First of all:
Mother (or Father) Pigeon returned (reluctantly, I suspect) to the nest late last night. As the chicks get bigger, s/he is finding it hard to sit on the nest and has now been relegated to the sidelines, where s/he sits with a claw and a wing awkwardly draped over the pigeonettes in a vain attempt to reassure them that, yes, they have not been abandoned (for now). Those birds will end up in therapy, I guarantee it.
This is where it becomes a bit weird: apparently, pigeons recognise faces. Uh-huh. And I can clearly confirm that the pigeons are far more nervous of me than they are of Mr Gingerbread. This is because I tend to whoosh them away when I see them sitting on the fence (when they're on the nest, I just go out and stare them down.)
In other breaking news:
the dramatic storm that caused Mr G worry about our little adoptees had another, more serious outcome. When I went into our local yarn store this morning to purchase some sock yarn (not for me, I might add. I was exercising my iron self-control), I discovered the owner in a state of distress: the gutter between the old part of the building and the newer extension over-ran and collapsed in the torrential rain and the yarn store suffered water damage.
What?
I clutched my (imaginary) pearls and swooned a little.
"Was ... was anything hurt? Did all the yarn survive?" I whispered hoarsely.
She looked grim. "I cannot tell a lie," she said, "Some damage was sustained. A few skeins did not make it."
We bowed our heads and thought of our fallen comrades.
"Where's the sock yarn?" I asked, looking at the empty shelves.
"I packed them away," she said. "Not many people knit socks in the summer, it seems."
Really? I thought. Is that really so, sock knitters? I would have thought socks were ideal projects for hot summer days, but apparently I was wrong.
In any case, a wool shortage crisis was averted when I checked my own stash and discovered that I had two untouched skeins of sock yarn that were more or less what I had gone to the yarn store to buy. Phew (and a small squirm of shame). However, I left the shop owner amongst boxes of wool, with two heaters going at full blast in 30°C (90°F) heat. Fingers crossed her insurance company recognises the gravity of the situation and pays out soon.
Wow, you are so lucky to have a pigeon nest... They appear from everywhere when they see me as I usually have the tub of bird seed for the birdtable.
ReplyDeleteCan't see why making socks in summer is any more strange then making afghans (of which I am now working on my 5th one in the last 2 months) and please except my deepest sympathy on such a tragic loss of yarn.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post....Funny and very dramatic.
ReplyDeleteYour love and concern for yarn..................sounds like mine.
God rest the yarn that was lost...sniff snifff
Socks are my go-to projects any time of year. They're easier in the summer than say, a lap full of alpaca sweater.
ReplyDeleteAnd crows recognize faces, too. they will remember you and tell their friends about you so that they will all yell at you if you go near their babies.
Would that staring down pigeons worked. I have given mine the stink eye every day for over ten years, and they mock me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely convinced that Bavarian pigeons are cuter than American pigeons.
I just bought my first 12 skeins of sock yarn, for a shawl. I am obsessed with shawls right now. I hope it is permissible to work on this in the summer.