Close-up of the seed stitches on the 4-band sampler of the previous post. I'm working on the tweed heart piece. It may take some time, as I work out what words to use, and where to place them.
Meantime I look out the window, at the birdbox, and hope the blue tits that are inspecting it, will take up residence. A friend told me a wonderful story that wrens had used one of their nest boxes to sleep in at night, and she'd seen them all emerging from it one morning; a seemingly endless stream of wrens flying out of it! What a sight that must have been. I've often wondered why birds don't roost in nestboxes overnight in the winter. It must surely be safer, and the combined body-heat would help them survive the cold?
A close inspection of this photo, will show the blue tit checking out the property! It's in the middle of the photo.
This is one of the bird boxes that Jon and I made a couple of years ago. One is hanging outside the living room window, and can be seen from the sofa in the sitting room, and was inhabited this spring; another is attached to a tree in the front garden; and this one has yet to find a home!
Now that autumn's here, and the leaves are falling, I'm hoping to find the perfect spot for it. Somewhere I can observe it, in case it becomes a home for new bird families. Being able to watch the birds fly to and fro this spring, as they fed their chicks, was wonderful. And all from the comfort of my sofa!
I didn't paint up to the entrance hole of the box, as birds sometimes peck to enlarge it, and make it more comfortable for themselves. Depending on the paint used (I used acrylics) this can poison the birds. So I decided to play it safe, and leave a gap.
The birds need all the help we can give them.
I've just heard on the news this week about thousands and thousands of birds drowning in the North Sea. Land birds such as robin and thrushes, somehow lost their bearings, and ended up out at sea, and were found drowned by sailors. Boats out to sea, found themselves used as perches by birds, who were exhausted, and needed to rest, before flying off again, desperate to find land.
See this for photos.
At Scarborough Museum is an exhibition called 'fears, foes & faeries', which is on until the 30th September.
Anyone with any interest in folklore, and charms and amulets, would find this a fascinating looksee.
It uses the Museum's collection which came from William James Clarke, who was collecting between 1900-1945, and lived in Scarborough.
The photographs are of one of the exhibition cases in the 'Charmacy & Health' room.
Below is a close-up of 2 of the exhibits; on the left is the throat of a goose; on the right is a fabric bag, which held a charm for health.
Animal parts were used by cunning men and women, and witches, as part of healing rituals, and the philosophy of 'sympathetic magic'. To twenty-first century eyes, this can seem uncomfortable and even cruel.....the kingfisher nailed to the mast of a boat, which came from Guernsey, as recently as 1913, was one which struck me particularly. It was supposed to bring a good catch to the fishermen. And possessing a kingfisher feather was thought to bring protection from lightning.
Life was tough for ordinary people in the early years of the twentieth century, and they needed any help they could get.
More information can be found here.
The birdbox that Jon put up outside the window, is now home to some blue-tits.
I can see the parent birds flitting back and forth (and boy, do they!) taking food to the nestlings, as I sit in the living room, on the sofa. Yesterday I went out and took the photos above, and the blue tits hardly broke their stride! I didn't disturb them at all. They just kept on, feeding those nestlings! The cat was pretty interested though, so I might have to keep an eye on that, when the baby birds begin to fledge.
