Saturday diversions

The sunny spells promised by the weathermen were dragging their feet on what is known as Holy Saturday, the 8th of April. The sky was clad in a cloak of solid granite grey and an army of brooding black clouds were lying in wait on the horizon. At just 7°C by the time we'd dragged ourselves out of bed, we mockingly laughed at the highs of 14°C our phone's weather app insisted upon.

The outfit I picked out that morning was still airing on a designated rail in the spare room after I'd worn it to work a week or so ago. All its components bar my tights and ring (purchased new), and my brooch (flea market find) were supplied by the charity shops at one time or another.

The off-white and bottle green checked wool-blend skirt, which is by River Woods (and not Tommy Hilfiger as I erroneously mentioned when I first acquired it) came home with me last Autumn and is an absolute joy to wear. It even has pockets, as demonstrated below. The mustard yellow thin knit jumper with its green and red leaves and flowers pattern proved be the skirt's perfect companion. I found it on the Oxfam rails in October 2021.

Mustard would have been the obvious choice of opaques to bookend the skirt, but I opted for red instead. They were almost exactly the same shade of red as the ankle boots I found earlier this year.

I picked up both colours of my jumper's pattern by adding a red vinyl belt and a bottle green beaded necklace and brooch, the latter a flower arrangement of green stones in a delicate gold-tone frame.

After our customary fruit & yoghurt breakfast, I continued with my ongoing seasonal swap-over, exchanging my warmest Winter coats for some Spring appropriate ones. I also unearthed a heap of jackets, some of which I'd forgotten the existence of, from the depths of my full to bursting coats wardrobe. 

When a glance outside the window confirmed that there still wasn't any improvement in the weather, I  reorganized my necklace display, doing a bit of a cull at the same time. My storage rack (see here) was groaning under the accumulated weight and I could no longer see the wood for the trees. It's still a bit fuller than it was in the photos, though. 

By the time I was finished, it had finally started clearing up a little, so I dragged the long-suffering Angelica into the spare room and dressed her up in my latest finds.

Two consecutive lunch break trips to Antwerp's Think Twice shops had yielded two Diolen frocks: a white short-sleeved one with a navy, magenta and pink flower pattern, and a blue sundress with a row of white, purely decorative, buttons down the front, its bodice and pockets edged in blue and white deckchair stripes.

On the day I found the blue sundress, I passed a big, newly opened second hand pop-up shop, where I found this flouncy plum, greyish green, yellow and orange checked dress on the well-stocked rails.

On to Friday's charity shop finds, which included all kinds of everything.

The burnt orange blouse with its pleated placket is by Zara while the teal cropped and three-quarter sleeved cardigan is ... you'll never guess ... a Zoë Loveborn one. I've already got it in blue and red, both of which are hard-working Summer staples. The oatmeal coloured waffle knit cardigan on the bottom left is by River Woods.

The jewellery department boasted several new-with-tags chunky beaded necklaces by Belgian label Les Cordes. I initially baulked at their € 5 price tag, which is a bit more than I usually pay for jewellery at the chazzas, until I saw their original retail price of € 49. 

There was no way I could pass up this unworn pair of 1970s denim embroidered slippers, especially since they are my size. Admittedly they do pinch a little bit, so my spare pair of feet, which came from Tanja's indoor flea market stall in January 2018, are breaking them in for me.

My final purchases came from the bookshelves. The one on the left is Daphne du Maurier's autobiography written when she was in her seventies. 

By lunch time the sun was making feeble attempts to break through the layer of grey. Finally, some gaps appeared and soon the sky was a mosaic of white clouds and bright blue sky. The mercury had even managed to creep into double digits!

As the weather gods had conspired against us, keeping us from going for a walk for weeks on end, we wasted no time in making up for lost time. Walenhoek, one of the ex-clay pit based nature reserves around here, was our chosen destination. After all, our last visit was back in October, which is an incredible six months ago.

Normally about a 20 minute drive from Dove Cottage, our journey was thwarted by a double dose of roadworks, which have become quite a plague here in Belgium lately.

There was one on the final stretch which would take us to the reserve's main car park, so that we had to follow a confusing succession of diversion arrows and ended up getting a bit lost. No surprises there, I suppose! Eventually, I spotted an Agency for Nature and Forests board next to a small car park with a tantalizing view of one of Walenhoek's plethora of lakes beyond it.

