Smoke Free at Yew Court

Something has changed at Yew Court. Well I have actually. After being a smoker for most of my adult life, I have finally stopped smoking!!!

Yes smoking is a nasty habit, I know but on 5 July 2011 I become a non smoker.

It is something I have been meaning to do for a long time but never really had the nerve. I was worried about withdrawal symptoms, cravings and putting on weight. Well thats my excuse anyway.

But when I was at the Dentist a few weeks ago, he told me off in a nice way, saying that smoking is staining my teeth (if as I didn't know already) and kindly offered to refer me to a Stop Smoking Clinic. So I agreed and soon after I had an appointment to see a Stop Smoking Councillor.

They advised me on the different methods I could use and in the end I decided to try Nicorette patches along with lozenges to help me stop smoking. I decided on a stop smoking date and was given a prescription for the patches and lozenges.

You can read more details about How I stopped Smoking here.

Since stopping smoking I have been giving the house a good clean to get rid of all the horrible nicotine and hence yesterdays Bath Time For Teddy and Friends lol.

I do feel a lot better since I stopped smoking and the patches and lozenges are a tremendous help. But temptation is always lurking. Richard is still smoking at the moment but has promised to stop soon too but he has decided not to smoke in the house anymore. But the other day he left his cigarettes in the kitchen and I noticed them just as I had made some coffee. I thought to myself, I will have a cup of coffee and a cigarette in the garden - until I remembered I didn't smoke anymore! Oh! darn it!

But I know I am going to stay strong and stay a non smoker.

Bath Time For Teddy and Friends

This week at Yew Court I have been having a spring clean. I washed all the windows and curtains and next decided it was about time the cuddly toys had a wash too.

I have a new washing machine so in they all went in like brave little soldiers.

It was a nice sunny day and they soon got dry on the clothes line.

It wasn't long before they were all washed and dried and looking as good as new again!

We Need More Rain At Yew Court

Here at Yew Court we are getting worried about the lack of rain. Apparently in our area we have only had about 10% of our normal rainfall.

Everything is very dry and the lawns are going brown. Richard has been watering the garden as much as possible but being on the water meter it is too expensive to water the lawns as well.

It keeps threatening to rain and when we do get rain it only seems to last for a very short time. Oh dear I hope we get a good long downpour soon!

The birds have been busy in the garden lately. There has been a lot of activity with nest building and we have some blue tits nesting in the nesting box again. We have seen baby blackbirds being fed by their parents and also some young bullfinches. I love to see all the birds in the garden.

We always make sure there is plenty of food for them and hang up high energy fat balls as well as putting out bread and other kitchen scraps. We also have lots of starlings and they are nesting too. As soon as I put out any food they are soon around collecting big beak-fulls and flying off to their nests and then the next minute they are back for more.

On the work front, I have made a website for my online local business consultancy work where I hope to help local business have an online presence. I am also making a website for my brother's new business.

Also I put a new theme on Richard's photography website which we are both very pleased with. It looks much more professional now and displays his photos much better.

More brownie points for me I think!

Blue Jays and Computer Problems at Yew Court

Last week was about new baby and new career at Yew Court. This week it has been all about shopping for baby strollers and baby clothes for the new addition to the family.

It has also been about computer problems too. The other day I was busy working on my computer and drinking a cup of tea at the same time. This combination can be fatal. I lost concentration for one second and the next thing I knew I had knocked the cup of tea over my keyboard and killed my computer!

I did my best to mop up the tea and dry out my computer but to no avail. Luckily enough I have my computer insured and sent it off to be repaired. If I hadn't had my computer insured I would have had to find a local computer repairs company, which would have been a nuisance. You just don't realise how much we rely on our computers. I was lost without mine. But thankfully my computer was soon repaired and as good as new again in new time!

On a happier note, we have been seeing lots of Blue Jays in the garden this year. We have seen them around other years but this year they seem to come into our garden more and stay for longer. I think they must have a nest near by as we have also spotted baby blue jays too. Richard says he sees lots of baby blue jays flying around in the mornings. They seem to gather around the same time each day and then fly off.

New Baby and New Career at Yew Court

It's all happening at Yew Court lately. First of all Richard's daughter had a new baby boy. His name is Jayden and he is only one week old at the time of writing. Isn't he sweet!

Richard went round to see mother and baby to take some photos. He has decided that as well as doing nature photography he now wants to be a Professional Portrait Photographer.

On top of that my Nephew Graham has decided to become self employed and now has his own Carpentry and Joinery Business in Lincoln where he lives. I think it is very brave of him to go it alone but then he is a first class Joiner so I am sure he will do well.

The weather here at Yew Court is at last beginning to brighten up and we are seeing some sunshine during the day, although the nights are still fairly chilly. But the birds are singing merrily in the garden and are busy nest building and looks for a mate.

To cap it all, next week is my birthday. And please no guessing how old I am lol!

There Is No Place Like Yew Court

Here at Yew Court the days have been dull and cold and winter seems to be lasting forever. But now at last there is some sunshine coming through here and there and the days are gradually getting longer, giving us the promise of the warm spring days to come.

