Excitement!

But nothing to do with Christmas. More of a natural kind! You know me, give me a bit of nature and I'm a very happy bunny.

So, imagine my excitement when, from the dining room, a little voice murmered, "Wow!" Now, there's not much in my back garden to cause that kind of exclamation, so I thought I'd take a look and, low and behold, there is a sparrowhawk, having just caught a little snacket, landing on the ground just beneath my birdfeeder that hangs on the shed.

"Ooooo! Quick, come and look at this! Quietly..." says one very excited mother and the children stampede into the dining room. Next second, there's the neighbour's bleep bleep cat having a go at the sparrowhawk! I'm surprised I didn't put the patio door through in my anxiety, then I dashed upstairs to the boys room for a better view of the ensuing battle. There, to my utter delight, was the sparrowhawk, safely perched on the fence behind the shed with Sparky, (cat) slinking away across the stretch of grass behind the fence.

It stayed on the fence for a good few minutes, giving us a fantastic view and me reassurance that it wasn't injured after it's tussle with Sparkey. Mind you, it's snacket had escaped too, which was a blow for the sparrowhawk no doubt. According to Conall, (the little voice) the bird was taken from the fence, not from the birdfeeder, but then, I don't mind feeding up the odd little one for the sake of something so special.

The new neighbour behind us probably thinks we're a bunch of nutters, gathering in a bedroom window to watch him smoke a cigarette on his back doorstep. He couldn't see the sparrowhawk. Hey ho!

Did you know it's Christmas Eve tomorrow? I've just made my bread sauce for the first time from my own homemade bread. Mmmm, should be good! I'm half way through making the trifle, (David said a few years ago he doesn't like Christmas Pudding/Cake/mincemeat, now he tells me it's just the candied peel. I can make it without that!) and a batch of bread to keep us going over Christmas. Still have to make the mince pies for Father Christmas, (he forces himself, for the sake of tradition...) and prep a few brussels, David can do the carrots, potatoes and...

I've just realised I've slipped deeply into the realms of boring, I'll stop now and knock back my dough.

I may, or may not, be back tomorrow. If not, have a fab one and I'll be back soon!