We swiftly parked our car and started our walk from this lesser-known corner of the domain. The path, which you can catch a glimpse of in the single photo above, offered tantalizing views of the lake, and eventually ended at a crossroads of paths, the muddiest of which taking us towards our usual territory.

We started visiting here regularly over ten years ago, after being introduced to the domain by a friend on an utterly miserable and very wet February day. Even then, the beauty of our surroundings had been obvious, so that we'd vowed to return on our own in better circumstances. 

After a couple of years, though, we stopped visiting as at one time the area was plagued by illegal fishermen who were barbecuing their catches at the edge of one of the ponds, leaving lots of litter in their wakes.  We only resumed our walks here in the Summer of 2020.

Now, unfortunately, the fishermen seemed to be back with a vengeance, and what's more, they now came equipped with tents, which we came across at regular intervals, some of them half-hidden among the reeds, with one or two almost blocking the muddy paths.

 At one point, we came across one of the tunnels which are the relics of one of the brickmaking factories that were once prolific in this part of the world.

The sun had kept playing hide and seek with the clouds all afternoon, but then she was able to part the curtain for long enough to expose an expanse of blue in which billowing white clouds floated and preened themselves in the water of the lake.

Signs of advancing Springtime were plentiful, although the majority of the trees were still awaiting their garlands of fresh green leaves. A pair of geese with the cutest of goslings floated by, keeping one eye on us to make sure we didn't come to near.

The sky was reverting the grey again by the time we were making our way back to the car park and I really stood out among the greens and greys with my charity shopped red Gigue jacket, which turned out to be the perfect choice for the indecisive weather.

I stood and stared at the almost primordial landscape behind me, when I spotted a black blob at the end of one of the branches in the tree in the upper left corner.

As I zoomed in I was transfixed when it the blob turned out to be a cormorant, having a rest and stretching its wings after diving for its afternoon snack in one of the lakes.

Not quite a gulp of them -  I just love collective nouns, don't you - as spotted by Sheila on her latest walk, but even a single one of these prehistoric looking birds is impressive in my book.

Do join me again for more Easter shenanigans in my next post!

My life through green coloured frames

By the time this post is published, my longed-for four-day Easter break is drawing to a close. Having had all that extra time off, I've got a double dose of the Sunday - in this case, Monday - blues and even the prospect of the short working week ahead is filling me with dread. No more sleep-ins, lazy breakfasts and days full of seemingly unlimited possibilities. Back to the grind and life ruled by the clock it is!

The Easter break was still dangling like a carrot in front of me on Sunday the 2nd of April. At only 2 days old, the month of April had already shown her true colours by confirming her reputation for capriciousness.

Saturday's all-day rain might have dried up by now, it was an utterly grey and miserable day. With the mercury starting out at 1°C and not climbing higher than 7°C, it was a cold one too, the day's forecasted highs only reached when some modicum of sunshine finally materialized in the late afternoon.

It would have been a total waste of a day if we hadn't had lunch with our friends Inneke and Maurice to look forward too. Nevertheless, I was feeling a bit jittery in the morning, particularly when the outfit I originally had in mind turned out to be all wrong. Both Jos and I declared the dress it was based around way too boring, so into the flea market bags it went.

Instead I reached for this fail-safe frock which ticks all the boxes for putting (a) spring in my step. Its sky blue fabric blossoming with clouds of white flowers is joined by a wide pleated skirt perfect for twirling. Its tie neck might pose a bit of a problem for a lunch date, but I tamed it with a brooch featuring a wild rose and its rose hips, picked up at the March edition of the indoor flea market.

The gold-rimmed ceramic flower brooch I pinned to my dress has the same origins. At my waist, a yellow suede belt, a bargainous buy from an outlet shop. The blue and white chevron striped yellow cardigan by the Belgian Who's That Girl label was a charity shop find.

Our restaurant of choice was once again 't Kasteeltje (transl. Little Castle) in the nearby village of Boechout. It is based in a mansion built in so-called cottage style around 1900. 

It is just one of the many country houses built in the green belt around Antwerp by wealthy townies from the late 19th century onwards, after the event of the railway. With their castle-like appearance, the number of turrets was considered a status symbol.

While the boys opted for steak and fries, the girls were once again seduced by the delicious fettuccini with marinated chicken, spinach, mushrooms and candied tomatoes in a mild curry sauce.

