It was St George's Day yesterday - it doesn't really get as much of a mention as it should - he's our patron Saint so why not - we could celebrate all that's good about England - it's also William Shakespeare's birthday so even more reason to give it a mention.

It's been a gloriously sunny day today - hope it lasts a few days - the cats have been playing outside most of the day and Sarah has been blowing bubbles for them to chase - we've had 'cat ballet' as they jump and twist. I've got a tub of Cornish Vanilla ice cream in the freezer which I might just break out!

So there I was blogging about the decline in our birds when in runs Angel (above) with a robin in her mouth. They don't catch many birds but they do like to prove me wrong - I held it's little body in my hands as its life ebbed away and the warmth left it....I howled inside and shed a few tears but cats are hunters by nature and this is the dark side that we have to accept when we invite them in - I cry for each tiny body but they do it because they are cats.

Where has all the birdsong gone?

When I moved into this house 20 years ago I was often woken early in the morning by birdsong - nothing special just sparrows, starlings, blackbirds. I wasn't always happy being woken at 4 am in the summer - the sun was up, the birds were singing and I couldn't get back to sleep.

Now each morning, even in summer, there is silence. Yes I live in a city, yes my garden is tiny and yes I have seven cats but apart from the number of cats increasing over the years, nothing has changed. My garden backs onto other gardens so there is plenty of room for wildlife but even the hedgehogs seem to have deserted us. I'm not the only one to notice this - the lack of house sparrows and starlings - at one time they were all over but now I can go for days without seeing any.

Even in the centre of town the pigeons seem to be the only birds thriving - at one time you would see little house sparrows darting in and out between pigeons and starlings but now there are only the pigeons and the odd crow.

I feel a little sorry for the pigeons - they congregate around the Haymarket bus station waiting for crumbs from sandwiches and Greggs pasties - I watch them when I'm waiting for my bus to work - many seem to have injuries to their feet and legs, some are scrawny and sad looking. Many people regard them as vermin - rats with feathers, vermin with wings - but I can't think of them in that way - they have just as much right to be here as anyone else - it's probably the human race who have overrun.

Back to the garden birds - there has been a noted reduction - it's estimated that there are ten million fewer house sparrows in the UK than there were twenty five years ago - so what else may have disappeared in that time...................

House Sparrow Decline

It's halfway through April already - where does the time go?

We've had a few spring days but true to form it's raining yet again. Meanwhile all the airports have ground to a halt due to a massive cloud of volcanic dust floating over from Iceland. Hoping I can use this as an excuse if I'm late for work - "Sorry I'm late, the bus got caught up in a massive cloud of volcanic dust" - well it's worth a try!

Work and other distractions have kept me from blogging - not an excuse - it's my own fault.

Facebook - wonderful and evil at the same time - I can keep in contact with my brother in Denmark, speak to old and new friends - however there are also so many little distractions which eat away at my time - I should be painting (or God forbid - ironing ) but all those little games and applications vie for my attention - it's just as well Facebook is blocked at work.

Time has flown and I've managed somehow to not post a single thing in March 2009 - not good.
Anyway just for good measure I've started a music blog where I can ramble on about music I like to listen to.
http://welcome-to-my-music-box.blogspot.com

Just a quick post to remind everyone that today is St. George's Day. St George is the Patron Saint of England and there is in fact a Royal Society of St George http://www.royalsocietyofstgeorge.com/index2.htm

CATS PROTECTION

I went to a Cats Protection Volunteering Fair this morning at Northumbria University. Although I'm a member of the Newcastle branch I decided to try and take a more active role so I put my name down for 'admin and computer' duties as I can't drive and already have 5 cats so I don't really have enough room to foster kittens. The national and local website links are shown in my links list so please take a look if you get a chance. Three local groups had got together to try and drum up support - Newcastle, Gateshead & Bedlington - so I hope a few more people join up.
The local branches are also running a £5 neutering scheme for those on low incomes so there's no excuse for not getting it done - details again are on the websites.
http://www.cats.org.uk
http://www.cats-protection-newcastle.co.uk/

I thought I would post my daughter's Stardoll here as well.

Thought I would give you a bit of a chuckle and put a couple of Stardoll pictures on here - they are both 'me' but one is my Goth phase and the other is my Exotic look.

My Stardoll page is http://www.stardoll.com/member/Cat_Artist

It seems like ages since I posted anything. It's taking me sometime to get back to normal after the surgery on my hand and it's still painful - I sometimes forget and do something I shouldn't with that hand.
Anyway the weather is still unpredictable, work is still busy and me and my daughter are still having fun on Stardoll - in fact I may post a few pictures later - Doctor Who is back and Torchwood has just come to an end!

It's my first day back at work since my surgery - I had a few hundred emails to read which took half the morning! By 10 am I was wishing I was still at home. Never mind I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of it soon.