Today it's freezing. By nature I'm a bit of a chilly mortal (don't like extreme heat either) so that makes me a bit of a weather whinger I reckon! (mostly whinge to myself, and risk looking like a madwoman wandering down the road, tutting at the sky)..anyway.. I digress..

I woke this morning and looked out of our bedroom window and saw by our stone Buddha, a little tiny bluetit... clinging on to a rose bush. I immediately thought how upbeat he looked.. all twittery and busy..

Above him, sitting on some brambles that hang over the fence, was my favourite blackbird. His energy was somewhat different.. he looked cold and his feathers were fluffy, like he wasn't in the best of health. I suddenly got a pang.. I haven't got round to hanging out any bird feeders this winter yet and usually I do. Mr A made really cute birdhouses a few years ago and we had a family of bluetits in one, and a family of robins in the other.

Once we'd got ourselves sorted.. we took a trip to the local DIY store and bought loads of birdy goodies and some nice feeders, some squirrel proof but some not.. (can't bear to think of the squirrels getting left out)... it made me feel a lot happier.. I reason that the birds have it hard at this time of the year.

When we first found our little cottage, I drove down the lane and a blackbird and his mate flew in front of our car, as if they were leading us. I remember clearly getting out of the car and peeking through a hole in the fence and there he and his mate were, in the cottage garden.

For months after we moved in, they did the same thing.. they'd fly in front of our car and lurk on the fence whilst we got shopping out.. it felt like a good omen.

I hope he's alright.. and he gets to fill his stomach up tomorrow and sort those feathers out. x