It was only when Inneke was taking our photo and drew our attention to it that we realized Jos and I were wearing matching outfits!

The remainder of the day was spent pottering, reading and catching up with blogland.

Typically, the weather on Monday was in total contrast to Sunday's. It was a gloriously sunny day and although officially the temperature would reach 10°C from its frosty 1° start, it actually felt a lot warmer. In sheltered sunshine, that is, as in the open and in the shade a blustery wind had no problem making itself felt.

I couldn't wait for my lunch break to arrive as I was champing at the bit to go for a walk, my intended destination being Antwerp's small but perfectly formed Botanic Garden.

The garden is only a stone's throw from my office, about a leisurely 10-minute walk at the most. However, instead of walking to its main entrance, I decided to take a slight detour. My chosen route took me past Maagdenhuis, an imposing building dating from the 16th and 17th century. Now a museum, it used to be an orphanage for girls until 1882. 

Its monumental façade dates from 1634-36, the bas-relief above the entrance gate, which you can see in the above photo, is by Cornelis-Floris de Vriendt, a sculptor and the designer of Antwerp's town hall.

I then continued, past my old college which I attended in the early 80s, and through the passage leading towards a recently opened luxury hotel. This is housed in a former convent and hospital complex called  Elzenveld, whose history goes back to the 12th century.

And look what I found in the garden next to the completely restored 15th century chapel. These two ghostly figures are clearly related to those in the sculpture museum. They're by the Antwerp-based but German-born sculptor Albert Szukalski (1945-2000), who used living people as the models for plaster figures, laying lengths of fabric soaked in plaster over their bodies and allowing them to harden. The remaining husks of pale plaster were then coated in polyester to weatherproof them. 

Onwards to the Botanic Garden itself. While I had to take the long way around, walking towards the street you can catch a glimpse of at the end of the cobbled pathway, then doubling back past the turreted house, a black cat effortlessly slithered herself through the undergrowth. Can you see her accompanying me on my walk on the top right?

The water feature with its reflective red work of art belongs to the hotel and actually trumpets its name at the other side.

As I usually enter the garden through its main entrance, I'd never laid eyes on this pretty ornamental pond before.

While the garden boasts a collection of 2000 plants there wasn't all that much in flower at the time of my visit. Apart from the Spring snowflakes (bottom left in the collage with the ghosts) and the odd flowering shrub, there were just a handful of tulips making their entrance, while most of the daffs were already on their way out.

In 2020, former city poet Peter Holvoet-Hanssen renamed it the 'Garden of Poets', a green haven that regularly forms the backdrop for poetry initiatives.  That's one of his poems set in stone on the bottom left.

Poetic or not - although there is no doubt that for numerous poets, flora and fauna continues to be an important source of inspiration - the garden is a true oasis of calm, particularly in Spring and Summer, when the luxurious planting almost makes you forget you're in the city centre, close to its main shopping thoroughfare. But then you come across a bench which leaves you in no doubt where you are!

We got two more days like these before the heavens opened again on Thursday, with the weather forecast for the Easter weekend being somewhat indecisive. 

It was supposed to be 10°C on Friday, but it didn’t feel like it at all. We counted our lucky stars that it didn't rain but it was heavily overcast for most of the day, with only one or two short-lived sunny spells.

After breakfast, we drove to the nearby town of Mortsel to pick up my new varifocals, as well as one of my old pairs which had been re-made into reading glasses.

Surely it was only a matter of time before I became the owner and wearer of a pair of green framed specs! They took some getting used to as I've not only got different frames but a stronger prescription as well.  I'm glad I could ease them in during the Easter break rather than having to use them at the office straight away, though. 

If you are interested, they are by Theo, a Belgian eyewear brand founded in 1987.

Now, let's have a look at what I was wearing that day!

Both the red and white pin-striped wool-blend skirt - one of the handful of Winter skirts still remaining in my wardrobe - and the navy blouse with its groovy pattern, were supplied by Think Twice. The green cardigan is by Lucy Has a Secret - another Belgian label - and was charity shopped a couple of years ago. As were my beloved moss green ankle boots.

I accessorized my outfit with a pink beaded necklace (charity shop), navy plastic ring (retail) and a pair of crocheted cherries (Oxfam) which I safety-pinned to my cardigan.

