachother as much as possible, followed by the pursuit of a usually unwilling female for mating, which usually occurs on top of our fences. Exhibitionists. This operation always looks precarious and uncomfortable. I avert my eyes so as not to be a pigeon voyeur and offer up a silent prayer for the poor lady in question. I repeat, that’s pigeons for you.
Also, the fine weather has put the notion of nest building to the fore for our local seagulls. They have been spying out the land for suitable nesting sites. All winter we have had Sidney Seagull visiting our garden, paddling the lawn in search of the worms within the soil. He has been very successful and is in prime condition now. Just between you and I, dear reader, I think he’s a tad on the hefty side but I won’t hurt his feelings by telling him that. Sid is pretty fearless and is not in the least bit bothered if Spouse or I are close by. Searching and scoffing juicy worms is far more important than worrying about the odd passing Homo sapien and they don’t come much odder than those residing at Comb Towers, believe me. Seagulls pair up for life and our Sid is last year’s chick, so will no doubt be on the lookout for a suitable lady to pair up with. He has been checking out my shed roof and I do hope he finds it unsuitable or I am in for troubled times this summer. I have been chased off by irate seagull dads before and it’s not nice. I need to be a deterrent in the garden in the hope that he will find more suitable quarters, which means getting myself outside and starting a few tidying up jobs. (Spouse has very unkindly just commented that I only have to stand at the door and I will be a deterrent to anything. I think I can ignore that one).
So, perhaps today is the day, dear reader. I have only one other comment to make and then I will get about my business. I was speaking on the phone with my sister this morning and after an initial ‘howdy do’ she said, ‘Hang on a minute, I’ll just put my glasses on and then I will hear you better.’ I cannot argue with that one as I always say that I think better with a pen in my hand. But then, I am of the pen and paper era and not keyboard. Couldn’t hold old QWERTY in my hand could I? Hey ho, I might just enter the smug zone for a while.
See you next week, dear reader. Have a lovely weekend and don’t forget - with pen in hand, your glasses on and a nice glass of something to hand, you can conquer the world.
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