There are still plenty of wild birds around, including lots of blackbirds, blue tits and great tits and of course our resident squirrel. It is lovely to see them all, it brightens the day.

We have been thinking for a while of buying a car and have been looking at the pros and cons. We have been looking on the internet at the used car sales to compare prices. But now with the threat of fuel prices increasing we are getting a bit dubious of the whole idea. Maybe one day.

It is so lovely here at Yew Court with all the birds and wild life in the garden that more often than not, this is the place where we would most rather be. We are so lucky and I am grateful every day to live here at Yew Court.

Snow at Yew Court

The weather here has been bitterly cold over the last few weeks and here at Yew Court we had heavy snow. Of course most of the country had snow too but living here we get it fairly bad and simple things like going to the local shops has been very difficult especially when the roads were icy.

To make matters worse I had a bad tooth ache after losing a front filling. Being reluctant to go to the dentist, I left it until the pain became unbearable!

As previously mentioned finding a new dentist and doctor etc since moving to Yew Court has been a nuisance. I did find a good Physiotherapist in Ipswich at the end of last year though. That was through doing a Google search for Physiotherapist Ipswich. But I digress.

To be honest the dentist I had in London was so lovely and I was not so keen on my new dentist.

Anyway the pain got so bad that I had to go and see the dentist and it turned out I had an infection. Antibiotics didn't really help much and the dentist said the tooth should really come out.

Being stubborn and convinced a filling would make it better, I insisted on trying a filling first. Well that didn't work so in the end I had the tooth out.

Afterwards I thought that would be an end to it, but no the pain got worse and worse so I had to go back to the dentist. He said it was badly infected and gave it some long name. This time he gave me two lots of antibiotics and now it is gradually getting better.

If I had still been living in London when the filling came out I would not have hesitated to go to my dentist to have it fixed. I should have gone to the dentist straightaway and I regret not doing so.

Being in pain for the last few weeks has been a hard lesson learnt!

My Zazzle Store

Here at Yew Court I have been getting creative and have been busy making calendars and greetings cards.

Even though I say so myself, I think they are pretty good!


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Time Flies At Yew Court

The other day I was thinking how time flies and that it has now been over 3 years since I moved to Yew Court from London.

I remember it was such a culture shock to me when I first moved here as I had lived in London for most of my life and I found it so different. It was different in a good way but it still took a lot of getting used.

When I was living in London I had suffered from back problems and used to see an Osteopath in London. So one of the first things I did when I moved here was to get on my computer and do a Google search for Osteopath Ipswich.

The thought of finding another Osteopath was a bit scary as I had been used to the same person for a long time. It was the same with finding a new Doctor and Dentist etc and trying to find people who I felt happy with.

Of course there were many wonderful new things that living at Yew Court brought me. Having a lovely selected garden was (and is) so unbelievably lovely and seeing all the garden birds and wild life in the garden. I used to have to keep pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming!

One of the greatest pleasures for me and Richard is feeding wild garden birds and photographing them and simply just sitting in our lovely garden and watching their comical antics.

As for finding a new Osteopath in Ipswich - guess what, I never needed one in the end as my back has been so much better since living at Yew Court. Work that one out!

New Born Baby Dolls

Here at Yew Court there weather is rather chilly and the days are short. There is not much activity in the garden at this time of year although of course we are still feeding the wild bird and have recently been hanging up high energy fat balls for the smaller birds to eat.

It is too cold to be outdoors for long and one thing I love to do is to make web pages about different things I find interesting. My most recent web page has been about New Born Baby Dolls (or Reborn Baby Dolls).

Newborn Baby Dolls are not the same as ordinary toy dolls. They are usually painstakingly made by hand and can take approximately one week to make. Some are unique and one of a kind and can be "adopted" and given a birth certificate just like a real baby.

I find the subject very interesting. the dolls are amazingly realistic and lifelike. Some people find them weird or creepy but I think they are very cute, although I'm not sure I would like one myself.

But then again maybe I could be tempted..........

Sea Gulls at Yew Court

When I'm in my garden at Yew Court, I often hear and see Sea Gulls flying overhead. Sometimes they can be very noisy as they screech and call to each other. Their cries sound almost human sometimes.

I love to see the sea gulls, I think they look very elegant. Often a lone seal gull glides serenely past, high up above in the sky.

Some days they are in large groups and I watch them as they circle and fly back and forth, calling and screeching.

Me and Richard love to take a walk and we usually see lots of Sea Gulls on the River. We live fairly near to the coast and the docks are nearby.

We see all types of Wild River Birds including an Oystercatcher, Herring Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Canada Goose and of course lots of Swans and Mallards.

Richard loves to photograph the wild birds and even though I am not impartial, I think his photography is getting better and better every day. Some of his photographs are truly stunning!

You can see more of Richard's photographs at Digital Photography Shots.

