Showing posts with label hedgehog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hedgehog. Show all posts

Sunday, 18 October 2020

October Miscellany

 Since we were unable to leave Dublin county in September (or at least, after we were both free to take a day off), we were unable to go sloe gathering in our normal location this year, and the one place I knew to try nearer home was fruitless. So we are trying raspberry gin this year instead of sloe gin. Today was the day for straining and bottling it - we had a pavlova with some of the gin-infused berries. I don't think it's a patch on sloe gin, and I'm glad I found one last jar of that hiding away so we are not totally destitute, but I'm sure we'll enjoy drinking it. I was surprised to see how much colour the lemon slices had picked up.


C went for his more or less customary walk after work on Thursday, and came back saying he had something to show me. He had seen a little hedgehog while walking across the green area near us - he had a couple of photos on his camera and he asked me did I want to go and see if it was still there. With perfect timing, I had about twenty minutes before it was time to add the eggs on top of my layered tomato, pepper and onion dish, so we went back. He was still there - an odd time for him to be out. Apparently he lives in one of the houses across the road. As he was being very slow crossing, and it was a moderately busy time of day, someone put on some work gloves and gave him a helping hand. It was certainly an unusual time of day for him to be out, so I hope he wasn't ill. It's a few years since we last saw a live one. From the size, I think it was a young one. It's probably almost hibernation time - temperatures last night fell to near freezing.







Monday, 18 August 2014

Surprise!!

C got home from work today, and said "Get your camera and come quickly". He didn't tell me how far we had to go to see what he had seen - or I'd have put my flip-flops on!
But it was so worth it - I can't remember the last time I've seen a hedgehog that wasn't road-kill. Something must have disturbed this one to be out mid-afternoon, and it didn't look fully grown to me.
My camera battery was in the red, which I didn't realise, not having used it previously today. But I did get a few shots and even a snippet of video - though I think the video drained the battery altogether.
Because of C's motorbikes we have a locked gate across the entrance to our back garden, so I don't think we'll ever see this sweetie around our garden but it's nice to know that he's nearby. And once the battery was dead, we went back to the house for our slightly delayed coffee!






For anyone not sure of the size of a hedgehog - an adult is about 6-8 inches long.

I have quite a few of the Penny Black hedgehog stamps. Here's one of the most recent cards I made with one of them.