It's an age thing!

It must be an age thing, as I can't remember having much or any interest before the last couple of years.

I have just spent my Sunday lunch , (I know it's Monday, but it's a bank holiday here and therefore I'm not working, and on Sunday I was in the middle of a grueling 12 mile walk) sitting in my conservatory being enthralled, by the best £26 ponds I've ever spent.

Last winter I purchased a bird feeding station. The sort of thing which has hooks to hang feeders from, a tray that seeds can be put in and a bowl for water, which didn't stand the frost. So on these hanging things I have multi seeds, peanuts and fat balls. In the winter I fill everything up every day. Now in late spring I'm trying to make those birds last two days.

My conservatory is just below the birds, in that you have to go up three steps to get to my lawn where the feeding station is situated, so when I'm sitting there I'm just out of their line of vision. On none working days I have my breakfast there, and today my 'billie no mates' lunch.

Which I have to say was delicious ( roast pork covered in blue cheese, crispy roast potatoes, cauliflower and carrots cooked al dente, with sage and onion stuffing and gravy) and the people who could have had the same left the house very enviously as I served myself, and they went off somewhere exotic like MacDonald's.... Huh!!! They didn't have lunch cause they didn't have the time, they needed to get out at 12.00, and when the pair of them were finally ready at 3pm they just looked hungry having taken so long getting their hair and make up just so.Especially my youngest son, not that he wears make up, and does have an extremely short haircut , heaven only knows what the pair of them were up to.... No not that! Cause they were both upstairs using hairdryers, aftershave, perfume, it smelt like the Kasbah upstairs in my house.And the plaintiff little remark about lunch smelling delicious and them heading out made me just smile in a particularly mean way!!

But I digress... So whilst eating my lunch I didn't have time to be lonely as I was accompanied by 8 house sparrows, a blackbird, a robin, a ring collared dove and two particularly bedraggled coaltits. Who look like birds suffering from stress, but I guess all parents look like that when faced with the demands of their young! And they were all scared off the rook who somehow manages to balance on the fat ball container and eat the fat balls. This is not normal behaviour from a rook, it's a big carrion bird, not suited to small bird feeders. But I suppose needs must, and all adult birds now are doing their best to get some food in for themselves alongside the demands of their squawking young.

Not much different to bringing up children. I can only be grateful that in the last three months since my particular  youngest squawking offspring got a job, he's started to sort it himself! OH YES!!!!!! The bank of Mummy is no more. It's now pay back time, and giving him his due, he's doing it with good grace on the whole.

So now I can sit in blissful observation of the little feathered birds working all hours to bring up their young with almost a smile of complacency on my face. It's not quite set in stone yet,as I'm not daft enough to think that this new found adult behaviour won't have a relapse or two, but boy is it better than the last couple of years!

Which means I'll happily go on spending my money on bird food and getting pleasure from their antics in my garden and not worry about being the right age to enjoy them. More I'll be grateful that I'm the right age and mental state to take pleasure in such observation.