Autumn at Yew Court

Here at Yew Court the summer has drawn to close and autumn is here. There weather is turning cooler, although we are still having some sunshine during the day. One of the things I love to do is feeding wild birds in the garden.

I love to watch the different variety of wild birds in the garden. We normally have blackbirds, starlings, sparrows, doves, robins, green finches, blue tits, great tits and cole tits. Also the occasional wood pigeon and sometimes a magpie. The magpies don't often come into the back garden, although I have noticed a few in the front garden.

Just lately we have began putting high energy fat balls out for the birds as well as the usual bird seed and nuts etc. The small birds really enjoy the fat balls, especially the blue tits and great tits. We normally put the fat balls in a cluster of 3 so they are easy for the birds to land on.

We have also had a young starling land on the fat balls to eat them. They are a bit on the large size but they usually manage ok. I really like starlings, they are so comical. This year we have had a family of starlings come to the garden for food. They usually come in a gang of about 7 or 6 youngsters. They strut around the lawn looking for insects after the rain and they also love to bathe in the water containers we have around the garden. They are very entertaining to watch.

I think feeding wild garden birds all year round is very important, especially during the harsh winter months when live food is scarce. I feel very privileged to have so many beautiful wild birds come and visit my garden.

Hungry Baby Robins

We were right about there being a nest nearby. Baby robins have now appeared in the garden at Yew Court. They are so cute and fluffy. They are very tame and friendly and come right up to the back door for food.

One baby robin even came right into the kitchen. Of course he soon started to panick. Luckily I managed to quickly open the window and he flew out, none the worse for his experience.

The baby robins are now growing big and strong and are beginning to feed themselves although they still like to get their mum to feed them when they can get away with it!

Richard has managed to take some lovely photos of the mother and babies. They are very funny to watch.

He also took some great videos clips and we now have a utube channel for our videos. You can see it here

Friendly Robin Nesting Nearby

There has been a friendly robin around the garden at Yew Court lately. We think he must have a nest nearby because he has been very busy all day collecting pieces of bread and flying away and then coming back again and again.

It is surprising how much bread he can carry in his beak for such a small bird, he must be a very hungry robin. He is also very tame as Richard has been sun bathing on the lawn today and the robin has continued collecting bread from the lawn without seeming disturbed by Richard's prescence or the fact that he was also being photographed!

Summer at Yew Court

Summer has finally arrived again at Yew Court. It has been a long hard winter this year with lots of snow that stayed around for weeks on end. Summer has been a long time getting here, but I can now state that it has definately arrived at last with the last few days being very hot and humid. (Too hot in fact!).

There have been lots of birds around as usual, singing their pretty songs, building nests and having babies. We had blue tits nesting in the nesting box this year, they were flying around like mad collecting food for their hungry demanding babies.

Typically we missed the baby blue tits leaving the nest. We were so disapointed but as luck would have it, a few days later we spotted a baby blue tit in the garden. We felt sorry for him as he was a little lost baby blue tit and he looked so sad. But the story had a happy ending because he eventually found his mummy and they flew away together.

Digital Photography Shots

Finally got Richard's website Digital Photography Shots online and looking good!

I had to tweak the theme a bit and play around to get the categories to come out correctly but I got it working in the end.

We are both very pleased with the result.

My Cloud Photos

Just uploaded 4 more cloud photos to my photo gallery .

The last few days at Yew Court have been very cold and we have had lots of snow. Today the snow was quite heavy. By the time I went out it had got very icy and I slid all the way to the shop!

My Photo Gallery For Yew Court

Today I have created a photo gallery for my photos taken at Yew Court. Why not take a look!

There ae only two albums at the moment, Clouds and Flowers. I just love clouds, they can look so mysterious at times, it is like looking at another world. I will be adding to the collections but for now there are just a few photos in each.

Richard will be making a photo gallery for his photos in due course, so stay tuned for this event!

At this dark and dismal time of year it is really uplifting to look back on our Yew Court photos, especially the ones take in the summer. It reminds us of good times to come in the future.

View My Photo Gallery Here

Hornets at Yew Court

My partner Richard has yet again taken some fantastic photos, this time of a hornet which landed on the rose bush.



(click on pics to enlarge)

This Summer Has Been a Wash Out

This summer has been a wash out at Yew Court. What is happening to the weather lately? A few odd days of sunshine, then rain, then wind.

And where have all the birds disappeared to? There have been hardly any birds around Yew Court lately, but there has been too many pesky cats. At one time there would be sight of an odd cat here and there but just recently there has been too many cats around. It seems that a neighbour's cat has had kittens and they seemed to be keeping all the kittens instead of giving them away. How irresponsible, I mean for godness sake how many cats does one family need? Surely one or two is quite enough for anyone. Some people are just plain stupid. Please dont get me wrong, I'm no cat hater, I used to have 2 cats myself at one time but at Yew Court there is no place for cats. Yew Court is a sanctury for birds and all wild life.

We have seen some beautiful birds around Yew Court and to find cats lurking in our garden waiting to pounce on the birds is very upsetting!