My stretchy belt with it multicoloured round plastic buckle was picked up from the high street while my pink painted metal dragonfly brooch was a flea market find.

We went for a quick rummage at the charity shop after lunch but you'll have to wait until my next post to see my finds, plus what we did on the Saturday. 

I can already reveal that there was a definite improvement in the weather on the horizon!

See you next time!

Spring will be a little late this year

Although Spring has officially sprung a couple of weeks ago, true Spring days have been few and far between. But finally the sun is shining brightly in a brilliant blue sky as I'm starting to type this post, the former effortlessly elevating the mercury from the morning's frosty start into double figures by midday. No chance of peeling off the layers just yet, but at least it's infinitely better than the endless rain we've had to contend with lately. Beneficial for nature and our gardens it may be, it most certainly isn't any good for our Winter-battered souls, which are craving balmy temperatures and sunshine. Lots and lots of it, to make up for all the mind-numbing grey.

Before we plunge ourselves headlong into whimsical April, let's cast our minds back to March's final Sunday.

As due to the bothersome Daylight Saving Time we'd had to put the clocks forward and thus lost an hour of sleep, my biological clock screamed "No way!" to our usual Sunday morning wake up time. It wasn't really helpful that the day dawned dismal, grey, and wet so, with no enticement to get up, we dozed for another half an hour or so. If there was any upside to all the upheaval, it was that Bess didn't wake Jos up at the crack of dawn for her breakfast! Every cloud has a silver lining, they say ...

I know for a fact that that's an out-an-out lie, though, as there wasn't any sign of a silver lining among the dense blanket of grey which made up the sky that day.

The day's highs of 9°C prompted the first outing of the green textured jumper I'd charity shopped on Friday. Its companion was one of my favourite skirts, box pleated and patterned with an abundance of flowers interspersed by rows of berries and Paisley. It joined my wardrobe in October 2019, when it was part of a € 4 a piece Think Twice haul.

I picked up the splashes of burgundy in the skirt with the semi-elasticated, massive-buckled belt, also charity shopped on Friday. Further accessories were a burgundy beaded necklace and pink butterfly brooch. My feet and legs were clad in my beloved green boots which were a charity shop find in December 2019.

With no chance of any outdoor adventures and my brain still running behind the time shown on the clock, it was a day of aimless pottering. This included yet another repair on my one and only black underskirt. Charity shopped many years ago, it is almost falling apart, but will have to do until I find a suitable replacement.

Speaking of charity shopping, let's have a look at my latest finds, picked up on the Saturday. The indigo, pink and white wrap skirt is 100% cotton and bears a made in Malaysia label. The red short-sleeved jumper with its frilly and ribboned yoke is from the Belgian Xandres label. With simple t-shirts on their website retailing at well over € 100, I'm sure you'll agree that this knitted top's € 5 price tag makes it quite the bargain.

Later that day, we both followed Bess's excellent example by having a nap! Aww, isn't she cute, particularly when she's sleeping. She can be quite full-on when she's awake, following us, and especially Jos, around and insisting on helping with any household chores. Except vacuuming!

The month's final working week was a bit of a drag. Not only were my brain and body still struggling to adapt to the time shift, it wasn't much fun not having my usual Friday off to look forward to. As my one and only colleague had to have more surgery on her wrist, and is expected to be out of action for a month, I am once again on my own in the office. I'd quite forgotten what it feels like to work 5-day weeks with only a measly 2-day weekend as a reward.

The weather gods were still up their old tricks as well and kept taunting us with plenty of showers, culminating in 24 hours of non-stop rain on Friday. 

This was what our commute on Friday morning looked like. 

There was nothing for it but to make my own sunshine, for which my wardrobe proved to be very obliging. 

Long-time readers might recognize my grey wool skirt criss-crossed with textured multi-coloured diagonals, which has been a wardrobe stalwart for many years. 

It wasn't the first time I paired it with this glorious flower-infused vintage 1970s blouse, which I charity shopped in March 2019.  In fact, here I am wearing it that very same month for a nature walk on an infinitely better behaved Spring day. 

The butterscotch cardigan with its maroon edging and buttons is by Zoë Loveborn, and was a charity shop find in November 2021. It's one of my numerous pre-loved cardigans from that label, which for some unfathomable reason keep popping up in the charity shops quite regularly. It really puzzles me why people are getting rid of these at all as not only have they got quirky details that make them stand out from the ordinary, their quality is excellent too.

If I remember correctly the flower brooch, which always makes me think of white chocolate, was picked up from a flea market. The necklace was a gift from my friend Inneke, while both the belt and the flower corsage pinned to the cardigan were retail buys.

The month of April didn't get off to the best of starts, as it continued raining with hardly any let-up all day on Saturday. It wasn't very warm either, with highs not even reaching the double digits.

At this crossroad of seasons, just before the big changeover takes place, I'm trying to reach for those frocks which are still languishing unworn in my wardrobe. I was quite perplexed that I hadn't worn this 1970s does 1940s dress at all this season, its last outing dating from our trip to Bruges in March 2022.

I paid tribute to both the blue and the orange in its blowsy flower pattern, choosing an orange beaded necklace (Welsh antique centre), blue backed cameo brooch (flea market), blue ring (retail) and chunky blue belt (last year's Summer sales bargain from Mango).

Sage green opaques and my Snoots (snake print boots) completed my outfit, although I did exchange the latter for my almost worn to death tall mock croc boots when we left the house to brave the rain for the day's adventure. Oh, and I also added my chunky orange long line cardigan because I was freezing.

We were in need of some bread mix, so we decided to pay a long overdue visit to our favourite garden centre, which also happens to have an excellent baking department. 

In fact, it's not just our favourite garden centre, as it was recently voted best in Flanders!

Of course, it would have been virtually impossible not to have a peek at the plants too so that, inevitably, apart from said bread mix, a couple of pots of Spring flowers ended up in our trolley.

Our purchases included Primulas and Pansies, Tête-à-Tête and Bridal Crown Daffs and a cream and yellow Ranunculus. We were actually quite restrained, but I'm sure we will be back soon to have a mooch around their outside perennials department. Preferably on a dry and if possible sunny day!

For now, our purchases are patiently waiting to be planted up and join the passageway gang.

Fingers crossed for a reasonably dry Easter weekend, but knowing our luck it will probably be chucking it down again by then.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with another instalment of my seasonal wardrobe changeover. With a limited amount of time at my disposal until my colleague is back, I'll have to do it all in bite-sized chunks in order to get it all sorted before Summer makes her entrance.

Saturday's instalment was putting away most of my woollen skirts and replacing them with my Spring and early Summer ones. 

So glad to reacquaint myself with these lovelies.

Just one more day of work until my 4-day Easter break, and I'm more than ready for it. 

Happy Easter, everyone!

Moody March

I'm shaking my head in disbelief at the fact that we've come to the end of the moody month of March. And moody she was, as well as very, very wet. It's all very well that you English-speaking folks talk about April showers, we Dutch-speaking people actually have Maartse buien, so March showers instead of April ones. 

That doesn't mean April is in the clear though, as we've got what we call Aprilse grillen, meanings April whims, an idiom which I think has the nature of the whimsical month of April down to a T. 

They usually come as a pair, those two, as more often than not they are mentioned in the same breath: Maartse buien en Aprilse grillen.

There was most certainly no lack of Maartse buien in the month's final weekend which, as it often does, already made a start on Friday for me.

During one of Friday's short-lived dry and sunny spells, we stepped outside and into the passageway, which lately has become our go-to space for outfit photos.

My caramel button-through cord skirt was a cheeky high street buy in October 2021, but no regrets there: instead of fast fashion, it has fast become on of my favourite skirts.

Incidentally, the groovilicious blouse I'm wearing started its life in the same shop as the skirt, but followed me home from a flea market in October 2016.

My red glass beaded necklace and ring were both charity shop finds, as were the cardigan and my recently found belt. The yellow cat brooch came from a delightful shop in Antwerp called Katshop (linking 'cause I love, as Sheila would say) which caters for cats and their personnel.

Oh, no, there's that blasted rain again. Quick, let's go inside!

This offered me the perfect opportunity to show you my latest Think Twice finds. I bought them for € 4 a piece during Thursday's lunch break, when I walked down to the recently opened 5th shop, which also happens to be the nearest one to my office. 

Admittedly, it has been quite a while since I found anything half decent in any of their shops. Clearly, the days of my regular and plentiful Think Twice hauls seem to be well and truly over. Is it the pandemic, or the fact that 1990s fashion seems to be the latest vintage craze?

Anyway, I found two dresses and two skirts, so I couldn't have been happier! 

The white and blue dotted one, with its cleverly camouflaged buttons, is Diolen. Hadn't found one of those in a long, long time. Can't wait to give it its first outing when the weather finally cottons on that it's supposed to be Spring!

I can't wait to give the pleated skirt of this flower and foliage patterned blue Summer dress a whirl either. Its lightweight, semi-sheer chiffon fabric comes with a solid blue lining. The presence of belt loops give away the fact that once upon a time the dress must have had a belt, but knowing me I probably wouldn't have made use of it anyway. Instead, I picked up the lilac in its pattern with a 1980s belt in the same colour, one which is in desperate need of another outing.

Riffling through the full to bursting rail of skirts, there were quite a few which caught my eye, most of them, alas, either teeny tiny or way too big. 

I ended up spending my money on a white cotton flower infused skirt, with a veritable Summer flower border blooming near its black hem, and a red polyester one patterned with blowsy indigo and white flowers. 

Friday morning was spent at the optician's in the nearby town of Mortsel, where I had my eyes tested and then splurged on a spanking new pair of varifocals, which I can't wait to show you once they're ready!

Yet another shower accompanied us on our way home but there was a dry intermezzo after lunch which lasted long enough to check on our garden's progress. The threesome of snakeshead fritillaries are coming along nicely (top left) and look at how lush and green some of our perennials are already!  There's a healthy clump of Geranium phaeum a.k.a. dusky crane's-bill (bottom left) and even our Oriental poppy (top right) is showing great promise, even if at this very moment it's hard to imagine it bearing flowers before too long.

It's hard to imagine a Friday without a visit to the charity shops either, so that's what we did in the afternoon, even if we only limited ourselves to one shop.

The skirt fairies were very generous here as well, and magicked another two into my basket. The photo doesn't do the first one justice, as rather than grey, the maxi skirt with its Paisley-esque pattern is more of an olive green. It's from the Belgian Terra di Siena label.

The horizontally striped black, grey and red button-through midi skirt is label-less, and I expect it's somebody's handiwork. With no contents label, it's a bit of a guess, but it does feel like wool or at least a wool blend.

The thin knit green patterned jumper - which I already wore in the meantime - is from the Dutch high street label WE Fashion.

Finally I fell for this wide semi-stretchy burgundy red belt with its unusual metal buckle. This too has already been part of one of my outfits.

Saturday's weather was even worse than Friday's, with almost non-stop rain from the moment we got up, the overall dampness making it feel quite a bit colder than the 13°C offered by the thermometer.

The perfect weather to tackle a couple more chores, this time of the sewing variety. I also got it into my head to make a start with my wardrobe changeover, exchanging my warmest Winter frocks for some of my short-sleeved ones. That way, I'll be ready if/when Spring decides to make an appearance overnight.

When eventually it stopped raining in the early afternoon, we grabbed our coats and walked to our garage to pick up our car, only for it to start pelting down again shortly after we left the house.

Thankfully, we'd had the presence of mind to bring an umbrella! Of course, the minute we'd made it inside the building the rain stopped as abruptly as it had started. There were even some gloating rays of sunshine to be spied through the skylights. Perfect for highlighting my charity shopped Desigual coat ...

... and what I was wearing underneath. 

Surprisingly, it was the season's first - and probably only - outing for this Finnish made 1970s does 1930s dress picked up from Think Twice many moons ago. Too many clothes, too little time, but I am absolutely fine with wearing things only once a year. 

The brooch I pinned to my dress, featuring a mottled green stone set within a crown of tiny pearls, was bought from the Brooch Lady at an antiques fair in April 2017. 

My orange King Louie cardigan, necklace and ring were charity shop finds. I'm fairly certain that the white felted flower corsage was a retail buy, as I've got it in several other colours as well. They possibly came from haberdashery and accessories chain Veritas. The latter also provided the belt, which is the latest one to join my collection. It was winking at me when I dashed into the shop for a sewing essential the other week.

I'm leaving you now with some garden wildlife. This is one of our resident wood pigeons sunning itself on our garden wall after gorging on the bird seeds the gang of picky blue tits had carelessly thrown out of the feeder. It seemed to be quite oblivious of the fact that it was being watched from the kitchen window by a certain furry creature!